ATI RADEON 9700 PRO, (128 MB) AGP Video Card

Pros: Current fastest 3D solution, driver updates, small form factor.
Cons: Recommends 300 watt power supply, skimpy manual, price, only one DVI connector.

I purchased this card when it first came out, September 2002. My old graphics card finally gave out, forcing me to look into new ones. There was a lot of hype around the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro, saying it's the best 3D graphics performer and I decided to buy...

Pros: Excellent Display When The Card Is Functioning, Comprehensive Driver Functionality
Cons: Instability, ATI Tech Support, Runs Very Hot, Poor Reliability

Allow me to begin this review by mentioning that I have gone through at least eight video cards since I bought my first IBM based PC back in '91. It's amazing what you get nowadays for the same amount of money you were spending just a year or two ago. ...

Pros: Many great options which makes it very attractive for gamers/developers
Cons: Experiencing compatibility issues with Asus P4G8X and the Intel E7205 chipset

Let me start as an A /Cisco/Network+ certified technician. I can usually wade my through most problems. Both a hardware installer and software developer - I've installed motherboards, chips, primary and slave hard drives, video cards, power sources, and...

Pros: Honestly, I can't name pros since mine doesn't work at all with my new P4
Cons: Horrible drivers, incompatibility, power monger, radiates alot of heat

Let me start off by mentioning that I'm a seasoned hardware installer - I've been doing the stuff for over 10 years. I've installed motherboards, chips, primary and slave hard drives, video cards, power sources, and updated BIOS, as well as many other...

Pros: Packed with Power!!!
Cons: Need a 400w PSU, and a big heatsink for it.

Well, I had this video card for about 1.5 years now, bought new for $400. First I had it with a athlon XP 2000+ and games ran smooth, on highest resolution on all games that came out that year, Max payne 2, Vice City. This beast can process all ...

Pros: It's new
Cons: The driver sets aren't anywhere near close to what they need to be.

I used to work for a company that reviewed hardware for computers and other electronics, so when I heard about the new ATI card coming out 6 months ago I got all excited. I pushed back my purchase of the new card till I couldn't wait any longer. I...

Pros: Fastest video card around
Cons: Runs hot due to sloppy cooling design

Hearing the reputation of the 9700 Pro video card, I bought one. I loaded up Quake III, set the rendering options to maximum and the display size to 1024x768x32-bit color depth. Q3A played for 15 minutes before my system locked up. I rebooted Windows...

Pros: Great performance. No hardware compatability problems.
Cons: RAM chips get warm. Tends to Z-buffer more.

I got my 9700 Pro for my birthday. I immediately put it in my Pentium 3 system (800Mhz P3 Coppermine on an FIC FA-11), replacing my older ATI Radeon 7200 with it. I hooked up the floppy power connector, and turned on my computer.

Windows 98SE...

Pros: Ridiculously fast. Amazing image quality.
Cons: A little pricey.

The System

The system in which I put my Radeon 9700 Pro I built from scratch, so no drivers had to be uninstalled or hardware removed and replaced. It is an Intel P4 2.4Ghz, on a Soyo 4x400 Dragon Ultra motherboard with 1GB of DDR333...

Pros: The best performance that money can buy (as of March 2003)
Cons: STEEP price, compared to the 9500 Pro

The 9700 Pro is the best graphics card (overall) that consumers can get their hands on as of March 2003.

It's older rival, the Ti-4600 is less in price, but also much less in performance. Frame rates are comparativly similar between both...

Pros: Awesome performance!!!
Cons: Can make a system unstable, a few game issues

The first thing I must say about this card (though it almost goes without saying) is that the performance of this card totally rocks! I upgraded from a GeForce3 Ti200, and depending on the benchmark, I'm seeing anywhere from 20-300% improvements, the...

Pros: Bragging rights. And, uhhh...thats about all.
Cons: not a big performance jump form my GeForce 4 Ti4200

I have always been a fan of nVidia graphics cards. Upon hearing of the disappointing early reviews of the new GeForce FX cards, I decided to go with the current crowned king in the market, the Radeon 9700. I had benchmarked the hell out of my GeForce 4...

Pros: it's new
Cons: nothing of concern

ati has always been known for thier all in wonder cards.
But Nothing more. a friend of mine recently purchased a readeon 9700 pro graphics card. to replace Nvidia GeForce 4 ti4200. when i got to his house to test the card out. i was very...

Pros: Extremely Fast, Smooth, Consistency,Clarity, S-Video Connection
Cons: Has a tendency to get hot under intense gaming.

I purchased the card from Best Buy. After an easy installation of about 10 minutes I was testing the performance or the Radeon 9700 to the max while playing an intense game of Unreal Tournament 2003. The graphics at high resolution are just...

Pros: Powerful, 8x compatible, 9.0 DirectX compatible.
Cons: Too much $$$ for what you get.

The ATI RADEON 9700 PRO,

Ill start of saying "Great Card".
Just wish the price wasn't so high. I purchased the ATI RADEON 9700 PRO to replace my Geforce 4 Ti4200 128Meg card. However upgrading to what I had to place it in wasn't a...