Connect3D Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB

I really like the Connect3D Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB card. It’s a much better performer in DirectX 9 games, like Tron 2.0, compared to the FX5600 (non-ultra) that I have been using and the visual quality is also clearly better: The antialiasing is smoother and the distant textures are crisper, thanks to 16x anisotropic filtering. I’ll be discussing that in more detail later.

This appears to be a standard ATI "reference" card, so you know it’s well-built. The Radeon 9600 chip is aimed directly at gamers on a budget. (You should be able to find one of these for $150-$170 on-line.) NewEgg.com has it for $152 right now, with free shipping. That’s a great value, in my opinion.

The Connect3D packaging is low-key and classy, unlike the boxes that most of the other 3D cards out there are shipped in.

There are no screen shots, even on the back. There’s plenty of text though: The product specifications, an overview, list after list of features, and system requirements are all printed on the back of the box. As a technical person, I find this a refreshing change from the more common video card box, with scantily clad female warriors and/or monsters on the front and precious little useful info on the back.

• Quad-Pipe architecture delivers real-time cinematic rendering and animation SMARTSHADER™ 2.0 technology supports Microsoft® DirectX® 9 feature sets, enabling more complex and cinematic-quality lighting effects
• SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1 technology delivers the sharpest, clearest textures without sacrificing frame rates
• 128-bit full floating point precision enables billions of color variations to render the same lighting and effects as Hollywood studios
• Full AGP 8X support doubles available bandwidth for the most engaging gameplay in its class Microsoft® DirectX® 9 support
• Enjoy better performance and 3D imagery in multimedia, games and applications with Microsoft® DirectX® 9 optimized architecture
• Also supporting the latest OpenGL® functionality and feature sets
• Optimized to run the most demanding 2D and 3D next-generation games and applications without putting extra strain on the CPU
• FULLSTREAM™ removes blocky artifacts from streaming Internet video to deliver smoother looking, higher quality online content

Here’s a link to the full feature list.

Please note the "Quad-Pipe architecture" at the top of the list, this card only has 4 pipelines, just like the FX5600 (depending on how you count; NVIDIA’s current chips no longer have a traditional pipeline rendering system). Most of ATI’s other high-end chips have 8 pipelines, even the 9500 series. The Radeon 9600 Pro is built on a faster chip process with smaller geometries compared to all the other 8-pipeline models.

Specifications

• Intel® Pentium® 4/III/II/Celeron™, AMD® K6/Duron™/Athlon®/Athlon XP® or compatible with AGP 4X (1.5V), 8X (0.8v) or Universal AGP 3.0 bus configuration (4X/8X).
• 128MB of system memory
• Installation software requires CD-ROM drive

• RADEON™ 9600 PRO Visual Processing Unit (VPU)
• 128MB of double data rate SDRAM
• DVI-I connector for digital flat panel 2
• Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays

The Connect3D package is Spartan, that is, a no-frills affair. You get the board, a driver disk, an installation guide, a DVI to VGA adapter, an RCA video extension cable, and an S-Video to RCA adapter plug. That’s it, no games, no DVD playing software, or anything. What you do get is a good price. So this is a great board for those of you who would rather not pay (a little extra) for software you’ll never use.