9600gso help needed

[SharpieFiend]

I have a chance to pick up a slightly used 9600gso for the 'Cheap Bastard', but I'm slightly confused by them. This card is an eVGA 512MB model, but I'm unsure of the differences between the 512MB cards and the 384/768MB cards. Can anyone point me towards a review of the 512MB model? If not (I can't find any) what are the performance differences between the two? Thanks!

 

[kniah]

The 512mb version has a 256-bit memory bus and 48 stream processors. The 384mb version has a 192-bit memory bus and 96 stream processors. The 384mb version has more raw horsepower, the 512mb version has more memory and higher memory bandwidth. At lower resolutions (~1280x1024), the 384mb version will give you better performance for sure.

 

[evilsofa]

It's even less certain than that. Some of the 512MB versions are 128bit, some are 256bit. Some 9600GSO cards use GDDR2 RAM, some use GDDR3 RAM. I think all of the 768MB 9600GSO cards use GDDR2. There's even a 1GB 128bit GDDR2 version which I would avoid.

If the OP is playing at low resolution (1280x1024 or less), then the right 9600GSO might be faster than a 9600GT, but at higher resolutions you'd be better off with a 9600GT or 9800GT. Considering you've overclocked an E5200 to 4GHz, I'm going to guess a 9800GT will be best for you.

 

[Servant of Shodan]

If it's cheap enough, just get it. Either way, it's a decent card. When you have it, you can play around with Rivatuner and see what you've really got there. There may even be things you can unlock - extra shaders and whatnot. The 9600 series is just a hodge-podge of left over 8800's, and the various companies have tons of different versions.