of the main manfacturers of ATI cards who has the best rep?

bratboy · Jun 28, 2008, 12:27 AM

Just kind of curious as to peoples opinions are on which manufacturer does the best job when it comes to makeing cards based on ATI/AMD based chips or are they all pretty equal these days?

**kris23** · Jun 28, 2008, 12:35 AM

sapphire

**Mousey** · Jun 28, 2008, 03:28 AM

^^ Agreed, Sapphire

DJ BIG T · Jun 28, 2008, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mousey

^^ Agreed, Sapphire

i agree

Tipstaff · Jun 28, 2008, 10:04 AM

Sapphire has been in the biz a long time (originally ATIs OEM manufacturer for God knows how long), and their service support it top notch. However, I'd buy a Gigabyte card over theirs these days. Gigabytes boards are much better built (they use sold-state capacitors on all their cards, not just the expensive ones), and their service is just as good.

Kizo · Jun 28, 2008, 10:56 AM

Of the ATi manufacturers I have experience with, I can recommend Sapphire as the best, for quality and support.
As for Gigabyte, i never had graphics card from them, only motherboards.But if their motherboard support and quality is anything to be judged by, I'd say they may be one of the best.

Judas · Jun 28, 2008, 03:32 PM

sapphire..

i to have never had a gigabyte video card.... so i can't comment on that..

i've has:

Hercules (poor thing, died way back when ati/nvidia shit started)
HIS
Abit
Sapphire
Built By ATI (imo the best of the best, but identical to sapphire usually)
MSI
Asus
Power Color
Creative (imo not so great)

drawing a blank now on the others i've had

bratboy · Jun 28, 2008, 04:55 PM

what about visiontek?

deadeyeselh · Jun 28, 2008, 05:15 PM

Sapphire all the way baby!

mike2h · Jun 28, 2008, 08:15 PM

while it was a nv card my exp with visiontek was poor. card was bad & support subpar. that wa about 3yrs ago tho.

Kizo · Jun 28, 2008, 08:37 PM

I haven't owned any Visiontek card myself. Only thing I have read and remembered about Visiontek is that they offer lifetime warranty for their cards (I read that about 4850s I think, and it may be important considering that the card outputs a lot of heat), while most other vendors offer 3 year warranty. But I don't remember where I read it, so you may investigate that.

Cheers

**kris23** · Jun 28, 2008, 10:09 PM

sapphire tends to build some of the highest quality cards and visiontek seems to have a good warranty plan.

people like sapphire because for some odd reason they dont break or die as often as other manufacturers' cards....

if gigabyte uses better components though, id go there.

bratboy · Jul 1, 2008, 03:34 AM

Well I ended up ordering a Saphire 4870 and am sending back the 3870 X 2 card. Seen one or 2 ppl that said they had problems with the Sapphire cards dieing but am hopeing those are rare instances and not a common occurance

Al_Vampyre · Jul 1, 2008, 02:34 PM

Sapphire here too

Cow_160483 · Jul 2, 2008, 01:10 PM

My card is a Gigabyte 1600 pro and i have never had any problems with it since i bought it which was along time ago so i will vouch for them they are good.

H82LUZ · Jul 12, 2008, 08:59 AM

My list for best ,And have owned at least one card from each.

Built By ATI (imo the best of the best, but identical to sapphire usually)
Sapphire
Asus

this new Force3D looks like the old days of Built By ATI, Hear a lot good things about the quality of them also.

Here is my cards in order to the list above.
BBA ,own a 9600xt Still working had the Half Life 2 voucher,Also a X850xt flashed bios to the XT PE still working,Also own a AtI x386 4 meg ISA card in my 486 that still works and was made in 94

Sapphire own 1 card an X800 pro with 12 pipes non flashed (wont flash cut bridge days)And is in my Linux computer
ASUS well still working in my current machine,Only bought it becuase of the package that came with it.IE the Black Box.forgot to say it is the 2900Xt

Just by the one that will suite your needs,Right now some stores sell cards like the ones from Palit for about $15-$20 dollars cheaper then say Sapphire,That is based off the 4870 cards.

g35x · Jul 12, 2008, 05:16 PM

Sapphire!

I have had 3 Sapphire ATI cards and none of them have ever had any problems whatsoever.
x1650, x1950gt, and now my HD4850.

Callandor · Jul 13, 2008, 05:05 AM

Yeah, definiately Sapphire and HIS imo and ATi as well of course.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/ati-grap...ufacturer.html

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/ati-grap...-deciding.html

Burdokva · Jul 15, 2008, 03:13 PM

I've been using ATi cards since switching from integrated cards back in the late 90's and luckily I've never had a faulty one. I think the best were ATi's own Rage and Rage 128ViVo. After that I got a Gygabite 9250ViVo. Worked flawlessly, and still does. It's a very quiet and cool card.
My current GPU is a Sapphire x1650PRO and it's the hottest of the bunch, the cooler just isn't powerfull enough (I can't get it to work under 65C idle). Otherwise it's a great, powerful card and I don't have any problems with it.
If ASUS's cards can be judged by their motherboards, they should also be great.

I'm looking forward to the HD4850, either the Toxic by Sapphire or a Zalman-cooled Gygabite version. Shouldn't be any problem with either of those brands.

Heraklitus · Jul 15, 2008, 08:39 PM

I'll be the voice of dissent--I've been REALLY unhappy with Sapphire. I've found their support to really unhelpful, mildly argumentative, and generally unwilling to do what's necessary to help resolve my issues.

But that might just be me I suppose. :-)

Tipstaff · Jul 16, 2008, 09:09 AM

HIS, while they make very nice cards, and use custom AC coolers and what not on them, their tech support sucks a$$. No, forget that. It's non-existent. I've never, ever been able to get a hold of them, either by phone or email. To be honest, I don't know of anyone that has talked to a real person at their company.

I still have both of the X1950 Pros I bought from them, and they are great cards, but they weren't great in the beginning. It took me a good amount of time to fix them myself via custom bios editing, and they've been great ever since.

Callandor · Jul 18, 2008, 04:04 AM

Wow, never knew that about HIS. Heard good things about Sapphire's service though. Are they any better?

Edit: Only ever had Asus, Zoltrix and straight ATi cards.

Blazer · Jul 27, 2008, 06:13 AM

I have owned a couple of sapphire cards, a couple of asus cards, and more than a few Ati cards, and in my oppinion, the Built by ATI cards are the best, sapphire cards are good as well. the Asus cards are allright, but they just aren't as good.

Callandor · Jul 27, 2008, 08:45 AM

Sweet, thanks, in that case my 4870 is going to either be a Sapphire or straight ATi card.

T3hn0 · Jul 31, 2008, 09:48 AM

i prefer sapphire too...

but what about overclocking potencial? if we don't pay attention to cooling solution (i always use aftermarket coolers)...
i'd go for sapphire again

SeraphicSorcerer · Aug 4, 2008, 01:52 PM

I got a visiontek card from my local best buy, I was going to order it online, but you know it was there... LOL

I haven't had any issues with it so far, and the lifetime warranty is a big plus.
I do not think you can modify the cooler with an aftermarket one according to their warranty though.. is that any different with Saphire?

Zardon · Aug 4, 2008, 01:55 PM

I actually know quite a few of the visiontek bosses really well and they are top blokes. Not sure about how people rate their cards but we have never had any issues and found them to be very good.

sammorris · Aug 4, 2008, 02:34 PM

I have had nothing but Sapphire ATI video cards except for two, a Powercolor HD3870, which was fine, but the stock cooler was naff - arguably that's not Powercolor's fault. (It was the stock cooler too, not the PCS or SCS3), and an Asus HD3870, which is superb.

All my sapphire cards (9200 AGP, X800 Pro AGP, X1900XT PCie, X1600 Pro PCie) except for one have worked flawlessly. However, I did buy a Sapphire HD3870 PCIe, and regretted that. Not only did it fail within a day, it also had hands down the worst cooler I've ever heard. Long story short Sapphire are pretty good, but not 'invulnerable' from producing lemons from time to time.

SeraphicSorcerer · Aug 4, 2008, 05:06 PM

I don't think any Computer component manufacturer is impervious to making a bad component from time to time, To coin the phrase, "s**t happens".

SeraphicSorcerer · Aug 4, 2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

I actually know quite a few of the visiontek bosses really well and they are top blokes. Not sure about how people rate their cards but we have never had any issues and found them to be very good.

Do you happen to know whether they allow modify the cooler?
Although I do have to say once you up the fan speed it actually cools really great, mine idles @ 48C @ 50% Down 30C from when I got it.
I am assuming it doesn't correct?

Damaged by tampering, user error, disaster, misuse, neglect, abuse, power supply, power application, alteration, repair, modification, a fix or replacement by an unauthorized technician that in any way affects its performance or reliability. (From their website http://www.visiontek.com/teksupport/..._warranty.html)

Do any manufacturers allow for this modification? (Aftermarket cooling)

Jun 28, 2008, 12:27 AM	#1
bratboy HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	of the main manfacturers of ATI cards who has the best rep? Just kind of curious as to peoples opinions are on which manufacturer does the best job when it comes to makeing cards based on ATI/AMD based chips or are they all pretty equal these days?

Jun 28, 2008, 12:35 AM	#2
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	sapphire __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jun 28, 2008, 03:28 AM	#3
Mousey Synth's Long Lost Bro Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Web Design Hell Posts: 7,185 Rep Power: 245 System Specs	^^ Agreed, Sapphire __________________

Jun 28, 2008, 10:04 AM	#5
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Sapphire has been in the biz a long time (originally ATIs OEM manufacturer for God knows how long), and their service support it top notch. However, I'd buy a Gigabyte card over theirs these days. Gigabytes boards are much better built (they use sold-state capacitors on all their cards, not just the expensive ones), and their service is just as good. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jun 28, 2008, 08:15 PM	#10
mike2h DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: norcal Posts: 6,483 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	while it was a nv card my exp with visiontek was poor. card was bad & support subpar. that wa about 3yrs ago tho. __________________

Jun 28, 2008, 10:56 AM	#6
Kizo HHs Valve fanatic/C++ dev Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 280 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	Of the ATi manufacturers I have experience with, I can recommend Sapphire as the best, for quality and support. As for Gigabyte, i never had graphics card from them, only motherboards.But if their motherboard support and quality is anything to be judged by, I'd say they may be one of the best.

Jun 28, 2008, 04:55 PM	Thread Starter #8
bratboy HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	what about visiontek?

Jun 28, 2008, 05:15 PM	#9
deadeyeselh DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Canada Posts: 33 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Sapphire all the way baby!

Jun 28, 2008, 08:37 PM	#11
Kizo HHs Valve fanatic/C++ dev Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 280 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	I haven't owned any Visiontek card myself. Only thing I have read and remembered about Visiontek is that they offer lifetime warranty for their cards (I read that about 4850s I think, and it may be important considering that the card outputs a lot of heat), while most other vendors offer 3 year warranty. But I don't remember where I read it, so you may investigate that. Cheers

Jun 28, 2008, 10:09 PM	#12
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,017 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	sapphire tends to build some of the highest quality cards and visiontek seems to have a good warranty plan. people like sapphire because for some odd reason they dont break or die as often as other manufacturers' cards.... if gigabyte uses better components though, id go there. __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Jul 1, 2008, 03:34 AM	Thread Starter #13
bratboy HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	Well I ended up ordering a Saphire 4870 and am sending back the 3870 X 2 card. Seen one or 2 ppl that said they had problems with the Sapphire cards dieing but am hopeing those are rare instances and not a common occurance

Jul 1, 2008, 02:34 PM	#14
Al_Vampyre HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Scotland Posts: 1,532 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	Sapphire here too __________________ "Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad" - Brian O'Driscoll - Ireland Rugby Team 2009 Grand Slam winning Captain.

Jul 2, 2008, 01:10 PM	#15
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,807 Rep Power: 299 System Specs	My card is a Gigabyte 1600 pro and i have never had any problems with it since i bought it which was along time ago so i will vouch for them they are good. __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!

Jul 12, 2008, 08:59 AM	#16
H82LUZ HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Cobourg ,Ontario ,Canada Posts: 114 Rep Power: 55 System Specs	My list for best ,And have owned at least one card from each. Built By ATI (imo the best of the best, but identical to sapphire usually) Sapphire Asus this new Force3D looks like the old days of Built By ATI, Hear a lot good things about the quality of them also. Here is my cards in order to the list above. BBA ,own a 9600xt Still working had the Half Life 2 voucher,Also a X850xt flashed bios to the XT PE still working,Also own a AtI x386 4 meg ISA card in my 486 that still works and was made in 94 Sapphire own 1 card an X800 pro with 12 pipes non flashed (wont flash cut bridge days)And is in my Linux computer ASUS well still working in my current machine,Only bought it becuase of the package that came with it.IE the Black Box.forgot to say it is the 2900Xt Just by the one that will suite your needs,Right now some stores sell cards like the ones from Palit for about $15-$20 dollars cheaper then say Sapphire,That is based off the 4870 cards. __________________

Jul 12, 2008, 05:16 PM	#17
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Sapphire! I have had 3 Sapphire ATI cards and none of them have ever had any problems whatsoever. x1650, x1950gt, and now my HD4850. __________________

Jul 13, 2008, 05:05 AM	#18
Callandor Forged on Dragonmount Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 7,216 Rep Power: 303 System Specs	Yeah, definiately Sapphire and HIS imo and ATi as well of course. http://www.hardwareheaven.com/ati-grap...ufacturer.html http://www.hardwareheaven.com/ati-grap...-deciding.html __________________

Jul 15, 2008, 03:13 PM	#19
Burdokva HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Sofia, Bulgaria Posts: 98 Rep Power: 27 System Specs	I've been using ATi cards since switching from integrated cards back in the late 90's and luckily I've never had a faulty one. I think the best were ATi's own Rage and Rage 128ViVo. After that I got a Gygabite 9250ViVo. Worked flawlessly, and still does. It's a very quiet and cool card. My current GPU is a Sapphire x1650PRO and it's the hottest of the bunch, the cooler just isn't powerfull enough (I can't get it to work under 65C idle). Otherwise it's a great, powerful card and I don't have any problems with it. If ASUS's cards can be judged by their motherboards, they should also be great. I'm looking forward to the HD4850, either the Toxic by Sapphire or a Zalman-cooled Gygabite version. Shouldn't be any problem with either of those brands.

Jul 15, 2008, 08:39 PM	#20
Heraklitus DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 17 Rep Power: 0	I'll be the voice of dissent--I've been REALLY unhappy with Sapphire. I've found their support to really unhelpful, mildly argumentative, and generally unwilling to do what's necessary to help resolve my issues. But that might just be me I suppose. :-)

Jul 16, 2008, 09:09 AM	#21
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	HIS, while they make very nice cards, and use custom AC coolers and what not on them, their tech support sucks a$$. No, forget that. It's non-existent. I've never, ever been able to get a hold of them, either by phone or email. To be honest, I don't know of anyone that has talked to a real person at their company. I still have both of the X1950 Pros I bought from them, and they are great cards, but they weren't great in the beginning. It took me a good amount of time to fix them myself via custom bios editing, and they've been great ever since. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Jul 18, 2008, 04:04 AM	#22
Callandor Forged on Dragonmount Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 7,216 Rep Power: 303 System Specs	Wow, never knew that about HIS. Heard good things about Sapphire's service though. Are they any better? Edit: Only ever had Asus, Zoltrix and straight ATi cards. __________________ Last edited by Callandor; Jul 27, 2008 at 08:52 AM.

Jul 27, 2008, 06:13 AM	#23
Blazer Tweeker Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Kitchener Posts: 611 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	I have owned a couple of sapphire cards, a couple of asus cards, and more than a few Ati cards, and in my oppinion, the Built by ATI cards are the best, sapphire cards are good as well. the Asus cards are allright, but they just aren't as good. __________________ ASUS Maximus Formula, OCZ 780MXS ps, Core2 Duo 8400 @ 3.80GHz,Corsair Water cooling kit, 4x2gb Mushkin DDR2 8000, 5 hardrives totalling 1.75 TB, Sapphire Theatrix, SyncMaster 2343, Logitech MX-518, 2 Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 Crossfired , running on Windows7 64 bit, all in an Antec P160w Case.

Jul 27, 2008, 08:45 AM	#24
Callandor Forged on Dragonmount Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 7,216 Rep Power: 303 System Specs	Sweet, thanks, in that case my 4870 is going to either be a Sapphire or straight ATi card. __________________

Jul 31, 2008, 09:48 AM	#25
T3hn0 HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Slovenia Posts: 65 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	i prefer sapphire too... but what about overclocking potencial? if we don't pay attention to cooling solution (i always use aftermarket coolers)... i'd go for sapphire again

Aug 4, 2008, 01:52 PM	#26
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 156 System Specs	I got a visiontek card from my local best buy, I was going to order it online, but you know it was there... LOL I haven't had any issues with it so far, and the lifetime warranty is a big plus. I do not think you can modify the cooler with an aftermarket one according to their warranty though.. is that any different with Saphire? __________________

Aug 4, 2008, 01:55 PM	#27
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	I actually know quite a few of the visiontek bosses really well and they are top blokes. Not sure about how people rate their cards but we have never had any issues and found them to be very good.

Aug 4, 2008, 02:34 PM	#28
sammorris HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Brentwood or York, UK Posts: 178 Rep Power: 26 System Specs	I have had nothing but Sapphire ATI video cards except for two, a Powercolor HD3870, which was fine, but the stock cooler was naff - arguably that's not Powercolor's fault. (It was the stock cooler too, not the PCS or SCS3), and an Asus HD3870, which is superb. All my sapphire cards (9200 AGP, X800 Pro AGP, X1900XT PCie, X1600 Pro PCie) except for one have worked flawlessly. However, I did buy a Sapphire HD3870 PCIe, and regretted that. Not only did it fail within a day, it also had hands down the worst cooler I've ever heard. Long story short Sapphire are pretty good, but not 'invulnerable' from producing lemons from time to time.

Aug 4, 2008, 05:06 PM	#29
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 156 System Specs	I don't think any Computer component manufacturer is impervious to making a bad component from time to time, To coin the phrase, "s**t happens". __________________