It was awhile ago we reviewed a video card here at rbmods but that is about to change now since Sapphire was nice enough to send their ATI Radeon 9600 for a review. This card is a middle class card which most people can afford yet still performs quite well. We are going to compare it against a FX5600 card. We are going to benchmark with 3dmark 2002 and 2003. For game benchmarks we are using the classic Quake 3 and then Unreal Tournament 2003 and probably a few other games so stay tuned to see if this will be your coming video card.
About Sapphire:
Ever since ATI announced its manufacturing & distribution relationships with ODMs and AiBs in June of 2001, SAPPHIRE has always been the key ATI Graphics Boards Supplier worldwide. SAPPHIRE designs, manufactures and distributes the most complete range of ATI video boards--from mainstream level Xpert98 to the state-of-the-art technology-enriched Radeon 9800Pro boards. SAPPHIRE refuses to compromise quality by cutting corners at the expense of its customers experience with their products. All ATI board designs undergo a stringent layout inspection by our staff of engineers to guarantee that they represent the usual high-quality image of ATI original boards. We also enjoy the resources of a highly creative technical department that layout complex designs to accommodate different market niches as they arise. SAPPHIRE ATI video boards have long been the reliable choice for a great number of OEMs and large System Integrators in Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America based largely on our ability to meet a fast paced technical markets advancements as well as our means to produce large quantities of product.
Specifications on the product:
256MB DDR memory accelerates the latest 3D games
Double Data Rate memory removes hardware performance bottleneck and provides end users with faster 3D graphics
Industry's only 4-pipeline graphics solution in its 2nd generation, providing twice the rendering power of any currently competing product.
Supports the new AGP 8X standard, providing a high-speed link between the graphics board and the rest of the PC (2.0 GB/sec)
First to fully support DirectX� 9.0 and the latest OpenGL� functionality
VIVO (Video-in & Video-Out) Optional
New SMARTSHADER� 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
SMOOTHVISION� 2.1 technology enhances image quality by removing jagged edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising performance
128-bit floating-point color precision allows for a greater range of colors and brightness
Unique VIDEOSHADER� engine uses programmable pixel shaders to accelerate video processing and provide better-looking visuals
ATI's new FULLSTREAM� technology removes blocky artifacts from Streaming and Internet video and provides sharper image quality
The product:
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The box for the video card is really nice looking. On the back we find some specifications as on most products.
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Everything was very well packed as we can see on the pictures. The manual is very good and easy to understand. On the right picture we can see 3 cds and from the left we have the driver cd then in the middle we have the cd with the software so you can overclock this video card. Finally on the right we have Powerdvd so you can watch some movies :)
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The SVCD cable is really long actually; it's about 3-4 meters and that is alot when you are used to 1.5 meters from other brands. It's finally time to look at the card. Sapphire have chosen not to equip this video card with a fan and that might be that they think it runs cool enough or they just want a quiet video card. The memory does not have heatsinks on the card- neither on the top or the bottom of the card. I think they should have equipped it with ramsinks to get a even more stable card since after hours of playing I bet the memory gets hot even if not overclocked, and ofcourse with ramsinks this card gets more overclocker friendly.
