5770 Brand?

Hello folks,

Going Rogue comes out July’ish. This is also conveniently when I rotate back out of this sandbox I’m currently stuck in(where I can't play COx). I would like to take full advantage of the new features/graphics when I get home so after much deliberation (and seeing screenshot comparisons from my wife’s 9800gt machine) I have decided to upgrade my GeForce 8600gt 512MB card to a Radeon HD 5770 1GB card. I'm hoping they have the AA + AO issues worked out by time I get home.

My research has turned up at least 10 different manufacturers on New Egg alone.

With the wealth of computer experience here I was wondering if someone could steer me towards (or away from) any particular brand?

I’m looking mostly for reliability here since most of these cards run within $50 of each other.

Thank you for your time.

When it comes to ATi cards, it's easier to tell you who to NOT buy from than it is who to buy from. While a competitors list of hardware vendors is largely made up of companies with reputations for cheap (read shoddy) products, The only real consistant scrub in the ATi list is Diamond Multimedia.

So if your looking for just pure reliability, pretty much everything that isn't a Diamond Multimedia is a good choice. Buy the cheapest non Diamond Multimedia and you'll be set.

If you are about other factors, such as noise... well. That's where the ATi cards start to separate. A lot of the vendors use non-ducted fans, which means that the fan exhausts into the system case, rather than out the back of the case. Unless you're overclocking the 5770 though, heat isn't generally a issue, and nor is the fan. However, these non-ducted fans tend to be loud, and tend to whine obnoxiously. Sapphire, I'm glaring at you.

What you really want is a ducted fan, where a duct covering the card exhausts hot air straight out the back. Ducted cards tend to run quieter than their non-ducted cousins. Really, the best vendor's ducted fan, by far, is the XFX version.

Now, there is one non-ducted card that I would actually point you to. It's the Asus CU Core edition. I've actually got one of these copper cooled cards, and in practice, it's actually pretty quiet.

Expanding upon what Saist said, XFX cards also come with a lifetime warranty. That's definitely something to consider. For what it's worth, I use a Sapphire 5850, and have had absolutely no problems whatsoever.

Thanks for the info guys.

The ducted cards look like the way to go for me due to A/C in my house that is sometimes "lacking" and lifetime warranties are always good.

It's been my experience that fans can be hit or miss with the noise. My wife's computer was almost twice as loud as mine(same model/specs and bought at the same time) when we bought them. Hopefully someone has greased the hamster wheel at the factory and I don't get a Friday afternoon special.

Thanks again

Another thing to consider is when you are planning on purchasing this. If you wait until closer to the date when you come home, a higher model card may be available at a price closer to what you are already looking at with the 5770.

It may be worth it to wait until closer to purchase time to decide on the specific card and model.

Also if you have some 'frontrunners' in mind you like, you can always look for reviews of them online. There's lots of tech review sites out there and all the major brands of a given video card model tend to get reviewed somewhere if not multiple times.