Difference between ATI/PowerColor/Sapphire?

[Learjet Capt]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and have a hopefully simple question. I'm looking to buy the ATI RADEON 9800 PRO, but have noticed that Powercolor and Sapphire make these cards with the same chipset. The latter 2 can be found for cheaper prices than the original. Should a shell out the extra bucks and get the ATI made one or are the Powercolor and Sapphire's just as good? I have no idea what the differences are except that a different company uses the same chipset. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you in advance

 

[tungtung]

Careful with Powercolor and Sapphire ... if you're going to get their product make sure it's not the 128-bit variant of the Radeon 9800 Pro ... many stores don't say this clearly, and several people were tricked already ... ATI's product will always be the 256-bit variant for sure ... try MSI if you can get a good price, lots of people have reported that MSI's cards are often 9800 XT but downclocked to 9800 Pro (they use the same card layout and GPU) ... overall if the price seems to be too good to be true then it is ... as a guide as far as I know the price of the true 256-bit Radeon 9800 Pro is a couple dollars above the 9600 XT ...

 

[Learjet Capt]

Thanks for the quick reply. The reason I'm inquiring is tomorrow a local store will be selling the ATI RADEON 9800 Pro 128MB AGP (as advertised) for $149 after a couple of rebates. I found the Powercolors and Sapphires online for the same price and was wondering if I should go through the hassle of the rebates and the chaos of shopping tomorrow! But judging from what you are saying, I'd be better off playing it safe and going tomorrow for the original ATI.