ASUS A9600XT/TVD Review

[Illuminati]

We have posted the review of our ASUS A9600XT/TVD VIVO video card.

Check out our review HERE.

Please let us know what you think of the review, and also of the revised testing suite.

Thanks!

[spajdr]

We have posted the review of our ASUS A9600XT/TVD VIVO video card.

Check out our review HERE.

Please let us know what you think of the review, and also of the revised testing suite.

Thanks!

Nice review, i have R9600XT without VIVO .. its blue PCB, my stable GPU frequency is 609Mhz and 350Mhz memory Interesting that i didnt seen this blue pcb version of Asus R9600XT, it just have simple cooler on GPU and without memory heatsinks.

[VCore]

I recently installed an Asus A9600XT/TVD/N/128M/A. As your review indicated, it seems like a great card and appears to function well. However, I also installed the Asus SmartDoctor utility that was bundled with the card and it reports a problem. SmartDoctor supposedly monitors 4 video card related voltages, including VCore (the GPU voltage).

In my install, SmartDoctor says VCore should around 1.60 Vdc and reports my VCore as 1.28 Vdc. The voltages input to the card on the AGP connector (+12, +5, and +3.3) are all well within tolerance and the video card temperatures (GPU and memory) reported are very moderate (38 to 40 C).

My system, including the video card, seems to be working perfectly.

My questions: Is SmartDoctor incorrect about insisting that VCore for the 9600XT chip should be 1.60 Vdc? Is the 1.28 Vdc reported within tolerance of the requirements for the 9600XT?

I'm hoping since you've done a review of the card that you can easily check the VCore voltage monitor tab on the SmartDoctor utility and let me know what your install yields.

Thanks in advance for you help.

[Apoptosis]

Actually Justin West (the video card reviewer) no longer has that card on the test bench! I stole it and am using it right now for some 9600XT versus X600XT benchmarking I am playing with. Can you give me a link to the software you want me to use so I know I have the same version as you and I will install it and show you the results.

[VCore]

I very much appreciate your quick reply!! Since the Asus SmartDoctor utility I am currently using came from the support CD supplied with the video card, I'll probably have to either send you the utility itself or might be able to ID the version number and find it on the Asus web site. I'll check what version I have when I get home tonight and let you know tomorrow. Do you have an email address I can send an email with an attachment to if I need to send you the file rather than a pointer to it? I can also send you some screen shots of the two views of SmartDoctor that show the "problem" if you'd like.

I know Asus has a SmartDoctor version 4.52 located at the following URL: http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/vga/ATI/SmartDoc452.zip

I'm pretty sure that's not what I have from the support CD, but I'll check tonight to be sure. I notice the most recent screen shots Asus has on this utility don't even have the VCore value that is causing me concern! Maybe we now know why ... I can also try this most recent version to see what it reports.

Sorry I'm not already prepared with the version number and a link or the file. I'll try to have that rounded up and let you know tomorrow.

Does the support CD that came with your evaluation card have the SmartDoctor utility on it? Have you installed that version? Which version? What does it show?

[Illuminati]

I'm pretty sure the Support CD should be in the original box the card came in... But I'll warn you that it is not unusual for those CD's to get "misplaced" as we shuffle through cards.

I know for a fact that I used that CD because I messed around with the GameFace utility and Video Security II.

Very cool tools!

[VCore]

The SmartDoctor (SD) version on my support CD is v4.10. I do not find a link on the Asus web site for this older version. We probably don't need it though ...

After I took some screen shots with SDv4.10, I installed SDv4.52 (from the link I provided in last post) and took some more screen shots. Here's a summary of the results:

SDv4.10 from support CD:

Vcc = +3.34 Vdc (+3.30 expected nominal)
Vcore = +1.28 Vdc (+1.60 expected nominal) <== SD reports a problem
AGP Vddq = +1.58 Vdc (+1.50 expected nominal)
FB Vddq = +2.59 Vdc (+2.65 expected nominal)


SDv4.52 from Asus web site (http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/vga/ATI/SmartDoc452.zip):

Vcc = +3.34 Vdc (+3.30 expected nominal)
Vcore = +1.28 Vdc (+1.30 expected nominal) <== SD now OK
AGP Vddq = +1.57 Vdc (+1.50 expected nominal)
FB Vddq = +2.63 Vdc (+2.65 expected nominal)

v4.52 has 1.30 Vdc for the nominal expected GPU supply voltage where v4.10 has 1.60 Vdc. Though I cannot seem to get anyone at Asus or ATI to confirm it, I suspect 1.30 is really the correct value.

I would still be very interested to know the results from your card since it's been through a whole bunch more use and testing than mine has and is presumably still functioning as expected. If you also get on the order of 1.30 Vdc for Vcore, I think I'll be pretty satisfied my card is in working order in spite to the poor tech support responses from Asus and ATI.

Are you still willing to install SDv4.52 from the Asus web site and let me know the results? If there's any other information you need or if you have further comments or questions, let me know.

Thanks!

[Apoptosis]

Okay I installed it and this is what I got on my system...

Core: 499MHz Memory 710MHz

SDv4.52 from Asus web site (http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/vga/ATI/SmartDoc452.zip):

Vcc = +3.18 Vdc
Vcore = +1.28 Vdc
AGP Vddq = +1.79 Vdc
FB Vddq = +2.77 Vdc

Hope this helps you out a bit. It does show our Vcore as being the same though.

[VCore]

Yes, thank you! That helps alot. I'm much more confident now that the card really is working properly in spite of the SDv4.10 report to the contrary.

I very much appreciate your help. Thanks.