MSI vs Saphire

[SM darren]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127481&cm_re=radeon_hd_5570-_-14-127-481-_-Product

MSI - 55 dollars after rebate

includes FREE 3 DAY ups guaranteed shipping (5.99 dollar value)

2 reviews 1 bad, one good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874&cm_re=saphire_5570-_-14-102-874-_-Product

same card from Saphire

77 dollars after rebate

Free egg saver shipping (4-7 days shipping, compare to MSI's free 3 day)

i never bought from MSI, is the price difference there for a reason? or do they never actually send you the rebate money?

don't advise on better cards please. i've done the research and the 5570 is the best for me (9800 is better, but at the price of power)

edit, looks like MSI even has a 200 higher core clock and 1 year longer warranty.

[dosbox]

1) Never trust mail-in-rebates. They exist because they hope you screw up when sending in the coupon.
2) Customer reviews aren't particularly useful unless you've got dozens. Both MSI and Sapphire are large companies that have been around awhile.

[kdawgmaster]

both MSI and sapphire are great brands. All that is rly diff from the two will be price, other then this the cards will perform the same, they will both have the chance at failing its all about hit and miss with computer parts some u have to RMA some u dont. i typically buy the cheapest one (XFX in my case) and buy the extended warranty.

[NotYourHero]

I've done mail in rebates and gotten every last one. I honestly would not waste money on either card. Do yourself a favor and just buy a 4850. Its not worth it to buy any 5000 series card below a 5770.

[SM darren]

I've done mail in rebates and gotten every last one. I honestly would not waste money on either card. Do yourself a favor and just buy a 4850. Its not worth it to buy any 5000 series card below a 5770.

I would need to upgrade every last part of my computer except the ram and processor in order to get a card above this.

it's not worth it

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2935/14

refer to third to last paragraph of the article

[Dub5279]

I would go with the sapphire based on the reviews.

[NotYourHero]

I would need to upgrade every last part of my computer except the ram and processor in order to get a card above this.

it's not worth it

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2935/14

refer to second to last paragraph of the article

Well, just do not expect much. I doubt this will run much on high. I guess you have a stock 300w psu?

[SM darren]

Well, just do not expect much. I doubt this will run much on high. I guess you have a stock 300w psu?

160 watt stock psu, inb4 someone says its too low, it's not :P

i have a 4550 in there now and it gets above playable batman AA/l4d2/tf2/alien swarm/l4d/mass effect 2/american Army 3

on 1600x995 no AA/shadows/shader, so this card could only do better of core clocks and what not by comparison (refer to page 1 of that article i linked)

[Baron_Fel]

MSI is a fine brand.

[rovanrak]

I trust customer reviews on newegg like I trust the cashier at McDonalds giving me career advice.

[wuliheron]

When you buy that cheap a gpu you might as well ask whether McDonalds is better than Burger King. It's a cheap hamburger either way.

[kdawgmaster]

When you buy that cheap a gpu you might as well ask whether McDonalds is better than Burger King. It's a cheap hamburger either way.

going off topic but i wont do it again.

BURGER KING PWNS MCDICKS :D

[handi360]

160 watt stock psu, inb4 someone says its too low, it's not :P

i have a 4550 in there now and it gets above playable batman AA/l4d2/tf2/alien swarm/l4d/mass effect 2/american Army 3

on 1600x995 no AA/shadows/shader, so this card could only do better of core clocks and what not by comparison (refer to page 1 of that article i linked)

The 4550 uses 25w @ max load, the 5570 uses 42w @ max load. You may want to recheck your system to see if can spare the power to use the 5570 on a most likely junkey 160w psu.

[kdawgmaster]

The 4550 uses 25w @ max load, the 5570 uses 42w @ max load. You may want to recheck your system to see if can spare the power to use the 5570 on a most likely junkey 160w psu.

as far as i know if they are pre built system they arent givin the extra power to do anything higher then an extra 20-30 watts best. when i had a gateway PC the 4850 and the Q8200 that it came with was just enough to put enough power the PSU that overclocking wasnt even possible. The gateway also came with the obvious but thats just to name the most demanding parts on the system.

[dosbox]

5570 power consumption (http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/radeon-hd5670-hd5570-hd5450_6.html) = 25 Watts under the GPU test.

[handi360]

I was going off of gpureview (http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=624&card2=)

[SM darren]

The 4550 uses 25w @ max load, the 5570 uses 42w @ max load. You may want to recheck your system to see if can spare the power to use the 5570 on a most likely junkey 160w psu.


it's a corsair 160 rated at 95%

if i did the math correctly,

CPU - according to sisoft sandra - 60 watts max on 65 watt slot
HDD 7200 - 20 watts (guesstimation based on 250gig, mine is 500gig)
4 gigs ddr2 ram - 22 watts (according to hardforums and sisoft sandra)
motherboard - 15ish watts (guesstimation)

makes 117..add like 10 for mouse/keyboard/headset
127

leaves me with 33, according to anandtech and other tests, the 5570 runs 25-29 watts.

my guesttimation may be way off, but if people run with i7's and SSD's w/ high end mobo's with this card under 158, i should be fine. worst case scenario i send it back to newegg

p.s. i removed the modem card, memory card reader, memory drive bay sata cord, and the DVD drive to get more watts :D i never used them anyway. also the case has no fans to speak of, so no watts there either.

[kdawgmaster]

it's a corsair 160 rated at 95%

if i did the math correctly,

CPU - according to sisoft sandra - 60 watts max on 65 watt slot
HDD 7200 - 20 watts (guesstimation based on 250gig, mine is 500gig)
4 gigs ddr2 ram - 22 watts (according to hardforums and sisoft sandra)
motherboard - 15ish watts (guesstimation)

makes 117..add like 10 for mouse/keyboard/headset
127

leaves me with 33, according to anandtech and other tests, the 5570 runs 25-29 watts.

my guesttimation may be way off, but if people run with i7's and SSD's w/ high end mobo's with this card under 158, i should be fine. worst case scenario i send it back to newegg

p.s. i removed the modem card, memory card reader, memory drive bay sata cord, and the DVD drive to get more watts :D i never used them anyway. also the case has no fans to speak of, so no watts there either.

ur looking at a pergressivly cooled card having no fans in the case is like hell for it.

[SM darren]

ur looking at a pergressivly cooled card having no fans in the case is like hell for it.

i meant the actual case has no stock fans, the mobo has no slots for adding case fans either.

not to say i didn't add external fans and cut a side off of the case though. needless to say my 4550 passivley cooled runs 50-60c while playing mass effect 2, so i expect a card with a fan to do better

[kdawgmaster]

i meant the actual case has no stock fans, the mobo has no slots for adding case fans either.

not to say i didn't add external fans and cut a side off of the case though. needless to say my 4550 passivley cooled runs 50-60c while playing mass effect 2, so i expect a card with a fan to do better

isnt the 5570 passively cooled. after all its a low profile card.

[NJuice]

isnt the 5570 passively cooled. after all its a low profile card.

Low profile doesn't automatically mean passive cooling.

[kdawgmaster]

Low profile doesn't automatically mean passive cooling.

true but most of the times that all i see on low profile. oh well. i was mistaken sry about that XD

[SM darren]

true but most of the times that all i see on low profile. oh well. i was mistaken sry about that XD

it's not your fault, 70% of the cards that are low profile are passivley cooled

the 4550 is passive with a bigger heat sink, but the 5570 is not, which is another reason i'd want to upgrade to it.

also at all the people calling it a bad card, go be eltists else where. having 200 fps in games makes them no more enjoyable then having 50 fps on the same settings.

[zezzex]

My last 2 cards have been from Saphire. I haven't had any problems with them yet.

As far as rebates, don't let a rebate be the reason to pick one card over another. If you are on a budget, don't consider the rebate as money saved, cuz it will take a while to get it back.

I just see them as an added bonus. About a year and a half ago i bought some items from newegg. Got rebates from ocz, Saphire and one onther company that i can't remember right now. I mailed in everything and got my little disposable credit cards a month later...used them to buy games on steam...like i said, just an added bonus

[NotYourHero]

160 watt stock psu, inb4 someone says its too low, it's not :P

i have a 4550 in there now and it gets above playable batman AA/l4d2/tf2/alien swarm/l4d/mass effect 2/american Army 3

on 1600x995 no AA/shadows/shader, so this card could only do better of core clocks and what not by comparison (refer to page 1 of that article i linked)h....how can you even expect a card to run on this? HOW DOES YOUR PC RUN ON THIS? My sister even has a dinky little mini desktop and it has 220w.

I feel dizzy.

[SM darren]

My last 2 cards have been from Saphire. I haven't had any problems with them yet.

As far as rebates, don't let a rebate be the reason to pick one card over another. If you are on a budget, don't consider the rebate as money saved, cuz it will take a while to get it back.

I just see them as an added bonus. About a year and a half ago i bought some items from newegg. Got rebates from ocz, Saphire and one onther company that i can't remember right now. I mailed in everything and got my little disposable credit cards a month later...used them to buy games on steam...like i said, just an added bonus

I went ahead and ordered the MSI one, it had a higher stock core and the heat sink looks like it's made out of better material than the saphire.

i looked at the MSI rebate site ahead of time, looks well laid out for how far i got, the saphire site felt like a squad of pre schoolers programmed it, still awaiting my rebate from them i sent in 6/21 :\


h....how can you even expect a card to run on this? HOW DOES YOUR PC RUN ON THIS? My sister even has a dinky little mini desktop and it has 220w.

I feel dizzy.

the difference being my board is mini itx, uses less than 10 watts, the processor is limited to below 45 60 MAX for the slot, and everything besides ram and HDD is either unplugged or wasn't in there in the first place.

if i had a 220 watt PSU on this computer i could run a 9800 GT no problem, but i don't and the PSU isn't upgradable

[NotYourHero]

its a corsair unit. i never even knew that corsair made power supplies below the 400 mark. Damn im learning alot to day my head is going explode O.o

Yea, its a day full of learning for me. I guess a corsair will probably push more than it needs. But if this ♥♥♥♥ is so mini where the hell is the card going to fit?

[SM darren]

Yea, its a day full of learning for me. I guess a corsair will probably push more than it needs. But if this ♥♥♥♥ is so mini where the hell is the card going to fit?

it's low profile, the card fits with only minimal contact from the case side

when i got the 4550 i was afraid they sent me the wrong card because it was 1/2 the size of the mobo, but it fits

[HL2-4-Life]

My experience with a few ATi cards I'd gotten -
1. Connect 3D - 9700Pro, did very well, had no problem with it, sold it off when I upgraded.
2. PowerColor - 9800Pro which was my main card for a couple of years IIRC, sold it off to a friend and it's fine, else my friend would be screaming at me,
3. MSI - 6800U, nope not an ATi card, but it's MSI and it gave me a great gaming experience back then, my main rig's last AGP card (moved on to PCIe x16 and my first such card was the XFX 7950 GX2 Extreme)
4. PowerColor - 2x HD2900XT in '07 IIRC, lasted me about a year before both of them suddenly died
5. Asus and MSI - Had two HD3870 X2 from both makers, strangely enough, the Asus card died on me....so, I was down to one HD3870 X2 (MSI OC Ed)
6. MSI - both a OC Ed HD3870 to run Tri-CFX and it was awesome.
7. PowerColor and Sapphire HD5870 - Both one of each at launch and they're still rockin'. FYI, the MSI OC Ed HD3870 X2 is presently in my HTPC, while the MSI OC ED HD3870's in my surfing/entertainment rig, both are rock solid still (bolstering my impression of MSI)

Sometimes, it's down to luck, a card may last you for years, if you pick a dud, it's either DOA or goes belly up on you within days/weeks/months. c'est la vie, right?

[SM darren]

^ the real reason of the thread wasn't a direct comparison of the companies, moreso wondering why 98 people chose to purchase the saphire and write a review, compared to the cheaper msi with only 1 review

but the added reinforcement if msi as a good company helps me remain sane, so it's appreciated

I really prefer xfx or asus, but most of the time you pay a premium to buy them over other companies

[kdawgmaster]

^ the real reason of the thread wasn't a direct comparison of the companies, moreso wondering why 98 people chose to purchase the saphire and write a review, compared to the cheaper msi with only 1 review

but the added reinforcement if msi as a good company helps me remain sane, so it's appreciated

I really prefer xfx or asus, but most of the time you pay a premium to buy them over other companies

iv found that XFX is cheaper then MSI and sapphire.

[SM darren]

iv found that XFX is cheaper then MSI and sapphire.

I see this as well, I just rarely see xfx versions of the cards I want on newegg or tigerdirect, so I'd have to order direct from them and miss any deals

off topic but xfx and saphires fans look really cool :o

[kdawgmaster]

I see this as well, I just rarely see xfx versions of the cards I want on newegg or tigerdirect, so I'd have to order direct from them and miss any deals

off topic but xfx and saphires fans look really cool :o

well i have the older version of the XFX 5870 and compared to the new version im kinda sad i didnt wait but oh well i love my GPU all the same <3

[FгедкѕнФш]

well i have the older version of the XFX 5870 and compared to the new version im kinda sad i didnt wait but oh well i love my GPU all the same <3

Yeah I have the first version of the XFX HD5870 XXX Edition. Now I'm kicking myself in the ♥♥♥ for not waiting :(

[HL2-4-Life]

iv found that XFX is cheaper then MSI and sapphire.Really? Only reason why MSI can be more expensive would be it's selling the Frozr and Lightning versions, whereas Sapp has the VX and Toxic versions. Usually, at launch when all cards are the same, XFX carries a premium. The XFX version of the HD5870 at launch was more expensive than the Sapp and PC versions of the card. MSI was a little late with its HD5870, if it weren't, I'd prolly have scored two HD5870s from them.

[Insane098]

In my personal experience Sapphire graphics cards always seem to last longer than MSI.

I'm not a big fan of MSI. I've seen too many MSI graphics cards overheat and melt under normal factory default settings.

[kdawgmaster]

Really? Only reason why MSI can be more expensive would be it's selling the Frozr and Lightning versions, whereas Sapp has the VX and Toxic versions. Usually, at launch when all cards are the same, XFX carries a premium. The XFX version of the HD5870 at launch was more expensive than the Sapp and PC versions of the card. MSI was a little late with its HD5870, if it weren't, I'd prolly have scored two HD5870s from them.

when i bought my 5870 (xfx) i was 30 bucks cheaper at the original price of the sapphire edition and this was back in jan.

[HL2-4-Life]

when i bought my 5870 (xfx) i was 30 bucks cheaper at the original price of the sapphire edition and this was back in jan.Ahhh.....mine predates yours, mine were at launch, and XFX was definitely pricier (some 40-50 local $ more, has the same bundle as my Sapp, a DIRT2 coupon). I guess it depends on where one's from, I'm in Asia, what I don't get is, XFX cards sold here do not carry the double lifetime warranty, yet it carries a premium.

In my personal experience Sapphire graphics cards always seem to last longer than MSI.

I'm not a big fan of MSI. I've seen too many MSI graphics cards overheat and melt under normal factory default settings.See? I've not only used MSI vid cards, I had used an 875P mobo from them too, though it was rumored to be faulty and catch fire, that board served me well. I'd recently swapped it for an LGA775 P4 mobo, it's now doing a damn fine job for a friend. Believe me, had it caught fire, I'd get an earful.:eek: The only MSI card that died on me (or rather, died on my friend as I'd given him that rig) was an MSI 6800Ultra, but that was after years of good service (and well after its 2 year warranty period).

Like I'd said, the MSI HD3870 X2 and HD3870 OC Ed are doing a smashing job in my other rigs, no problemo. Recently transferred my Asus HD DVD drive to that surfing rig - LGA 775 P4 HT + 2GB RAM + HD3870 + Auzentech X-Mystique - and playing HD DVD was pretty smooth thanks to its AVIVO HD and decoding capability. CPU usage was between 30-50%, so it's good. Best part is, that card can still handle games pretty damn well.

[FгедкѕнФш]

Ahhh.....mine predates yours, mine were at launch, and XFX was definitely pricier (some 40-50 local $ more, has the same bundle as my Sapp, a DIRT2 coupon). I guess it depends on where one's from, I'm in Asia, what I don't get is, XFX cards sold here do not carry the double lifetime warranty, yet it carries a premium.

Indeed, if I remember correctly I payed 504 CND dollars with the shipping for my XFX card.

[nabokovfan87]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127481&cm_re=radeon_hd_5570-_-14-127-481-_-Product

MSI - 55 dollars after rebate

includes FREE 3 DAY ups guaranteed shipping (5.99 dollar value)

2 reviews 1 bad, one good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102874&cm_re=saphire_5570-_-14-102-874-_-Product

same card from Saphire

77 dollars after rebate

Free egg saver shipping (4-7 days shipping, compare to MSI's free 3 day)

i never bought from MSI, is the price difference there for a reason? or do they never actually send you the rebate money?

don't advise on better cards please. i've done the research and the 5570 is the best for me (9800 is better, but at the price of power)

edit, looks like MSI even has a 200 higher core clock and 1 year longer warranty.

I have an MSI card, they go a lot of unique stuff with their coolers. I would recommend them, and DEFINITELY over Saphire. If you buy ATI then go with MSI/XFX if you buy Nvidia you MUST get EVGA.

Notice that on the MSI, the negative review is because of no linux drivers, which have been released already.

[Gimiz]

Damn, 25W power consumption in load, what a 'green' gfx card :o

Mines draw 500W from the outlet :'( not counting oc'ed CPU and so on...

[notavirus.exe]

I have a Sapphire Radeon HD4670 and I have had 0 problems. Sapphire is good in my book.

[HL2-4-Life]

I have a Sapphire Radeon HD4670 and I have had 0 problems. Sapphire is good in my book.Indeed, Sapp is one of ATi exclusive board partners and rarely do you see anyone complaining about their card. Same goes with MSI though they go both way (I mean ATi and nV ;) ). Honestly, you can't lose choosing either one brand, both are solid.....just pick the one with better RMA procedure and/or cheaper.

[kdawgmaster]

Indeed, if I remember correctly I payed 504 CND dollars with the shipping for my XFX card.

when u bought the card it was 430 bucks and the next was HIS at 450 and then everything else was higher. Since XFX was the cheapest i went with it and got the warranty from the store i go to and it totaled 505 bucks. warranty was for 3 years :D

[zezzex]

I went ahead and ordered the MSI one, it had a higher stock core and the heat sink looks like it's made out of better material than the saphire.

take a look again...they both have the same core clock of 650MHz. The difference is found in Memory clock.

[McShady]

Just don't but a HIS lol I bought a HIS 5870 and I am not impressed(It's getting worse performance then my powercolor 5850).

[SM darren]

take a look again...they both have the same core clock of 650MHz. The difference is found in Memory clock.

oh, i misread that i guess. Doesn't really matter since they come the same way originally so i can just overclock it to where i want

[GoDMiN]

I own a Saphire 5850 that died and RMAing it has been a HUGE pain in the ♥♥♥. I would hope MSI offers better support. EVGA out of everyone I've RMAed from has the best customer support. I would assume XFX and MSI are good as well.

[kooG]

why not xfx?

[joemtnbike]

Just don't but a HIS lol I bought a HIS 5870 and I am not impressed(It's getting worse performance then my powercolor 5850).

If this is the case then I'd say that something is wrong with the 5870 or something else in the configuration.

[SM darren]

why not xfx?

there's no xfx version of this card, unfortunately

[rotNdude]

I really don't see what the issue is here. You select a card architecture you want, you analyze the warranty they offer and you purchase the card. All of these manufacturers get the same reference card specs, acquire the GPU, stick the RAM on them and then sell the same thing other than the heatsink(s) and fancy plastic enclosure for the heatsink. If MSI or Sapphire hadn't been in the business for a long time, I would be suspect, but that is simply not the case.

[McShady]

If this is the case then I'd say that something is wrong with the 5870 or something else in the configuration.Nothing wrong with my pc, but ya I have been trying to talk to his support started yesterday got message today and probably won't get another till tomorrow.

[FгедкѕнФш]

when u bought the card it was 430 bucks and the next was HIS at 450 and then everything else was higher. Since XFX was the cheapest i went with it and got the warranty from the store i go to and it totaled 505 bucks. warranty was for 3 years :D

No man the XFX was the most expensive (Then again it WAS the XXX edition). It was something like 460$. The Asus one was 411$ and the Sapphire on was 430 or something like that. I've used XFX ever since my old Geforce 6200.

[kooG]

get a card that has xfx

xfx is worth it tbh life time warranty for a few bucks?? what the hell gimme!

[dosbox]

Damn, 25W power consumption in load, what a 'green' gfx card :o

Mines draw 500W from the outlet :'( not counting oc'ed CPU and so on...

The 25W under load is for the graphics card ONLY. You're probably talking about the power consumption of your entire system.

[kdawgmaster]

No man the XFX was the most expensive (Then again it WAS the XXX edition). It was something like 460$. The Asus one was 411$ and the Sapphire on was 430 or something like that. I've used XFX ever since my old Geforce 6200.

mine isnt the XXX edition and i bought it from memory express and it was the cheapest one there. even mroe so then the Asus which was 465 buck.

[Baron_Fel]

apparantly theres a low profile 5670 coming out (http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/graphics/graphics/msi-rolls-out-a-low-profile-hd-5670), you might want to wait for it if you didnt make a purchase already.

[kdawgmaster]

apparantly theres a low profile 5670 coming out (http://www.fudzilla.com/graphics/graphics/graphics/msi-rolls-out-a-low-profile-hd-5670), you might want to wait for it if you didnt make a purchase already.

agreed totally way better performance