sapphire 9800pro vs ati 9800pro

[jerome12345]

is there any difference between the SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL
and the ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL

in terms of hardware, support, firmware, drivers etc.

do catalyst drivers work on the sapphire

can the sapphire one be flashed with 9800xt drivers too?

will i feel the difference if i get 256mb

 

[SickBeast]

No difference other than the fact that the ATi cards come with a 3-year warranty (if they're retail versions) and the Sapphire ones come with only a 1-year warranty.

256mb is a complete waste; get the 128mb card.

 

[Slink3r]

Stick to the Ati! trust me here. I have a sapphire graphics card, and I've had nothing but problems from day one.

At first I thought it was just me, but recently I had been talkiing to a few people from the anandtech forums, and they all agreed with me.

Everybody that I have talked to about sapphire either doesn't like their product, or believes that they could've gotten a better product.

 

[dudeman007]

Text

stick with ati.

 

[Delorian]

The price is the real difference

What are you planning on using it for? (High-End FPS games, Video editing etc)
What resolution are you planning on using for games?

Generally unless you are using a high resolution, power-hungry game with plenty of eye-candy, then you won't need 256mb. In fact during some CPU limited operations (such as older games), things will run slower at 256mb than 128mb. As far as the brand, I wouldn't really concern myself with names, it depends on the core used, the memory interface, the type of memory chips and the features that come with the board. That is what really makes the difference and those can vary quite a bit through different manufacturers. Do your research on a particular board before purchasing and you should do fine!