AMD OEM brands

[octoberasian]

I'm sure this gets asked a lot, but don't think I've seen an updated thread as of late.

In terms of reliable AMD OEM brands, how do these companies compare?

• Diamond
• Visiontek
• Powercolor
• ASUS
• XFX
• Club3D
• HIS
• MSI
• Sapphire
• Gigabyte
• ASUS

I've noticed that Powercolor is the cheapest, but so many complaints regarding quality. Next one up is Visiontek and I see their R9 290 the cheapest so far, as well as their other R9 and R7 brands. However, again, quality issues. Above that is Diamond, but I rarely ever see this in reviews or have not heard or read much of anything in terms of quality.


Then, we get into HIS and Club3D, two brands I rarely hear about.


Moving on up we get into the heavyweights-- Sapphire, MSI, Gigabyte, and ASUS. Unfortunately, their current R7 and R9 cards are over-priced from $100 to $300 over MSRP.


Is it safe to go with a cheaper Powercolor, Visiontek, or Diamond over the heavyweights? Or, better to swallow hard, and fess up the extra hundreds of dollars for a heavyweight branded card?


Opinions? Thoughts?


Thank you.

 

[kirbyrj]

It's not really hundreds of dollars...

Reference cards are reference cards are reference cards. Only real difference might be warranty.

3rd party cards are where your "heavyweights" shine, and it depends on your case/needs. If you have more than one card stacked next to each other, then a blower style reference card might be beneficial for you. Once again, look at the warranty and listen for stories about warranty process. Asus allegedly has a terrible RMA process (I RMA'd a motherboard and it took 6 weeks, but others have had their RMA's declined for silly reasons).

 

[octoberasian]

It's not really hundreds of dollars...

I've seen the R9 270/270X cards go for $100 to $200 above MSRP for heavyweight brands off Newegg, Tigerdirect, ShopBLT, NCIX, and Amazon. The same for R9 280/280X and R9 290/290X cards.

Then, I see Visiontek offer an R9 290 for $50 above MSRP, which I'm signed up on an e-mail notification when that comes back in stock.

I see Diamond R9 270X cheaper than the Sapphire by about $30 to $50 as well.

Reference cards are reference cards are reference cards. Only real difference might be warranty.

3rd party cards are where your "heavyweights" shine, and it depends on your case/needs. If you have more than one card stacked next to each other, then a blower style reference card might be beneficial for you. Once again, look at the warranty and listen for stories about warranty process. Asus allegedly has a terrible RMA process (I RMA'd a motherboard and it took 6 weeks, but others have had their RMA's declined for silly reasons).

I haven't looked at the warranty yet. Supposedly XFX has the best and then Gigabyte or Sapphire comes next. MSI is somewhere around there, and the horror stories of ASUS RMA process lingers around the forums here and in comments on other websites.

However, their cards are using mostly custom coolers and are $100 to $200, or even $300 (Newegg and Amazon I'm looking at you...) above MSRP.

Is there a risk going to a cheaper third party brand like Visiontek or Diamond over a heavyweight brand like Sapphire or Gigabyte, or MSI?

 

[kirbyrj]

All cards are "hundreds" of dollars over MSRP right now. The only reason the lower tier cards aren't is because they haven't been in stock for months. If you get one for $30-50 over MSRP before the coin craze dies out, consider yourself lucky. Realistically, I think the premium is closer to $50 for a nice aftermarket heatsink from a top tier manufacturer.

Many of the "lesser" brands usually use reference designs. I don't think Diamond makes a card that isn't a reference design. I can't remember a Visiontek using a non-reference design either. Only Powercolor will make an aftermarket cooler version, and they aren't very good (generally, but their really high end ones aren't terrible...single fan designs suck ass).

Personally, I wouldn't trust XFX cooling either after the 7XXX cards. The Double Dissipation nonsense didn't really work all that well and a lot of them overheated at high load. I was reading that the newer 290 cards were better, but I haven't tested them out.

I've had good luck with Sapphire Dual-X cards, and a lot of people swear by the MSI Twin Frozr's.

 

[octoberasian]

All cards are "hundreds" of dollars over MSRP right now. The only reason the lower tier cards aren't is because they haven't been in stock for months. If you get one for $30-50 over MSRP before the coin craze dies out, consider yourself lucky. Realistically, I think the premium is closer to $50 for a nice aftermarket heatsink from a top tier manufacturer.

Many of the "lesser" brands usually use reference designs. I don't think Diamond makes a card that isn't a reference design. I can't remember a Visiontek using a non-reference design either. Only Powercolor will make an aftermarket cooler version, and they aren't very good (generally, but their really high end ones aren't terrible...single fan designs suck ass).

Personally, I wouldn't trust XFX cooling either after the 7XXX cards. The Double Dissipation nonsense didn't really work all that well and a lot of them overheated at high load. I was reading that the newer 290 cards were better, but I haven't tested them out.

I've had good luck with Sapphire Dual-X cards, and a lot of people swear by the MSI Twin Frozr's.

Very tempted to go towards the Sapphire Dual-X R9 270X to save me some money. And, Crossfire them a month or two later when I eventually move to a 1440p monitor.

Or, go to an R9 290 from Gigabyte such as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HS84DFU/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

.. since it's a newer architecture and would be more future-proof than the R9 270, especially when I decide to eventually move to a 1440p monitor in a few months. $100 I can swallow, and it'd be a bit cheaper than what I see on Newegg.

I looked at the XFX Double Dissipation cards-- R9 270X and R9 290 ones-- but I did not know about their overheating issues or cooling issues with that kind of dual fans.

Then, i see the R9 290 for $479 from Visiontek. Very tempting, but quality (and probably warranty) is my biggest worry considering it's the cheapest I've seen so far.

 

[TaintedSquirrel]

Hey now...
They're partners, not OEM's. Let's give them the respect they deserve.

 

[octoberasian]

Hey now...
They're partners, not OEM's. Let's give them the respect they deserve.

That word was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't remember it when I made my thread.

Other options were either "OEM" or "add-in board makers". Lol.

 

[kirbyrj]

I'd look at a 290 before a 270 with crossfire in mind. If you're looking for a 270, you might as well grab a two 7870's for under $200 while the 270 is around $250.

 

[octoberasian]

I'd look at a 290 before a 270 with crossfire in mind. If you're looking for a 270, you might as well grab a two 7870's for under $200 while the 270 is around $250.

I was considering going to 4K display within two years, but given current issues with getting a 4K display working properly especially after reading complaints in the Display forums here, I will probably hold out until I see better 4K displays within a year or two.

But, I'm dead set on getting a 1440p monitor (or 1600p if I can find one at the same price as a 1440p). I'd only go with a 270X and Crossfire later to support the higher resolution to save money so I could get the monitor sooner than later.

However, given current pricing of the R9 cards, if the 290 is the better option, though more expensive, especially if I do move to a 4K display in two years, I'd go with the 290. It'll just delay purchasing a new monitor. The Gigabyte R9 290 Windforce from Amazon is $499, but 2 to 5 weeks expected delivery. The Sapphire 270X I can get within a week or two.

I see an MSI 7870 GHz Edition for $189 on Newegg and that's incredibly tempting too. I can actually get two of those within a month easily and a new monitor after.

 

[45454asasa]

As said above, there is no real difference.

Buy the cheapest reference card you can.

If you end up going for a non-reference card, then there are actual differences beyond warranty. Very rarely are they worse than reference. I think XFX has been the only company I've seen make a heatsink significantly worse than reference, that being the 7950 Core Edition.

The only reason you see a Visiontek at $479 is because the last time it was in stock, that was how much these cards were going for. I got an XFX R9 290 for $380, so apparently Visiontek has a hefty premium! - No.

 

[edge929]

I've had Diamond and Powercolor cards in the past with zero problems. I wouldn't hesitate to get them again. Keep in mind I've never had to RMA a GPU but have with motherboards (Asus, AsRock) before. Both processes were ok, not good, not bad. When it comes to reference cards, it's all about the warranty.

 

[ccityinstaller]

I have owned Visiontek, MSI, HIS, ASUS (wont anymore due to their fucked up RMA issues), and Sapphire (currently) AMD cards...I O/C the shit outta every card I own and have never killed one, even before I developed the disease that is known as WC'ing!

 

[Relayer]

I have owned Visiontek, MSI, HIS, ASUS (wont anymore due to their fucked up RMA issues), and Sapphire (currently) AMD cards...I O/C the shit outta every card I own and have never killed one, even before I developed the disease that is known as WC'ing!

WC'ing is just a symptom of advanced OC'ing. Careful the next stage of the illness is VMod'ing, then sub ambient.

 

[limitedaccess]

Then, we get into HIS and Club3D, two brands I rarely hear about.

There is a regional variance issue.

For example you probably haven't heard of Club3D since they have no presence in the US. While a company like XFX is much more known in the US compared to elsewhere globally. XFX (and EVGA on the Nvidia side) are basically very NA retail focused, globally speaking they aren't large vendors compared to how much attention they get in the NA retail market.

Sapphire, Club3D, and Power Color have been around and "red" since the ATI days. I'm not sure if they globally are still considered AMDs largest partners though (although Sapphire certainly is, it's parent company as whole, also owns Zotac, is the largest, or second largest, GPU board maker I believe, ahead of Asus, Msi, Gigabyte currently. They also make reference boards for AMD).

If you actually look at some of the custom designs these companies sell elsewhere they have some very high end oriented designs similar to for example the MSI Lightning series. They just aren't sold in North America as their primary market might be Asia or Europe instead.