ATI have a winner once again!
Written: Jun 29 '03 (Updated Jun 29 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazingly realistic picture quality for the money.
Cons: None!!
The Bottom Line: If you're tired of trying to decipher fuzzy type on your screen and annoyed when videos skip and games hang up, then this upgrade is for you.
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| watchdr_2000's Full Review: ATI RADEON 9000 PRO, (128 MB) AGP Video Card |
Tired of squinting trying to read fuzzy print and decipher blurry out of focus pictures? In that case, maybe a new graphics card is just what your computer and monitor need. Of course, one should also keep in mind that a new graphics card is a waste of money if one is using a mediocre monitor in the first place. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend upgrading ones graphics card unless one’s monitor has at least 0.25mm dot pitch or better for a CRT monitor, or 0.28mm dot pitch or better for an LCD/TFT flat screen monitor.
For various reasons, one may need to upgrade their card anyway. In that case, just keep in mind that you really won’t be getting the full benefits of this card unless your monitor meets or exceeds the aforementioned recommendations.
Keep in mind that graphics card connectors come in two popular flavors, PCI and AGP. I highly recommend NOT installing the card yourself if you don’t know the difference between the two. In fact, if you have any doubts whatsoever it’s preferable to pay a small fee and have an experienced professional, or computer maven friend, do it for you. Making mistakes in this area might not only result in a damaged card, but can also result in a permanently blank monitor screen, lost or damaged drivers/files etc. This can not only be extremely annoying, but it could be quite costly too.
Before moving on to the review proper, a few words on why I decided to upgrade my old graphics card from an ATI Radeon 7000 to the ATI Radeon 9000 Pro with 128 MB DDR SDRAM. I found the former card quite satisfactory in most areas, and my son’s games didn’t make excessive demands on it. But when it came to editing photos on Photo Shop Elements, it just didn’t cut it. Too many layers, or too large a photo – and we’re not talking about 1 Gig size photos here - and my comp would freeze up on me. Seeing as I have a reasonably fast computer (1.6 Gig Hz Pentium 4) with 1 Gig of Rambus RAM, I realized that the card, with only 32 MB of DDR SDRAM, was the weak link in the chain.
Another thing to keep in mind is that most reviews of graphics cards tend to focus on frames per second, refresh rates etc. The type of mumbo jumbo info, while really important to die hard gamers, is useless to the majority of us. Especially as most reviews pay scant attention to the quality of the picture. That is, how does it actually look? The sort of info that is really important to photographers, artists and graphics designers etc.
What’s in the box?
1) ATI Radeon 9000 Pro graphics card
2) Installation CD ROM
3) DVI to CRT adaptor
4) Installation booklet
Important manufacturer’s specifications:
1) 128 MB DDR SDRAM memory
2) Direct X 8.1 and Open GL 1.3 support
3) AGP 2X/4X support (while it fits 8X AGP slots, support for it is not offered)
4) DVD playback
5) Dual monitor support
6) DVI and VGA connectors and support
7) Video out
8) Core clock speed = 275 MHz
9) DDR memory speed = 550 MHz
10) Maximum refresh rate = 85 Hz @ 2048X1536
11) 3 year limited Warranty
Please note that the above are the most important specs only. Check out the manufacturer’s web site, www.ati.com, for a more complete description of how their board converts all those zeros and ones to the final picture that you actually see on your screen.
Installation:
As already mentioned, do NOT try this at home folks, unless you know what you’re doing. These are just general installation instructions for Intel mother board based comps. Your exact procedure may vary depending on the type and make of mother board that you have. If in doubt check with your mother board manufacturer before proceeding.
First uninstall the driver for the old graphics card and then restart the computer. Yes, I know that the picture, monitor settings etc will now be wrong, but one can make all the necessary corrections after the new card and drivers have been installed.
Now switch off the computer, and turn off the monitor only after the computer is off.
Unplug the computer from the wall socket and remove the cover.
Unplug the old graphics card and install the new one in it’s place.
My mother board has the AGP connector, so the card is held in place with one screw, which needs to be removed before the old card can be taken out. Don’t forget to put the screw back in after installing the new card.
Replace the cover, and plug it back into the wall socket.
Turn on the monitor first and then the computer.
The included instructions are confusing concerning allowing the Windows Installation/Add-New-Hardware Wizard to install the drivers for the graphics card. According to the booklet, one may or may not get the Wizard offering to install the drivers for you.
If one doesn’t get the Wizard, then install the drivers and all necessary software from the enclosed installation CD ROM.
In my particular case, I did get the Wizard, but he obviously needs some lessons from Harry Potter because it should have asked me for the installation CD ROM. It didn’t. So I let the Wizard install the MicroSoft drivers and then I restarted my comp. After restarting it I then installed the necessary drivers and software from the installation CD.
Unlike the booklet, the installation instructions from the CD ROM were clear, precise and very easy to follow. Don’t worry too much about the inadequate instruction booklet, because there is a complete user’s guide/manual in PDF format on the installation CD ROM. Also, ATI have a well deserved reputation for excellent customer support just in case your questions or troubleshooting is not taken care of by the user’s guide.
The only minor problem that I encountered was entirely my own. I couldn’t get the refresh rate higher than 60 Hz, which produces an annoying flickering to these eyes. That is until I realized that it won’t go higher than that if dual monitors are enabled and one of them is a TV. TV monitors cannot support a refresh rate higher than 60 Hz, so that becomes the default refresh rate if a TV monitor is enabled.
So Gary, how does it look?
Those of you who have read a few of my reviews know that as a watchmaker I use my eyes critically for my job, all the time. Therefore I really dislike anything that makes them work harder. In that respect I’m probably more than a little critical than others. So for me, anything that gives my eyes less work to do is big improvement and a joy to use.
All I can say is WOW!!!! I really wasn’t expecting that kind of visual improvement, as my main reason for buying this card wasn’t because I was unhappy with the appearance of my old card.
This card is considerably sharper and clearer than the Radeon 7000 that I used before. If you have a card that is less good or on a par with that one, be prepared for a huge improvement. Generally, I don’t see quite as huge an improvement in colors as I do in sharpness. Nevertheless, there are worthwhile gains in that area too.
Please note that while images produced with this card are exceptionally crisp and sharp, diagonal lines are still slightly stepped, when compared to vertical or horizontal ones. I do have a feeling that this has more to do with the monitor’s resolution than with the card itself.
The two biggest areas of improvement as far as colors are concerned is that blacks are quite a bit darker and whites appear as if my monitor just got bleached. This has the overall effect of giving colors a lot more definition and subtlety. Skin tones are much more realistic and vivid colors really seem to jump out now.
Because I’m not a gamer – chess requires a brute CPU, not a brute graphics card – I can’t comment on this cards 3D capabilities as far as speed is concerned. But the 3D visual quality of my son's games do look considerably more realistic. These positive attributes do contribute to good quality photos looking much better too. Now they look much less flat. Giving them greater depth, subtlety and making them look much more three dimensional. In other words, if you’re into photography, then this card is for you.
DVD and video playback are absolutely amazing. Sharp, crisp, vivid and, depending on the image, incredibly realistic. That said however, the included ATI DVD player is not as good as CyberLink's Power DVD. Picture quality between the two is virtually identical, but the latter has a few more useful features and is a lot easier to use too. Now I really want that Sharp 37” Aquos LCD display!!!
Lastly, a brief comment on this cards speed. I have almost 300 mostly high quality photos in my file My Documents. When I click to open it, all the pictures are there almost instantaneously. So in that respect it does appear to be quite a lot faster than the Radeon 7000.
Oh, and no. My comp doesn’t freeze up anymore when using Photo Shop Elements. Gary.
Some important abbreviations for the non-technically minded:
AGP = Accelerated Graphics Port
CRT = Cathode Ray Tube (analogue monitor – usually large and bulky)
DDR = Double Data Rate
DVD = Digital Video Disc
DVI = Digital Visual Interface
Gig = 1,000 MHz
Hz = Cycles per second
LCD = Liquid Crystal Diode (LCD/TFT = flat screen monitor)
MHz = 1,000 Hz
PCI = Peripheral Component Interconnect
PDF = Portable Document Format (used with Adobe’s Acrobat Reader)
RAM = Random Access Memory
TFT = Thin Film Transistor
VGA = Video Graphics Array
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100.00
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Epinions.com ID:
watchdr_2000
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Member: Gary C.
Location: Los Angeles
Reviews written: 19
Trusted by: 38 members
About Me:
Dad - Both the best job and hobby a guy could ever ask for!
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