Quality of aftermarket video card makers?

TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
edited October 2008 in Hardware
I'm looking around at newegg, putting together parts for a brand new PC for myself.

I was looking at the 4850 / 4870 video cards and noticed that Radeon itself has no cards there, it's all the aftermarket makers who copy it. Sapphire, Palit, Powercolor, Visiontek, Diamond, HIS, MSI, etc.

I'm wondering if any of these aftermarket places are better than others? Can they be trusted to build it as well as ATI does itself? Any known quality / performance issues with any of these aftermarket manufacturers?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    They're all the same.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited October 2008
    From what I understand the chipset of a series are all the same, but the layout of the PCB may differ from one manufacturer to another. There really isn't much of a difference unless one manufacturer has an OC'ed model or different heatsinks.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    I spoke directly with a representative of Palit about this very issue. For the midrange cards, the PCBs are all the exact same. The only difference is in the cooler, and the software bundle.
  • jaredjared College Station, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    Well thats good to know, I used to think some of those brands might be sketchy. :confused:

    At least they aren't made like they used to be... :cool:


    (surely some of you guys remember this)

    attachment.php?attachmentid=26079&stc=1&d=1223236487

    attachment.php?attachmentid=26080&stc=1&d=1223236487
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    ive always used sapphire cards just cause they are cheap and work great, they have been around for some time too. No real diff tho
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    Newegg had basic Sapphire HD 4870s for $160. They still might if you're quick.
  • TimTim Southwest PA Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    The 4850's are ~ $160, the 4870's are about $100 more.

    I'm not sure I NEED a 4870 to play World of Warcraft on max video settings, a 4850 might do fine, but I'd like to build a PC that will be good for many years. My current one was built 5-1/2 years ago and runs fine.

    If the only difference is in the cooler, which brands have the best coolers?
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited October 2008
    I had a 5800 Ultra for a while. It was every bit as loud as they made it out to be :)

    Some card makers do make significant changes to the PCB reference design--Palit being one of them. Diamond, Powercolor, Visiontek and some others adhere to the ATI reference (and IIRC, they are all made by the same company and rebadged). There are pros and cons to each. Reference PCBs usually have fewer compatibility issues with 3rd party heatsinks and are a tried and tested design. Other PCB designs may be more compact and offer better (not always quieter) heatsinks.

    HIS uses the reference PCB design and slaps on a better cooler--they may be a brand to consider. If you don't plan to overclock, any of them will do just fine.
  • tmh88tmh88 Pittsburgh / Athens, OH
    edited October 2008
    The 4850 is more than enough to play WOW. If you plan on keeping this card for 5+ years you might as well invest an extra $100 and go for the 4870.
  • garfield619garfield619 Philippines New
    edited October 2008
    not just WoW, Crysis warhead to ^^ . GO 4870!
  • bullzisniprbullzisnipr Topeka, KS
    edited October 2008
    Not all are the complete same. As stated above, some have different coolers, different layouts but some manufacturers do use different capacitors and different components on the card itself. Not to mention, some offer awesome warranty and exchange services such as XFX's Double Lifetime warranty.
  • TurboPenguinTurboPenguin Orangevale, CA
    edited October 2008
    bullzisnipr wrote:
    Not all are the complete same. As stated above, some have different coolers, different layouts but some manufacturers do use different capacitors and different components on the card itself. Not to mention, some offer awesome warranty and exchange services such as XFX's Double Lifetime warranty.

    This is one thing I would research before you buy is warranty. Because I will say that 24/7 tech support is great when your GPU takes a turn for the worse. I personally only buy BFG and eVGA nvidia cards because they have great customer service and lifetime warranty.
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited October 2008
    My understanding is that they use the chipset under licence to the developer (ie ATI or nVidia) The chip on every board will be the same but it is up to the board manufacturer to desgn board layout and manufacture it. Therefore there may be a difference in the quality of the board componenets, cooling and tech support.

    Regarding Primes comment about them using the same board layout...

    I expect they will be given a schematic of how the various components are to be "wired" but that is different from the actual board layout. Each manufacturer must design their own layout unless they are provided one as part of the chipset licence. Its all about copyright!
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    As part of the license, every board manufacturer is given the reference design. This is the design that the manufacturer of the GPU used in the development of the chip. It's the most tested and vetted design an AIB partner can use. Few deviate from this plan, and most just differentiate themselves with warranty/cooling/memory/GPU core speed.
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