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Which 4870

martian_aphid

martian_aphid

martian_aphid

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Joined
8 Feb 2008
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801
Location
UK
Anyway as the topic states, been waiting a while for the new cards and going to go for a 4870 rather than wait for the X2. Any advice on which to opt for: Gigabyte, HIS, Powercolor...

I heard a bit of talk that Sapphire might be a brand to be wary of, not sure of the reason why?

Any guidance is appreciated = D
 
The difference between them will be a) warranty length b) heatsink/cooler design c) price d) any extras included.

Personally I went for the Sapphire as it was the cheapest available at the time, however now the Powercolor is out that is the cheapest @ £176 which is a steal price.
 
Yeah as far as I can gather they all have the same basic kit, hdmi/vga adapter component, etc. Haven't been able to find out warranty lengths.

I like the price of the powercolor though : )
 
Got a Powercolour the other day and can confirm that it is silent apart from Bios post startup when the fan powers on @ 100% for 1-2 secs. Could not hear the card in heavy gaming sessions. AFAIK ATI spec these first cards so the only difference is the sticker on the card at this time but obviously in weeks to come you may see different cooling/specs but the stock one is silent so cheapest is better to me!
 
Yeah as far as I can tell ATM the cards themselves are all same as reference. I don't have any personal experience with any of the manufacturers so I was just wondering if there was one that would be better to deal with in the event of a fault, etc.

Been doing some searching on the warranty stuff, found a thread about a guy who had a failed powercolor. He had it for 18months, therefore it had passed the period to return to the retailer, he therefore contacted powercolor because the warranty was 24months, apparently they did not want to know because he was not USA based :S
 
I had experience with a HIS 3870, they seem like a pretty good company. If I get one (and am all but sure I will) it will most likely be this HIS. Friend of mine had one yet apparantly it didnt have the HDMI dongle's etc in the box so he rang HIS up rather than the retailer and they sent him them anyway. Little things like that are always a good sing :)

Plus, it doesnt have any naf sticker on it so far as I can tell.

Martyn
 
Yeah I have heard good things about HIS GeneralD and from what I have seen it is just translucent plastic without a sticker.

Thanks for the info guys, I'm going to give it a think - its going to be between price and peace of mind really but your insight has been helpful : )
 
I have gone with the manufacturer that i have used before and not had any problems, in this case the last 3 cards i have had have been Sapphire - 9800se, 1950pro and currently 3870x2.

From what i have seen they are all pretty much the same, so as said above, u can't go far wrong by goin with the cheapest.
 
Gigabytes can no be had for the price of powercolour so I expect ocuk to drop the gigabyte price once in stock. ;)
 
Whats going on with asus 4870? has it not been in stock yet? is that why its still like 40£ more.
 
as far as im aware, at least with the 4850, the asus card has a non-referance bios that allows for manual fan control, with the other reference cards being stuck at 14%.

not sure if this is a reason to charge more.
 
I'd defo go with one that has 2 year warranty at least it's quite hard trying to sell a card with no warranty left I find because there's always another same card with warranty for sale at the same price.
At the moment asus with 3 year warranty looks like the best bet.
 
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