is powercolor realy that bad?

[skollieguns]

It’s down to the following 2 choices.

PowerColor AX R9 280X
http://www.wootware.co.za/powercolo...it-pci-express-3-0-desktop-graphics-card.html

SAPPHIRE DUAL-X R9 270X
http://www.wootware.co.za/sapphire-dual-x-r9-270x-2gb-gddr5-oc-boost-desktop-graphics-card.html

The reasons behind the choice of only these 2 cards range from price vs spec, availability from supplier, power supply requirements and the space available in my box. I’ve considered the previous gpu’s upon which these 2 are based (the 7970 and 7870) and there have been spec improvements not to mention support for direct x 11.2
So I won’t consider any 7870 or 7970. Also I won’t consider nvidia. At all. I just wont. I’m stubborn that way.

Spec for price the obvious choice is the Powercolor (384bit, 3gb, and more shaders and texels and kak for only R 3,800.00) 2 year warranty

Sapphire is an older more trusted brand and if forums and reviews are anything to go by they use better quality components. (the card is a 256bit, 2gb for R3,000.00) also 2 year waranty. But I’m forking out 3 grand on a card that isn’t that much better than mine.

BTW I looked at the sapphire version of the 280x and its just too expensive. Like 2 grand more than the powercolor with the same specs. So that’s out.

The specs leap between my card and the powercolor card specs however is worth spending the money.
Can I trust powercolor? Should I buy it?
Or should I buy the tried and trusted sapphire which is not all that better than mine.

a summary of my rig
Intel board and chip i5 (3.1ghz)
8 gigs DDR3 ram
Coolermaster case + PSU 700w (with 6pin & 6+2pin power connectors)
My current GPU is an ASUS Radeon HD6870 (1gb, 256bit) on a 25” LG cinema 3d monitor
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/EAH6870_DC2DI2S1GD5/
Now while I’ve been very happy with this card for the last 2 years I wanna swop it out.

 

[The Joker]

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=11118

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=20&products_id=11135

I don't get why your comparing the 270X to the 280X...

Anyway back to your question, is Powercolor a bad brand, no not at all but the card your looking at has no vrm cooling whatsoever.
The fans are also incredibly loud, and the pcb is a custom job which means fitting a wb will be tough.

If you want a powercolor card, wait for the pcs+version but then again that will be more expensive than the one your referring to now.

Avoid Asus for the time being as most if not all their parts are overpriced.

 

[B1nary]

Avoid Asus for the time being as most if not all their parts are overpriced.

I have noticed this as well.

I saw pc format was carrying on about powercolor being a good bang for you buck a while ago, I think there is only one supplier in sa that has the rights though,if i'm not mistaken.

 

[AlienTaker]

Powercolor is not bad at all i'm on my 3rd Gen powercolor card i got my R9 270X O.C today and i'm impressed and it runs silent when you have the fan at the stock speed it comes out the box with but even pushed to 70% it's not as loud as my 6850 toxic was

I got mine from wootware at R2499 so from experience if you want to get one go for it

 

[The Joker]

Powercolor is not bad at all i'm on my 3rd Gen powercolor card i got my R9 270X O.C today and i'm impressed and it runs silent when you have the fan at the stock speed it comes out the box with but even pushed to 70% it's not as loud as my 6850 toxic was

I got mine from wootware at R2499 so from experience if you want to get one go for it

Comparing a 270x to a 280x is not a great idea. The cards are completely different, different pcb's, different cooling ect.
Im glad your 270X is running well though.

 

[AlienTaker]

No i would never compare the 2 i'm just saying out of experience i have never had an issue with powercolor so if he makes up his mind
He can be assured Powercolor is not a bad brand and depending on what he's spending but i would go for the Powercolor over the sapphire if he goes the 270 route

 

[The Joker]

No i would never compare the 2 i'm just saying out of experience i have never had an issue with powercolor so if he makes up his mind
He can be assured Powercolor is not a bad brand and depending on what he's spending but i would go for the Powercolor over the sapphire if he goes the 270 route

I wouldn't..Although the powercolor price is attractive, I'll def take the sapphire over it any day

Simple comparison

look at the cards and tell me which one is better quality

 

[dampi256]

Powercolor was a substandard built card way back when I had to build up my PC. I don't know about now. I still prefer SAPPHIRE if I can't get MSI or other brands.

 

[Kwaai]

I have a powercolor card and am happy with its performance. The only thing that is annoying is the extremely loud fan(using a custom fan profile so that the temperature maxs out at 70c)

 

[AlienTaker]

Kwaai the new Re-branded range of powercolor is very quiet like i said earlier my 6850 was a Spphire and it was damn loud on custom fan clocks so much so that my wife complained she cant sleep and my bedroom is in the back of the house.

@ Joker sometimes looks isn't everything i speak from experience, and i like MSI as well and asus but there you pay more for the name these days than anything else.

The R9 270X O.C i got yesterday runs at 26c on stock fan speed which surprised the hell out of me if i play BF3 it goes to 38c

So i'm happy with my buy and at the price i got it i think it's a steal compared to the other 270's out there that preform a bit slower but cost more

But then again personal preference will always be your own choice

 

[skollieguns]

So I ended up getting the sapphire R9 280x. Since I managed to sell my old GPU, I had the budget to do so. I appreciate all of the responses. The point of my post was that despite a budget which allowed me to choose a decent mid tier card. I discovered that if I went only slightly over budget I could actually afford a card with far better specs. Specs I never thought I could afford since the price difference on brands other than Powercolor was just too far outside my comfort zone. It led me to assume that that the brand in question was of inferior quality. Having said that there is still no concrete answer. After reading way too much feedback and reviews on Powercolor products I'm still on the fence. Some of what I read was good, and some not so good. Nothing good enough to justify choosing to purchase their products over brands with a better reputation. Perhaps in the future we'll see Powercolor's reputation as a brand improve. I have a suspicion though, that if and when that happens their prices wont be as attractive as they are today.

 

[PsYcHZ]

Powercolor is made in the foxconn factory. They have a two year warranty on their stuff. Im sure they are fine. No graphics card brand is 100% perfect. I've had club 3D die on me, xfx dead... Im sure they are mostly the same at the end of the day.