Graphic Cards Sapphire vs XFX 6850

Nihilanth

Nihilanth

Beginner
Need to decide between these 2 cards and pull the trigger by Sunday. XFX version is available as we speak while the Sapphire might take 3-4 days. These are the only 2 choices i have to pick from right now as my dealer is out of MSI and Asus cards and he's not sure when he can get them and i am itching to get a GPU.

Read the quality of the XFX cards have deteriorated of late. Substandard PCB's, bad customer support etc. Out here their double lifetime warranty is not valid for us right or am i mistaken? The strange thing is that its about 500 bucks more than the Sapphire card even though Sapphire is a more reputed ATI partner.

The cooling seems to be great but i heard the fans make a real racket. Is it really that bad?

Also i plan on oc'ing and would appreciate it if someone could confirm if it has voltage control. Most of the results i found on XFX 6850 voltage tweaking are of people asking if and how to enable voltage tweaking on their cards.

Should i get the XFX card or wait a few more days and get the Sapphire one?

Thanks
 
Go for XFX card for extra warranty.. since you'll overclock its a chance that GPU might get fried.. so better stay safe with a long warranty provider.. else go for sapphire..
 
Sapphire after sales is good(handled by aditya infotech)..but better buy XFX, my old sapphire 4670 and my new sapphire 6850...both have given me problems..will never buy a sapphire card again!
 
@ ashis, fyi if your card gets fried due to overclocking or for whatever reason....no one is going to honour warranty anyway....go for sapphire....its much better...
 
I've been Sapphire user since long (and XFX before that, when I was on nVidia) and all I can say that Sapphire quality is way better. I've never had problems with Sapphire, except recently where I received a DOA card. But Aditya Infotech people replaced the card for me with a better card for just 1k extra (my DOA card was 6870, I received 6950 as replacement). This was despite the fact that I had bought my 6870 card from USA.

My 3870, again Sapphire, recently died after 4 years of faithful service and overclocking.

If I've to select between, XFX, MSI, Asus & Sapphire.... I would still pick Sapphire.
 
Well there has been a slight twist in the plot since i posted this thread as it took about 2-3 days for it to get approved. My dealer told me that his supplier was receiving a shipment of XFX and Sapphire 6850's by Monday. He called me up and informed me that the XFX cards had arrived whereas the Sapphire had not. He also told me that he could get the MSI Cyclone PE if i could wait for about a week's time. I told him i would get back to him after i made up my mind. At the same time i inquired at another shop on Main Street and the shopkeeper told me the Sapphire card was readily available with him. Here's where it gets interesting..this shopkeeper is quoting 10.5k for the Sapphire which is about 500-600 bucks more than its actual market price whereas my comp dealer is ready to hook me up with the Cyclone for the very same price. He is also ready to give me the XFX for 10.1k which is about 2k less than what Baba Computers(Pune) is asking for (total rip off those guys are). Things are more expensive here in Pune than say Bombay but shipping and peace of mind probably nullifies the difference.

In a nutshell..
XFX - 10.1k readily available
Sapphire - 10.5k readily available
MSI Cyclone - 10.5k week's wait

So what do you guys think? Cyclone worth the extra few days wait?
 
I have already picked up sapphire.... Its an official partner of AMD and no way that AMD will let sapphiretech to sell bad gpu's... Get the sapphire one, mine is overclocked already, running from november 2010, absolutely no issues...
 
iGo said:
I've been Sapphire user since long (and XFX before that, when I was on nVidia) and all I can say that Sapphire quality is way better. I've never had problems with Sapphire, except recently where I received a DOA card. But Aditya Infotech people replaced the card for me with a better card for just 1k extra (my DOA card was 6870, I received 6950 as replacement). This was despite the fact that I had bought my 6870 card from USA.

My 3870, again Sapphire, recently died after 4 years of faithful service and overclocking.

If I've to select between, XFX, MSI, Asus & Sapphire.... I would still pick Sapphire.
Click to expand...
Which city ?

Though Aditya Infotech handle Sapphire RMA also in Kolkata but service totally depends on place to place.

Even you will see different feedback for same service center but from different locations.....
 
sapphire all the way....the warranty service is wayy better....also the it got voltage control and its pretty responsive....
 
Buy MSI HD6850 Cyclone Power Edition ~ 9.8k

It is better than Sapphire card... performance wise plus comes with a custom cooler and MSI (GPUs) RMA is handled by Tirupati which provides good after sales service just like Aditya Infotech...
 
i had a very good experience with aditya infotech when i bought sapphire 4670 from theitwares.com..the card was faulty,i called rahul (theitwares.com owner-real nice person),he suggest to call adiyta(chennai) and i did the same,,they took my card,,after 3 days call me up and said they dont have 4670 in stock but had 4850 and i can get one by paying additional 1.5k.which cost me total around 6.8k (4850 was 8-9k that time)..XFX is handled by Rashi peripherals i guess-- i heard lots of bad word against them..Tirupati is also a good - never used myself but good word in forums and all.dont know who handle MSI and HIS.
 
i have rmaed my xfx 8600gt 2 times already and 3rd time it gave problems so now the card is at rashis but they r saying its out of stock.
 
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