Built by ATI vs. powered by ATI

[Merlin]

Is there any difference in the quality of an actual ATI card and ,say a power color or Saphire?

[Xerxes]

depends on the brand, for instance power color some of the 3rd party manufacturers dont offer a 3yr warranty but then again some like crucial have a lifetime warranty

[Illuminati]

most 3rd party manufacturers follow ATI's reference model for their retail cards.

So in most cases, there really isn't a difference besides maybe the cooling solution.

[Merlin]

thanks

[Bio-Hazard]

Any of the big names work just fine, ATI, Saphire, PowerColor, GigaByte, Asus. I've been using a PowerColor 9800Pro for some time now and have put it through he!!, and it's holding up just fine. As with anything in computers, regardless of maker, your mileage will not be the same..........

[Immortal]

There isnt much difference but many say that Hercules were the best ATI partner and built the best and fastest cards, thats the primary reason i got my Herc card, but Herc have since pulled out of the GFX market.

Currentley HIS and ASUS seem the best of ATI's partners, but the performance difference between them is around 1%, but the cost difference is massive, the asus 9800XT being the most expensive by around $70 in some cases.

[Merlin]

Compare for me the Saphire 9600XT VS. the Saphire 9800Pro. The pro has a 30Mhz advantage in the RAM speed but a 120Mhz deficit in the Processor speed. Are there any other differences that make the Pro worth the extra $70 and what effect do the numbers I mentioned have on real world performance. If I have to bench them to tell a difference than I'll save $70 and get the 9600XT.

[Illuminati]

You can't compare the core speeds of a 9600xxx to that of a 9800xxx... they are different cores altogether.

The 9800Pro will give you better performance in gaming. Look at some reviews around the web... lots of them will compare the 9600XT to the 9800Pro.

[A10Pilot3]

Merlin, I should have my Sapphire 9600XT on Monday, and I will be comparing it to my Sapphire 9800Pro that I got a few weeks ago. I'll send you the data.

[Merlin]

Cool, I won't be in the market for a little while so I have time for research and prices to come down. If they are going to come down.

[Immortal]

the difference is in the pipelines, the 9800Pro has 8 pipelines and a bigger memory bus but the 9600XT has only 4 pipelines and 128-bit memory bus, which means the 9800 can do more with less so to speak, its lower speed is made up by its 256-bit memory bus and more pipelines which means it is a better performance card altogether.