9700 Non Pro / 9700 NP WTB Brand and Vendor Suggestions Needed

[dfish]

I'm strongly considering the 9700 NP. I'd set a $200 budget for a few new computers for the kids, but think the few extra dollars may be a good decision over time. If the drivers hold. I've having a problem both in finding who makes these (well, brands them) and in finding web based vendors.

Can ya'll share what brands you're aware of and where you're heard of them being sold? Maybe add to the list below? I'm afraid price grabber and price watch are a little limited of information.... And if anybody has a current understanding of what memory speed is in any of these, that would be great to know too!

Brands I've heard of are:

Gigabyte Maya II; I know little about this one.
Saphire ; Supposed to be the fastest ram, but...
Powercolor; They seem to have 2, the gold and gamer. Any idea's what's what?


Vendors:
Newegg (have you seen the new "no return" BS they're foisting?


Has anybody seems a 9700 NP shootout?

Thanks guys!

dam

 

[tcsenter]

Gigabyte, Tyan, FIC, and Sapphire are all good brands. I believe Gigabyte has the least confusing and best disclosed core/mem clocks, where Sapphire has a lot of different core/mem clock choices but they're not always clearly disclosed. Other than that, there is nothing 'wrong' with Sapphire, they make most of ATI's cards.

As for Newegg's policy, that is the trend in this business. If you want 100% money back guarantee, you'll have to pay for the extra level of service; Best Buy or Circuit City would be a good place.

But if you want 'best' customer service AND lowest prices, it doesn't exist. They are mutually exclusive things.

What ever you think of the policy, you cannot deny that people returning perfectly good items as "defective" because they changed their mind, don't know how to get it functioning properly, or isn't compatible, is a huge problem.

The fact is, a business with fair and reasonable return policies is a target for unscrupulous customers. They don't change their policies from liberal to restrictive for no reason, its because they are being taken advantage of and losing money. Even Best Buy has tightened up on their return policies. As often as we hear of 'bad' buyer stories, its nothing compared with the bullsh-t a business has to deal with every day.

Ask anyone who has been both, a customer and a business owner.

 

[selfbuilt]

You might want to check out this thread for more on the Powercolor Pro/nonpro clocking problems:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=983206

Excellent points about the nature of the retail business, by the way. I buy both no-return computer products and mass electronic chain products (depending on the circumstances), and I have a great deal of sympathy for both businesses. For a good example of the kind people Best Buy has to put up with, check out this recent thread:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=31&threadid=973610

Sort of makes you loose faith in humanity, doesn't it?

 

[dfish]

I'll check out the thread.

I don't need to read the support nightmare thread, I've been in the business way to long. Many of the people on this very forum have behaved in ways that are simply outragous, so I sincerely have sympathy for them. On the other hand, I've bought enough systems to have received OEM packages that were supposed to be retail, and video card incompatabilities are common enough. What's a guy to do with a $300 video card that won't work? Keep it? If the vendor or the manufacturer can't support it well enough to make it work they do need to take it back. Not that BB or CC have any inherint skill advantage. They simply have a larger brick and mortar nut to crack, lower inventory turns, and an advertising budget to overcome.

Clearly a difficult business to be in. Personally, I've always advocated 25% restocking fee's that are waived only on store error or by acceptance of the OEM of a defect or inherint incompatability. This holds off the "I want the newer version", "I don't know what an IRQ is ", and "What do you mean I can't OC it to a gillion and expect it to work? I want a new one" kind of loosers.

Ah well, thank to all for the help. And if anybody wants to list some known, trusted web merchants I'd appreciate the steer. I've always used price grabber and it just doesnt' help for this.

Respects...

Dan