Build Advice 9600GT vs 9600 GSO, advice on which should I get?

Ok i've been looking at these two cards as i am looking to upgrade my current card. I can't make a decision on which is better though, i have a feeling the 9600GT is a better model with newer Gddr3 memory instead of the old gddr2 and a faster GPU and Shader clock speed, but theres some variances i'm not sure on so i could do with a helpful second opinion.

Heres the comparison chart screen capture:



Any help/advice would be great, thanks for your time.

 

The 9600 GSO would be better as it has a greater amount of stream processors. However you'd be better with something like an HD4850 as those two cards are pretty low end these days.

 

+1 Sh0cKeR. Both cards are a bit dated, but the GSO just takes it.

 

Wait for two weeks; tomorrow starts the presentation week of the new generation of ATI, and the prices should take a slow and a rather decisive dive.

 

yeah i was just taking a look at the HD4850, lowest i've seen so far is about £80 and some go up to about £130+, i've just had a look at the specs and it looks pretty awesome. And i hope they do go down, i'm in no real rush so i don't mind waiting around a bit. thanks for the help!

 

If you're looking at the HD4XXX series, I've got a 1gb HD4870 and it's a fantastic piece of kit. The 4890 is apparently very good (although I've seen some mixed reviews in comparison to the 4870), and you've always got the crossfire option if the prices do come tumbling down when the next gen is released.

 

The prices will have a slower decline because of the manufacturing problems at TSMC; however I think, that till winter we are going to finally draw a breath what decent graphic is concerned.

The real shock is going to be the price of the dual Nvidia "395" Geforce. Better to order an oxygen tank before looking at that price.

 

Agreed. I think the price tag on the 395 should force you to consult your doctor first if you have any heart problems.

 

well, as far as I know are the doctors quite costly (in the States) and the Medicare is less reliable then a veterinary. (later is not cheap either)

 

No one seems to have spotted that the 9600GSO is DDR2, the 9600GT is the better choice with DDR3

 

Memory type is not whats making the impact, its the amount of stream processors. The gtx 260 for example, when it went up to 216 cores its fps jumped by about 5fps across the board so you can see how that would effect the 9600 GSO ( main problem with the 9600 was its small amount of SP's ).

 

Wow, lots of ignorance there.

You can't compare the GSO vs. GT to the bump in stream processors given to the GTX 260, because both revisions of the GTX 260 used GDDR3 and everything else stayed the same. It doesn't matter that the GSO has more stream processors in this case because it is hamstrung by the fact it uses GDDR2, so that will always be the bottleneck no matter how many stream processors it had. I'd take a card that which uses GDDR3 over one with fewer stream processors and more GDDR2 memory any day. If the GSO in question was the 384MB GDDR3 version (which is basically a re-badged 8800GS) then it would probably be a bit closer, but that's not the case here.

What's more is that it seems you haven't even bothered to look at any reviews or comparisons of the two cards, because if you did you'd see that the 9600GT comes out on top in almost every one. Take a look at this review, which shows they're pretty close but the GT comes out on top in every test by as much as 10%. Of particular note is the high quality AA/AF benchmarks, where the added bandwidth provided by the GDDR3 memory really shows.

 

Can you even GET 9600GSO cards any more?

XFX 9600GT on special from Scan - £56.

Check the "Today Only" page.

 

There was a Gddr3 Gso model so I'd get that then.

 

Linky

9600GT > 9600GSO.

 

The 9600GSO DDR3 96SP version is basically an 8800GS, that is in fact better than the 9600GT in lower reses.

Once it hit higher resolutions though the GSO bleeds.

 

CPC have reccomended the GSO for folding since the stream processors give it an edge but in games the GT beats it easily - so what do you wanna do - Folding or Games?

 

You're going to send this poor guy to Bedlam!! Are you producing posts or writing help?

Buy a GTX 260! Or a Radeon 4870. The prices are going down, and the cards are awesome in every respect!!

 

True, but he wanted this specifically.

I'd go for the Cheapest HD4850 or cheapest 9800GT.

 

yeah the GSO is a better card with all that loverly DDR 2 ram on it