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Image Quality
3D image quality was excellent, on par with the best ATi has to offer. 2D image quality wasn't too shabby either, and even at 1600x1200 on a 19" Trinitron, text is fairly clear, though it is tiny. To test the 2D quality, I used the VL 1600x1200 test image, as well as a couple Word documents with various sized letters ranging from 6 points to 12 points. The first word document was black text on a white background, and the second was the same document, black and white reversed. I tested for readability on the text document, and overall image quality on the test picture.
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ATi Radeon 9500 Pro
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MSI Ti4200-T8x
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Black Text (12Pt)
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9
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8
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Black Text (6Pt)
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9
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6
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White Text (12Pt)
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8
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6
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White Text (6Pt)
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8
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4
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Bitmap Quality
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9
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8
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In regards to 2D quality, the Radeon 9500 Pro presented a nicer image overall. Although these tests are subjective, I spend a lot of time programming, and after a few weeks with the 9500 Pro, I am wishing I made the leap to ATi long ago.
Final Words
As we've seen in the tests, the 9500 Pro easily handles whatever competition the Ti4200 was able to provide. Both cards are AGP8x, and both had 128MB of ram, so performance came down to the architecture. Along with DirectX 9 support, and the hardware features of the 9500 Pro, it's a tough card to beat.
Considering the price of the card, I am having a hard time faulting the card. If there's one thing that bothered me was the fact that overclocking isn't something you can do out of the box. You're going to have to work at it and even by doing so there are no guarantees.
Image quality was excellent, and the drivers have been rock solid for me. I did run into an issue with DirectX 9 and the Catalyst 3.2 drivers when running Direct3D games and benchmarks. Both UT2003 and 3D Mark 2001SE constantly crashed on me. The solution was to reinstall DX9 on top of itself, then uninstall the Catalyst drivers, and then reinstall them. For whatever reason, everything works now. I suppose the best procedure when it comes to DX9/Catalyst 3.2 is to install DX9 first, followed by the drivers.
With the 9600 Pro out and about, it may not make all that much sense to pick up a 9500 Pro, but if you can find one for a decent price, I have no problem recommending it.
Pros: Decent price for a performance card. Great image quality, and good performance
Cons: Overclocking not possible without a hack (if it'll even work at all).
Bottom Line: If you're serious about games, but want to be able to eat during the month, this card is worth a look. In all fairness to the Ti4200, it is about 30$ to 50$ cheaper, but I think the extra cash is well worth it. Maybe it's worth skipping a couple of lunches to pay for...
Agree? Disagree? Discuss it in our forums
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