Radeon 9550 vs. 9600 Pro

[Zato]

I've tried both these cards... It seemed an obvious choice on paper to go with the 9600 Pro.

However, I am having a few issues with it that I wasn't having with the 9550:
9600 Pro doesn't support 720x480 resolution! So I'm using 800x600 and "video mode". Picture quality seems ok, but it still bugs me that I can't set it to the TV resolution.
There is a constant small artifact on the very top right of the screen.
TV does not autodetect, I have to force it on to get it to work.


So I'm considering going back to the 9550... Which I was going to return (it's also twice as expensive). Slower card, but doesn't have any of the issues above.

Just curious if anyone has any opinions on this. I see lots of people using 9600Pro's in their HTPCs.

Also, I'm looking for opinions on the best ATI card for TV out for AGP.

Thanks!

[gEd]

should be able to support the res u want. My is running 720 x 576.

U may need the latest cat drivers tho I think. try searching forum for "720x480"

Sorry for being brief, got to dash...

[Zato]

Thanks.. hmm, the 720x480 resolution isn't list as one of the supported ones at the back of the card's manual so I assumed it wasn't possible.

I tried the latest drivers, but it couldn't see my TV so I reverted to the prior version (which incidently doesn't detect my TV either). But that's when I set it to force the TV on. I'll give the newest drivers another go.

[sub]

I use powerstrip to use non standard resolutions on my ATI card.

[gEd]

I use ATI tray tools from http://www.guru3d.com to set custom resolutions. It also allows you to over/under clock the graphics card and tweak lots of the cards advanced settings such as DXVA and divx deblocking (subject to the card supporting these features)

[Zato]

Ok, great! Thanks guys, I'll give that a try tonight.

[Zato]

Just to follow up...

Installed the newest Catalyst drivers (came out yesterday!). Resolved my issues above.

I still have to force TV on, but that's ok. I also got the ATI Tray tools and overclocked it quite a bit .

Thanks alot guys!

[gEd]

Just to follow up...

Installed the newest Catalyst drivers (came out yesterday!). Resolved my issues above.

I still have to force TV on, but that's ok. I also got the ATI Tray tools and overclocked it quite a bit .

Thanks alot guys!

cool!

I seem to recall being very pleased with my overclocked 9600pro when it was in my gaming rig. Mind tht was some time ago!

Have you checked to see if overclocking actually helps your tv picture at all? I have underclocked mine a tad to help keep the heat down inside the case (passive zalman heatsink - silent).

[Zato]

Well my CPU/RAM are a bit underpowered (AMD Athlon 1.2, 640MB Ram)... so O/Cing the video card helps with certain things. Like when the OSD is up on LiveTV, it can be pretty choppy. It's still choppy, but not nearly as bad.

I haven't noticed any change in picture quality though (better or worse).

I am a bit concerned that when I pop in another PVR150 I'll run into performance issues while watching a recorded program w/2 captures running as well. We shall see .