ATI, Nvidia, etc..... just paying for the name?

[rockeyman2]

I was looking around Newegg today and saw alot of 256MB graphics cards for really cheap. I noticed that these were brand names I have never heard of like Rosewill and Powercolor. I see that some of these cards use ATI chipsets. Is the reason that the price difference is so great because of the difference in memory clock speeds? I see that the $90 card has a 400Mhz speed while the more expensive ATI 128 MB card has a 680Mhz speed. Are there other factors that make the ATI/Nvidia cards better?

Are the other brands good and relieable or would it be better to go for an ATI or Nvidia?

 

[diabloII]

256MB ram doesn't matter at all

all the cards you saw are crappy cards

the card itself (pipelines, mem/core frequencies matters)

since you're buying low end cards (anything under $400 practically), the 256mb ram doesn't even matter, since the games it can handle won't even use up to 128mb ram (in fact, most games right now don't use up to 128mb ram)

 

[rockeyman2]

I see. So how would this card, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814102344
compare to my ATI Raedon 9200 128MB that I have now?

 

[diabloII]

much better, but the card is outdated like hell and sucks ass for the price

for the cheapest card that's a good alternative and will last you a while and give you a much better improvement, try the eVGA 6600GT (only $159 AR @ newegg)

 

[Slayer]

ya, saphire sucks. don't know nvidia brands but for ati either get one built by ati or asus. you get what you pay for.

 

[diabloII]

why does sapphire suck??? sapphire is good, i'm just saying the 9600XT sucks for the price

right now, none of the ATi cards are worth it

either get teh 6600GT, 6800GT, or just save up for them

 

[Wayniac]

I am reading many of these kind of threads and I've come to a realization. It seems that when people talk about the best graphics cards right now, they usually refer to the 6800 Ultra, or the best card for your money, the 6600 GT. Why is it that nobody ever says that ATI cards are the best? Is NVIDIA currently leading the way with video card technology?

 

[Charbo]

yes

lol

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

ya, saphire sucks. don't know nvidia brands but for ati either get one built by ati or asus. you get what you pay for.

Saphire does not suck, Saphire now makes any ATI branded card

The cheaper powercolor and rosewill graphics cards use cheaper components and often fail more.

And if you want to compare to cards from different manafactuers, compare the same card

 

[rockeyman2]

So the main difference is the quality of the parts? Do they still give the performance of the name brand cards and just fail more often?

The eVGA looks pretty good and it is affordable, but I don't want to end up having to buy another in a year or less because it fails, because that would be the same as buying a $300 card now that will last.