Which HD 4870/4850?

[VinnyChase]

Whichever one I get, the 4850 or 4870, I still don't know which brand/model to get? Is XFX the undisputed king and if so does it have more to do with their warranty than card performance? Newegg has quite a few video card combos, but I don't know enough about the other companies - Sapphire, HIS, etc.

 

[tsiberious]

They are all extremely similar in quality. Go for the better price and customer service.
I got a Sapphire 4870X2 and am very pleased with it.

Can anyone who has had to deal with customer service comment?

 

[0ptic0n]

I went with the 4870 choose asus because it came with with aftermarket cooling idles at 43c under load temps go up to around 65c. Also I have dealt with asus customer service and fortunately the few encounters that I have had to deal with them where smooth they replaced the products I have had go bad without any incident. Although I did have to pay for 1 way shipping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121291

but I also had to upgrade my power supply I had a 500 watt ultra ps that couldn't handle the load and would randomly reboot the pc during games. Before you make a choice check to make sure your current power supply can handle the load and find out if it can supply enough power on the 12v rails my new power supply is corsair 750tx it puts out over 60 amperes on the 12v rail more than enough for 1 video card

For power requirements you could refer to this link below If needed something I forgot to do. Although It doesn't list the actual 12v rail power requirements in amperes maybe someone else knows how to find that out.
http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonhd4800/requirements.html

 

[fattymole123]

I would reccomend the 4870 over the 4850 as the price difference is marginal. Get a card with a decent warranty, becuase in essence probably don't make that much of difference, however I would reccomend go with a reasonably popular brand.

 

[VinnyChase]

Thanks.

If you were to narrow it down to 3 brands for the 4870, which would you choose?

 

[0ptic0n]

ASUS
XFX
SAPPHIRE

 

[1haplo]

Go with the XFX or Visiontek Lifetime Warranty.

Go with the HD4870 if you game. I have 2 HD4850's in crossfire, But in some games a single HD4870 will beat them. Not all games scale with crossire.

1Haplo

 

[fattymole123]

Thanks.

If you were to narrow it down to 3 brands for the 4870, which would you choose?

Well, my vendor stocks these brands for ATI for a range of different ATI cards:
Albatron
Asus
Gigabyte
HIS Hightech
MSI
Power Colour
Sapphire
XFX

If I was to pick three my choice would be:
Asus
XFX
Sapphire

However any of these cards should be acceptable:
Asus
XFX
Sapphire
Gigabyte
MSI


Hope this helps

 

[soundefx]

From what I have read from different forums, XFX seems to be the better company because of their double lifetime warranty and customer service.

 

[kamiloglu]

XFX seems to be the better company because of their double lifetime warranty and customer service

I agree too
you may choose XFX

 

[VinnyChase]

I've had this site bookmarked for years but never really explored it that much. Now that I'm doing my first build I'm really glad this site is available.

Thanks everyone. Appreciate the advice.

 

[Onus]

I like the HIS cards because their IceQ4 cooler is effective and quiet. I have a 4850 and a 4670; my father has a 2600 PRO; all HIS.