XFX vs PowerColor vs Asus vs SAPPHIRE vs etc.

[sakai4eva]

Ok, I'm really confused here. I see that they have different prices, but what is the difference between the manufacturers, especially with the current batch of 6xxx series of cards?

I have no idea which one to buy T.T

 

[PaNiC]

there all pretty much the same your paying extra for support and warrenty

 

[Nokiacrazi]

XFX has lifetime warrenty.

I would go for the cheapest.

Or Sapphire.

 

[sakai4eva]

What about ASUS Direct CU cards and SAPPHIRE's toxic cards? Are they worth the extra money?

 

[kurosagi01]

Get which ever is cheapest,but do note Sapphire and Powercolor is mainly AMD partner because you won't see Sapphire or Powercolor release cards for Nvidia.
I would reconmend getting which ever one is cheapest and the sapphire toxic isn't exactly worth the extra money unless the cooler is really good.

 

[sakai4eva]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[cyriene]

Some of the manufacturers will release revised pcbs and or alternate coolers which may be better than the stock cooler.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

there all pretty much the same your paying extra for support and warrenty

XFX has lifetime warrenty.

It's spelt warranty.

However, sakai4eva - I'd make sure you have a decent PSU and don't some generic one as you may find that you don't have enough 'juice' to power it.

 

[sakai4eva]

It's spelt warranty.

However, sakai4eva - I'd make sure you have a decent PSU and don't some generic one as you may find that you don't have enough 'juice' to power it.

That's definitely going to be an item I will look at

Now considering various 600w+ power supplies...

 

[sttubs]

It's spelled warranty.

However, sakai4eva - I'd make sure you have a decent PSU and don't some generic one as you may find that you don't have enough 'juice' to power it.

Fixed for you. This would be spelt, subspecies (Triticum aestivum spelta) of wheat that has lax spikes and spikelets containing two light-red kernels. A related species, Triticum dicoccon, commonly known as emmer wheat or farro, was cultivated by the ancient Babylonians and the ancient Swiss lake dwellers; it is now grown for livestock forage and used in baked goods and cereals.

 

[micropage7]

there all pretty much the same your paying extra for support and warrenty

based on what card are you interested in low or mid range or high end
for low since there many brands release their own layout you can search the custom or OC card
for mid or high end since most of them out on reference design which means the 'usually' have the same performance you can take by:
1. hsf type, direct heatpipe, standard, double fan etc
2. package, like the game and utility that bundled with that and its included what software that could be downloaded from their web like bios, newer apps etc
3. warranty, the longer is better
4. OC version (if available)
5. spec, like memory type GDDR4 or 5, memory size where bigger memory will help much when you handle complicated texture
for brand is up to you, some people tend to choose specific brand coz they ever bought the product and satisfied with that and on this part is personal choice

 

[sakai4eva]

soooo.... if I'm looking for an air-cooled 6950, there isn't going to be any difference who or where I buy it from?

 

[InnocentCriminal]

That's definitely going to be an item I will look at

Now considering various 600w+ power supplies...

Can't recommend Corsair PSUs enough. Don't just go on wattage alone.

Fixed for you. This would be spelt, subspecies (Triticum aestivum spelta) of wheat that has lax spikes and spikelets containing two light-red kernels. A related species, Triticum dicoccon, commonly known as emmer wheat or farro, was cultivated by the ancient Babylonians and the ancient Swiss lake dwellers; it is now grown for livestock forage and used in baked goods and cereals.

We don't say spelled in the U.K. the language you Yanks butchered!

 

[Igorius]

Get which ever is cheapest,but do note Sapphire and Powercolor is mainly AMD partner because you won't see Sapphire or Powercolor release cards for Nvidia.

Really?
Sapphire is the owner of Zotac.
So: Sapphire=AMD, Zotac=nVidia.
So so: AMD=nVidia

 

[entropy13]

Really?
Sapphire is the owner of Zotac.
So: Sapphire=AMD, Zotac=nVidia.
So so: AMD=nVidia

No, Sapphire and Zotac are separate; they are owned by another corporation. Hence their being AMD or Nvidia exclusive as well. It's like Hyundai and Kia being separate automobile companies within the same corporate group.

 

[Igorius]

No, Sapphire and Zotac are separate; they are owned by another corporation. Hence their being AMD or Nvidia exclusive as well. It's like Hyundai and Kia being separate automobile companies within the same corporate group.

Like Powercolor and VTX?

Like Peugeot and Citroen and Renault?

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

god damn ppl they all own each other its like acer gateway and emachines it dosent matter buy whatever card has the coolest looking sticker on it cause we all know stickers make it go faster.

more serious not get the one with the best warranty easiest warranty service in my experience for GPUs was Sapphire for AMD cards and BFG before they went under on Nvidia cards.

 

[micropage7]

whatever card has the coolest looking sticker on it cause we all know stickers make it go faster.

we go impressed by what we can see then put verdict based from its cover

 

[ale86cuba]

i have an corsair hx620 and im probably maxing it out right now but its been strong and ive had it for almost two years....id say go corsair and hx if you can afford the perks of a modular psu....here is what i would recommend
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-750HX 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EP...
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 650W ATX12V v2.2 / E...
and get a sapphire 6950 and you can unlock it and make it a 6970

 

[sliderider]

Whether the non-reference cards are worth it or not depends on how you will use them. The Asus Direct CU cards look good if you plan on doing a high level of overclocking with your card. I've seen both the Direct CU and Asus Ares coolers disassembled and there's an obvious lineage there. I'm not saying the Direct CU will flow anywhere near as much air as the Ares cooler (I don't think the air conditioner in my car flows that much air), but the similarities certainly can't hurt it any. I personally prefer external exhaust models so I'll be sticking with the reference coolers for the time being.

 

[sakai4eva]

Can't recommend Corsair PSUs enough. Don't just go on wattage alone.



We don't say spelled in the U.K. the language you Yanks butchered!

Well, in the end I had to settle for a 80+ rated Cooler Master 750W. I would have gone for a Corsair, but the price is waaaay too prohibitive at more than double for the same thing. Is there a way to check if I am really underpowered? Which stats should I be looking at?

Really?
Sapphire is the owner of Zotac.
So: Sapphire=AMD, Zotac=nVidia.
So so: AMD=nVidia

No, Sapphire and Zotac are separate; they are owned by another corporation. Hence their being AMD or Nvidia exclusive as well. It's like Hyundai and Kia being separate automobile companies within the same corporate group.

Like Powercolor and VTX?

Like Peugeot and Citroen and Renault?

Methinks its just a marketing gimmick? Different naming conventions to appeal to different market segments? Once name for NVidia and one for ATIAMD

god damn ppl they all own each other its like acer gateway and emachines it dosent matter buy whatever card has the coolest looking sticker on it cause we all know stickers make it go faster.

more serious not get the one with the best warranty easiest warranty service in my experience for GPUs was Sapphire for AMD cards and BFG before they went under on Nvidia cards.

No... I hate stickers. I've been using all my cards with no warranty claims so far, so warranty experience doesn't strike true at my heart, but the peace of mind is good too

we go impressed by what we can see then put verdict based from its cover

Yes, very impressive covers get me too. I prefer bundles and/or smaller packagings though.

Whether the non-reference cards are worth it or not depends on how you will use them. The Asus Direct CU cards look good if you plan on doing a high level of overclocking with your card. I've seen both the Direct CU and Asus Ares coolers disassembled and there's an obvious lineage there. I'm not saying the Direct CU will flow anywhere near as much air as the Ares cooler (I don't think the air conditioner in my car flows that much air), but the similarities certainly can't hurt it any. I personally prefer external exhaust models so I'll be sticking with the reference coolers for the time being.

I see... but currently, the vanilla Asus is costing about 10% more than the SAPPHIRE, so that is what I got Since I already bought it, whether or not Direct CU is going to come into play is not an issue anymore


Anyway, a final thanks to everyone who have contributed their opinions in this here thread. Wouldn't have bought the card with peace of mind without your help.

 

[Widjaja]

Sapphire is all I have used for ATi cards.
Never failed me but it may just be my luck.
But then they have been making ATi/AMD cards for a long time now.

Also Powercolor is not easily available in New Zealand.

With XFX, I ended up having trouble with an nVidia revised PCB model they released.
So bad luck there.

 

[Igorius]

I am disappointed with the company MSI. The Palit is ok, I have the HD4850 card, which is quiet and cold (this card is now working on my second PC).
Now I want to buy something from Gigabyte or Sapphire: I think about the HD5850 or HD6850.

 

[GSquadron]

It depends in which city you live. For example, for me msi is the most expensive one, 3D force is the cheapest and normally i have not seen any 3d forces reviews in techpowerup cuz it is like a "fake" company. I am talking only for GPUs. But i would STRONGLY recommend palit sonic because they make the strongest and most powerful cards. My 7600GS is like 7600GT because of the modifications they did.
At least for my experience!

 

[sliderider]

One company I wish we had more access to in N. America is Gainward. They seem to do most of their sales in the UK. Every so often they get their hands on a golden batch of chips that run faster and cooler than everyone else's. They have a fairly long history of producing the Golden Sample series with both ATi and nVidia models.