Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (
More info?)
On Sat, 23 Apr 2005 09:40:43 +1000, "gp" <grum@invalid> wrote:
>OK, I warned off powercolor here.
Wonder why? Very happy with mine. Sterling performance thus far.
Like Gigabyte, Tul used to be a cheapie brand, but made a name for
themselves as an unknown by offering the same products at killer
pricing. Collaberating with ATI which was a smart business move after
ATI had been out in the wilderness for some time (like everyone had
after nVidia arrived). Now Tul are huge and ATI once again has market
presence. Pretty impressive considering the business behemoth they are
up against.
As for PowerColor product. Although kiddies are impressed by such
things, the size and colour of the friggin' box doesn't make it run
any faster y'know.....'though rumour would have it red PCB really is
faster.
Any of the above will do what you want. For me, I read nothing but
good reviews on the PowerColor unit, and I'd rather have the extra
pesos to contribute towards sometheing else like MORE RAM, new CD-RW,
faster CPU or another wireless network card.
Powercolor is reference design which = stability with drivers, which
it has proven to be thus far.
Not a glitch in Warhammer 40k DoW or any DirectX 9 game or app I've
run with it yet. 5ns Hyundi DDR, the software package it came with was
a bonus and the price is right. Legacy apps like Diablo II LoD,
Counterstrike et all run fine as well. So far, my expectations of the
product have exceeded in every aspect. 8x AGP bus is as stable as.
OTOH reading around the forums and their site, Sapphire's support
attitude stinks. Don't care much for Sapphire's attitude with their
Redline clocking software gauging by experiences of customers. Who
needs it when you can use Rage3D's Tweak for free! Same for Gigabyte's
util. BTW, not anti Gigabyte. I have a Gigabyte mobo and have used
several of their GeForce video cards in the past.
>the gigabyte 9550 256mb goes for $139
You can buy GeCube 9550Extreme for $10 more than that!
Powercolor for $113 or Sapphire for $117. However if going with a
familiar brand and blue PCB makes you feel more secure in your comfort
zone, spend the extra $26 on the Gigabyte for what is essentially the
same thing. Like I said, they'll all perform about the same and I'm
sure you won't be disappointed with any of them if your expectations
of the 9550's performance are realistic.
It's a kickarse chipset for the $$$!
Get the one you want or you won't be happy. It's only money.
CguLL
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