What Brand for a 5850?

PornFlake

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
270
Getting ready to move away from my GTX 260 and on to AMD and would like some suggestions on which brands to consider for a 5850.

-Flake
 
I like XFX and Sapphire, myself.

XFX for the warranty, Sapphire for their OC'd boards and Vapor-X coolers. I'm actually waiting for the TOXIC edition to get back into stock at Newegg.
 
XFX has a double lifetime warranty. They cover third party heatsink installation, voltage mods, and overclocking.

On average, the resale vale of an XFX card is higher because of the transferable lifetime warranty..
 
asus, I like the higher clock ceiling in ccc. you bump the volts in afterburner, and up the clocks. xfx limits the clock to default ccc settings.
 
if you buy the XFX make sure you buy the reference board only. Lots of problems with the non reference boards from XFX in the 5850 line. Lots of complaints about one less VRM, and cards having issues.
 
XFX or Sapphire or ASUS are good brands, so go for whichever one is cheaper. Only get the one with the reference cooler if going XFX (fan at one end of the card).
 
if you buy the XFX make sure you buy the reference board only. Lots of problems with the non reference boards from XFX in the 5850 line. Lots of complaints about one less VRM, and cards having issues.

What's the easiest way to tell which models use the reference board?
 
ref cards all look the same, fan in same location. get the vanilla speed card also, oc yourself. the factory oc cards seem hit or miss 50% of time.
 
A quick question about reference vs non-reference...

Are the mounting holes different between the two? For example if I want to mount an aftermarket cooler on it, it's best to get the reference design correct? The mounting holes and other things are different correct?
 
A quick question about reference vs non-reference...

Are the mounting holes different between the two? For example if I want to mount an aftermarket cooler on it, it's best to get the reference design correct? The mounting holes and other things are different correct?

Thats not a yes/no answer. Thats a dont know. Thus the term "non reference". It may be the same, it may not, and you have no way of knowing, unless you can find someone who has one, measured it, took one apart, etc.
 
Thats not a yes/no answer. Thats a dont know. Thus the term "non reference". It may be the same, it may not, and you have no way of knowing, unless you can find someone who has one, measured it, took one apart, etc.

I see, I guess taking that into account its best to just get the reference design then?
 
Sapphire? Why? Get a crappy 2-year warranty of the likes of HIS, Powercolor etc. No thanks! Also they charge you for shipping back from them. Their RMA service is a joke! It's XFX only for me. If you want to tweak your card, then by all means! I owned a Sapphire VC & it was a nightmare to get my card back. When I did, I still received a DOA unit. That happened twice! Never, ever again. Sapphire is a shitbag company!
 
XFX just for their warranty/support...or sapphire/asus if you really like some of their non-reference designs...too bad sapphire's support doesn't match their nicely designed cards...personally i'd go:
1) XFX
2) ASUS
3) Sapphire
 
My recommended ATI/AMD video card brands:

1. XFX
2. ASUS
3. Gigabyte
4. Diamond

All based on customer support.

I rate Sapphire right with HIS and Powercolor, crap.
 
I prefer not to deal with shitbag companies. Last build i was looking for best performance per price, this build I'm looking to use companies that have decent support (see evga, xfx, etc)
 
I would give you my vote for XFX like everyone else except I have a HD4870 that died on me in SEPTEMBER and as of today they sent me confirmation that they received my card for RMA inspection. The card they got today was the RMA they gave me for the RMA of my original RMA. Meaning that once they approve today's RMA and send me the replacement it will be the 4th video card from XFX I have been given, and will be month 7 in my quest to get a functional card from their company.

So, I vote a big NO to XFX. In my wait I just got a new 5850 (Diamond, works just fine) and will sell the HD4870 if they ever get me a functional product, and hopefully I can sell it for more than it cost me to repeatedly ship them back their paper-weights. The last one they sent me actually had two types of thermal paste on the GPU, in excessive amounts, and was missing one of the screws in the heatsink. Not sure what company XFX used to be but this was my first experience with them so their reputation is in a different realm from my experience.
 
Curious, I see a few companies mentioned both ways, no mention about MSI, I have never owned a MSI graphics card, but I like my Eclipse mother board. How would you rate them to Asus, XFX, Gigabyte, etc. I have not owned a Radeon since the R300 days.
 
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I have been out of pocket lately with finals coming up but I appreciate everyones response, thanks guys.

What I hear the crowd saying is an XFX ref board, non OC'd right?

-Flake
 
When was the last time you guys kept a card for more than 2 years? Buying a card just for a lifetime warranty that takes forever to honor if you do have a problem is LOL to me. I've got a Powercolor 5870 with the non-reference cooler coming tomorrow - Hexus says it is better than the VaporX for a lot less money. We'll see...
 
I have been out of pocket lately with finals coming up but I appreciate everyones response, thanks guys.

What I hear the crowd saying is an XFX ref board, non OC'd right?

-Flake

Seems to be the overarching concensus yes. I must say I like my XFX card
 
i'd say asus. i bump mine up to 850 -1200 with out a hitch. 40% fan speed says under 50c,can't beat it.
 
i have personally used Sapphire and HIS and I like them both. never had to use RMA
 
XFX XFX and XFX

i dont think any other offer lifetime let alone a double lifetime (transferable) i believe.
 
i have personally used Sapphire and HIS and I like them both. never had to use RMA

You can't realistically judge a tech company until you experience their RMA department. It's usually the most lacking part of any tech related company, especially the non-US based ones.
 
XFX is a no-brainer if it's reference and you can find it at-parity. If another brand is available for appreciably cheaper and you're not terribly unlucky with your hardware, there's reason for pause before springing extra for the DLW.
 
XFX has a double lifetime warranty. They cover third party heatsink installation, voltage mods, and overclocking.

On average, the resale vale of an XFX card is higher because of the transferable lifetime warranty..



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