A Roundup of ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video cards
ATI Radeon 9700PRO
| ATI Radeon 9700 PRO 128MB |
| GPU |
ATI RADEON 9700 PRO |
| Memory (Max) |
128 MB - DDR SDRAM |
| Memory/processor clock speed |
325/310 MHz |
| RAMDAC Frequency |
400 MHz |
| API |
OpenGL, DirectX, Direct3D |
| Support for two monitors |
Yes |
| Video Output |
2048 x 1536 / 60 Hz - 24-bit (16.7M colors) |
| Interface |
AGP 8X |
| Ports and connector type |
1 x DVI-Analogue Digital - 29 pin DVI
1 x VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
1 x S-video output |
| Maximum resolution |
2048x1536 / 60 Hz |
The video card and package bundle
The board is made on a red PCB. Despite its small bulk, the cooler is quite efficient and copes well with cooling a hot R300 chip.
There are 8 memory chips wired on both sides of the card. The chips themselves are made by Samsung, BGA-packaged, and offer 2.8 ns access time, which is equivalent to 350(700) MHz. What was confusing a bit is the complete lack of memory cooling - it offers frequencies high enough and the memory heats up quite immensely - you won't hold a finger on the chip for longer than 15 seconds.
Samsung 2.8 ns
Upon removal of the cooler I found a protective frame around the chip meant for guarding the fragile chip against accidental splits. We quite often came across board specimens with the protective frame not installed evenly, which caused the radiator fit loosely to the chip, so the chip was overheating.
Our specimen is free from this problem - the frame is fitted evenly, and the cooler is pressed well. Like in the previously reviewed boards based on the Radeon 9800 PRO, there is silvery thermal conducting Arctic Silver paste applied between the cooler and the chip.
The board offers an additional power connector whose use is mandatory. With the power not applied to the connector, the card issues a black screen displaying a menacing warning that additional power is not supply and the card won't run without it.
There is nothing else to note regarding the video card - it is a most regular, well-made card based on the Radeon 9700 PRO. Now on to the package bundle.
The board came without a box and was packaged into a regular antistatic package. Besides the board, the package included the following items:
- Additional power cable
- DVI -> D-Sub adapter
- S-Video->RCA adapter
- S-Video extension cord
- RCA extension cord
- The user's manual written in multiple languages except Russian.
- Drivers CD (ATI Catalyst 3.4)
That's the kind of a scanty package bundle that one of the most powerful video cards to date offers. What to say to this? For the 300 USD they might have equipped the card with a good bundle - this isn't a mean GeForce2 MX or something, is it?
Overclocking and impressions
The card was running stably at 380/340(680)MHz for the memory and chip, respectively, without using additional cooling, which matches the operating speeds of Radeon 9800 PRO. The result is not bad at all for the 0.15 mk the chip is made on and the poor cooling system of the card. The memory was able running normally at the rated 700 MHz, which is normal for its access time. Quite probably, the power supply voltage is understated on the board, and that might be the reason for the poor overclocking of the memory.
On the whole, the card produced a good impression - it offers a good implementation and high operating speed. What spoils the scene is the scanty package bundle and the cooling system - if someone pays $300 for a video card, he is after a nice-looking box, rich package bundle and a good cooling system - not just a plastic bag with the card and a couple of wires inside. But the superb performance of the card makes up for all these shortcomings well enough.
Almost Radeon 9800 PRO - SoftR9800
So, why did we put the previous card into a review to do with the Radeon 9800 PRO? The thing is that some potentials of the Radeon 9800 PRO are implemented on the driver level. Alexey Nikolaichuk AKA Unwinder, the author of RivaTuner, released a patch (part of the RinaTuner 2.0 RC 12.4) that allows enabling all these options on the Radeon 9700 PRO. The patch speeds up the card's Device ID on the driver level, detects Radeon 9700 PRO as a Radeon 9800 and enables some optimizations inherent to Radeon 9800 PRO.
We conducted an interesting experiment: we overclocked the Radeon 9700 PRO 128MB up to the mark of Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB (380/680MHz), patched the drivers with the SoftR9800 and compared performance of the produced "almost Radeon 9800 PRO" with the fully functional Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB. As they say, if there's no difference, why pay extra?
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