Got|Apex? Review: ATi Radeon 9700 Pro 11/25/2002

[Leon]

Thanks for reading the review. Please post any questions or comments in this thread.



http://www.gotapex.com/reviews.php?rev=videocards/9700pro/index.html

[Cantacuzene]

Thank God the 9700 isnt being reviewed on LP's 1.4 ghz Duron box.

[LPMiller]

it's not a Duron. And I'm getting in a decent processor, so we'll be upgrading the lounge here shortly.

[Cantacuzene]

I was just kidding, your reviews rock.

[Joker76]

I'm gonna have to diagree with your statement that they have improved the drivers and compatibility of the card. I build systems with this card nearly everyday at work. And I continue to experience problems with certain games with the 9700 Pro and the newest Catalyst drivers.

It does score the highest FPS I've seen on all the benchmarks we run. And it continues to run outstanding scores at max resolution and even with AA turned on. I love the card, but the drivers are still sub-par.

You would think ATI would get off thier asses and write a good driver for this card. Especially since it outscores the GF4 cards by alot in most cases. If the would write a good driver they would be dominating the market, but I know alot of people who are sticking with GF4 cards because of ATI's poor drivers.

And I persoanlly don't think the NV30 is too far off. I would be willing to bet on a Q1 2003 release. Look for it sometime in Feb. unless they delay it again. I'll stick to my Ti4200 until then.

Good review. I just had to throw in my thoughts.

[LPMiller]

He said they improved the drivers, not that they were perfect. I know they ain't, especially in OpenGL, but certianly certain direct x games like Dark Age. Still, they have come a long way from what they were.

Do not expect NV30 in any kind of quantity till March.

[LegendKiller]

Its so odd that sometimes there are problems and sometimes there are not.

I have run the card in Win2k/XP, on a KT400, AMD MPX, Sis648, and 845PE chipsets, and they all seem to work rather well, no major lockups (that weren't a result of OC'ing).

My system, as a whole (not when I benchmark), is pretty complex with the SCSI and all of the other stuff that I have.

What types of setups are you using that are experiencing problems?



LK