Mmmm lets see if we can get clarity in this thread.
1. The 9700 is much faster at stock speeds. So if you do not want to overclock, it's the better card.
2. The 6200 TC can be overclocked to be slightly quicker than the 9700. However, you *do* void your warranty if you do this. Sure, if it breaks you can lie to Sony if you are the dishonest type and try and RMA it - but I personally would prefer not to put myself in that position.
"Sony really seems to have underclocked the card for some reason. I have been running with the higher clocked card now for 3 months with no probs at all."
Yeah - but it's only run like that for three months. I'm in the hardware business and have sold plenty of notebooks. And while the gfx cards on notebooks generally tolerate overclocking, I have had a *number* of clients who have returned notebooks with cooked hard drives or caps that have swelled on the mobos, and when asked admit to overclocking the gfx card
Remember, Sony doesn't set up the specs based solely on the heat of the gfx card and CPU - they have to look at the heat tolerances of the memory, hard drive, motherboard components, power circuitry, and screen components. And remember, they have to look at the heat tolerences of these components over a 3 or 5 year period, not just over 3 months.
Beyond that, they also have to look at power consumption when all components are in use. Lets say you generally game with the system plugged in, with the CPU at max clock and the gfx card overclocked, but with the sound off and wifi/bluetooth off. Now, lets say one day you happen to game on the same settings but unplugged, with the sound to max and the BT and wifi on - that may increase the power draw enough to kill your poor battery.
The settings Sony et al choose for notebooks such as this are *not* random. Yes, there is often a large margin available in terms of overclocking, because clocks are often set with power consumption being the main issue. However, we just don't know at what point you start to seriously risk your machine. If you overclock you are playing with fire - and if you abuse the RMA policies of these companies, that's stealing - plain and simple.
Artag
1. The 9700 is much faster at stock speeds. So if you do not want to overclock, it's the better card.
2. The 6200 TC can be overclocked to be slightly quicker than the 9700. However, you *do* void your warranty if you do this. Sure, if it breaks you can lie to Sony if you are the dishonest type and try and RMA it - but I personally would prefer not to put myself in that position.
"Sony really seems to have underclocked the card for some reason. I have been running with the higher clocked card now for 3 months with no probs at all."
Yeah - but it's only run like that for three months. I'm in the hardware business and have sold plenty of notebooks. And while the gfx cards on notebooks generally tolerate overclocking, I have had a *number* of clients who have returned notebooks with cooked hard drives or caps that have swelled on the mobos, and when asked admit to overclocking the gfx card
Remember, Sony doesn't set up the specs based solely on the heat of the gfx card and CPU - they have to look at the heat tolerances of the memory, hard drive, motherboard components, power circuitry, and screen components. And remember, they have to look at the heat tolerences of these components over a 3 or 5 year period, not just over 3 months.
Beyond that, they also have to look at power consumption when all components are in use. Lets say you generally game with the system plugged in, with the CPU at max clock and the gfx card overclocked, but with the sound off and wifi/bluetooth off. Now, lets say one day you happen to game on the same settings but unplugged, with the sound to max and the BT and wifi on - that may increase the power draw enough to kill your poor battery.
The settings Sony et al choose for notebooks such as this are *not* random. Yes, there is often a large margin available in terms of overclocking, because clocks are often set with power consumption being the main issue. However, we just don't know at what point you start to seriously risk your machine. If you overclock you are playing with fire - and if you abuse the RMA policies of these companies, that's stealing - plain and simple.
Artag
I went to ATI.com, and dowloaded the newest Catalyst version 5.6. Next I followed the .exe file and let it create the ati directory and copy its files there. THEN, I ran a little program called "DH MODTOOL 2.2". This worked like magic! It converted the ATI Catalyst Program to ignore Sony's OEM nonsense and allowed me to install the full-blown package on my S360. this whole process is extremely easy, all the instructions are here:
want to swap units, 
mines goes about 360/670
