Best Ati cards brand

[humanentity]

Asus
Sapphire
Buil by Ati
Powercolor
Club 3d
His
Msi
Gecube
Gigabyte
Connect 3d
Gigacube

tell me which ones do you consider the best brands and which are the best selling points of the ones you choose, i mean because is really silent, because is very cheap, because is faster than others, because it has superb cooling,
and would appreciate you all to give your thoughs about asus and built by ati specifically

and feel free to add more brands if a forgot any this is not a closed list

hmm keeleysam i did copy paste my fault hope it is fixed now

 

[keeleysam]

Quite a few of those brands are nVidia manufacturers, exclusively.

 

[Conky]

I prefer going with actual ATI cards because then you at least get the warranty. Sapphire is really about the only other ATI chipset maker on that list.

 

[VisceralM]

Powercolor now does a lifetime warranty on all their cards, so that's a huge plus. I'm not sure if the warranty is voided by adding a custom heatsink though, I've posted a question about that. I'd take a life time warranty over a crappy games bundle anytime.

 

[tuteja1986]

my fav goes
HSI = performance different Cooling system , price
Powercolor = Lifetime warranty , price , Support
Asus = expensive , Great Support
Sapphire/ATI = Performance , price , Rebate deals

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

I'd say BBA, Sapphire, Powercolor, HIS, and ASUS are probably the top five. Sapphire is generally the cheapest, HIS usually has nice cooling, ASUS is usually very high quality, and Powercolor has a good warranty.

 

[Exsomnis]

I like Sapphire, a lot. They always seem to be on offer with my e-tailer (overclockers.co.uk) and I have always had good experiences with the brand.

 

[orangat]

ATI has lower quality manufacturers for their cards which is unfortunate.
Some might disagree but I'm just stating an obvious fact.

- Sapphire pulled a scam with their 9800pro 128-bit(instead of 256-bit) . They apologised and started labelling 128bit on the gimped cards but non-savvy users will still be fooled.
- Powercolor warranty is good but ONLY for x1900 cards and probably only in US.
- Apart from Powercolor, ATI warranty is usually only 1yr which is a big minus

 

[PingSpike]

ATI's partners are definately worse then nvidia's. Which I think ATI needs to do something about, because it isn't all about performance. When you're dropping 300+ dollars on a video card you don't want a bunch of assholes that blow you off on the other end of the support line. And you expect them to have a decent warrentee as well. If you're on the fence about whose cards to buy, these are real considerations.

I've only bought sapphire...mainly because none of the other partners strike me as particularly worth paying extra for.

If only EVGA would start making ATI parts...

 

[Munky]

They're all the same in my book. When I buy a card, I make the decision based on the actual performance, features and price of the hardware, not who made it, what the warranty is or their support service. Those vendor-specific features are what matters to the average n00b. I'm more concerned with the actual hardware.

I should say that in the past I've owned cards from Ati, Sapphire, Connect3d, and now I'm using a Powercolor card. So far I have no reason to prefer one vendor over the other.

 

[orangat]

The warranty may not be a big factor for people who upgrade every 6-9months.

But for the vast majority of gamers including myself (who are not necessarily noobs), warranty is a big and important issue since current gpu's run hot. And I'm sure the people who spring for sli setups would like better warranty than a paltry 1 yr of ATI.

 

[Stumps]

I've had very good luck with Gigabyte, I have the following

GV-R9700 PRO, I have had that one for over 3 years and it is still kicking along nice and strong
GV-R9500 , I got this the same time as my 9700 pro, I soft modded it and it still works a treat and is only 1000 3dmarks slower in 2001 than the 9700 pro

GV-R96128XT, I have had this on for just under 2 years and it runs pretty good
GV-R9000PRO 64mb + 128mb, I have had these for just as long as my first two...they still work a treat.

I have also had some Hercules ATI cards...their pretty fast but I have had to replace my 8500le 2 times before hercules gave me a good one.

 

[peleejosh]

Originally posted by: orangat
The warranty may not be a big factor for people who upgrade every 6-9months.

But for the vast majority of gamers including myself (who are not necessarily noobs), warranty is a big and important issue since current gpu's run hot. And I'm sure the people who spring for sli setups would like better warranty than a paltry 1 yr of ATI.

I don't understand why people say that warranty isn't that important since you upgrade every 6 months. When I upgrade, I don't throw the old stuff in the trash, I sell it. Resale value is higher for a part that has a lifetime warranty.

 

[VisceralM]

Originally posted by: peleejosh

Originally posted by: orangat
The warranty may not be a big factor for people who upgrade every 6-9months.

But for the vast majority of gamers including myself (who are not necessarily noobs), warranty is a big and important issue since current gpu's run hot. And I'm sure the people who spring for sli setups would like better warranty than a paltry 1 yr of ATI.

I don't understand why people say that warranty isn't that important since you upgrade every 6 months. When I upgrade, I don't throw the old stuff in the trash, I sell it. Resale value is higher for a part that has a lifetime warranty.

Exactly. I do upgrade every 16-12 months, but I sell my exisiting card. Now, a lifetime warrenty is one hell of a selling point over some crappy software bundle you never bother selling or couldnt even give away. It's almost like money.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: peleejosh

Originally posted by: orangat
The warranty may not be a big factor for people who upgrade every 6-9months.

But for the vast majority of gamers including myself (who are not necessarily noobs), warranty is a big and important issue since current gpu's run hot. And I'm sure the people who spring for sli setups would like better warranty than a paltry 1 yr of ATI.

I don't understand why people say that warranty isn't that important since you upgrade every 6 months. When I upgrade, I don't throw the old stuff in the trash, I sell it. Resale value is higher for a part that has a lifetime warranty.

Problem is most lifetime warranties are for the original purchaser only. XFX is the exception and they don't make ATI products.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: peleejosh
I don't understand why people say that warranty isn't that important since you upgrade every 6 months. When I upgrade, I don't throw the old stuff in the trash, I sell it. Resale value is higher for a part that has a lifetime warranty.

But after the resale that warranty is void and you'd have to send the card back to the original owner in order to RMA it.

 

[peleejosh]

Only if the original owner registered it, which i never do. If you are smart enough to keep the invoice, then when you resell it, the buyer gets the lifetime warranty.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Golgatha
.......


Problem is most lifetime warranties are for the original purchaser only. XFX is the exception and they don't make ATI products.

BFG and XFX offer double lifetime warranty so it carries over.
And as pelee said, the 1st owner can just hang on to the registration card without registering it.

 

[Mavrick007]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: peleejosh

Originally posted by: orangat
The warranty may not be a big factor for people who upgrade every 6-9months.

But for the vast majority of gamers including myself (who are not necessarily noobs), warranty is a big and important issue since current gpu's run hot. And I'm sure the people who spring for sli setups would like better warranty than a paltry 1 yr of ATI.

I don't understand why people say that warranty isn't that important since you upgrade every 6 months. When I upgrade, I don't throw the old stuff in the trash, I sell it. Resale value is higher for a part that has a lifetime warranty.

Problem is most lifetime warranties are for the original purchaser only. XFX is the exception and they don't make ATI products.

There's alot of things to consider when making a big purchase such as an expensive vid card. I look at performance(for the type of games I play or in general), support of the company, warranty, driver issues, etc. I want the least headache that I can possibly have.. and you can use some of the same info for when you resell your card too.