ATI vs. Sapphire

[splenda20]

Hey everyone, I was just looking for a little advice. I'm planning to buy an ATI Radeon 9500 Pro. My local retailer carries ATI and the Sapphire model. Price difference isn't enough to sway me one way or another. Can anyone tell me if one is much better than the other, or if anyone can send me a link where i could read a review of either one would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Nights_L]

If you have money, I suggest you buy ATI's retail video Card, because Sapphire's video card, which based on ATI's chipset ususally come with slower Core Clock or Memory Clock, such as Radeon9000Pro, ATI's retail is 275/550, but if you buy the Radeon9000 Pro Atlantis which is made by Sapphire, it comes with 275/500. also, the Ram dac is 2x400Mhz with ATI, but with Sapphire, it's 350Mhz (i'm not sure if it's x2 or not)

 

[Makaveli]

that information is only correct for R200 Based Cards!

all R300 based cards from 3rd party providers are clocked equally. From what I know.

 

[chuck232]

Sapphire makes most of ATi's BBA cards anyways. I got a Sapphire R9700, but it's just a Radeon 9700 Pro BBA... Go for the cheaper one.

...And all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put my computer back together again...

 

[vegandago]

in tom's comparison the Sapphire had the best image quality of all of the different 9700pros, including ATI!!! Go with them, it is cheaper and better. The clockspeed is the same.

"There is no dark or light side, only power and those too weak to seek it."

 

[Crashman]

The cards are identicle. Every part is exactly the same. Get the ATI card because it comes with a better warranty. Or get the Saphire card because "warranties don't matter".

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Actually, no that's not true. Not ALL cards are the same. Some people have found Sapphires that were under clocked (pros running at almost non pro speeds) and some that were overclocked (non pros running near/above pro speeds) One would like to think that all the Oems keep the cards similar to the retail versions but that is not the case. Some people have also found inferior memory on their boards (Samsung or Hynix are the two appearing, I think the Samsungs are on the better boards)
Anyways, I've read alot of suprising info about strange results when people looked at their OEM cards with Riva Tuner or PowerStrip, etc. A retail card is ALWAYS guaranteed to be at published levels, OEMs can and often HAVE adjusted the speeds, without giving any warning. However, I have read that ALL resellers (From BestBuy to you local basement seller) have to tell you the clock speeds of the card they are selling you. If they can't tell you and won't guarantee the speed core/mem, then buy from someone else.

Anywhoo, regarding the original post, get a Retail board if they are about the same price. Otherwise decide whether the price difference is worth it to you?

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <font color=red>RED</font color=red> <font color=green>GREEN</font color=green> :tongue: GA to SK

 

[BEEFCAKE]

Who cares, porn looks just about the same on any agp video card.

BEEFCAKE!!!!!

 

[marneus]

Sapphire was sourced by ATI to make the R9700 cards... that is a clue as to what the difference is... nothing much except the packaging used...

Hmmm, wonder if I can get a valid page fault ???
these invalid ones are far too commonplace...