Review: ATI Radeon 9600 Pro

Consider the facts. 9600 Pro is a 4 pipeline, 1 TMU and shader unit per pipeline, architecture. So is FX5600 Ultra. 9600 Pro is clocked at 400MHz core, so is FX5600 Ultra (in the newest guise). FX5600 Ultra has 33% more memory bandwidth than 9600 Pro with an identical memory controller bus width.

So, FX5600 Ultra should realistically expect to be faster than this new 9600 Pro? Well yes it is, but also not really, it's more like a draw. Given current games and our analysis (however misguided) of the performance hit you take from enabling (essential) image quality features, things come out equal. ATI have done a sterling job equipping 9600 Pro with a good AA engine and AF setup, courtesy of their SMOOTHVISION 2.1 technology. That hardware, along with the driver support that's no longer lacking, gives the 9600 Pro solid IQ enabled performance. 50% performance drop from enabling our IQ settings is spot on for an architecture like 9600 Pro, so things are good.

This is what the midrange is all about. Good IQ combined with good performance and 9600 Pro (and 9500 Pro before it) certainly brings that to the table.

And it's cheaper than FX5600 Ultra so you can't complain in that respect.

Does it overclock? Well, yes it does. Powerstrip took the sample to a silly 510MHz core clock before it started to go pear shaped.

Overall, the new FX5600 Ultra is faster. It's memory bandwidth sees to that, and yes, 9500 Pro was faster too. But that's besides the point really. It's not slow, it's cheaper than the outgoing generation, it runs cooler and it clocks very nicely indeed. I can hear the naysayers now, moaning that 9500 Pro was faster. You'd never notice unless you were told. It's just a feature packed, midrange DX9-class card with excellent IQ performance and a good price. Just what it should be. It's slower than the new FX5600 Ultra and slower than 9500 Pro, but don't let anyone fool you, it's not always about what's slower or faster. Only sometimes.

Recommended, nice cards.

Pro's

Price
Performance
Image quality

Con's

The whiny fan
It's a bit slower than its main competitor now

Score


(9 when overclocked, be sure to)

Thanks

ATI for the sample
Sapphire for my Radeon 9700 Pro
Komplett for the digital camera used to take the shots.