Quality Of Different Brands Of Radeon Cards?

[Eyman]

Hi,

Im looking around at upgrading my Ti4200 with either a Sapphire 9600 Pro
(AUD$300) or a Powercolour 9800 Pro (AUD$630).

I'd really like a 9800 Pro based and due to budget limitations I cant
splurge on a Gigabyte or Sapphire 9800 Pro.

Im leaning towards the Powercolour card because it is about AUD$150-200
cheaper than other 9800 Pro cards like Gigabyte and Sapphire.

A guy in a local computer store told me to steer clear of Powercolour and
Gecube cards because they apparently use inferior components compared to
Gigabyte and Sapphire.

Is this true or is he trying to sell me a more expensive card?

All the reviews Ive seen in regards to the Powercolour 9800 Pro card are
great and come highly recommended.

What are peoples general perception and experience with the Powercolour
Radeo 9800 Pro?

Thanks in advance

Eyman

 

[John Hall]

Why not opt for a 9800 non pro card if you can find one. Not the SE
version, but simply the non pro. It has the same architecture as the pro
and the only difference is that it is clocked slower. And some of them are
great overclockers.

JK

 

[Skid]

The store clerk's advice is based on PowerColor's past cards, which did
scrimp on memory quality and thus limited overclocking ability. The new PC
9800 Pro does get good reviews. Just make sure it runs at the correct core
and memory speeds (in other words that it really IS a Pro,) and it should be
fine.

I can't speak for OZ prices, but in the U.S. the 9700/9800 non-pro cards are
not that much more than 9600 Pros, and some of them can easily overclock to
9800 Pro levels.