ATI Radeon 9700 PRO Video Card Review

Supplied by ati

Grabbing for the Crown.

The consumer has a confusing and often difficult choice when it comes to the
purchase of a new graphics accelerator. The decision is most likely based on
what options are available at the budget afforded. Lurking in the store are
boxes lining the shelves emblazoned with aggressive, eye-catching graphics and
the promise of unleashing the power within. An on-line visit to a pc dealer
will reveal anywhere from 10 to 100 choices of graphics accelerator ranging
in price from $25 to $1000. How is a person to choose?

Buying a graphics accelerator can be similar to buying a new car. There is
the excitement of that first drive and the satisfaction of a shiny new car in
the driveway but before that is the painstaking research, never-ending questions
and the negotiations with yourself or others to arrive at a decision that can
be lived with.

If money were no object the solution would be simple. Of course if you buy
the best and the fastest it will be that way for only a short amount of time.

Until the competition bids for the crown.

They’re storming the walls.

If ATI and the 9700 PRO currently hold the proverbial crown of consumer graphics
accelerators then NVIDIA is at the gates with the battering rams. These two
are akin to boxing opponents where round after round is traded. Just when the
fight is thought to be over…it isn’t.

Look back over the years and there were actually 4 big players grasping for
the crown: ATI, NVIDIA, 3DFX and, believe it or not, Matrox. It isn’t as important
at this moment who held the crown but how the crown was retained or lost.

It’s a step and rise game.

As one competitor significantly “steps” up the performance the other
counters with a “rise” and this rise goes on for a while each flushes
out the various models and drivers until one or the other “steps”
it up again. This “step and rise” is becoming more subtle of late
as the product cycles become tighter and the performance increases are smaller.

And the step and rise changes across the benchmarks. The gap between the front
runners may be only points or frames at 640×480 but a completely different story
at 1600 x 1200. One may be plagued by poor driver support and the other haunted
by an quirk of programming.

No wonder the consumer can get confused. If the best must be had then go to
10 different PC stores and 10 different websites and ask for the best and fastest
gaming card there is. Take the one recommended most often and buy it no matter
the cost and go home happy now that you have the best…for a matter of a month
or two.

The last “step” came with the GEFORCE4 series and ATI countered for
the rise. ATI “stepped” first the next time with the 9700 PRO and,
in case you haven’t heard, NVIDIA is going to counter with the NV30 otherwise
known as the GEFORCE FX.

The whole point to this dreary story is two words which I’d like to borrow
from a favorite author, Douglas Adams, and those are:

“Don’t Panic”

And that’s what should not be done. Panicking can lead to all sorts of awful
things such as war, driving erratically and stubbed toes.

“Don’t Panic”

The art of selling a graphics accelerator is as complicated as designing it.
The object of the manufacturer is to make the consumer think that if they don’t
have their product then they are falling behind and outdated. Games will suddenly
stop running and others will leap ahead enjoying computers in ways you’ll never
see. There are a tremendous amount of enthusiasts who lurch through our forums
happily squeezing on game play triggers with their RADEON 7500’s, GEFORCE 3’s,
Ti500’s, 8500’s, 4600’s and the like.

Unless you are desperately holding onto a video card from a now bankrupt and
forgotten company sporting a dismal 2MB of memory and a whopping 16 colors then
I assure you that you aren’t going to spontaneously burst into flames. However,
I remind you that the longer you hang onto that “ancient” video card
the more risk you run of getting singed. ATI would love it if consumers tossed
their Ti200’s, 500’s and 4600’s and raced out to purchase the ATI 9000 or 9700.
NVIDIA hopes you’ll do the same as they bring the NV30 guns to bear.

May I interject that it wasn’t too long ago that the Ti4600 was the envy of
the world and now it’s the 9700. Get used to the “step and rise” of
performance and don’t get caught up in the “have or die” marketing
machine.

Take satisfaction if you bought the ATI 9700 PRO as you currently have the
gaming king. It’s also pretty safe to say that you are the envy of everyone
else but soon, perhaps, you’ll be in the ranks of the aforementioned.

Sad isn’t it.

But take heart brave fellows or courageous ladies and let’s look to the gaming
king, the ATI 9700 PRO, and see if it will keep you happy for a time. After
all…in six months when you are 10 or 12 frames per second behind the leader…will
it kill you?

The ATI 9700 PRO

The “cut and paste” from the ATI website.

At-a-glance

• Fastest* 3D gaming performance with next-generation VPU architecture
• Complete DirectX® 9.0 support for unprecedented realism and sophisticated
  visual effects
• SMOOTHVISION™ 2.0 technology provides new levels of image quality
  with advanced full-scene anti-aliasing (FSAA) and anisotropic filtering
• Revolutionary new video features including VIDEOSHADER™ and FULLSTREAM™
  technologies
• Featuring CATALYST™ – ATI’s industry-leading software suite with frequently
  scheduled free updates providing additional features and performance over
  the product’s lifetime

features

• Fastest* 3D Gaming Performance 128MB DDR memory accelerates the latest 3D
  games
• 256-bit memory interface removes hardware performance bottleneck and provides
  end users with faster 3D graphics
• Industry’s first 8-pixel pipeline architecture, providing twice the rendering
  power of any currently competing product.
• Supports the new AGP 8X standard, providing a high-speed link between the
  graphics board and the rest of the PC (2.0 GB/sec)

Highest Level of Realism

• First to fully support DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
• New SMARTSHADER™ 2.0 technology allows users to experience complex,
  movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
• SMOOTHVISION™ 2.0 technology enhances image quality by removing jagged
  edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising performance
• 128-bit floating-point color precision allows for a greater range of colors
  and brightness

Revolutionary New Video Features

• Unique VIDEOSHADER™ engine uses programmable pixel shaders to accelerate
  video processing and provide better-looking visuals
• ATI’s new FULLSTREAM™ technology removes blocky artifacts from Streaming
  and Internet video and provides sharper image quality

Only Products Designed and Built By ATI Offer:

• Hassle-free manufacturers warranty
• Responsive and knowledgeable Customer Service Team
• Extensive online user resources and updates through ATI.com
• Feature-rich, frequently updated, ATI designed CATALYST™ software

specifications

System Requirements

• RADEON 9700 PRO requires connection to your PC’s internal power supply for
  operation. Consult your system builder or OEM to ensure your system has an
  adequate power supply. Otherwise ATI recommends a 300 watt power supply or
  greater to ensure normal system operation where a number of other internal
  devices are installed.
• Intel® Pentium® 4/III/II/Celeron™, AMD® K6/Duron™/Athlon®/Athlon
  XP® or compatible with AGP 2X (3.3v), 4X (1.5V), 8X (0.8v) or Universal
  AGP 3.0 bus configuration (2X/4X/8X).
• 128MB of system memory
• Installation software requires CD-ROM drive
• DVD playback requires DVD drive

Graphics Technology

• RADEON™ 9700 PRO Visual Processing Unit (VPU)

Memory Configuration

• 128MB of double data rate SDRAM

Operating Systems Support

• Windows® XP
• Windows® 2000
• Windows® Me

Display Support

• VGA connector for analog CRT
• S-video or composite connector for TV / VCR
• DVI-I connector for digital CRT or flat panel
• Independent resolutions and refresh rates for any two connected displays

Features

• Eight parallel rendering pipelines
• Four parallel geometry engines
• 256-bit DDR memory interface
• AGP 8X support
• SMARTSHADER™ 2.0
  • Programmable pixel and vertex shaders
  • 16 textures per pass
  • Pixel shaders up to 160 instructions with 128-bit floating point precision
  • Vertex shaders up to 1024 instructions with flow control
  • Multiple render target support
  • Shadow volume rendering acceleration
  • High precision 10-bit per channel frame buffer support
  • Supports DirectX® 9.0 and the latest version of OpenGL
• SMOOTHVISION™ 2.0
  • 2x/4x/6x full scene anti-aliasing modes
  • Adaptive algorithm with programmable sample patterns
  • 2x/4x/8x/16x anisotropic filtering modes
  • Adaptive algorithm with bi-linear (performance) and tri-linear (quality)
    options
• HYPER Z™ III
  • 3-level Hierarchical Z-Buffer with early Z test
  • Lossless Z-Buffer compression (up to 24:1)
  • Fast Z-Buffer Clear
• TRUFORM™ 2.0
  • 2nd generation N-Patch higher order surface support
  • Discrete and continuous tessellation levels per polygon
  • Displacement mapping
• VIDEOSHADER™
  • Seamless integration of pixel shaders with video
  • FULLSTREAM™ video de-blocking technology
  • Noise removal filtering for captured video
• MPEG-2 decoding with motion compensation, iDCT and color space conversion
• All-format DTV/HDTV decoding
• YPrPb component output
• Adaptive de-interlacing and frame rate conversion
• Dual integrated display controllers
• Dual integrated 10-bit per channel 400 MHz DACs
• Integrated 165 MHz TMDS transmitter (DVI 1.0 compliant)
• Integrated TV Output support up to 1024×768 resolution
• Optimized for Pentium® 4 SSE2 and AMD Athlon™ 3Dnow!
• PC 2002 compliant

Warranty

• 3-year limited warranty

Mode Tables

2D DISPLAY MODES

Resolutions, colors and maximum refresh rates (Hz) in 256, 65K
or 16.7M colors

Monitor Resolution	Hz
640×480	120
800×600	120
1024×768	120
1152×864	120
1280×1024	120
1600×1200	85
1920×1080* 16:9	75
1920×1200	75
1920×1440	75
2048×1536	60

*16:9 aspect ratio monitors are supported on 1920×1080 and 848×480 on Windows®
XP, Windows® 2000 and Winpows® ME. The complete list of resolutions
depends on the driver version and operating system. NOTE: that resolutions are
limited by the performance of the attatched monitor.

MAXIMUM 3D RESOLUTIONS

(with 128MB Frame Buffer)

65K colors	2048×1536
16.7M colors	2048×1536

The short ends of the long explanations

Dig past the technical jargon and The ATI 9700 PRO provides a very strong platform
for current software and hardware demands and the promise of keeping pace with
future demands. The 9700 PRO is one of the first to fully support the AGP 8x
standard. Though the difference between AGP 4x and 8x has been shown to be very
small as far as raw performance benchmarks it is the ability of the AGP bus
to handle more data that is important. As game demands increase so should the
ability of the hardware to match.

The Matrox Parhelia made it’s bid for the crown with near 20 GB/sec memory
bandwidth and now the 9700 PRO has effectively cut that off with 20 GB/sec.
The 9700 PRO has been designed to support the next-generation DDR-II memory
technology and ATI claims this will provide a 50% increase in memory performance.
This does not mean that the ATI 9700 PRO will be 50% faster…just, theoretically,
50% more efficient in memory performance only.

The Vertex Processing Engine has been re-engineered, revamped, rebuilt and
a whole bunch more complex phrases that I don’t pretend to understand resulting
in a better image in such applications as gaming.

The 3D render engine is the first to be able to render up to 8 pixels simultaneously.
It also renders up to 16 textures in a single rendering pass in either one,
two or three dimensions with bilinear, trilinear or anistropic filtering applied.

The Video Processing Engine features the new VIDEOSHADER technology which,
in a nutshell, can clean up digitzed video to an extent improving the overall
image clarity of degraded, lesser quality digital video.

The Display Interface features two 400 MHz DACs (Digital Analog Converters)
for higher resolution images (a larger desktop resolution at a higher refresh
rate) and TV output capable of resolutions up to 1024×768.

Smartshader 2.0, Smoothvision 2.0 and Truform 2.0 are the logical progressions
of the first Smartshader and Smoothvision that Icrontic first covered with the
ATI
All in Wonder Radeon 8500 128 MB review. A very simplified explanation would
be that Smartshader allows for a better looking game without the huge performance
it. It allows for more complex effects without requiring the memory bandwidth
normally required by multi-pass rendering. By reducing the need for multi-pass
rendering the performance takes less of a hit with more complicated effects.
Smoothvision was a work in progress at the time of the AIW review and it’s affect
on a game is subtle but essentially it “smooths” out the jaggies.
One other effect that Smoothvision can have is to reduce the artifacts in a
game. Truform 2.0 has its most notable effect on characters in games making
them less “blocky” when Truform is enabled. It also does much more
including the support of displacement mapping which provides more control over
surface detail.

Hyper Z III is a buffer on the video card which information pertaining to the
distance objects are from the viewpoint. This information can create bottlenecks
thus slowing down the performance. The Hyper Z III technology streamlines this
process by 1) dealing with visible only information in the scene 2) compressing
data sent to the Hyper Z III buffer (smaller is better) and 3) clearing the
buffer more effectively and faster in preparation for the next frame of video.

Videoshader technology simplified to the basics is making a digital image less
blocky, have less noise and an enhanced TV or DVD image. This technology may
not make all images (moving or still) better but it may offer an improvement
in some downloaded low rez movies or images off the web.

The following images represent the how an image or video file could be “cleaned
up” in various ways from removing the blockiness…

To reducing grain…

To de-interlacing the video from a source such as DVD movies.

Visit the ATI Website and the 9700
PRO interactive demo for a complete and informative presentation. I highly
recommend it.

The 9700 PRO in your hands

Actually the first thing in your hands will be the box.

Out of that you’ll pull The 9700 PRO which is a longer card. All the newer
cards are longer and that’s why a lot of reviewers are mentioning DIMM problems
with motherboards. More than likely the card will extend to partially block
the memory module lifters in DIMM 1 and 2. Who will budge first for design:
video card maker or motherboard maker? Hard to tell.

On the previous image there is a plate which allegedly helps with heat dissipation.

The 9700 PRO comes with a larger but less aggressive looking GPU heatsink than
the competition.

The 9700 PRO comes with a DVI, SVGA and SVIDEO connector. The 9700 PRO supports
the secondary monitor (via the SVGA port) with a good quality image but it’s
odd that ATI didn’t choose dual DVI ports. It would make sense for those of
us who could afford two DFP monitors…not me…but there must be a few out
there.

But again those words ring out “Don’t Panic!” as ATI includes a DVI
to SVGA converter. For those of you with two digital flat panels…maybe “Don’t
Panic Loudly” would be in order.

And along with that comes an SVIDEO cable, the RCA cable and an SVIDEO to RCA
patch that I stupidly misplaced at the time of shooting…but trust me…it’s
there. It’s to port the picture to a television monitor.

And of course there is the manual which is rather “thin”
for words…approximately 20 pages of each language.

And the all important driver CD.

Step into the future

The ATI 9700 PRO is the first video card to support Microsoft’s DX9.0 and ATI
has even released its first set of Catalyst drivers. The only major difference
between the supplied drivers with the retail 9700 PRO and the new DX9.0 drivers
is the inclusion of the SMARTGART tab. SMARTGART is a software tool that automatically
adjusts the settings of the video card for maximum stability. The settings are
also adjust dynamically. For more information please read the ATI
SMARTGART FAQ.

Is SMARTGART worth it? To those who strive for stability and just like to sit
down and use their computer SMARTGART may be a good thing but for the tweakers
who like to constantly tweak and fiddle with their settings SMARTGART may prove
to be more intrusive than necessary. SMARTGART cannot be turned off but it can
be removed. I image that ATI will listen to the tweakers and may include and
on/off setting in future driver releases.

DX9.0, and a few other video card makers fling around words like “cinematic
quality”, “stunning new graphics” and “superior image quality
and effects” but should someone rush out and buy a card that supports DX9.0?
To tell the truth DX9 games won’t be available for some time…perhaps well
into 2003 but that doesn’t mean that the DX9.0 equation shouldn’t be a factor
in a purchasing decision. It’s a good move to not spend hard earned cash on
a soon to be obsolete product.

Remember that software and hardware work hand in hand to an extent. As the
hardware capabilities increase thus does the freedom of the game designers.
As the game designers up the notch on the demands placed on the hardware the
manufacturers respond with newer and better product. It’s a circle of evolution
where it’s uncertain which came first…the hardware or the software. The more
people who want to play newer and more life-like games the more demand there
is for newer hardware…and better. We may get the enjoyment from the game play
but the software and hardware manufacturers get the enjoyment from our pocketbooks.

Just imagine a world that has the potential of looking like
this.

Or like this

And this.

It is absolutely crucial that you remember that hardware and software work
hand in hand. Think of it like a race car which is the hardware and the driver
being the software. The newest and fastest race car won’t win if the driver
is a novice. Conversely a race car that ranks in the top 2 or 3 may win the
race if driven by a professional. The game cannot do what it isn’t designed
to do and the newest and latest hardware won’t make a poor quality game much
better visually.

The question is to upgrade to the absolute best or the second best or should
a buyer wait for “what they have heard is coming” in a few months?
How many “steps” or jumps in technology determines how much of a more
pleasurable experience you’ll have. For example…if you are still working with
a 256 color video card with no 3D capabilities the jump to one of the top 3
cards will be night and day. If you are upgrading for last month’s model to
this months model to gain the extra 10 frames a second…well then your pocketbook
will answer that question.

The 9700 PRO may soon fall victim to being “number two” but does
that make it old technology? Will a user miss out on an exciting new world of
computer power and gaming visuals? No. If anything the consumer will gain by
the competition. Competition may produce lower prices and this years top of
the line model that absolutely everyone is thrilled with may become more affordable.
This only benefits the buyer as ATI has built a powerful, somewhat future resistant
graphics accelerator with the 9700 PRO.

In the driver’s seat

And now a look through the driver set.

The SMARTGART tab revealed. So what’s different? If SMARTGART
automatically adjust the settings dynamically then we may assume that it will
adjust the video card settings to the “best” stability settings balanced
against the options available to you via the SMARTGART interface.

In the monitor profiles tab the choice is given to a user to override
the DirectX refresh rate. ATI is looking at including the same for the OPENGL
refresh rate though ATI does recommend setting it to SAME AS DESKTOP.

The test systems and benchmarks

System 1: ABIT AT7 Max 2

• AMD 2100+ XP Processor
• ABIT AT7 Max2 Motherboard
• 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 7200 RPM HDD
• ATI 9700 PRO Video Card 2.3 Catalyst Drivers
• 2 x 512 MB Micron PC2100 RAM
• Sony 52x CD LG 32x10x40x CDRW
• 2 x Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical
  Mouse
• Globalwin WBK 38 HSF
• Koolcases Panther PC case
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional SP1

System 2: Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW+(Dual 2100+
MP)

• 2 x AMD 2100+ MP Palomino Processors
• AMD 2100+ XP Thoroughbred Processor
• Gigabyte GA-7DPXDW+ Motherboard (version P)
• 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 7200 RPM HDD
• 2 x 60 GB Maxtor ATA133 7200 RPM HDD
• Matrox Parhelia 512 video card in single head
  mode* 1.01.00 driver
• 4 x 256 Crucial Reg ECC
• LG 32x10x40x CDRW
• 16 x DVD
• 2 x Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical
  Mouse
• 2 x Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000 modded PC case (window, fans, cables,
  loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional SP1
• Digital Doc5

System 3: ABIT AT7 Max

• AMD 2100+ XP Processor
• 40 GB Maxtor ATA133 7200 RPM HDD
• ABIT AT7 motherboard
• Matrox Parhelia 512 video card in single head
  mode* 1.01.00 driver
• 2 x 512 MB Micron PC2100 RAM
• Sony 52x CD
• LG 32x10x40x CDRW
• 16 x DVD
• 2 x Samsung 950p 19″ Monitors
• USB Keyboard and Logitech USB wireless Optical
  Mouse
• Globalwin CAK4-76T HSF
• AMK SX1000 modded PC case (window, fans, cables,
  loom)
• Enermax 465 Watt FC PSU
• Windows XP Professional SP1
• Digital Doc5

Programs used*:

• 
  Sisoft Sandra 2002
• MadOnion
  3DMark 2001 SE
• Quake
  III Arena
• Commanche
  4
• GL
  Excess
• Drone
  Z
• SpecviewPerf 7.0
• PS Bench
• Adobe Photoshop 7.0
• Adobe After Effects 5.5
• SoftimageXSI 2.0.1
• MediaCleaner Pro 5

*dual and triple monitors enabled for Adobe After
Effects and Softimage benchmarks only. The above benchmark programs are publicly
available. For more about Ziff Davis and the etesting labs program go
here.

Before the benchmark

Part of the following benchmarks were taken from
the AT7
Max2 review and are equally applicable here. Benchmarks are a yardstick
we use to measure performance. Not one benchmark stands above the rest as the
defacto tool. Benchmarks are useful to identify major performance problems in
a system. They can also be used to identify the impact of hardware changes on
overall system performance. This is very useful especially when combined with
the software expectations. A faster processor may deliver faster renders but
not help with a smooth GUI. A better video card may deliver a smoother interface
but won’t help if long ram previews are required. The performance enthusiast
and overclocking crowd are edging each other by a handful of points or frames.
Remember this as you look at graphs and charts. Don’t look at just “who’s
in front” but also by how much both in points/frames and cost.

3D Mark 2001 SE

The granddaddy of benchmarking tools measuring
how effectively a system can run 3D graphic applications.

Sisoft Sandra.

Look out! SMP rules the roost in Multimedia and
Arithmetic tests. Dual AMD processors do pack quite a punch don’t they.

But sadly not much of a gain in
memory bandwidth.

Code Creatures

Commanche 4

Drone Z

GL Excess

Quake III Arena

Specview Perf 7.0

The 9700 PRO is certainly the king of gaming benchmarks producing
gaming benchmarks superior to even dual processor systems which isn’t surprising
there. Dual processor systems are designed for multi-tasking rather than the
highest frames per second. What is pleasantly surprising is how SpecViewPerf
did so well with the 9700 PRO even against the dual processor system.

Overclocking, DX9 and a few words about dual monitor
performance

Overclocking is a way of life for some. It is a race and it is a way to squeeze
more performance out of a piece of hardware without paying for it. If you overclock
you do run the risk of voiding the warranty so keep that in mind as you risk
life and limb of the 9700.

We used powerstrip to take the 9700 up a few notches. For the record I stopped
before totally maxing out the card. I was a little apprehensive that I may fry
the card but the results are astounding…simply amazing.

We were able to run benchmarks at this level though the video had artifacts.

Code Creatures bumped up to 42.3 average frames per second over the non-overclocked
37 frames per second.

We ran 3DMark 2001SE comparing the Catalyst 2.3 vs. the new DX9 compliant Catalyst
2.4 drivers. DX9 was installed into the OS with the 2.4 drivers. All settings
were at default and BIOS was kept at safe default. The ATI 9700 PRO was placed
on the ABIT AT7 Max2 motherboard with video at 1024×768@75 Hz. No rejoicing
over DX9 adding anything to current system performance here but we knew it wouldn’t.

Catalyst 2.3 Drivers DX8.1 (Gaming Benchmarks only)

Catalyst 2.4 Drivers DX9 (Gaming Benchmarks only)

Just for fun we returned to the Catalyst 2.3 drivers and DX8.1 and did some
minor tuning to the BIOS making sure the system was configured properly but
not overclocked. Amazing what a little tuning will do.

Two monitors are twice the fun?

Once you go dual…you don’t go back but if you are a performance junkie will
keeping the dual monitor configuration hurt gaming performance? It won’t affect
CPU intensive applications such as rendering in Softimage or Adobe After Effects
as these applications bypass the video card during the rendering phase.

Dual monitors offer desktop real estate galore but will the gamer have to keep
switching back and forth enabling and disabling the secondary monitor.

It appears not according the 3D Mark 2001 SE except if you like gaming at 1600×1200.

Code Creatures tells pretty well the same story.

But not so according to Quake III

The moral of the story? Play what is best for you but the fact that the 9700
PRO holds near 140 frame per second with the secondary monitor enabled is nothing
to scoff at for gaming performance. If you just like to click on the desktop
icon and play…the 9700 won’t let you down…even at the higher resolutions.

Conclusion

If there is a one thing that I have learned from all of the reviews is that
readers want the easy answers. There really isn’t a simple answer when it comes
to properly choosing a new hardware component. Answers depend on your questions
but I’ll do my best to make it easy nonetheless.

The ATI 9700 PRO is one of the best video cards I’ve ever laid my hands on.
It also isn’t cheap. Expect to shell out over $300 USD or very close to $600
CAD. It will definitely dent the pocketbook.

The ATI 9700 PRO has some longevity with its DX9 and DDR II future. Remember
that it is the software and hardware that make the game or application. One
by itself won’t do it all. While DX9 and DDR II memory are just beginning to
surface the ATI 9700 PRO should be able to meet the demands and not leave you
standing at the back of the outdated line.

We were impressed with image clarity and quality in both single and dual monitor
configuration and ATI continues to deliver very good quality desktop quality.
The only feature I did not truly explore was feeding the desktop to a TV. In
Icrontic’s review of the ATI AIW Radeon 8500 this was the biggest fault and
truly unacceptable. I’m not confident that ATI has made leaps and bounds in
this area but we’ll update you as we run future tests in this area.

Should a consumer worry or be concerned about future graphics accelerator announcements
and products currently or in the early part of next year. No. The ATI 9700 PRO
should prove to be a formidable challenger in application and gaming performance
and it won’t leave the video card arena without a fight. If anything the introduction
of new competition may drive prices down. ATI also is working hard to bring
the visuals of DX9 to the 9700.

ATI driver support has nearly shed their recently marred past and in our benchmark
tests there were no faults. The card performed magnificently. Catalyst driver
support makes it very easy to adjust the performance vs. quality controls and
“dial in” a game to a balance between image quality and playable performance.

Personally I wish I had two. One to benchmark with and the other to put into
my workstation for full time use. I’ve always been a Matrox fan for what I do.
I’m not an avid gamer and I use my systems to work. Matrox has always excelled
in this area but, and I hate to say this, the 9700 PRO made me think…and I’m
still thinking.

The competition has indeed trumpeted their new arrival quite loudly with all
the same rhetoric that they are claiming not to have. Could the ATI 9700 PRO
lose the crown? Time will tell but for now…why not own the king. Royalty lasts.

Adding up the score.

Handing out scores is getting tougher. The bubble needs to burst and the clock
needs to be reset. There are far too many 9/10’s and 4.5/5’s being handing out.
But the truth is that the ATI 9700 deserves a 5 out of 5 for performance in
both games and applications. For plug and play the ATI 9700 PRO makes it simple
and simple is what 95% of the buyers want. Put it in, turn it on, install the
drivers and away you go. For that reason the manual does not need to be very
extensive.

But we in the niche love to know how it all works and how to change it. We
want to get free stuff. Who doesn’t? For those squeezing out the bleeding edge
of performance we’d like to have more and that’s a pretty darn greedy request.
Buy a Radeon 9700 PRO now and you’ll get THE best gaming card on the market…and
that’s it. No bundled games, extensive manual or freebies. It’s just human nature
that if a lot of money is shelled out for the best then why not throw in a really
cool game or two? The performance junkies and gaming gurus are the ones buying
this card and they want to play. ATI should devote a little bit more to teaching
them how to squeeze even more out of the card both in raw numbers and gaming
enjoyment. It would only strengthen the ATI name.

In the grand scheme of things these words are mere pebbles against the wall
of the consumer market. ATI researches their buying market well and should be
given a standing ovation for the 9700 PRO. I can’t give it a perfect score as
there just isn’t a perfect piece of hardware and a 4.5 out of 5 just doesn’t
seem good enough.

What it definitely does have is a standing ovation from me. If ATI knocks a
few more bucks off the price tag then many will be dancing in the aisle.

Our thanks AMD and
ABIT
for giving us the horsepower and platform and to ATI
for the pleasure of working with the 9700
PRO.