ATI 5850 Brands

[killerhurts]

Alright I was looking at getting a 5850 by Visiontek because of their lifetime warranty. Usually I'd got with XFX even if it cost more,but they're currently sold out. I've never used visiontek before,but I've noticed a few people are reporting that they'll do anything to get out of an RMA, Their tech support such,they take forever to ship another one out, or they just stopped responding completely. Has anyone had an experience with visiontek? I also noticed sapphire has a card for $20 cheaper, but its only 2 years warranty. Also 2 of the 3 reviews on the sapphire say they are getting GSOD. Should more XFX cards be coming in soon?

 

[jonpaul37]

Go with ASUS, 3 year warranty and it covers voltage tweaks & overclocking, MSI does too but not too sure on their warranty period...

 

[killerhurts]

Asus is sold out as well on newegg. I'd like to keep everything on newegg and at reasonable prices. I Don't really want to spend $50 more for the same video card. About the voltage tweak though. If you overclock a video card by software like ATI overdrive, does it automatically void the warranty? How do they know if you overclocked? If you overclock by software and then the video card dies of natural causes, can they check the bios to see what the last settings are or is it completely software based and impossible for them to confirm it died from overclocking?

 

[megamanx00]

The visiontek 5850 is reference card so it's exactly the same as any other 5850 reference card, and thus exactly the same as the Sapphire card. I say go with the Sapphire card since they are easier to deal with as far as returns, and if your card is defective or something I'm sure you'll experience problems well before the 2 yr warranty is up and thus get it taken care of.

 

[killerhurts]

I just realized the coolers on the Visiontek and sapphire are different. Unlike the Diamond,XFX and others, It doesn't go all the way down back to the video card. Allowing hot air to escape in the case rather than getting pushed out the back. I'd imagine this would be to cut cost. I plan on grabbing an Antec 300 case and a mugen 2 cooler, So the last thing I want is hot air getting sucked through the large heatsink by the case fans.