ATI 9600 PRO recommendation

[IanPC]

I've just upgraded from a GeForce MX420 to a Sapphire Radeon 9600 PRO, and can only suggest that if you're thinking of getting one then go ahead - you should be very happy with it. Choosing the card wasn't easy though. I knew it was generally recommended, but was still concerned about various ATI 'issues' and negative comments made on the forums. And when I first tried it out with the out-of-date drivers supplied on the installation disk, I thought I'd made a huge mistake. FS2004 looked worse, not better. Then I downloaded the Catalyst 3.9 drivers from the ATI site and the situation was transformed. The image was pin sharp, with absolutely no shimmering or flickering. The new graphic controls seem easier to use as well.

I've gained a significant rise in frame rates (5 to 10), even with the card settings on optimal quality. I left my FS2004 settings more or less as they were (medium high), but can run more AI traffic now and use reflections without the whole thing coming to a stuttering halt. Many of the improvements seem quite subtle - everything just seems to look that much better.

I hope this helps someone with their decision. Don't expect miracles, especially if like me you've only got mid-range processing power, and be sure to uninstall all the old Nvidia drivers first (I used Driver Cleaner), but this card and these drivers seem to work a treat.

Ian

Athlon XP2000+ (1.67GHz)
512 MB RAM
Sapphire Radeon 9600PRO
Windows XP

[Qballbandit]

I am using the 9600 pro as well, switched from a GeForce TI4200. The graphics quality is much better imho! However, when I tried the CAT 3.9 drivers I had many problems with re-draws in FS2002. Meaning, switching views, switching from menues back to sim & vice-versa. These operations took abnormally long, redrawing the whole screen each time a switch was made. I didn't understand why this was happening, nor did I like it, so I rolled back to my older drivers.
FYI, I do use driver cleaner before all new installs....hmmmmmm??? :7

AMD Athlon XP3000+
ASUS A7N8X nvidia nforce2 mobo
ATI Radeon 9600 pro, 128mb
512 PC3200 ddr
WINXP Pro

http://www.flightsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3f295fda5ad61e56.jpg