differences between brands (sapphire, powercolor etc..)

D

darius84

n00b
Joined
Jun 4, 2006
Messages
20
I dont really know much about computers and was confused about the different brands.

Why is there sapphire x1900xt's and asus ones and other ones all at different prices. whats the difference? they all say they do the same thing but some are more expensive.

why would you buy a more expensive brand over one of the cheaper ones?

thanks
 
I think the main diffrence between the makers would be the warranty and service they offer. I know some here have reported that Sapphire will take around a month at least to get a card back to you if you rma. I have not noticed or seen much diffrence in the build quality or testing of the cards (Sapphire actually produces the cards ATI sells under thier name.) Powercolor I believe has a lifetime warranty on thier x1900 products.
 
If one is considering an aircooled X1900XTX, most of the cards that make use of the stock fan will sound like a hairdrier at higher fan speeds. Even above my already noisy and warm computer room and a custom ATITool fan speed profile so that it'd try to keep temps near 70C max during game play, it could rattle nerves when the fan speeds went beyond 70%. And having it adjust up and down when some less entensive load screen popped up could make a person nuts.

A very nice option if you're looking for a new X1900XTX is the H.I.S. ICEQ3 model (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161013) Seeking a little bit of silence (or at least something I couldn't hear over my normal system fans), I swapped out my Sapphire X1900XTX for this H.I.S. beauty (didn't have the balls to try the Sapphire TOXIC WC version). What a difference! Idle temps are 51C vs 55C and load temps still get up there but even using the same ATITool profile with the fan kicking up 100% @ 70C, I don't notice it at all over my system fans from 3 systems.

Only had one scare where I took the card out, slapped it back in, closed up the case, turned it on and some 30-40 minutes later noticed the idle temp was 73C. For some reason the fan wasn't on. Opened the system up to investigate and somewhere along the line, the fan worked again. Cycled the power after some period of leaving the system off and each time I'd power up, the fan kicked in. Dunno what the deal was but it's been working fine since.

I doubt there's any performance difference between what's now boxed and this HIS 1900xtx. If anything, I might be able to get higher clock speeds if I were into that. But with hot So. CA weather, stock is fine by me. The three games I played this weekend played no differently outside of being quieter. :).
 
thanks for the reply.

Yer that looks like a sweet unit, but a little out of my price range.

Out of the two I posted, what are the real differences? Down here the sapphire is worth about 775 and the powercolor is about 630. I thought they were both the same thing, but the prices tell me otherwise.

Which brand would I be better off buying, a sapphire or a powercolor? If the sapphire is better i will have to get my uncle in the us to buy one and send it down for me.
 
Get the PowerColor, they are absolutely identical cards. PowerColor has a lifetime waranty as well, at least in North America.
 
SharpieFiend said:
Get the PowerColor, they are absolutely identical cards. PowerColor has a lifetime waranty as well, at least in North America.
Click to expand...
QFT.
 
darius84 said:
whats the difference between this one: http://www.powercolor.com/global/main_product_detail.asp?id=104

and this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102004


because in australia i can get the first one for about 630AU shipped and the second one for 775 shipped. its a big price difference.
Click to expand...
powercolors memory clock =774 MHz x 2 opposed to saphires 1450MHz
powercolors core clock = 641 MHz opposed to saphires 625MHz

not very big differences but the small things do matter in choosing and because the powercolor is cheaper and outperforms the saphire by a few mhz here and there go with the powercolor better warrenty to.
 
That's the way I went. It's a terrific card. Can't tell the difference between the Powercolor and the ATI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top