5600ultra vs 9600Pro

[Nazgul]

Which is the better card out of the 5600 ultra and the 9600 Pro? (yes I know there are many threads about gfx cards but they dont really cover this). I have read reviews of both cards and the reviews contradict each other so if anyone could help it would be appriciated.

Nobody mention the 9500 / pro cards plz!!!

 

[Jonty]

Hi Nazgul

I'll find some reviews for you tomorrow Off the top of my head, I'd say the two are fairly evenly matched, being ahead in some tests and behind in others. As Xavier noted in another thread recently, a 'flip chip' 5600 Ultra is due for release very soon which should see the 5600 Ultra receive a noticable boost in performance. With this is mind, I'd probably say wait a little while whilst these new cards get properly reviewed.

I don't want to say any more because, as you say, there aren't too many 9600 Pros and 5600 Ultras being compared at the moment. One review that springs to mind is this [H]ard|OCP artice, though this isn't the 'flip chip' version, as I recall.

Not much help, I know, but I'll try and post again tomorrow more thoroughly

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. Why can't we mention the 9500 Pro, which is arguably one of the best mainstream cards available for a long time now?

Edit ~ quite a nice article on another, non-'flip chip' GeForce FX5600 Ultra can be found on the FiringSquad. Again, it serves to illustrate the swings and roundabouts situation, with the card performing well in some benchmarks, and losing ground on others.

FiringSquad
While the GeForce FX 5600 is intended to compete with the RADEON 9600, and, to a lesser extent the RADEON 9500, current market situations have paired it against the RADEON 9500 PRO and RADEON 9600 PRO. Even its predecessor, GeForce4 Ti 4200, will be competing for sales with GeForce FX 5600.

Against the RADEON 9500 and RADEON 9600, the GeForce FX 5600 has all the ingredients to put up a powerful fight. In our testing the RADEON 9500 (which has over 2GB/sec more memory bandwidth than RADEON 9600) and GeForce FX 5600 each won their fair share of benchmarks; it’s a hard call between the two. You’ve got GeForce FX 5600 outperforming RADEON 9500 in UT2003 flyby testing (with and without anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering), but when you load up Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, a game based on a derivative of the UT2003 engine, the RADEON 9500 comes out ahead of GeForce FX 5600. For the most part Quake 3 goes to GeForce FX 5600, but there are cases where it finishes behind RADEON 9500 in this benchmark as well.

 

[Nazgul]

That flip chip stuff sounds good...just a problem telling which cards have the flip chip and which don't :/ The {H}ardOCP site had a review of one

EDIT: just don't want a 9500 / Pro card cause they are not from the new range

lol Jonty your thorough posts are good

 

[Jonty]

Hello again

Well I've checked a few reviews, and they're all pretty much reiterating what we already know: the two cards are evenly matched. In some tests one card leads the other, and in other tests the roles are reversed. In any case, the difference isn't particularly overwhelming, and often depends on what the rest of the system is like.

So I can only say go with the card that best suits you, as whatever you buy you shouldn't be disappointed. In terms of price, both cards can be found hovering around the same 'mainstream' price range. The 5600 Ultra often comes in more varieties; e.g. 128Mb or 256Mb models (not sure whether the latter is worth it just yet, perhaps in the future though), VIVO support etc. The price increases, as you would expect, in proportion to the card's features and the software/hardware bundle.

If you shortlist some manufacturers and give me price range I'll find some prices for you, if you wish. If you're going for the 5600 Ultra, also say what kind of features you'd like.

Kind Regards

Jonty

P.S. 'Old' as it is, the 9500 Pro is still an amazing card, and well worth considering.

 

[Yaka]

what is this flip chip we keep hearing about?

 

[Jonty]

Originally posted by Yaka
What is this flip chip we keep hearing about?

Hi Yaka

My apologies for not making this clearer, but I didn't know whether I could articulate it well enough. Anyway, [H]ard|OCP and HardAvenue do quite a good job of describing what 'flip chip' refers to . . .

[H]ard|OCP
Background information ... NVIDIA implemented the new flip chip packaging for this [5600 Ultra] core. In the initial GeForceFX 5600 Ultra they were using the old wire bonding technology. In wire bonding technology very fine wires are used to connect semiconductor components to interconnect with package leads. The wires might be 1 to 2 mils in diameter and made of aluminum containing 1% silicon.

Flip Chip packaging is a new format that actually inverts the chip and connects it directly to the substrate. This allows the chip to run with a much clearer signal allowing higher frequencies. ATI’s R3xx line has been using the Flip Chip packaging since it was introduced last year. NVIDIA’s first chip to utilize this technology was the NV30. They have now extended this down to the NV31 [5600 range].

HardAvenue
What does this all mean in english? With flip chip packaging, higher speeds should become more stable, generally giving more room for Nvidia (or overclockers) to work with. This feature was not seen in the original 5600Ultra, which should mean the new version overclocks much better.

I hope that helps to explain things a little You can usually spot flip chip 5600 cards as their core and memory clock speeds have often been increased, usually (it seems) by around 50Mhz (thus the original 5600 Ultra had a 350Mhz core and 350hz memory; the revised flip chip versions have 400Mhz core and 400Mhz memory (800Mhz DDR)). Some software bundles have also been updated, so as to ensure the cards ship with the latest Detonator FX drivers.

In short, if you're in the market for a 5600 Ultra card, be sure to try and pick up a flip chip model.

Kind Regards

 

[Xavier]

Looking at the card the easiest way to identify the flip chip is a large metal heat-spreader which covers the entire top of the GPU - aside from the change in process which allows them to squeeze out a few more Mhz the newer package should mean the 5600 overclocks like a bitch

Original reviews pitted the 5600 ultra against the 9500 pro which was a little unfair as ATI have been trying to can that particular GPU for months (replaced by the 9600) which is marginally slower than the old board - wait for new coverage comparing the FX 5600 Ultra and 9600 pro for the real story.