Does manufacturer make a difference?

[xNytramx]

Hey all,

I made a thread before and basically nailed my new build but id just like to get some peoples views on manufacturer.

I could get the;
HIS ATI Radeon HD 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£240
Or

XFX ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
£225

Is it worth getting a HIS over the XFX?
My last/current card is an XFX Nvidia 8800GT(4+½years) and its not had a single problem, so I wonder if its worth just saving the £15

 

[cmndr_andi]

I would go with the XFX - it has the same cooler as the HIS, same warranty length, same clocks and both XFX and HIS warranty is handled by OCUK.

 

[xNytramx]

Awesome (thumbs up) thats the reply I was hoping for, thanks ^^

 

[Cleeecooo]

Xfx if you buy from ocuk. Ocuk are unlikely to go bust so they will still handle rma. Also i have had problems with both. Xfx my last card and his for my current card. Xfx support was pretty good. His is none existant.

 

[Emphacy]

I also would also go for a popular gaming brand, and XFX is well known.
RMA from XFX is also rather good.

Although they don't directly manufacture the cards themself. Different suppliers use different board manufacturers, and occasionally are a different quality.

XFX are always high quality in my opinion, I also like EVGA and ASUS, I rather dislike Gainward after the last card I bought (9600GT) was faulty. I've also never particularly been interested in HIS, as it's not as well known (from my experience) than other brands.

 

[C64]

I wouldn't go near any manu that doesn't offer uk based rma support.

Unless they offer brand new sealed units as rma replacements like corsair.

Best graphics card manu to get is gigabyte as they are 3 year warranty and uk based rma.

But no idea where you send xfx to currently but between HIS and xfx I'd go xfx but I don't like any of those cards because of the noisy leaf blower coolers.

 

[cmndr_andi]

But no idea where you send xfx to currently but between HIS and xfx I'd go xfx but I don't like any of those cards because of the noisy leaf blower coolers.

You send both the HIS and XFX cards back to OCUK. Both of these companies do retailer based warranties in Europe.

 

[C64]

You send both the HIS and XFX cards back to OCUK. Both of these companies do retailer based warranties in Europe.

so a lot slower than sending direct to manu yourself then ?

 

[cmndr_andi]

so a lot slower than sending direct to manu yourself then ?

I was under the impression that OCUK tested the card themselves if you do an RMA and send you a replacement if the card is broken. I'm not sure if this would be faster or slower than returning to the manufacturer.

 

[C64]

I would never send an rma to a retailer personally I think they go out of their way to NOT find a fault.

 

[Confused Stu]

As the others have said, at the moment the only difference between manufacturers is the price and after-sales service. The cards will probably have come off the same production line and just had different stickers put on the casings.

Later in a product's life, you will find manufacturers start to come out with different cooling methods to the stock cards, and occassionally they might come out with a revised PCB layout that is better or cheaper to produce. For example, my XFX 5870 has a simplified PCB that doesn't have accessible voltage changers so my potential overclock would be lower than a standard card. For AMD's 6xxxx series, they're new enough they're still in the "same card, different sticker" phase.

 

[xNytramx]

Thanks for all the info guys, I will go with the XFX as I havent had a problem with mine in the last, nearly 5 years. Lets hope that repeats itself