My 10 days experience with the 9700 pro

[Gohan]

No, over my reseller i can still buy BBA OEMs. But they are realy expensiv.

[fleabus2]

Hi:

Had a Parhelia.

Replaced it with an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (BBA)
Cat3/DX9/WinXP HE SP1/P4 2.8b/1 GB PC 1066
VGA1: 21" VewSonic P817
VGA2: 22" ViewSonic P225f
Desktops @ 1600x1200 32bit 85Hz

Looks just fine by comparison from here! I'm happy with the Radeon as a replacement.

Happy trails,

[Indiana]

And many if not most HIS 9700Pro cards still are BBA ones. Mine is.

[Kurt]

Originally posted by Gohan
No, over my reseller i can still buy BBA OEMs. But they are realy expensiv.

That's because he either has to import them from the States or buy them from some other OEM which in turn buys them from ATi.

[Yannick]

Originally posted by fleabus2

Desktops @ 1600x1200 32bit 85Hz

Looks just fine by comparison from here! I'm happy with the Radeon as a replacement.

Happy to learn there are other cards than just Matrox who can achieve image quality at those resolutions and frequencies, and still be kings of today's 3D. My G400Max won't be sufficient forever.

[Indiana]

The R9700 has a quite decent 2D.
Still my old G400 beats it in high res like 1600x1200@85Hz.

[Eon]

Originally posted by Yannick
Happy to learn there are other cards than just Matrox who can achieve image quality at those resolutions and frequencies, and still be kings of today's 3D. My G400Max won't be sufficient forever.

I compared mine (Hercules 9700 Pro) to my old G450 Millennium AGP on several 21/22" monitor and it's just as good.

Vibrant colors and very sharp output.

[Flyke]

Originally posted by fleabus2
Hi:

Had a Parhelia.

Replaced it with an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro (BBA)

Looks just fine by comparison from here! I'm happy with the Radeon as a replacement.

Sounds good.
I ordered a Sapphire 9500pro the other day to replace my G400.
Must admit I'm anxious regarding the TV-out quality.
I went for the 9500pro as that is pretty much the limit of what I wanna pay for a new gfx card at the moment. If the Parhelia was priced close to that I would have gotten one.

/Flyke

[The PIT]

Originally posted by Indiana
The R9700 has a quite decent 2D.
Still my old G400 beats it in high res like 1600x1200@85Hz.

My G550 beats it at 1280 *1024 85hz.

[3dfx]

I have compared the 2 several times, I'am talking about the 9700 and the G400 of course. All I have to say is, there is no real difference or it is very marginal ie it is very difficult to spot. I would have to say that most murcers are intellectual ppl and so I wont insult your intelligence but imo this whole 2d quality debate is pretty fanboy'ish tbh.

[P5ycho]

That's what i was thinking too...

[Chrono_Wanderer]

i kinda agree. but there are lots of MURCers here who actually use extremely high end monitors like the Sony GDM-FW900. So maybe they can really tell the difference. (as for my P95f+ the image tends to look more fine and has less ghosting @ res higher than 1600x1200. But i won't use that res anyways) So really there's virtually no difference.

[Eon]

Originally posted by Chrono_Wanderer
i kinda agree. but there are lots of MURCers here who actually use extremely high end monitors like the Sony GDM-FW900. So maybe they can really tell the difference. (as for my P95f+ the image tends to look more fine and has less ghosting @ res higher than 1600x1200. But i won't use that res anyways) So really there's virtually no difference.

But on the other hand your comment suggest that most people not using Matrox hardware or products like the ATi 9xxx series, are just gamers or unwashed amateurs who don’t care, don’t know or can’t evaluate quality or have to live on force majeure compromises so they can eat up to the end of the month.

Considering A) I have been buying PC related hardware for +20 years, including a lot of Matrox products (but the Parhelia) B) I own a Sony F520 (along with some flat panels) C) I could easily buy myself a pair of FW-900, but IMO it’s an over bloated monster (I do have to use a desk to work) with a not so hot or consistent picture quality.

How do you explain exactly then that I like my 9700 Pro picture quality on high-end CRTs just as well or better as the Millennium II PCI and the G450 Millennium AGP I still have?

[Kurt]

Originally posted by Eon
But on the other hand your comment suggest that most people not using Matrox hardware or products like the ATi 9xxx series, are just gamers or unwashed amateurs who don’t care, don’t know or can’t evaluate quality or have to live on force majeure compromises so they can eat up to the end of the month.

Considering A) I have been buying PC related hardware for +20 years, including a lot of Matrox products (but the Parhelia) B) I own a Sony F520 (along with some flat panels) C) I could easily buy myself a pair of FW-900, but IMO it’s an over bloated monster (I do have to use a desk to work) with a not so hot or consistent picture quality.

How do you explain exactly then that I like my 9700 Pro picture quality on high-end CRTs just as well or better as the Millennium II PCI and the G450 Millennium AGP I still have?

Most ppl only refer to ATi _BASED_ boards made by other companies than ATi, so it's rather difficult to judge whether what they are saying reflects reality.

With Matrox you know what the outpu will/should be. With Radeon's it's up to the manufacturer and about _NO ONE_ tests the output quality for boards that are games-oriented anyway.

It's like shooting a moving target...

[Eon]

Originally posted by Kurt
Most ppl only refer to ATi _BASED_ boards made by other companies than ATi, so it's rather difficult to judge whether what they are saying reflects reality.

With Matrox you know what the outpu will/should be. With Radeon's it's up to the manufacturer and about _NO ONE_ tests the output quality for boards that are games-oriented anyway.

It's like shooting a moving target...

Considering the high costs of high-end parts, IMO it’s up to the user responsibility to actually *test* things by at least buying them from a store which allows for returns/swaps if you are not satisfied. It may be more expensive, but at least you know what you are getting and you don't have to resort to make blanket statements either.