9600XT identification...

[absolutefunk]

Howdy,

I recently aquired a 9600XT for V-Day from my G/F, and this thing has been stumping me since I installed it yesterday. First of all, it has absolutely no brand on the PCB at all! The only identification is a "powered by ATi" sticker on the HSF fan, and a white sticker on the back that identifies the card as a 128mb 9600XT. The PCB is red. It came in a generic Radeon box with the type of card identified in checkboxes on the side. So anyways, at this point I installed it, and checked it's info. First thing that caught my eye was it's 324/203 clock. That's quite a big underclock. However, ATiTool lists the GPU as being an RV360, and as far as know those are only found on 9600XT's. However RaBit only identifies it as an RV350. Also, the RAM is AGM, which I've only been able to find on 9550's. I think the card is made by HIS from the subvendor ID, but cannot find a match on their website (though their PCBs look similar to mine). Lastly, the mounting holes for the HSF are not the standard ATi placement (they look more like nVidia's layout), and I have yet to find another 9600 that has this hole layout. The mounting holes are more diagonal than with other 9600's. I wanna know if this is truly a 9600XT or some other card passed off as one. I can always pull the HSF off to see what the GPU actually is, but I don't want to do that unless I have too.

Card info:

Graphics Card Manufacturer Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset RADEON 9600 SERIES
Device ID 4152
Vendor 1002

Subsystem ID 2B10
Subsystem Vendor ID 1787

Bus Type AGP
Current Bus Setting AGP 8X

BIOS Version 008.015.041.001
BIOS Part Number BK-ATI VER008.015.041.001
BIOS Date 2003/10/08

Memory Size 128 MB
Memory Type DDR SGRAM / SDRAM

Core Clock in MHz 324 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 203 MHz

Primary Display Yes

Any help would be truly appreciated!

-Brian

 

[Winterwind]

it sure isnt XT because XT-s true clocks are 500/300

 

[INSTG8R]

yep those clocks look like a Vanilla 9600 Non Pro

 

[absolutefunk]

I was really hoping that I wasn't duped, but I finally tried to OC it up to stock XT spec, and surprise surprise, couldn't do it. Highest I could get was 475/221. I think this card is a 9550 soft modded to a 9600np. Things like the type of RAM on it (and how crappy of an OC the RAM was), and PCB layout would suggest it. I still cannot find an exact model for this card anywhere though. It's like the PCB was some mutation that shouldn't have been made

-Brian

 

[nightowl]

fake 9600XT ??

Hi!
abolutefunk: Why don't you put up a photo of the card, s'body would identify it for sure ...

 

[absolutefunk]

Okay here are some pics. I couldn't get the camera to focus well enough on the white sticker on the back, so here is what it says:

ATI 9600XT / 128MB
DDR TV-OUT DVI 128BIT
WL050117166
Made in China

This is on the ram:

AGM 0418
AGD1281622BT-5T

The front of the PCB has some logo on it that looks like a W and L combined, and then the number 4604 next to it in a digital type font. One thing to notice is that the HSF mounts differently on this card than with all other Radeons I've seen. I was hoping to slap an Arctic Cooling Silencer on it, but none are compatible.

-Brian

 

[wazzledoozle]

Okay here are some pics. I couldn't get the camera to focus well enough on the white sticker on the back, so here is what it says:

ATI 9600XT / 128MB
DDR TV-OUT DVI 128BIT
WL050117166
Made in China

This is on the ram:

AGM 0418
AGD1281622BT-5T

The front of the PCB has some logo on it that looks like a W and L combined, and then the number 4604 next to it in a digital type font. One thing to notice is that the HSF mounts differently on this card than with all other Radeons I've seen. I was hoping to slap an Arctic Cooling Silencer on it, but none are compatible.

-Brian

I recognize the box, but it might take me a while to find out who that is. That is definitley NOt a 9600XT because it has TSOP ram, not BGA

 

[Winterwind]

I recognize the box, but it might take me a while to find out who that is. That is definitley NOt a 9600XT because it has TSOP ram, not BGA

belive me even some r900XT-s have TSOP ram on it...
for example HIS R9600XT 256mb(not Platinum!) has TSOP mem, rated 3.3ns
and it has clocks of 500/300 @ default and oc-s quite well

absolutefunk what u have there is R9600 non pro(it has 400/200 clocks) but your
gpu is underclocked(yes, they did lower np-s gpu clock to 325mhz)

also u have 5ns ram

you could try to tweak your mem timings - i think it will help u oc a bit higher
because ~220mhz is low even with 5ns mem...


and belive me, i know what im talking(i did over 19k in 3dmark 2001se with my 9600xt and discovered some mem tweaks that can help you pass your 2,8ns over 400mhz easily )

 

[absolutefunk]

okay so it is a 9600np? Did any 9600np's use the rv360? I guess I find it hard to believe that a card that was passed off as an XT can still almost hit the XT core speed (with some better cooling perhaps I can). It's all moot though if I can't get my ram higher. What kind of timing tweaks can I do to my ram? Also, is it possible to flash an np to an XT (provided I adjust the clocks and relax the mem timings)? Thanx for all your help guys btw! I'm actually from the Rage3D forums, but no one there had any clue what I was talking about. Though I'd never figure this out!

-Brian

 

[nightowl]

Gpu

I couldn't stand not taking off the cooler and look at the chip ... Is it 350 or 360 ?

 

[Winterwind]

get ati tray tool and try to hack mem timings
tweak them one by one and test after any change

you can find some nice oc improvements if u r lucky enough

 

[Ramine]

I recognize the box, but it might take me a while to find out who that is. That is definitley NOt a 9600XT because it has TSOP ram, not BGA

Wrong! i have Sapphire 9600XT 256 and it has TSOP, chips dont mean a thing!

 

[absolutefunk]

I couldn't stand not taking off the cooler and look at the chip ... Is it 350 or 360 ?

I'm very tempted to do that. I'm prolly gonna replace the stock HSF anyway with some sort of aftermarket solution... prolly a vantec copper cooler that I can glue on with AS adhesive, as I doubt I'll find a cooler that'll align with the mounting holes on the card. I'll see what I can do with the ram. upping CAS seems to work with system ram. It may be easier to look for a bios on this site with already more relaxed timings, though my ram is prolly already as relaxed as you can get by default.

-Brian

 

[nightowl]

... my ram is prolly already as relaxed as you can get ...-Brian

please, give me permission to use this one !!!

 

[absolutefunk]

haha, go for it

-Brian

 

[Darren]

Absolutefunk, you have been had too, i reported my Radeon 9600xt in a thread here before, only to find out that it was actually a 9600, do a search on my previous posts to find out what iam talking about. I took a look at the box of your graphics card, and supprise, supprise, its the same box as my card. I looked at your specification and its almost identical, in terms of the card layout and some of the details. My card is clocked at 324/202 default like your but mine has 256mb DDR. I'll post more about my card tonight. By any chance did you purcahse your card in a computer fair in london?

 

[vlado79]

GeCube 9600pro,XT

Can anybody tell me where to find some test results for GeCube 9600PRO and 9600xt?
Or mail it to me?
I intend to buy one of them but can`t find anything to help me to decide which one

 

[absolutefunk]

Bought that card off eBay. Not sure where the seller got it from but he sold quite a few of them and they all seemed to be fake, judging from what other customers who bought the card said when I contacted them about this.

vlado79: The XT's are always faster than the pros, but by a small margin. The price gap shouldn't be all that big either. Just go for an XT with low ns ram and oc it, or you can pick a refurb 9800pro for around the same price

-Brian

 

[vlado79]

Bought that card off eBay. Not sure where the seller got it from but he sold quite a few of them and they all seemed to be fake, judging from what other customers who bought the card said when I contacted them about this.

vlado79: The XT's are always faster than the pros, but by a small margin. The price gap shouldn't be all that big either. Just go for an XT with low ns ram and oc it, or you can pick a refurb 9800pro for around the same price

-Brian

Thanks for the advice,but I have allready ordered GeCube 9600pro.
Found it cheep - 75euros.
I know only that GPU works on 400 and ram on 300 Mhz.
As for other specs,I`ll just wait and see.

Maybe its possible to find refurb 9800pro,but not in Bosnia.
Here 9800pro is still exotic and unavailable to average buyer.
In couple of days I`ll maybe have chanse to test 9800se,and try to softmode it.
Price for that 9800se is 110euros.
But vill know nothing untill I try.

 

[virtualex]

and belive me, i know what im talking(i did over 19k in 3dmark 2001se with my 9600xt and discovered some mem tweaks that can help you pass your 2,8ns over 400mhz easily )

What tweaks ? pls tell me....