Need Help! Bought a Radeon 9700 PRO and it turned out to be a 9500!!

[Brad1785]

Hello,
I'M SO MAD NOW!!!!
But how are all of you? First thing is first: I would like to say hello because I'm new, and I love computers and the graphics card and all the games and stuff, so I'll like this forum as well!

Anyway, on to my problem: About 2 weeks ago I ordered an ATI Radeon 9700 PRO, thinking I would get it. When I got it, I took the computer over to my local computer place to have it installed. That took a while. Like one week and 4 days. I also installed a 512 MB of RAM as well.

But anyways...

I thought I would need a new power source, but the place said I didn't need one. Great, I thought, I don't need to shell out 60 more dollars to get a specially made power supply for the HP Pavilion. Wrong. When I took the computer home, I looked at the monitor display, it read:

Default Monitor on Radeon 9500

Okay, I thought, umm what in the name of sweet Jesus is going on here?? I had ordered the Radeon 9700 PRO didn't I? I looked at the invoice; Yep it was there. I payed around $273 bones for that card but ended up a 9500? What in holy crap?

I hurridly tried some of my games. They ran okay, but not worth 273 dollars! So, I emailed the company, explaining what had happened. They seemed very cooperative about it and said this (I took this from a piece of the e-mail):

"We are disappointed that you are not satisfied with your purchase of a video card. Please note that there may be many problems that cause video cards to malfunction or register at incorrect speeds or versions. If your computer will not recognize the card it will only run it at a lower setting or report a lesser version. Please also make sure that all the correct drivers are
installed. The video card that you purchase is a bulk card not a retail card. This card comes with no guarantee on performance. Bulk cards are assembled in the most economical manor and there are usually many versions of these as opposed to the retail version. This is why the card may slightly differ then a retail card."

Okay, I thought, what good does that do me if I don't know how to get the computer to recognize this new piece of metal that is stuck in its side? Well, all the people where I took it did a great job, and I was wondering if anyone could help me to get that to happen, or if someone can recommend anything else.

I will return the card later, and get my money back and order it from another company (that will ship me the card that I ordered).

Does anyone know how to uninstall these things? I mean, I read that it has to be hooked into the harddrive and the power supply. Does anyone have a link that I could refer to?

I thank you all so much for reading this long post! I need to vent my anger!

BTW, the benchmarks aren't that great. I have run unreal 2003 in 1280x1024 with everything maxed out and I got FPS of around 20 average.

THANKS!

OH to make you read some more, here is a piece from my DirectX dialogue stating that I have the 9500!

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: RADEON 9500
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: RADEON 9500 AGP (0x4144)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_4144&SUBSYS_00021002&REV_00
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.6360 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 6/2/2003 22:41:00, 301568 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: ati2mtag.sys
Mini VDD Date: 6/2/2003 22:40:30, 576512 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-0204-11CF-6A6B-0820A1C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x4144
SubSys ID: 0x00021002
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D

[zidane182]

it's possible the computer store is ripping you off

[poopeyhed2]

Did you actually have your own hands on the card before you sent it to the mom and pop shop? Because then I'd have to agree with zidane that the shop took your card and traded it w/ the 9500 Pro, if I were you, I'd definetly file this in the BBB @ bbb.org

[Brad1785]

Okay, I think I understand what you guys are saying: You mean when I took the card, which was in my hands after I opened the box, to the people who installed it? Let's just call them, the Comp Shop, k.

You guys think they changed the card from what it was originally? I mean, how would I exchange this thing? And to file it at the Better Business Bureau, how? The bad thing is, if I do exchange it I can't really, coz then I would be ripping off the company from which I bought it! WHat should I do?

[XShadowZxX]

Ahh i think they stole ur card man seriously. Look at newegg to see if the picture looks the same as the video card u have.

[Micro Bean]

That is a shame! When you got the Video Card did it say Ati radeon 9700pro on it. And Obviously it must have been sealed so surely enough they couldnt have sold you the wrong one. So pretty sure that computer shop where you got it installed just ripped you off. In order to Uninstall it all you have to do is go to device manager and uninstall the driver for that card and then you have to remove that card from the case pretty easy. Just so you know there is a Clip that hold down the card push that clip down and the card should pop up. also dont forget to unscrew that screw that holds the card inplace. Where the back slot is theres a Philip head screw that hold the Card down unscrew that first then and the bottom of the video card push the clip down it should just pop right out. Sorry for what happened. Never Trust those darn private Shops!!

No wonder it took them that Long to install the Card!!!! They probably was waiting for that cheaper card!

[franklinz]

that sucks dude, any how keep us posted.
franklinz

[Brad1785]

I went to newegg.com and found a picture of the card. Sure enough, the card there was red, and the card in the computer was red too. The only difference was that my card had a silver covering over the fan, and the other one on the site had black heat around the fan or something.
I read the back of the card and it said: ATI RADEON 9700 PRO.
Now, what the crap is going on???
I tried to figure out the connections from the card to my harddrive to my power source and got confused.
See the problem is, I have no idea what cords to unhook when taking out the card, if I need to. I mean I see the main hook-up to the harddrive then behind it other connections which lead to power supply. The Radeon plug is on the outer one, or the last plug.
But, what about this card? It runs games badly, I think. Does anyone wanna see my benchmarks? Should I return it to the company, which said I could, or try to find a way to get my computer to recognize it??
BTW, on the card, there was one plug that wasn't connected. But I'm assuming that isn't needed, because it would've gone into the power supply, but all the cords are connected to each other which is connected to the power source. Sorry for the confusion.
thanks for your help btw.

[wackoguy]

how fast is ur computer, what speed ram, cpu, etc?
Benches and game speeds dont just depend on hardware, even a 9500 np could beat 20 fps at 1280x1024 with all things turned up.

[Brad1785]

My stats are:
Athlon XP 2200 @ 1.8 GHz
1 GB RAM
50 GB harddrive
of course, ATI Radeon 9500