Comment: The ATI cards are really being pushed at the moment and bringing another card to the table can only give us the consumer more choice. Bundling Vietcong with it makes for a good choice and certainly a game that will show off the power of this board.
The 3D Prophet 9600 Pro from Hercules® is a new mid-range graphics board based on ATI®'s RADEON 9600 PRO chipset and it is about to make a splash in the world of 3D gaming. 3D Prophet 9600 Pro is the latest powerful offering in Hercules's high-quality range of 3D graphics boards, providing impressive performance and rendering quality for a truly cinematic gaming experience.


3D Prophet 9600 Pro


Based on the RADEON(tm) 9600 PRO - the most feature-rich 3D chipset in its price range - the 3D Prophet 9600 Pro graphics board features a 128-bit DDR memory interface and 4-pixel pipeline engine for the most incredible 3D rendering in today's games and tomorrow's hits, 128MB of DDR RAM, Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0, OpenGL® hardware support, incredible core (400MHz) and RAM (300MHz DDR) clocks, advanced filtering technologies (Anisotropic Filtering up to 16x and Full Scene Anti-Aliasing up to 6x) for high-quality rendering with no compromise in gaming speed. Hercules has developed a set of customized features to improve overclockability, heat dissipation and stability even at the highest clock speeds. This state-of-the-art graphics board features innovations found in the most high-end boards produced by Hercules.


Key selling points and benefits:


Ø The most advanced technology available for demanding users: a must-have for cinematic rendering.
Ø Future-proof 3D architecture: Microsoft's DirectX® 9 platform, for increased speed in future games.
Ø AGP 8X/4X: the highest standard available.
Ø Hercules' know-how in innovative design.
Ø Copper cooling system: copper's high thermal conductivity improves overclockability.
Ø Heatsinks on the RAM to stabilize the design even at high clock speeds.
Ø Silent cooling fan and very trendy look (blue LED).
Ø Full version of recently-released game Vietcong(tm) included.


"3D Prophet 9600 Pro will provide demanding gamers with the most advanced board based on the RADEON(tm) 9600 PRO chipset," states Philippe Pecheu, 3D Graphics Product Manager at Hercules. "Our philosophy is to provide tailor-made solutions for every category of gamer. With this in mind, we have designed the most powerful graphics board in this price range thanks to unique features developed for our most high-end boards (copper cooling system and heatsinks on the both sides of the board), which we specially adapted to this board. Demanding gamers will enjoy high-quality rendering, fast framerates and unsurpassed stability."


"Regarding the blue LED we implemented in the copper cooling system, we have observed that the gaming community applauded this innovative feature on our high-end products, which is why we decided to introduce a new fan in copper with a blue LED. This board is the leader in terms of quality and performance in this price range, and its features make it a must-have for anyone who loves fast-paced gaming," explains Pecheu. "We also believe that Vietcong(tm) - the game we are including with the 3D Prophet 9600 Pro - sets a new standard for the first-person shooter and, more specially, the new way of gaming: online multiplayer."


Main Features


An impressive set of technological advances for demanding users:


· RADEON(tm) 9600 PRO, for cinema-quality rendering on your PC.
· 4 pixel-pipeline architecture for boosted rendering power.
· 128MB DDR memory to boost the latest games with tons of textures.
· 128-bit DDR RAM interface for fast transfer rates between the graphics processor and the onboard memory.
· Hercules' know-how in innovative hardware design.
· Advanced cooling system for better performance and increased stability.


The future is yours today: full hardware support of Microsoft's DirectX® 9 features:


· Full DirectX® 9 & OpenGL® hardware accelerator.
· AGP 8X/4X support for maximum performance with the latest motherboards.
· HyperZ(tm)III+: intelligent memory bandwidth optimization technology.
· Cinema-quality 3D images provided by ATI's latest 3D technology innovations:
- SMARTSHADER(tm) 2.0: Programmable Pixel Shaders 2.0 & Vertex Shaders 2.0
- TRUFORM(tm) 2.0 and DX9 Displacement Mapping
· SMOOTHVISION(tm) 2.1: hardware engine for 2X/4X/6X FSAA (Full Scene Anti-Aliasing) mode and advanced anisotropic filtering - no more jagged edges or speed compromise.


An advanced range of video & multimedia features:


· High-quality TV display on CRT and flat panel monitors.
· VIDEOSHADER(tm) engine: fluid playback of DVD movies on TV set or CRT and flat panels monitors. · FULLSTREAM(tm) technology for improved Internet streaming.
· Dual display on VGA, DVI or TV-Out (HYDRAVISION(tm)). Dual integrated 400MHz RAMDACs, maximum resolution of 2048x1536 @ 85Hz.


Availability and Pricing:


Mass delivery: June
Pricing: To be confirmed

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