Is Sapphire good ATI maker?

[9nines]

I plan to get a 4870 and a store near me has Sapphire 4870s in stock.

Is it a good quality brand? Good warranty and support?

 

[SunnyD]

Sapphire has been making ATI product probably longer than PowerColor. They were one of the first tier manufacturers that started making ATI cards once ATI started letting OEM's market their own cards.

As far as warranty and support, well, as far as I know the best is VisionTek (Lifetime warranty) - though I'm still concerned in that respect since VisionTek had already "gone out of business/bankrupt" once, but has since been resurrected and seems pretty strong. (Same with Diamond)

 

[Chosonman]

Saphire is well respected.

 

[tuteja1986]

Sapphire is alright , but i rather get Asus , Gigabyte or MSI as they have a better warranty rma process.

 

[Blazer7]

I believe that at some point ATI trusted Sapphire with making their reference cards. Sapphire is probably one of the best ATI partners and have been in the business for quite some time now.

ATI Certified Graphics Cards Partners

 

[HOOfan 1]

I wouldn't buy from Sapphire, simply for the fact that I have been on their forums and seen what ignorant jerks they employee to run their support forums.

 

[PingSpike]

I always thought sapphire sucked, but everyone bought their cards because they were a good deal cheaper then the other board partners.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Sapphire made ATI's own cards for awhile (not sure if they still do). They are fantastic.

 

[Schadenfroh]

I use a Sapphire x1950 Pro AGP. I have never had any issues with it beyond it being a reference clone. The fan is a bit loud, but I am sure others would find it fine. The board feels flimsy, but what tech products do not feel flimsy or cheaply made these days?

As far as I can tell, the launch cards of the 48x0 line are identical. Get whichever one has the bundle, price, warranty that is right for you.

 

[9nines]

Thanks for all the quick responses.

 

[Quiksilver]

Sapphire makes great cards, it's just that their customer support sucks. God forbid you actually have to RMA one of their cards, then ya gotta deal with gr33ngecko who will blame your problem on everything in your pc but the card. Gotta Corsair PSU? That's a bad PSU, you should of used PC Power & Cooling, kind of responses.

I personally would rather go with Diamond cards.

 

[nemesismk2]

I think Sapphire make very good video cards, my latest is a Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 and I've owned them right back to a Sapphire Radeon 7000.

 

[bryanW1995]

sapphire has an rma nazi who is makes it VERY difficult to get an rma with them. they are the highest-volume ati board partner, however, so ymmv. I would take 1. VT, 2. asus, 3. other well-known brand (including diamond, his, powercolor, gb), or 4. sapphire

 

[brandonb]

I bought a Sapphire 4850, and it seems solid, its a bit warm as its running hot, but I did the fan trick and download the new video bios which slows down the 2d clock a bit, so its not bad.

I've bought a Sapphire 9700 back in the day and its still running like a champ 5 years later.