ATI 9700 or 9700 pro-difference???

[Pythro]

I found a good price on an ATI 9700, but then I saw the 9700 pros are much more money. What is the difference between the 9700 pro and the 9700?? Please help me out.

 

[Sazar]

bsically it is clock speeds...

if I remember off the top of my head... the 9700 is 275/270 clocks v/s the 325/310 clocks of the 9700pro..

http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1735&p=3

link shows some speccs

excerpt...

The Radeon 9700 only differs from the Radeon 9700 Pro in clock speed; it runs at a 275MHz core clock with 270MHz DDR SDRAM (effectively 540MHz). The first thing you'll notice is that these are the same exact speeds as the Radeon 9500, but obviously with the architectural benefits (more pipes, 256-bit memory interface) of the Radeon 9700.

The decreased GPU clock speeds make for a higher yielding chip and the slower memory makes the overall package even cheaper. The end result is that the Radeon 9700 will retail for $299 compared to the $399 of the Radeon 9700 Pro. As you'll see from our benchmarks, the performance drop isn't bad at all.

you can oc it to 9700pro performance I suppose but then again the memory is timed slower per what I gather and it is a heck of a lot faster than the competition...

 

[Pythro]

I found a ti 4600 for $249 and a 9700 for $267. I have been told that I should definitly get the 9700 because it is only $18 more and it will perform better than the ti 4600. I am guessing that you will say get the regular 9700 and leave the ti 4600 in the garbage.

 

[Pythro]

One more thing. Does it really matter what brand the cards are? I would presume a Radeon 9700 is a Radeon 9700 no matter what make. I guess the only difference is what is bundled with the card, which I really don't care what comes with it. I just want the card. I the $267 9700 I found is made by Powercolor. I have never heard of this brand, but guess if it says they make a 9700, they make a 9700.

 

[Sazar]

Originally posted by Pythro
I found a ti 4600 for $249 and a 9700 for $267. I have been told that I should definitly get the 9700 because it is only $18 more and it will perform better than the ti 4600. I am guessing that you will say get the regular 9700 and leave the ti 4600 in the garbage.

I am not going to misinform you... and yes most companies go with the stock card and make minor changes...

go through this set of benches...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1756&p=4

decide for yourself if the 9700 is worth the extra money

 

[Pythro]

Well the regular 9700 seems to beat the ti 4600 is every benchmark, and for only $18 more it seems like it would be worth it.
I will probably overclock it and see if I can get it to run alongside the 9700 pro.