Build Compatibility and Opinions

[chazus]

These sources also speak highly of the MSI, Gigabyte and Asus cards that we all think highly of. Should we now discount these views because we think poorly of Sapphire products?

I personally don't think 'reviews' give any bearance or idea of quality of product. That's like saying one guy drive one car, and the car didn't break, so most of those cars won't break. Speaking highly of those other brands still has no credence one way or another. I'm basing this off people, lots of people, actually using the cards. Not just a handful of reviews. Reviews are nice for things like benchmarking, when it is reasonable to assume that all cards of that kind, given they are functioning correctly, will perform the same way.

Lastly all manufacturers are not immune to defective products. I can guarantee you that for every negative review you have of a Sapphire card, I can find matching ones from other manufacturers.

Again, this information is useless. First off, people are more likely to give negative feedback than positive ones. Secondly, feedback is voluntary. Thirdly, higher sales numbers equals higher defect numbers (not rate or ratio, just numbers). It's the same reason Dell has tons of horrible feedback... Mainly because they sell so many more than almost any other manufacturer besides like... Lenovo.

I'm based in the UK and Gigabyte ranks as the highest in terms of RMA service. Would this sway me over to a Gigabyte product? Of course it would. But then 'poor quality' services vs 'poor quality' products are two entirely different issues.

I'm actually curious about that info, not because I doubt you, but that actually IS valuable information. And high RMA rates would sway me as well, given proper information. I know that Gigabyte and Asus are probably one of the top sellers, which may be why they have higher RMA numbers.

I'd also like to point out that not very long ago people were pretty unsure of whether to invest in a Gigabyte card. Some people with high post counts on this very forum have shown suspicion with Gigabyte cards when they first started releasing them with the Windforce coolers.

I used to sell Gigabyte boards, back in the 2003-2005 era, and they were shit. Gigabyte seems to have cleaned up, but yeah... Sometimes manufacturers can go from good to bad, or bad to good. Asus used to be a pile of crap, too. But now they're almost a go-to in some cases. Currently people seem to be doing well with Gigabyte, at least the cards. I think the last two cards I've gotten were Gigabyte (not saying they're good because mine are, but my purchases were influenced by community opinion)

[Deleted]

Credible review sites are always a great starting point. I'm very well aware of the bias that some sites have and I'm also aware of the 'golden sample' that some website reviewers receive. But these sites have good community activity and I too find it very useful looking at community feedback. I certainly don't base my opinions 'solely' on reviews alone or even personal experience.

The 7870 Tahiti LE has received a ton of press recently and for good reason. Its an excellent card. Here in the UK atleast they've appeared from four manufacturers whose records are not entirely stellar if I'm honest with you. In Europe and the UK atleast; Powercolor, Club, Sapphire and VTX have released the Tahiti LE version of the 7870 and performance wise these cards are doing very well according to both community and industry review feedback. More importantly, they're priced extremely competitively against non boost 7950s(which are being phased out) and GTX 660Ti's.

Out of the four cards, the one with arguably the best build quality and cooler has been the Sapphire card, hence the reason why I recommended it and given its price point and performance, it seems like a no brainer and I would happily recommend this card for those looking for 660ti level of performance and wishing to save some dollars.

I've also recently bought the VTX3D version of the 7870 for a family member, so I personally can't wait to see how well this card performs, which is what matters to the end user.

Lastly someone compiled some data on the quality of RMA service for customers based in the UK. Here are the results.

Edit: That RMA list was last updated October 2012, so it might not reflect any recent changes in RMA polices that these manufacturers adopt.

[chazus]

>.< I thought the list was actual quantity of RMA's, not RMA turnover time. The only real experience I've had with RMA turnover times are with EVGA cards, and MSI, Asus, and Gigabyte (boards and cards). Notably, Asus has always been utter hell for me to get warranty service on. I don't know if that's changed recently (I haven't RMA'd in about 3 years or so) but it was jumping through a thousand hoops just to get the RMA approved.

Personally, if an RMA took more than 14 days, I'd be on the phone with a regional manager getting a brand new card overnighted. That's unacceptable.

[Deleted]

Yes I didn't make that particularly clear when I stated, 'Gigabyte ranks as the highest in terms of RMA service'. I should have said, 'Here in the UK, Gigabyte has the best RMA service'. If it were based on RMA services alone, I'd probably avoid buying a Sapphire card if I felt it were likely to break within a year. Then again I'd probably not make that purchase regardless of the manufacturer.

However that list is more useful for items that become faulty after four weeks of purchase from the seller - since decent online retailers will accept returns within this time frame.

Here is an RMA rank list updated just over a week ago. Note that this is UK only.

[Taurous]

I'm still not sure my PSU will support all my parts. The case fans need three molex and my GPU needs to use one of the two molex adapters, but the PSU only has 4 molex.

[Punisher]

You can use your fan plug in the mobo instead of using the molex. Its almost the same, but using the mobo connectors will grant you the ability to control the fan speeds

And you GPu don't need molex, it needs PCI-E power connectors (still can use the adapter)

---------- Post added 2013-02-05 at 05:07 PM ----------

Edit, Don't saw that the OP's PSU don't had 2 PCI-E connectors, but you still can use mobo fan plug so you are okay

[Taurous]

You can use your fan plug in the mobo instead of using the molex. Its almost the same, but using the mobo connectors will grant you the ability to control the fan speeds

And you GPu don't need molex, it needs PCI-E power connectors (still can use the adapter)

---------- Post added 2013-02-05 at 05:07 PM ----------

Edit, Don't saw that the OP's PSU don't had 2 PCI-E connectors, but you still can use mobo fan plug so you are okay

I also just realized that the top and front fans use molex pass throughs so I'm fine. Also I don't see anywhere to plug a molex into the mobo, the top and front fans dont have the three pin mobo connector.