Sapphire vs. ATI

[Sn4tcH]

This thread title is kinda misleading, and probably makes you think I am a fool... I'm not. I meant it as the distributor of the card, not brands... In other words, I know Sapphire is a third party maker of cards...

ANYWAYS, I'm thinking seriously about getting a X800. Thing of it is, I found one from ATI for $385, which kinda out of my price range at the moment... (Building a whole new system, AMD 64 3200, 1GB Ultra Ram, A8N Deluxe Mobo. So it's expensive.)

But I found a Sapphire X800 for $285, which makes a world of difference to my wallet. I currently own a Sapphire 9800 pro, and have never had trouble with it. So you would think that maybe since I've had such a fantastic experience with the brand that this wouldn't be a question in my mind, right?

Well, I'm always cautious, and would like to hear what you guys gotta say.

 

[Hazar]

I hear that sapphire is pretty good.

 

[furiousV]

my Radeon 9550 and my current 9800 Pro are Sapphire. no problems whatsoever.
i hear that Sapphire have their cards so their not locked for overclocking like other companies do, but i cant say for sure for their most recent cards.
quality make sapphire is, you wont regret it.

 

[Sn4tcH]

Personally, I'm wary of over clocking anyways. Seen a lot of stupid hacker friends burn out a lot of computers doing that. So that's not gonna bug me. Besides, I want my computer to last longer, and I know overclocking can cut off a few years of use...

So far, Sapphire's a sure bet!

Good to hear I can save some money.

 

[furiousV]

well, if its not clock-locked you can undeclock its what i do with my CPU when leaving my computer on overnight to download massive files.

 

[nutcrackr]

well, if its not clock-locked you can undeclock its what i do with my CPU when leaving my computer on overnight to download massive files.

I wouldn't do that, and personally I don't think you need to do that but if it works for you.

Also that price difference is a little too much for the same board, can you post full specs. Sapphire might be xl or non pro

 

[furiousV]

underclockign consumes less power( maybe only a little), gives off less heat, can maybe increase the life of the processor, less heat = lower fan speeds = less noise.
but ive never changed clock speeds for my graphics cards

 

[nutcrackr]

Heh, woops I must be tired, I read that as GPU not CPU. P4 cpu?

*smacks head*

 

[furiousV]

Heh, woops I must be tired, I read that as GPU not CPU. P4 cpu?

*smacks head*

lol
P4 2.8 Prescott, these get pretty hot

 

[Reaktor4]

This thread title is kinda misleading, and probably makes you think I am a fool... I'm not. I meant it as the distributor of the card, not brands... In other words, I know Sapphire is a third party maker of cards...

sapphire makes most of the "by ati" cards

 

[Warbie]

Get the cheapest - both will be fine.

 

[Garfield_]

the manufacturer doesnt matter, Sapphire is as good as anyother. I got this PowerColor X800 and its great. The thing with different manufacturers is what's included in the box. In some there are games and other software. So id choose the most low-price X800 as i can find.

and overclocking a x800 pro to xt or xt pe isnt any problem aslong as the card is unlocked. But i wouldnt overclock my card, even if i now have It doesnt give that much more performance, nothing you would notice in a game.

 

[FireCrack]

The true life of a processor / gpu is far longer than it's usefull life. Amy as well overclock it i say.

 

[furiousV]

The true life of a processor / gpu is far longer than it's usefull life. Amy as well overclock it i say.

good point :thumbs: