Need New R9700Pro, POwercolor?

[charlie]

All,
What happens when you've got a R9700 that acts sketchy on air and you put a pelt on it and push it?
Toast.
Yeah, my rig won't even post, dead card. Oh well, so how's the Powercolor retail 9700pro evil commando kit? $291 at Newegg.
Or the Sapphire's (although they're sold out at Newegg) for $311-320
Or the Gigabyte can be found for about $330...and last but not least, the Hercules for $375.
Now I don't really care about fancy pcb color or features, I just want to OC/Vmod the heck out of it.
Is it all luck of the draw? It seems that Newegg's return policy allows you to return a card that you're simply not happy with (as long a it's not modded yet) hmmm.....
Last, if I get one at BestBuy, it's $400 + tax BUT if/when I bork this one, I can clean it up and return it! Easy. Much easier than rma'ing a card and faster too. For example, I got my R9700 used for $250 and now I need to spend $291 min. on a new card. If I just would have spent $400 in the first place, this new card would have been free...a new ATI retail R9700 Pro.
Last alternative...buy a Geforce FX, strap a pelt on it and crank it up, if somethings there, keep it, if not sell it on Ebay. Some Nvidiot would certainly snap it up. OR I could just return it if I find it at a retail outlet...
C

[DoGMaN]

Stay away from Powercolor. Mine the ram won;t go above 320 stock.

[charlie]

dogman,
wow. you got that right, I'll avoid it like the plague. So, I guess do I go Sapphire oem or Hercules???
Is the Herc worth the extra $60????
After all, I already have ramsinks and will be tearing the hs/f off.
What is up with all the guys who say they have stock 400/370 cards??
C

[DoGMaN]

I had a Sapphire before I got the PowerColor, it was great. Did 362 on the ram stock, but with the VGPU mod. I benched it at 412/362 with just a crome orb. No ramsinks.

[Creative]

Niko has a Powercolour and it does 445/365 on air with voltmod.

Just cos ures was §§§§ doesnt mean most are

Powercolour or my prefrence Sapphie charlie would be the way to go

ps
i bench my sapphire at 465/375 in 3dmark2001

[Professor12]

How about those Tyans? You can get one for 333 on ebay retail plus they have hardware monitering and voltage adjustment stock. Don't know how they oc but its something to look into.

[charlie]

Creative,
465/375...That's a twisted a** OC on that card! My oem ATI (RIP)
did 431/360 with a p3 hs/f at 1.65v/2.93v.
But now I've gotta gpu pelt/block! (Same as yours ) Any word on Hercules??
C

[hollywood]

Well, I've read several reviews on the Powercolor "Evil Commando 2" and found that most thought it to be identical to the made by ATi part. So last night I ordered one to replace my GeForce4 Ti 4600. Got way too sick of waiting for nVIDIA to get their FX out to market. Hope I made a good choice. I also was gonna get the FIC Pro9700....but most reviews actually gave the nod to Powercolor.

A side note about Powercolor as well. Before heading back to school this year, I worked as a sys tech/designer for a pretty large company in North Carolina. While Powercolor is relatively new and many are not familiar with them, they actually are a pretty nice operation in my opinion. On alot of our machines, we'd actually go with powercolor GeForce3s and 4s sometimes to keep the cost down. I have to say that their workmanship and product is equal to ANY other manufacturer. Powercolor cards would bench just about the same as any other brand, and some folks even had MORE success overclocking Powercolor cards than some others. So if someone is uncomfortable with Powercolor, don't be. They may not have a flashy name or a huge advertising budget, but they still build one hell of a mean product.

[charlie]

Hollywood,
please report results after you receive it!
C

[Prem0]

I bought a Sappire atlantis 9700 pro retail at www.allstarshop.com for $319 with free shipping. Their vid card selection was pretty damn good and they have as good a rating as newegg on reseller ratings. It should be in the mail today so I am looking forward to having some fun with it when I get the new system built..

[hollywood]

Originally posted by charlie
Hollywood,
please report results after you receive it!
C

I will, I'm very curious as to how well this dog will hunt... Shipped today...so ought to be here Monday/Tuesday latest.

[Creative]

Originally posted by charlie
Creative,
465/375...That's a twisted a** OC on that card! My oem ATI (RIP)
did 431/360 with a p3 hs/f at 1.65v/2.93v.
But now I've gotta gpu pelt/block! (Same as yours ) Any word on Hercules??
C

Yep thats with the MCW50-T and chilled water at 5-15dc. I have to do the benching quickly or keep the water chilled by draining some out of a tap and adding a glass of icecubes....that sets me up for about 30-60 mins of benching

1.72volts on the gpu is needed for this speed. But now I have a wierd problem where I am getting all lines on my screen. The Sapphire does it, but the Gigabyte doesnt.....everything is back to default now too so see how it goesin a few days. Niko did the same thing but his is OK now....

[SupaMan]

Originally posted by Professor12
How about those Tyans? You can get one for 333 on ebay retail plus they have hardware monitering and voltage adjustment stock. Don't know how they oc but its something to look into.

theres no stock voltage adjustment, just monitoring

[charlie]

Well,
now the raddy is really toast
So i will need one for sure...this week. I also ordered a new mobo/mem combo...double secret confidential stuff until after I test it...(i'll have it Wed. Probably with no vid card! Or maybe I'll stick in a gf2-400 for cpu/mem benchies.
C