which make of 9600 GT to buy ?

[codesuperking]

Hello ppl,

I am new to digit forum. Pls help me out. I am planning to buy a 9600 GT 512 MB gfx card keeping in my mind attractive prices they are available at.

I am unable to decide of which manufacturer should I buy amongst the following:
1. MSI
2. XFX
3. EVGA (I havent heard much about this)
4. Palit

MSI 9600 GT 512 is available at a fantastic price of Rs. 8900 in Nehru Place Delhi. However It is a dual slot card that will block the other PCIe slot.

My request: Please help me select a card by listing some pros and cons of each make.

[praka123]

EVGA-best option

[SunnyChahal]

Msi,imo

[Pathik]

Evga

[dOm1naTOr]

EVGA is the best brand, that just began to appear in India market. Its the best brand in western countries.

MSI is the best choice other than EVGA, coz XFX these days are notorious for its HOT nature and MSI is all day better than palit's normal models.
Besides that, MSI is the cheapest one and is a well reputed brand nd MSI 8800GT are selling like hot cakes.go for MSI 9600GT

[desiibond]

1) go for a card that comes with zalman cooler and GDDR
2) stay away from XFX. they are hot microwave oven's
3) look for support options too. if you pick two manufacturers, go for the one that has better support infrastructure.

[ancientrites]

leadtek 9600 gt zl ( zalman edition)
or
zebronics 9600 gt ----->one of my friend owns this

[desiibond]

^^ both are average cards and not worth the money.

[dOm1naTOr]

hey, Leadtek is a gud brand, nd the one with Zalman cooler ll rock.

[Pathik]

+1. Even the Palit 9600GT Sonic is good.

[nish_higher]

+1 for palit
2nd option-asus,msi

[MetalheadGautham]

talking aboout 9600GTs, can someone mind telling the cost of similar performing 9600GTs and HD3870 ?

[dOm1naTOr]

Asus is onr of the most expensive ones.
palit Sonic are factory oced and beats most other med factory oc models and dun cost a bomb. And also Sonic ones have gud coolers.
EVGA Superclocked or KO models are also gud, though sonic seems to be better option.

[Cool G5]

+1 for palit.
Guys doesn't gigabyte has 9600 gt?

[mayanksharma]

+1 for Palit Sonic+ model. (U'll be lucky, if u get one! ) As for Sonic model....usual run of the mill product!
Ok, imo...going for XFX 9600GT XXX model should be a nice choice! Nice onboard cooling and amazing clocks! Plus, the card's performance is exceptional! I can confirm the price, if u want.

[nish_higher]

sonic model available almost everywhere
http://www.theitwares.com/gfxcards/gfxcards.htm
and at lynx too

[mayanksharma]

^^aah...i mentioned Sonic+ !!

[nish_higher]

oh..but that too should be available with them

[codesuperking]

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses. Some questions again:
1. Compare between active cooled vs passive cooled gfx cards in terms of performance and overclockability ? which one's better ?
2. The dual slot card will block the 2nd PCI-E slot. How important will be this slot in future upgrades ? I mean if later on I decide to add a sound card or a wifi card I can add in PCI slots. Also my mobo supports xfire.
3. Many cards are available in OC and non-OC versions.Any opinions on them ?
4. I have heard that ATi is coming out with HD3830 a mid range offering between HD3850 and HD 3870 in coming months. Can you confirm ? I expect its prices to be around 9600 GT and this perhaps will make xfire setups attractive. What do u say ?

[dOm1naTOr]

HD 4xx is gonna launched this june and seems much promising. The single gpu HD 4870 which will replace HD 3870 even beats current HD 3870 X2.
So waiting is worth as the card which will replace HD 3850 [probaly 4850] will be atlest as powerful as an HD 3870 X2.

[MetalheadGautham]

Sorry to interrupt, but whats the difference between the costs of 9600GT 512 MB GDDR4 and HD3870 512 MB GDDR4 ?

[dOm1naTOr]

9600GT comes with GDDR3, while HD3870 comes with GDDR4. HD 3870 is around 12k and 9600GT comes for 9~10k.
Actually HD 3870 is supposed to be much cheaper, but the international price cuts dun seems to reflect in Indian market. In newegg, now its for as low as 150$, which is mere 6k!!!
If u gonna buy from India market, then nvidia seems to have beter bang for the buck due to wide availability.

[redtiger]

Go for MSi 9600gt t2d 512mb DDR3 ,and good cooling system on it.

I can't comment on other because i dont have it.

Dont go for PALIT ,shopkeeper says there is problem in warranty related issue.

[codesuperking]

Friends,
After going through innumerous reviews at anandtech,tomshardware,hardocp and legitreviews I feel all 9600 GT cards having marginal performance difference. I have created my personal list with their prices being in shouting distance of each other. These are:
1. EVGA 9600 GT 512 MB KO
2. Palit Sonic 9600 GT 512 MB
3. MSI N9600 GT OC 512 MB

I am willing to sacrifice extra PCI-E slot in exchange for better cooling if possible.
The biggest factor in choosing one over other would be the temperatures. I went through the temps. provided by HardOCP and they are given below for each card. The results show MSI to have the best cooling solution. I expected Palit to have a good temp. reading but it surprisingly is very hot - 70C at full load for memory

All temps in centigrades
Idle Load
EVGA 49C 63C
Palit
GPU 43C 60C
Back of GPU 48C 67C
Memory 47C 70C
MSI
GPU 42C 59C
Back of GPU 39C 53C
Memory 42C 59C

here are the links:
EVGA
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...VudGh1c2lhc3Q=
MSI
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==
Palit
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==

What do u advise ?

[depolo08]

^^ What are the prices of those 3?

[redtiger]

I am getting 47 degree celsius,on playing Dawn of war:dark crusades at High

setting turned on.

[codesuperking]

@depolo8
you can check out the site for prices.
http://www.theitwares.com