Which OEMs are considered the best for ATI knockoff cards?

[Ken90630]

Never mind my original post. Got my answer. 🙂

One other question though: Which of the OEMs do you guys think make the best vid cards with ATI chipsets? I'm looking for a reasonably priced dual-output (VGA and DVI) vid card for a build I'm working on (mainly for full-motion video stuff like concerts or music vids from bands I like, or vid clips from news sites; no gaming or pron). I read about Sapphire and Gigabyte vid cards, and others of course. Which OEMs have good reputations for quality and reliability in this area?

 

[Cheesetogo]

Probably sappire, they are closest to ati and I've heard that they actually make some of the "made by ati cards".

 

[Fern]

EDIT: This was in response to your original question. As to which non ATI supplier produces the best card. I think you might wanna look at a specific card and research. For example, Sapphire might of been pretty good with the 9800p, but the x800 has a crappy cooling solution or extra loud fan etc. Thats a made-up example on the quick. I dont know about sapphires actaul cooling solution on the x800 🙂

Really two questions in one I think.

There is the OEM v Retail. With OEM being the less expensive in almost all cases. That's because OEMs generally (1) don't come with the longer warranty period the retail version does, (2) OEM lack the fancy packaging retail has, (3) OEM don't come with all the xtra's retail do (games, etc.). This OEM v Retail designations applies to a wide range of components also. CPU's, HDD etc can be sold as OEM or retail

Both ATI and nvidia sell their their chips whatever to other companies to make their cards. They generally stick to the ATI/nVidia reference design (they are some infamous exceptions). I don't believe I have ever seen a Built By nVidia card. There are Built by ATI cards though (I've got one). The other makers (sapphire etc) do offer different coolers, but generally the features/specs between them are the same (core and mem speeds for example. but there are exceptions to this as well). Yeah, there can be qaulity difference between makers too. Some use better ram (all should meet the minimum, but some include ram which can exceed it. I.e, OC's better), cooler or just overall quality in the build of the product.

But, I don't believe OEM v Retail refers to whether ATI or Sapphire built it. rather it's about warranty, packaging , and extra goodies.


Fern

 

[rbV5]

Like stated already, Sapphire and ATI can have OEM and Retail models for example. They are "meant" for different markets, retail for the consumer add in market, and OEM or white box for the system builder.

What you are referring to is BBA vs PBA (Built by ATI vs Powered by ATI) BBA cards follow ATI's specifications on their product pages, while PBA use an ATI chip and may or may not follow ATI's product specifications.

Sapphire is a good OEM, and essentially build the vast majority of both BBA and all Sapphire branded PBA cards. Their branded products can vary from ATI's specs (like all the ATI partners) so be sure you know exactly what you are buying.

 

[Ken90630]

What you are referring to is BBA vs PBA (Built by ATI vs Powered by ATI) BBA cards follow ATI's specifications on their product pages, while PBA use an ATI chip and may or may not follow ATI's product specifications.

Okay -- now I'm starting to see the light here! That's what I was getting at and what I wanted to know. I apologize for getting the terminology a bit wrong and referring to PBA cards as "OEM."

Anyway, what I want is good mid-level card along the lines of an ATI 9200 or 9200SE, or maybe a 9600, with dual output (VGA & DVI). ATI's own retail 9200 family doesn't offer dual outputs though, so I guess I wanna look for a PBA card with a 9200 chipset that has dual outs. So it looks like I'll be spending my Saturday evening engaged in the non-stop excitement of video card shopping. That's me -- I live on the edge. 😀

 

[rbV5]

You may get a good recommendation here if you have a budget and performance level you're looking for. Some system specs may help get a better idea.

Search at Newegg.com in the video card section with your top dollar amount could give you a good idea of whats available as well.

 

[crazyeddie]

Sapphire isn't the only company that actually produces the ATI branded retail cards, Apollo is a second major manufacturing partner. Sapphire does get the lion's share of the orders, however.

My Radeon 9700 card is a PowerColor brand card, and I've been completely happy with it. About the only brand of ATI chipset video card I wouldn't buy is Asus. I'm sure the Asus cards are high quality, they just seem to sell at a premium vs. other ATI chipset cards.

Just my two cents...

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: Ken90630
ATI's own retail 9200 family doesn't offer dual outputs though

That doesn't make any sense, their retail-box R7500 cards have VGA/DVI/TV-out, and my FIC R9200 AGP has all three, I can't imagine that ATI's BBA card wouldn't likewise, especially for the price that you'll pay. Sure you weren't look at the "SE" model? ("Superfluous Edition")

Originally posted by: Ken90630
so I guess I wanna look for a PBA card with a 9200 chipset that has dual outs. So it looks like I'll be spending my Saturday evening engaged in the non-stop excitement of video card shopping. That's me -- I live on the edge. 😀

Hope that you're not planning to game with it, mine is a 128-bit R9200 card, and it's..pretty slow in modern games. Roughtly GF4 MX-class, maybe slightly slower when it comes to vextex transforms. But for dual-head display, TV-out, DVD playback, etc., it's pretty decent. I paid $40 for a 64MB version last year, I certainly wouldn't pay more than that these days.

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks, all, for the info and suggestions so far. I really appreciate it. 🙂

That doesn't make any sense, their retail-box R7500 cards have VGA/DVI/TV-out, and my FIC R9200 AGP has all three, I can't imagine that ATI's BBA card wouldn't likewise, especially for the price that you'll pay. Sure you weren't look at the "SE" model? ("Superfluous Edition")

See here and scroll down to the "Monitor Support" section. This Web page is somewhat confusing 'cuz it looks like the 9200SE comes in VGA or DVI flavors, but not both together (?). And the 9200 only comes with VGA, plus S-Video and RCA outs, neither of which I have any particular need for.

Hope that you're not planning to game with it, mine is a 128-bit R9200 card, and it's..pretty slow in modern games.

As I said in my original post, I'm not.

You may get a good recommendation here if you have a budget and performance level you're looking for. Some system specs may help get a better idea.

My preferable budget is $50 to $75, but I'll spend up to $100 for the perfect card for my needs. (I can get a built-by-ATI 9600SE for $99 right now if I'm willing to jump thru a $30 rebate hoop at CompUSA, which I suppose I can do if necessary. I've bought half of my computer components via rebate deals, so what's one more?) I'm more concerned with quality, reliability and a long warranty than I am with saving a few dollars. Having said that, $100 is my line in the sand (and a line I'd prefer not to have to walk right up to if I don't have to). 😀

Re system specs, the card will be running in an Asus A7N8X with a non-OC'd Barton 2600 and 512 MB of Corsair Value Select RAM. It needs to be AGP 8X and passively cooled.

Search at Newegg.com in the video card section with your top dollar amount could give you a good idea of whats available as well.

Gonna head over there and also ZZF and maybe a few other sites right now. 🙂

 

[MisterChief]

Powercolor, Rosewill, Sapphire, ATI (OEM), Apolo...They all use the same GPU! The problem with 3rd party cards is quality of parts and support. Some companies opt for cheap "non-escencial" parts (capacitors, resistors, etc.), while others use higher quality parts. I've bought cards from Sapphire, Rosewill, and VisionTek, and they all worked like they should (and OC'ed pretty good, too 🙂)

 

[Ken90630]

The problem with 3rd party cards is quality of parts and support. Some companies opt for cheap "non-escencial" parts (capacitors, resistors, etc.), while others use higher quality parts.

That's exactly what I was wondering about. Could I assume that built-by-ATI cards (i.e., ATI's own) will generally have pretty high quality non-essential parts? I'm guessing they're comfortable offering 3-year warranties 'cuz their cards are reliable and typically hold up well?

I've bought cards from Sapphire, Rosewill, and VisionTek, and they all worked like they should (and OC'ed pretty good, too

Good to know. That's the kind of real-world experiences I wanna hear about. Thanks. 🙂

 

[MisterChief]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

The problem with 3rd party cards is quality of parts and support. Some companies opt for cheap "non-escencial" parts (capacitors, resistors, etc.), while others use higher quality parts.

That's exactly what I was wondering about. Could I assume that built-by-ATI cards (i.e., ATI's own) will generally have pretty high quality non-essential parts? I'm guessing they're comfortable offering 3-year warranties 'cuz their cards are reliable and typically hold up well?

I've bought cards from Sapphire, Rosewill, and VisionTek, and they all worked like they should (and OC'ed pretty good, too

Good to know. That's the kind of real-world experiences I wanna hear about. Thanks. 🙂

Thank you 😀. I would assume that ATI uses high quality parts, with their prices Have you seen the prices at Shop ATI? Some cards cost twice as much as a card sold by a 3rd party manufacturer.

 

[Ken90630]

I would assume that ATI uses high quality parts, with their prices Have you seen the prices at Shop ATI? Some cards cost twice as much as a card sold by a 3rd party manufacturer.

Yes, I have. Hence my questions about PBA / 3rd party cards. 😀 Those prices are craaaaazy. Besides, I just have an intrinsic reluctance to pay full MSRP for anything, so I rarely buy anything from a manufacturer's online store.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Interesting. I always thought that since the BBA cards were the more expensive, "deluxe"-ish models, that they would have the full compliment of outputs. Guess I was wrong, at least in the R9200 cards. NewEgg BBA R9200 retail - looking at the pics, it is lacking the DVI connector, which matches with ATI's web-site description. How disconcerting. (Especially for that price! Outrageous!) Here's the Mac version, which does seem to use the reference board layout, complete with DVI port as well. That's close to what my FIC R9200 looks like, except that card is PCI and mine is AGP. Price is still way too high too.

 

[Ken90630]

Well, I've been cruising some sites and digging into this. This is dizzying. So many models, so many flavors of models, so many PBA versions from different mfgrs .... My brain and eyes need a break, so I'm gonna resume this quest tomorrow.

This card looks good for my needs, but it only has a one-year warranty (and that's thru ZZF). 🙁 Price is decent though (with free shipping).

Anyone know if Sapphire's "Lite Version" cards come with an understandable user's manual? I'm kind of a video newb, so a decent manual might be nice until I can get some more knowledge & experience under my belt. I don't need a bunch of bundled games or other goodies, so I'd rather not pay for them if I have the choice.

Looks like Power Color has some ATI flavors with 3-year warranties. Will check them out further tomorrow.

:moon:

Edited to fix a typo.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I think you're best bet might be either a $66 Radeon 9550 or a $102 (all shipped prices) Radeon 9600 Pro. Take a look at ChiefValue.com. People seem to think it is the same company as NewEgg, but you might be able to save a couple bucks here and there. (They list prices and then offer free shipping most of the time.)

 

[nRollo]

I have an Asus X800XT PE, and have had Sapphire and ATI flagship products.

Asus is teh roxor.

 

[imported_Noob]

Originally posted by: Cheesetogo
Probably sappire, they are closest to ati and I've heard that they actually make some of the "made by ati cards".

True. With the X800, it is exactly teh same card. Stock speeds, stock fan, etc. All they have done is jsut coloured the board purple and added their logo by teh fan. Who would think it's worth paying an extra $100 for the Sapphire X800 XT PE?

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
Sapphire isn't the only company that actually produces the ATI branded retail cards, Apollo is a second major manufacturing partner. Sapphire does get the lion's share of the orders, however.

My Radeon 9700 card is a PowerColor brand card, and I've been completely happy with it. About the only brand of ATI chipset video card I wouldn't buy is Asus. I'm sure the Asus cards are high quality, they just seem to sell at a premium vs. other ATI chipset cards.

Just my two cents...

I had always had good feedback on Powercolor, so i had no qualms snapping up a 9800 pro almost a year ago when the price went below $400 AUD, but i've had loads of overheating problems- first one packed itself and just started artifacting bout a month after i bought it, then when hl2 came out i was getting artifacting after ~10mins playing (not in d3/3dmark05 etc 😛 ) Finally started artifacting whenever i ran 3dmark01 @1280 with AA (just playing around 2 see if i really was overheating) and it went back again two weeks ago 🙁

Guess its just that it's a bit hotter here in perth (no a/c either) & there's no cooling on the memory, but i'm steering clear of Powercolor after this xpensive little fiasco

 

[imported_Noob]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: crazyeddie
Sapphire isn't the only company that actually produces the ATI branded retail cards, Apollo is a second major manufacturing partner. Sapphire does get the lion's share of the orders, however.

My Radeon 9700 card is a PowerColor brand card, and I've been completely happy with it. About the only brand of ATI chipset video card I wouldn't buy is Asus. I'm sure the Asus cards are high quality, they just seem to sell at a premium vs. other ATI chipset cards.

Just my two cents...

I had always had good feedback on Powercolor, so i had no qualms snapping up a 9800 pro almost a year ago when the price went below $400 AUD, but i've had loads of overheating problems- first one packed itself and just started artifacting bout a month after i bought it, then when hl2 came out i was getting artifacting after ~10mins playing (not in d3/3dmark05 etc 😛 ) Finally started artifacting whenever i ran 3dmark01 @1280 with AA (just playing around 2 see if i really was overheating) and it went back again two weeks ago 🙁

Guess its just that it's a bit hotter here in perth (no a/c either) & there's no cooling on the memory, but i'm steering clear of Powercolor after this xpensive little fiasco

It is just the 9800 Pro stockfan that is bad. Also did you have any other case fans?

 

[dug777]

umm 2 80mm exhaust fans in an aluminium case- mobo usually sits around low 30s during the hotter parts of the day, 28'C atm (@ 11.50ish @night)

Guess after the warranty runs out i'll have 2drop a decent HSF on there 2 keep it cool (any advice?)