I jumped ship from ATi to nVidia...not recently, but I'll never go back.

I stopped using ATi because I bought several of the early Radeons....NONE of which still have even decent driver support. My father still uses my old Radeon VIVO card, and even with the newest set of drivers(name a version, we've tried it [not just catalyst]), games crash, windows crashes...different drivers, different systems...the cards are worthless.

ATi obviously doesn't have a problem with drivers with the Radeon 8500's and on...but for fucks sake they should have made old cards work decently before anything else...which they still haven't even attempted.

So I can only accurately answer your 6th question...No, if you buy a newer card you shouldn't have many problems....just stay away from anything under a Radeon 8500..but even that card was worthless compared to nVidia's solutions at the time.

Hi. #1. no it is not. the 9500 even though modded , still has alittle slower ram. and the core is lower too.
#2. Probaly alittle but nothing you will want to write home about.
#3. Its close but not equal. But... you would still be in a highly overclocked state to come close. And remember...some games dont like overclocking at all...regardless of how much you card is or isnt stressed.
#4. Only if you can find a 9500 that is built on a reference 9700 board. Then you will be able to perform the mod. Otherwise, No.
#5. I think they recommend a 350w ps. But you might be able to get away with it. )
#6. ive owned a aiw 8500 before my current aiw 9700 pro. I have No complaints whatsoever. New drivers every 4-6weeks. I play Q3 UT2003, Halflife, F1 2002, Gtr 2002 Nascar 2003 etc... And have to say i absolutly LOVE this card. Ive also owned a Geforce 1, 2 , 3ti500. So im not anti-nvidia at all. But i will stick with ati unless Nvidia comes up with something superbitchen and also doesnt sound like a 15amp Hoover.hehe :D

for instance. If i bought a 9500 how will i know if the board i have bought has been built on a 9700 reference board? Is it just hit and miss or are there some manufacturers out there who i should look out for?

I dont know which manufacturers use the 9700 board. But you can tell by the rams physical arrangment on the board. I think if its the same position as the 9700 board than its a ref board. You might have a hard time to find one now. I think ATI themselves put a stop to 9500s with 9700 ref boards. (

I too abandoned nvidia for ATI a few months back. If theyre gonna start trying to monopolise games im even happier about it.

the 9500 can be modified to the 9700 pro, and the frequencies on the ram and core can be clocked to the same speed and beyond to give near equal (or equal never tried a comparrison myself) speeds (as mine is).

I actually have the 9800 patch applied to my 9500

I too have been an Nvidia user since the TNT days, but I have a new Radeon 9800 Pro and it rocks. I haven't had any problems in any games yet, and I play Unreal II, UT 2003, Quake III, Counterstrike, etc. I had a Geforce FX pre-ordered, but cancelled it when all the bechmarks showed the FX just barely beat out the Radeon 9700. Nvidia always had the best stuff out there..........not anymore :D

if your going to mod it either buy a pretested card.

or make sure you get a 9500 NON PRO with a red pcb and L shaped memory thats the one I know works.

but there is a 60% or so chance of success

9500 pro cannot mod to anything, some overclocking

buy a better gpu cooler for it too, to try and reach 9700 pro speeds.. the ram probably cant make it though (mine cant even run at spec)

ahh damnit £200 for an ati 9700 non pro thats a lot to shell out for a card :x

I couldn't be much more happy with my Radeon 9700PRO, softmodded to a 9800 and clocked memory, i've never been so pleased with a graphicscard as this. I have jumped the ship, and I'd rather drown than climbing back up (at the moment) :)