tranCendenZ said:By your logic, the 9600PRO/XT should be running in DX8.1 mode also:
http://www.tomshardware.com/business/20030911/half-life-02.html#mixed_mode_for_nvidia_cards
Not really, since the 9600Pro/XT don't get much of a boost from DX8.1, unlike the FX series, and no 9600Pro/XT customer would expect high resolutions and high framerates, since it is a mid-end card, unlike the 5800/5900.
So it seems you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I hope you see what I'm saying now.
Anyway, just look at your own framerates, the 9600Pro gets the exact same framerate in DX9.0 as the 5900 Ultra does in mixed mode. So the 5900 Ultra is getting the framerate of a mid-end card, at reduced image quality. I see no reason for the 9600Pro to be running at reduced quality, the problem is clearly with the 5800/5900s.