Does brand make a difference???

[lemmiwinks]

I am in the process in building a new computer and have a choosen an ATI Radeon 9600Pro 128MB as my video card. My question is what is the difference between the ATI, Powercolor, and Sapphire cards? Powercolor and Sapphire cards cost less and I'm wondering if this is because the have lower clock/memory settings then the ATI cards do. While I can afford to get the ATI version, I wouldnt mind saving some money for a non-ATI card that would perform exactly the same.

thanx

 

[modedepe]

The other brands are fine. Just make sure the card you get isn't one of the "ez" or "lite" versions. Those are underclocked.

 

[duragezic]

And everything else is identical to the ATI-made cards? What about 2d quality? Back when I got my Radeon 64 and they were just starting to have other manufacturers make their new cards, some people were worried about the 2d quality being subpar (ala some geforce brands) but I have been out of the loop for the last year or so...

 

[Corporate Thug]

i'm sure brand doesnt matter at all but for some reason i stay away from powercolor. i mean i never had a bad experiance or anything, but something prevents me from buying sapphire

 

[boshuter]

something prevents me from buying sapphire

Something prevents me from buying sapphire too........ I did have a bad experience, one of there POS 9700pro's that thankfully, was out of stock when I rma'd it so I got a refund instead of another one. A lot of people have good luck with sapphire I'm sure, but I can tell you first hand, if you do get a bad one; what they call "tech support" sucks..:disgust:

 

[zodder]

I bought a Crucial 9700 Pro awhile back and have had absolutely no problems with it. If Crucial sells a 9600 Pro, I'd highly recommend buying from them.

 

[Mem]

The image quality on my Sapphire 9700NP is excellent (not surprised since Sapphire make some of the cards for ATi) and I`ve had 0 problems with the card.


Sapphire 9600 Pro review .

 

[Sammy5000]

I have owned my Sapphire 9700Pro and had not any issues whatsoever. I have heard some horror stories about Powercolor and Gigabytes, though.

 

[Petiot]

I'm lookng at getting a 9800pro from newegg. They have one by TYAN. Will this card be the same at the rest. It is one of the cheaper 9800 pros, so does less prce = less performance? Also, what is meant by OEM. I see that for some of the video cards? Thanks