I decided to get a Radeon HD 5770 video card (with 1 GB memory) because it seems to be the best "bang for my buck" in my price range. However, there are so many and I hear many conflicting things about them, such as some people saying "STAY AWAY FROM SAPPHIRE!" while others say "Sapphire is the best brand of 5770."
I have heard similar things about every brand so I don't know which to pick.
Which one should I pick and why?
Also, I saw that you can get a 5570 with 2 GB memory for less than $100. How does that compare?|||Sapphire is the best brand of ATI/AMD cards, just like EVGA is the best brand for Nvidia cards. However, Sapphire cards are often slightly more expensive.
Other really good brands include MSI, XFX and Asus. Meanwhile HIS, Gigabyte and Visiontek are pretty good, but have a more hit & miss reputation in terms of their reliability and customer support. Powercolor is a bargain brand.
The 5570 is a simply newer-generation replacement for the 4670. It's way below the performance of a 5750, let alone a 5770.
http://www.techspot.com/review/245-ati-r…
http://www.techspot.com/review/240-ati-r…
The amount of video memory doesn't reflect the processing power of a card. Having 2gb of video memory helps to prevent a card's performance from dropping dramatically when you're running multiple monitors at extermely high resolution. but it doesn't increase the base framerate you'd get.
If graphics cards were cars, the amount of video memory is like the size of the gas tank, not the size of the engine. A large gas tank lets you drive really long distances without stopping to refuel, but doesn't make your car faster. A Corvette with a 15 gallon tank still makes it from L.A. to Vegas faster than a station wagon with a 25 gallon tank, because it's much, much faster on the highway.
I personally have the MSI Radeon 5770 and it's been rock-solid for 2 years.|||Sapphire makes the fastest video card, the Sapphire TOXIC 5970 with 4 GB of memory, needs 850 watt PSU to power one. TOXIC = over clocked version, see sapphire tech, sapphire home etc. on internet. Me used Sapphire 5670 and now Sapphire 6970. The Sapphire 6970 plays any game out now. Try to get a 5850 or 5870 if you can, stay away from the 5570 and 5770. Wait in the next weeks to come, the new AMD 6990 is to roll out, Sapphire please TOXICfy !|||This seems to be the big seller at the moment...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…
With the Sapphire a close second, XFX has a good one too, with its lifetime warranty. I see no reason to stay away from Sapphire, I have used them on MANY builds over the years and none have ever come back to my shop as failed...dirty,.. fan clogged with dust..yes..but not failed!|||Let's first off say, the 5770 has about 4 times the performance of the 5570. Sapphire is the best, because they make the most cards. The cards that don't have a brand name on them "the ATI ones", are actually made by Sapphire.|||I agree with C-Man, don't get fooled with amount of video memory.|||The only time you need extra Video memory is when you're playing on a large monitor 2560X1600 or a multi-monitor setup. On a smaller monitor you would never see the difference between a 1gb and 2gb video card. The 2gb 5570 will never compare to the 5770.
I'd say that in the USA, XFX may be a little bit more popular than Sapphire. People love the XFX double lifetime warranty that's on their cards.
Out of all AMD/ATI vendors, Sapphire sells the most video cards worldwide. They actually don't make the graphics chip or their own PCB boards for that matter. They get all of their parts from AMD and other suppliers. Sapphire pieces everything together then packages and ships the cards. Sapphire designs their own GPU coolers for many of their ATI cards. Usually, they have some of the best coolers on the market.
There's such a thing as a reference card. This is the first card to come out of a series. Companies like AMD or Nvidia make these reference cards. Then sell them to Sapphire, EVGA, and XFX. Form there the vendor slaps it's name on the card, packages the card, then ships the card.
