Sapphire Vapor-X or PowerColor PCS+ HD5850?

[Henry1990]

I've done some research into both 5850's from Saphire and PowerColor and I'm torn between which one to get. I don't care about the game bundles and I can get a Sapphire 5850 locally for the same price as the PowerColor 5850, so price is not a concern for me either. My concern is cooling potential for overclocking, fan noise, and customer support should something go wrong and need RMA. I intend on cross-firing the 5850 with another 5850 of the same model a year down the road.

This 5850 will be replacing my Geforce 8600GT with improvised 100mm fan attached via twist ties since the stock fan broke, which surprisingly can run bad company 2 at low settings 1200x800 @ 30 to 60fps.

Any comments, especially for those who own either of these cards would be very helpful.

My current system (for playing bad company 2):

LG W2253V @ 1920x1080
i7 860 @ 2.8Ghz
Asus P7P55D Pro
2x2 CORSAIR XMS3 1600Mhz class 9
Ultra X3 850-Watt Modular PSU
CM Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler
CM HAF 932 Case
Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB
Windows 7 Pro

 

[multiscreenz]

I like Sapphire a little bit better than Powercolor. I have found they are better made and get less DOAs.

 

[marney_5]

I agree with above.

I pretty much always go for Sapphire and with the Vapor x you get a better cooler and overclocking potenial.

 

[philologos]

I agree as well. With some custom cooling solutions you get better cooling and overclocking potential, but with the same or even worse noise. With Sapphire's Vapor-X, the reviews I've read show both reduced temperatures and decibels.