How do you choose a Video Card Brand

[Jamin43]

I'm good for a while now -with what I got - but sooner or later - when the 5850 gets replaced with the next line of technology - I'll snap one up when the clearance sales move inventory.

I'm watching bargain sites and see these brands
Powercolor
BFG
Sapphire
MSI
Sparkle
Diamond
VisionTek
Gigabyte
etc.

4850 and GTS 250's seem to be the flavor of current to clear inventory - but are these all reference cards - and basically the same? Or are some brands to avoid like the plague - and others to snap up.

When I built my PC - I was going with either XFX or EVGA - and picked up the cheapest brand for the tech I wanted - which ended up being EVGA. But for future purchases - should I still stick with these 2 brands - or if I can get a basement closeout on one of the brands I listed above - is it pretty much just as good - if the price is outstanding - like the Sapphire 4850's selling for 70 bucks from Newegg.?

Thanks

 

[lubo4444]

Go with either Sapphire or XFX. XFX has the lifetime warranty and Sapphire it's just really popular brand. All have the same specs but some of them have an overclocked version (which is just little bit overclocked). You can also go with Asus (it's supposed to have a voltage tweak which can gain the performance of 5870).