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[Orin GA]

Im currently looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-413R&type=Refurbished



REFURBISHED: POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9800 Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R98E-PD3-Bulk" -OEM (OEM, BAREBONE)

Model# R98E-PD3-Bulk
Item # N82E16814131413R

Specifications:
Chipset/Core Speed: ATI Radeon 9800/350MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 256MB DDR/600MHz
BUS: AGP 8X
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub) + TV-Out (S-Video/Composite) + DVI
Support 3D API: DirectX 9, OpenGL 1.5
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536

Care to tell me your experience with refurbed cards?

 

[Zelda-Bitch]

get this instead:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322250

Faster memory>>>More memory(this cards memory clock is 1000mhz). Plus it's not refurb and it kicks ass. At $189.00 it's a tad more expensive but very much worth it.

 

[Lhadatt]

Do not buy Powercolor. Seriously.

I highly recommend buying a new card. I also highly recommend buying ATI only if you want the Radeon chipset. Cheaping out on a card because Brand X is cheapest or you want the refurb will get you into trouble.

ATI-made cards will actually work, as opposed to these OEM and non-ATI-made cards. If you don't want to buy ATI-made cards, stick with Gigabyte, Asus or Abit.

 

[Blacklion]

My ATI Fire GL3100 is a refurb
so far it's run great ( 4 months) havent had any problems ....(knocks on virtual wood)

 

[AntoneM]

Do not buy Powercolor. Seriously.

I highly recommend buying a new card. I also highly recommend buying ATI only if you want the Radeon chipset. Cheaping out on a card because Brand X is cheapest or you want the refurb will get you into trouble.

ATI-made cards will actually work, as opposed to these OEM and non-ATI-made cards. If you don't want to buy ATI-made cards, stick with Gigabyte, Asus or Abit.

actually, Saphire makes the ATI branded cards and ATI just puts thier name on them, Saphire cards = ATI cards. Not that it matters since this thread is about a Powercolor card.

 

[Lhadatt]

actually, Saphire makes the ATI branded cards and ATI just puts thier name on them, Saphire cards = ATI cards. Not that it matters since this thread is about a Powercolor card.

Well, I've seen good stuff about Saphire cards, and I've seen bad stuff about Saphire cards. That makes me believe ATI may be demanding higher quality on ATI-branded cards, and Saphire may be slacking on some of their self-branded card runs. I'm not sure about that, though. Got any info on that?

 

[tedtropy]

Well, I've seen good stuff about Saphire cards, and I've seen bad stuff about Saphire cards. That makes me believe ATI may be demanding higher quality on ATI-branded cards, and Saphire may be slacking on some of their self-branded card runs. I'm not sure about that, though. Got any info on that?

I've seen 'good stuff' and 'bad stuff' on every product ever reviewed. But yep, Saphire makes ATI's cards, and I honestly doubt there's much difference between them and their ATI-labeled equivalents. I've owned a Saphire Radeon 9800 for well over a year now with zero issues. Part of the card's overclocking capability will vary with the brand of VRAM it's using (I had Hynix but it's kind of luck of the draw), but other than that, the quality and performance will be similar.

 

[AntoneM]

I don;t have any official press release, I probably should have been more clear, ATI obviously fabs the GPU chips themselves but the boards that the chips go on are made by Sapphire, there is a really good post about it on Beyond3D here: http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20956&

 

[Lhadatt]

Hrm, cool. Thanks.