http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5126867968&fromMakeTrack=true

Thoughts appreciated.

Have a peek at the ATI product comparison chart to see how it stacks up against the more recent top-o-the-line models, as well as the slightly less recent models...

Interesting, I can't find a card with the "9600" moniker on their comparison chart that shows 256mb of video ram. The ones on that chart all show 128. Hope the ebay auction isn't falsifying the amount of video memory. I'm sure Bruno could answer that definitively.

Anyway, that card has less than half of the performance ot ATI's latest top-of-the-line card (the X800). But I'm sure it costs a whole lot less, too (I don't know the pounds-to-dollars comparison to be sure).

If that card really does have 256mb of video ram, it should be darn good. The latest games are really going to push the limits of texture memory. Having more video ram is what lets you crank the texture sliders in the game up to "high" and not experience slowdowns.

Looks real to me. The reason you didn't find anything on ATI.COM is that the board product in that auction isn't from ATI. It's a card from Peak, built using an ATI chip. The board does look like a reference design though and I know the reference design allows for 256MB.

The 9600 is a decent mainstream asic. However, might want to look around at some discounted 9800 prices on the net recently.

Damn, I just realised I missed two auctoins I was watching on eBay today. Cooked myself an amazing steak tonight but forgot to log on to the computer. Damn stomach!

Bruno

It's okay but you're not saving an immense amount. Scam have a 256MB plain 9600 for £78.14 inc VAT or a 256MB 9600XT for £109.28 inc VAT.

Yeah, that price isn't spectacular, but the card is ok. Check out this Inquirer article. Apparently the 9600XT 256mb beats out the GeForce 5950 Ultra in the as-yet-unreleased 3d mark '05.

If the numbers are even close to the 5950 Ultra the card is a steal at around $140US.