ATI 9600XT to X1600 : Do it?

[Lucas]

I 've been having some issues with some 1080i video on my 9600XT and I think that my otherwise trustworthy(for 2.5 years) 9600XT is not up to the task.

I found an ATI x1600 with 512Mb DDR2 RAM at a very good price and I am thinking of making the upgrade.

What do you think?

Is the 1600 good enough for HD?
I am not worried about HDCP.

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by Lucas

I 've been having some issues with some 1080i video on my 9600XT and I think that my otherwise trustworthy(for 2.5 years) 9600XT is not up to the task.

I found an ATI x1600 with 512Mb DDR2 RAM at a very good price and I am thinking of making the upgrade.

What do you think?

Is the 1600 good enough for HD?
I am not worried about HDCP.

I've got one in one of my Sage PC's, and it appears to work fine with 1080i.

Mine's a AGP version of it though, so the PCI-E version would probably run even better.

[GbrNole]

my guess is he's be running the AGP version too.

i guess the real question is though - avivo or purevideo?

[dagar]

Having just gone through the same process (or similar at lest ) myself, I went from a 9700Pro to a 7600GT Passive.

For one, the PQ is much improved (while still using Purevideo) and the TV config tools that Nvidia provide are superior to the ATI tools as a suitable powerstrip replacement.

Granted there is a little detail of a motherboard/CPU/DRAM upgrade I did in the process

If you are sticking with AGP for a while, then I say go Green Team and get the fastest and quietest NVidia GPU you can buy, but cross-reference it to the Purevideo support features on their website just to be sure.

[Lucas]

I am sticking with the same mobo (ie AGP) for about another year. I just want to breathe a lease of life to the existing system until a full replacement.

I am open to using either purevideo or avivo depending on which provides the better result.

[Kirby]

I've tested a x1600pro before (pic-e). keep in mind, I dont think a x1600 has the horsepower to do 1080i H264 if it matters. For that I think you have to be up to the x1800 and higher, but you wont find one of those in AGP flavor. You should see quite an improvement though going from a 9600xt to X1600.