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General discussion

ATI x600 vs 9700

Jan 29, 2005 1:25PM PST

I am trying to narrow down my options for a new laptop but kind of confused on the graphics card issue.

Can anybody tell me the difference between these two cards? X600 must be the newer one but is there really a significant difference between them?

thanks

Discussion is locked

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Oh yeah
Jan 30, 2005 4:56AM PST

The x600 uses the PCI-Express bus versus the AGP Bus which has a ton more bandwidth. That equals a much more powerful video card.

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PCI express
Jan 31, 2005 6:57AM PST

well,

it is true that PCI express can handle twice bandwidth than 8xAGP but it doesnt mean that the throughput of every PCIe card is twice of an AGP card. Actually, there is no video card out there (even for desktops) that can produce more than AGP can handle.
For desktops it is logical to purchase a PCIe compatible motherboard because probably in a year or so cards will exceed AGP capacity so you might need PCIe when you want to upgrade your video card but since you dont normally replace the graphics card of a notebook; PCIe means nothing but marketing.

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X600 vs. 9700
Feb 25, 2005 10:13PM PST

...but can the x600 beat the 9700 PRO, or is the 9700 just a much better card?