![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , October 21, 2002
- Author:
- Brent Justice
- Editor:
- Sean Quinn
- Google +1
PowerColor 9700 Pro
The Evil Commando 2, PowerColor’s latest Powered by ATI Radeon 9700 Pro video card is here. We take it through its paces to see if this is worthy of your dollar.
Introduction
Now that ATI has expanded out to AIB (Add In Board) manufacturers, there are more options than ever to look at when shopping for a brand new Radeon 9700 Pro. While you can still go the ATI route and buy a Built by ATI card, you can also search for other Powered by ATI options. Some people, however, still have some doubts about Powered by ATI cards equaling the same quality as the Built by ATI cards. The Sapphire 9700 Pro we tested last week was one card that did live up to the same quality we've experienced with Built by ATI cards. PowerColor is now another manufacturer that has embraced the ATI lineup.
C.P. Technology is located in Taiwan with distributors worldwide. Established in 1997, C.P. Technology has grown from a manufacturer of game cards to one offering many home consumer technologies. They provide wireless and home security solutions as well as Internet appliances and service gateway servers. The brand name PowerColor was coined in 2001 with the introduction of their partnering with ATI to produce an array of Powered by ATI cards. Their range of ATI products starts with the Rage2C and continues all the way up to the Radeon 9700 Pro. They have a complete range of products from ATI, NVIDIA, SiS, and ST.
The card we have here today is their top of the line Radeon 9700 Professional Evil Commando 2 (Model XR9700-C3).
Layout
From the front, the box looks like your ordinary everyday one. If you flip it around, however, you'll see it's most definitely not. The theme of this series is the Evil Commando, with the front depicting some kind of futuristic soldier with the power of this video card. Towards the bottom you'll find it gives a quick checklist of the options provided with this package as well as the Powered by ATI Radeon 9700 Pro sticker. Once you flip it around to the backside, you'll see the main box is actually a carrying case made of translucent plastic. From the back you can see the card and other offerings, all without having to open the box. Once you take the box cover off, you can extend the carrying handles and easily carry this package around anywhere you go.
Once you get the box cover off and open up the case, you'll find the insides neatly packed and held sturdily in place. Rest assured, components will not get flung around while this package is in transit.
S-video and composite extension cables are included, with an S-video to composite adapter for TV-Out. A DVI to VGA adapter is included for dual CRT output, and a complete driver CD and user's manual is included as well. The manual itself has a great layout and contains instructions on how to physically install the card in four different languages, as well as a very good overview of what the driver options do and how to set up HydraVision for multi-display support. It's good to see a detailed manual like this included, as there may be some out there that need help in setting up features like dual monitors and TV-Out.
The PCB itself and the components layout seem to be similar to that of both our Powered by ATI cards and our Built by ATI card. The reference design seems to be sufficient, as third party manufacturers haven’t seen the need to change it yet.
The back heatplate is present for those few components that need the extra cooling. The HSF on this card is the standard ATI retail HSF, which seems to be plenty to keep the VPU cool. There's just one observation I made with this type of HSF - it comes into contact with the top of one of the capacitors. This isn't really a problem, as there isn't any conductivity of electricity on the top of the capacitor, so we're OK. The HSF is held on by two spring loaded push pins.
The part number on our card indicates a Revision 1.1 card. The standard floppy power connector for the 9700 Pro is present. Don't forget to plug in the power to it when you install this card like I did, as you'll receive a nice red startup screen basically yelling at you to plug the power cable in! The memory is Samsung BGA type rated at 2.8ns. VGA, DVI, and TV-Out outputs are all present.
None of the components extrude past the first PCI slot, so that should save you a little bit of room if you have a cramped case.
Software
The driver CD has two different setup options: the adapter driver section and the ATI multimedia center section. Within the adapter driver section you'll find options to install the display driver and control panel as well as HydraVision and a DVD Decoder. The driver version included is Catalyst 2.2 packaging version 7.75 and display driver version 6.13.10.6143 with control panel version 3017. Under multimedia center setup is the option to install MMC version 7.8.0.0 which includes the ATI DVD player, Video CD, CD Audio, Launch Pad, File Player, and Media Library software.