Brands: ATI vs Sapphire vs Powercolor

vdragon88 · Jan 3, 2006, 06:25 AM

Now I know this will sound like an idiot's question(maybe it is...), but I'm wondering... Is there a difference between buying cards that are ATI, Sapphire, and/or Powercolor(Canadian Spelling!!! PowercoloUr!)? Not a lot has been said about the other x1k cards... x1300, x1600... or what not. I don't know how to say it, but I only see a price difference. Does a Powercolor card do perform better than a Sapphire card? Are cards straight from ATI better than third party? If there is no difference, why are some still buying ATI?

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jan 3, 2006, 08:18 AM

There is technically no difference unless the manufacturer states that they've done something like add more memory or OC the card. Usually its price and bundle that are the only different things. And some people buy ATI for the name or bundle... I guess.... you'd be fine either way. Dig: Sapphire actually makes most of the "Built By ATI" cards

riles9262 · Jan 3, 2006, 05:14 PM

Sometimes there's changes to the cooler or some other part of the hardware (asus does this the most), and there may be clock speed changes. Most of the time, alternate brands include different software, usually in the form of games...and some companies have different warranties (visiontek does lifetime warranties for instance).

INSTG8R · Jan 3, 2006, 05:26 PM

Like Hex said Sapphire build most of ATI's cards anyway and like Riles said Asus and MSI would be the ones most known to screw around with reference design(why I would never buy an Asus)

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jan 4, 2006, 04:38 AM

Nothing wrong with ASUS cards, so far as I've seen and heard

Jan 3, 2006, 06:25 AM	#1
vdragon88 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Brands: ATI vs Sapphire vs Powercolor Now I know this will sound like an idiot's question(maybe it is...), but I'm wondering... Is there a difference between buying cards that are ATI, Sapphire, and/or Powercolor(Canadian Spelling!!! PowercoloUr!)? Not a lot has been said about the other x1k cards... x1300, x1600... or what not. I don't know how to say it, but I only see a price difference. Does a Powercolor card do perform better than a Sapphire card? Are cards straight from ATI better than third party? If there is no difference, why are some still buying ATI?

Jan 3, 2006, 05:14 PM	#3
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 70 System Specs	Sometimes there's changes to the cooler or some other part of the hardware (asus does this the most), and there may be clock speed changes. Most of the time, alternate brands include different software, usually in the form of games...and some companies have different warranties (visiontek does lifetime warranties for instance). __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

Jan 3, 2006, 05:26 PM	#4
INSTG8R DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Canadian lost in Norway Posts: 527 Rep Power: 0	Like Hex said Sapphire build most of ATI's cards anyway and like Riles said Asus and MSI would be the ones most known to screw around with reference design(why I would never buy an Asus) __________________ Sys. Specs. Intel E6600@3.2\|Abit IP35 Pro\|2x1024 Crucial Ballistix PC8500 \|Sapphire HD4870 512\|Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500G SATAII 16MB w/PRT\|SB X-Fi Fatality\|TT Tough Power 1200W\|TT Kandalf L.C.S.\|Samsung 204B 20" 5ms LCD\|Logitech G25\|Logitech G5\|Logitech G15\|Saitek X-52+Pro Rudder Pedals\|TrackIR w/Trackclip Pro 3DMark06

Jan 3, 2006, 08:18 AM	#2
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	There is technically no difference unless the manufacturer states that they've done something like add more memory or OC the card. Usually its price and bundle that are the only different things. And some people buy ATI for the name or bundle... I guess.... you'd be fine either way. Dig: Sapphire actually makes most of the "Built By ATI" cards

Jan 4, 2006, 04:38 AM	#5
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Nothing wrong with ASUS cards, so far as I've seen and heard