Radeon 4800 - which company has better product, cust svc?

[leftyyao]

Hi all,

With the 4830, 4850, 4870 affordable nowadays, I'll be getting one of the cards. However, since this is my first newbuild, I'm trying to figure out which company (e.g., Asus, Sapphire, MSI, PowerColor, Visiontek, Diamond, etc.) has the best product in this area, and if I should get a bad card(s), which company is willing to step up to the plate and take care of its customers?

Or will just ordering from a place like newegg do the trick as they seem to always take care of their customers?

Any thoughts/past experiences are welcome...

 

[leftyyao]

Sorry, I guess I forgot to list my system for some of you to help determine the quality of the card (noobie error):

Intel Core i7
DDR3 6GB at 1600
Intel DX58SO
Vista 64
and mild gaming

 

[smithereen]

Diamond has the best customer support. The Sapphire Toxic, HIS IceQ Turbo and MSI with the crazy heatsink (forgot name) are the best. If you game at crazy resolutions, get a 1gb model, otherwise, without triple buffing the the extra memory won't make a difference.

 

[montyuk]

in a bizarre twist im going to recommend the force3d 4870 freezer dht 512mb for its fantastic cooling (with an admittedly slightly annoying fan noise), but i wouldnt recommend buying from force3d direct as their customer service is non existent.

so buy from a reputable seller who has decent customer service so you dont have to deal with the company that makes them.

 

[leftyyao]

Thanks for the heads up on Diamond--has anyone tried RMA'ing their products?

I've searched the web a bit and realized that Sapphire's products are really good, but their Customer Service is horrible...Bummer too, Newegg has their stuff on sale with rebates!

Oh well...

 

[leftyyao]

Oh well, I suppose despite the customer service, Sapphire's prices on Newegg may be too good to pass up...

Gee, what a difference a year makes--4870 for about $200...unbelievable...

 

[EXT64]

Yeah, don't worry about customer service too much. It seems most parts are either DOA or last forever. And doesn't Newegg allow you to return for replacement for quite a while.