ATI Radeon 9600 XT AGP 128MB DDR Video Card (ATI-100437100)

• Reviewed by: Anonymous567

  Strengths: It works OK.

  Weaknesses: Hassles, poor help, sketchy performance.

  Overall: I used this card for about a year. Here are some random notes I collected along the way.Without asking my permission, on installation, they replaced my file assignments from Windows Media Player to the ATI media player. I didn't like its looks and I didn't want to use it. I had to go in and manually change things back so that my media would play in WMP, like before.Also, on installation, they installed a link to the Catalyst Control Center at the top of the Windows Explorer file menu without asking me. So from then on, I could no longer use my customary fast way of creating a new folder by just hitting Enter a couple of times in a row (that being the default setting); instead, I had to mouse around to avoid the Catalyst Control Center option.Installation was generally a hassle. They installed software for Windows XP that was not actually compatible with Windows XP. After installing, I got an error message indicating that my ATI Radeon was not detected, even though the device was listed OK in Device Manager.I found the Help file to be awful. I remember that Treeview Pane was not even mentioned in the index or glossary -- nor even in the company's online knowledgebase! Stretch Desktop was totally unexplained. For these and other things, I had to do a lot of hunting around to get basic explanations of functionality.It didn't come with a DVI adapter, so I had to buy one separately. Some cards do include that, which saves hassle and expense.Once I got the thing working, it performed OK, but ultimately my system's inability to handle graphics well (when I was running multiple programs) -- which I think was the job of the video card -- provoked me to upgrade to a different system. Anyway, AGP is past its time now.

• Reviewed by: Super33900

  Strengths: It works once you install & update it.

  Weaknesses: It doesn't work right away after you put it in the AGP. Also It doesn't work with Need For Speed: Carbon

  Overall: All right here are my four reasons for buying or not to buy this video card.1.It works very well.2.It works with any of the games that I own like Need for speed: Underground, Need for speed: Underground 2, Need for speed: Most Wanted. Also it works with Need for speed: Carbon most of the time. The card has a few features like a SMARTGART, VPU recover & OVERDRIVE. Now here are the two for not buying this card.3.Install the card is a PAIN when I install the video card it didn?t work for an hour or two.4.When the Windows XP pick up the card it said that it didn?t pass windows XP standards since I have a dimension 4400 that runs on 1.80 GHz at 1.79 GHz, also it was because of the updates Windows XP it been getting. When it comes down to next generation games it kinda falls short. When I was playing need for speed: Carbon yesterday after I disable the last police car I went into cooldown mode. After was cooldown complete it was suppose to go back to the series challenge menu but it didn?t the game shut down on me. Other than that it?s a great video card, just make sure that you update the card when you need to.

• Reviewed by: sinowrld

  Strengths: Great Card, Great Graphics, Many Resolution Options, Great for Games.

  Weaknesses: Confusing between "Built by ATI" and "Powered by ATI"

  Overall: Theres are basically 2 types of ATI Radeon Video Cards. On the box the item will either say: 1. There's a "Built by ATI". Which means that the Video Card has all ATI parts and was put together by ATI. This card is covered under the ATI warranty. So for any problems you would contact ATI. The "Built by ATI" Video card is the ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 128 MB, etc, etc... 2. There's a "Powered by ATI". Which means that the Video Card uses all ATI parts but was not put together by ATI, it was put together by a different company. "Powered by ATI would be considered "OEM". The warranty on this card usually belongs to the company that put the card together. This "Powered by ATI" card has the regular, ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128 MB, BUT also has the upgrade ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 256 MB. So it has double the memory. After jumping back and forth between the 2, whether to pick an original "built by ATI" of have double the memory, I went with the "built by ATI". I did my own research to see if there was a real different in the performance of having double the memory. Then compaired it to having the peace of mind that the Video Card was put together by the people who actually make the parts for the video card. From my reserach, and what I needed the card for, I felt the 256 MB would make no difference than the 128 MB, and since I found both items for similar prices, I went with "Built by ATI".Look for me on WoW, my name is: DJ Deception

• Reviewed by: masood01

  Strengths: 8X AGP. supports direct x9. WORKS!

  Weaknesses: nothing.. suits my needs as an occasional gamer.

  Overall: got mine during black friday... awesome price after rebate.. anyway, this card replaced my nvidia MX440 2xAGP 64MB DDR... i wasn't able to play any 3D games with the old card, even after updating any and all drivers, flashing BIOS, etc, etc.. this card plays everything i throw at it...AMD AThlon XP 17001GB RAMAsrock K7V88160GB WD HD x2win XP sp2

• Reviewed by: alik4041

  Strengths: Everything

  Weaknesses: None

  Overall: Great Item, But I'm an extreme extreme gamer. So I'm getting the x800 xt in a month. I'm runningp4 3.4ghz extremeaudigy 2 zs platinumcreative labs gigaworks 7.1 s750asus p4c800-e deluxeAti tv wonder pro re edition4gb kingston hyperX 3200