Who do you think makes the best AMD graphics cards?

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Who do you think makes the best AMD graphics cards?

  • ASUS

  • Gigabyte

  • MSI

  • Sapphire

  • XFX

  • Other (tell us below!)


Results are only viewable after voting.

Fastx

Senior member
Dec 18, 2008
780
0
0
Avoid ASUS like the plague. Absolute crap RMA service. I literally have never once gotten them to actually fix anything and I've sent in 4 different things (laptop, 3 mobos). They just held on to my stuff for a month then sent it back unfixed with absolutely no note or email or anything saying what happened or why

Not good to hear since their GTX 780 DC2 is the card I decided I am going with (sale price) at this point if I don't end up going with a AIB 290. Anyone want to chime in with good experiences on Asus RMA service?
 
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*kjm

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 1999
2,222
6
81
Anyone want to chime in with good experiences on Asus RMA service?

Good luck with that one you would have to go back to 2004.... They have been bad for years. We used to get 25 MB's and video cards from them every other year and their RMA service got so bad we gave up.
 

Fastx

Senior member
Dec 18, 2008
780
0
0
Good luck with that one you would have to go back to 2004.... They have been bad for years. We used to get 25 MB's and video cards from them every other year and their RMA service got so bad we gave up.

You know I didn't even think about that when I decided so not good.

Ok after doing some quick research on Asus on RMA's lately after reading this thread looks I am going to have choose another card if I go Nvidia, thanks for posting about this guys.
 
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MrRamon

Senior member
Apr 28, 2006
342
4
81
I love Sapphire... As far as Nvidia cards go though, what ever happened to Gainward?
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
I had a laptop OUT OF WARRANTY that ASUS fixed for free and it only took them 2 days excluding the shipping transit time. This was about a year ago.
 

wand3r3r

Diamond Member
May 16, 2008
3,180
0
0
Believe it or not, XFX seems to have learned its lesson after the 7000-series. The 280X DD is voltage unlocked and its cooler is pretty decent, plus it has lifetime warranty--something that very few cards can say these days.

That's great if true (now to read up someday unless someone has a direct link). Credit should be given where due, if they tried to cheap out and got called out, and now fixed it, we should take note.
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
That's great if true (now to read up someday unless someone has a direct link). Credit should be given where due, if they tried to cheap out and got called out, and now fixed it, we should take note.

I own one, not an OC edition but they have the same cooler. You can see reviews at places like:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7400/the-radeon-r9-280x-review-feat-asus-xfx/20

And with photos of the heatpipes:

http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/xfx-r9-280x-black-oc-edition-review/2/
 

PliotronX

Diamond Member
Oct 17, 1999
8,883
107
106
Polls accurately reflect the posts, where the hell is the rate this thread feature?
 

Shmee

Memory & Storage, Graphics Cards Mod Elite Member
Super Moderator
Sep 13, 2008
8,216
3,130
146
MSI, sapphire, and TUL (best unlock rate afaik with 290s)
 

24601

Golden Member
Jun 10, 2007
1,683
40
86

BallaTheFeared

Diamond Member
Nov 15, 2010
8,115
0
71
I voted MSI, all three of the 7950s I got were good cards. My only gripe was the TF3 had the small fans, which caused it to get annoyingly loud if you wanted to push higher RPM. I also thought they suffered when it came to top end cooling, compared to what 45-55% fan gave you at far less noise the benchmarking mode 100% fan speed offered little over lower fan speed, except exceptionally awful noise.

That said the new lineup, including cards like the TF4 Gaming address this and if they keep the same quality for the rest of the card with great prices I see no reason not to continue to give them a nod. That's for more budget focused cards, they also offer the Lightning which competes with the Classified as the best card available from either side.

The only reason I went Giga for my 780 is I wanted a guaranteed rev B1 silicon. That said I still have some buyers remorse for not getting the 780 Gaming, it would have went so, so well with my mobo :|


Believe it or not, XFX seems to have learned its lesson after the 7000-series. The 280X DD is voltage unlocked and its cooler is pretty decent, plus it has lifetime warranty--something that very few cards can say these days.


Question for XFX and their warranty... Since it's for the lifetime of the actual product.

Technically if you bought an XFX 7950 three months ago, wouldn't it be EOL now as far as the warranty goes, and you'd have to depend on them having reserve cards to send you from now until whenever they ran out?
 
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Golgatha

Lifer
Jul 18, 2003
12,400
1,073
126
You know I didn't even think about that when I decided so not good.

Ok after doing some quick research on Asus on RMA's lately after reading this thread looks I am going to have choose another card if I go Nvidia, thanks for posting about this guys.

Go eVGA if you get nVidia. All others pale in comparison when it comes to customer service. I won't buy any other brand of nVidia card.

On the AMD side of things, I'd go MSI. I'll also chime in with the pack and say ASUS has the absolute worst customer RMA program in existence. I RMAed a motherboard and they finally closed the ticket a year after I sent it in after multiple emails. Also, I still don't have a motherboard for replacement. They are dead to me for anything except for tablets. Somehow, they manage to support their tablets pretty well. Probably due to higher profit margins and resources being diverted to those products I would guess.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
Asus Matrix Platinum was the best 7970 card. I don't see that changing once that version launches for R9 290X. Otherwise, I think MSI make very good cards nowadays with the new Gaming edition, although the new tri-fan Sapphire TOXIC is looking pretty good.
 

blastingcap

Diamond Member
Sep 16, 2010
6,654
5
76
Question for XFX and their warranty... Since it's for the lifetime of the actual product.

Technically if you bought an XFX 7950 three months ago, wouldn't it be EOL now as far as the warranty goes, and you'd have to depend on them having reserve cards to send you from now until whenever they ran out?

XFX's lifetime warranty says they reserve the right to send you a comparable product. Lifetime means YOUR lifetime, not the card's lifetime, unlike some other companies that define lifetime to mean lifetime of the product line.

The 280X box says lifetime warranty even if the website hasn't been updated with the news:

"Which products are eligible for a limited lifetime hardware warranty? The following Graphics Cards are eligible for an extension of the standard two-year limited hardware warranty:
1. XFX Radeon HD 7000 Series Dual Fan (Double Dissipation Edition) Graphics Cards with Ghost Technology; a floating cover design that maximizes airflow by creating exceptional venting throughout the card.
2. XFX Radeon HD 7000 Series Graphics Cards with 10-digit model numbers ending in “R” (example: “FX-797A-TDFR”)
3. XFX Radeon HD 6000, HD 5000, and HD 4000 Series Graphics Cards
4. XFX GeForce GT 520, GT 430, 200, 9000, 8000, 7000, 6000 Series Graphics Cards purchased after April 17, 2007.
If you register any of the specified products noted above online at http://www.xfxforce.com/ within 30 days of purchase, your limited warranty will be EXTENDED for the duration of your life. Registration within 30 days of the date of purchase is a condition precedent to receiving the lifetime warranty.***
What will XFX do?
During the duration of the limited hardware warranty, XFX or its authorized representative will repair any XFX-branded hardware products returned to us that prove to be defective in materials or workmanship. If XFX or its authorized representative is not able to repair the product, we will replace it with a comparable product that is new or refurbished.
When you contact us via phone or web, we will issue a Return Material Authorization Number for you to include with your return. You must return the products to us in their original or equivalent packaging with all original components, prepay shipping charges, and insure the shipment or accept the risk if the product is lost or damaged in shipment. We will return the repaired or replacement products to you. We will pay to ship the repaired or replaced products to you if you use an address in the United States (excluding Puerto Rico and U.S. possessions and territories). Otherwise, we will ship the product to you freight collect.
If we determine that the problem is not covered under this warranty, we will notify you and inform you of service alternatives that are available to you on a fee basis. If you want the product returned, you will have to pay the shipping fees.
How will you fix my product?
We use new and refurbished parts made by various manufacturers in performing warranty repairs and in building replacement parts and systems. Refurbished parts and systems are parts or systems that have been returned to XFX, some of which were never used by a customer. All parts and systems are inspected for quality. Replacement parts and systems are covered for the remaining period of the limited hardware warranty for the product you bought. XFX owns all parts removed from repaired products."
http://xfxforce.com/en-us/Help/Support/warrantyinformation.aspx
 

Jimzz

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2012
4,399
190
106
My MSI RMA seems to be doing well. It went from received to a replacement sent out in less than 48hours.

As long as the replacement works well then MSI is doing real well in my book.
 

MangoX

Senior member
Feb 13, 2001
623
165
116
I really like my Asus dcu 6850. Great cooling but HATE that its voltage locked.
 

hclarkjr

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,375
0
0
i have an XFX and saphire 6950 in my system right now that have been running perfect for almost 2 years now. have good success with diamond also in the past
 

Yuriman

Diamond Member
Jun 25, 2004
5,530
141
106
My experience with Gigabyte:

The stock cooler on my first 7850 buzzed if I didn't have a piece of paper or foam putting a bit of pressure on it to prevent it from rattling. Its stock voltage was 1.210v, adjustable between 1.210v and 1.225v. Stock clocks were 975/1200. It began artifacting at stock clocks after a few months (hadn't overclocked or overvolted it other than to briefly test shortly after purchase). I RMA'd it, new card arrived promptly.

Stock voltage on the new card is 1.138v, adjustable to 1.225v (same model). Stock clocks are 975/1200 (same as previous card), which is pretty high for a stock 7850, and the voltage is much lower. However, I have have to raise the voltage from 1.138v to 1.150v or lower core clock from 975mhz to <960mhz to prevent rare driver related crashes (even under water, which this one is) which occur at stock. Since the card is overclocked this isn't a problem for me.

Pros -
good warranty experience
cards draw less power than other brands
run relatively cool
high stock clocks

Cons -
questionable quality control, both in the card and the cooler
locked bios
partially locked voltage
 
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Meghan54

Lifer
Oct 18, 2009
11,684
5,228
136
I had a laptop OUT OF WARRANTY that ASUS fixed for free and it only took them 2 days excluding the shipping transit time. This was about a year ago.


You cannot compare Asus laptop RMA's to their video card RMA's. The two go to completely different RMA facilities. The video card warranty process is horrid from Asus. After going through two failed Asus gpus and their RMA process, each card having to RMA three times before actually being fixed or replaced, I'll never buy another. One card spent 2 1/2 months at Asus's facility...just sitting. Had to call a few times before I finally got through to the Level 3 tech support, talked directly to the gent who processed/checked out the cards, and he had a difficult time finding it. The card was just sitting in a pile of junk. He checked it out while I was on the phone, agreed it was faulty and got a new one out to me the next day.

But after 2 1/2 months, no responses to emails, getting shuffled around on the phone system...Asus has zero credibility with gpu RMA's. Have heard their laptop service is decent, motherboard service is very spotty.