Sapphire RADEON 9600 Atlantis Pro

Advantages: Great Value, Relaible
Disadvantages: No as good as 9800 series

...I wanted to buy a video card that could handle cames such as Call of Duty and NFSU2 easily with a bit to spare. I didn't want to break the bank, and although I was tempted by the 9800 series I opted to go for a sapphire 9600 pro(256mb). I must emphasize the importance of purchasing a pro model as opposed to a standard 9600. Although the pro is not as good as the xt, the price increase from the standard 9600 was minimal(a mere 2 pounds in my case!), so the performance upgrade was well worth the bit extra. I was constrained by the fact that I didn't have a pci express port only an agp, but I have been assured that I do not lose out by buying agp compatable technology at this stage. It is recommended to use this card with an 8x agp slot but using a 4x is fine. The all important core clock speed of the 9600 pro is 400mhz, compared... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Price, value for money, performance
Disadvantages: Not for the advanced gamer

...Introduced as one of radeons mid-high end products, the Radeon 9600xt was originally aimed at the user on a budget, who still required good performance out of moderate applications. Featuring exactly the same functionality and system performance as the 9600 PRO, XT is based on the RV360 chip. Coupled with cooling, and superior memory, ATI's major downfall came with the memory speed of only 300MHZ. Although to be fair, they have laxed this and allowed 25MHZ increases only recently. Using the latest and fatest AGP 8X, the most can be experienced from some of the latest games. After an attempt running DOOM3 with the card, I experienced VERY smooth gameplay, however there are slight stutters when it comes to large open environment rendering scenes, for example 9600XT has a hell of a hard time trying to keep up with Far... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Makes PC games more exciting
Disadvantages: Makes PC games more addictive

...The Saphire Radeon 9600 XT is the pinnacle of the 9600 range of graphic cards. Having previously used the 9600 Atlantis version, I have found it to be a worthwhile upgrade. This card is fully Direct X 9b compatible and comes with an easy to install software driver. The supplied software allows you to adjust the quality of the display and performance of the card, there is even an overdrive mode that gives you a top clock speed of 526 MHZ (this is safe overclocking as it monitors the card temperature to ensure stability). Supplied with the card are various leads and adaptors which enable you to use a CRT or LCD monitor and display two monitors simultaneously or diplay on a TV. Best of all - this graphics card performs beautifully when playing Doom 3. It is not the best graphics card that money can buy but it is in my... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful