Power Color = ATi ????

Markius

i was looking at an Australian online PC store and saw this in a Power Color 9800pro description...

~* Generic made-by-ATI card in Powercolour box - incl WinDVD and several random games ~

does this mean they are made by ATi?

thoughts?


http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/ (couldnt link straight to the card because of the way the sight works but just click on video cards )

dipstick

Probably is; most are made by ATi and sent out to various companies. No one can tell for sure though(I don't think so anyways)

Markius

well looking at my power color 9800pro it looks identical to a picture ive seen of a built by ATi card, right down to the ATi sticker on the fan!


anyone else have any thoughts?? (please look at site and read the power color 9800pro description)

mkk

What they ought to write is that they are cards built following the standard ATI layout, colors and even labels. Several manufacturers (used to be primarily Sapphire but it seems to include some others as well nowadays) make cards directly for ATI so it's only natural that they don't always manufacture enough cards with their own labels and coolers (if they have a differentiated design at all) to meet their own direct needs. So at times a large number of boxes gets cards with a strictly ATI appearance put into them. Sapphire even removed detailed product pictures of most cards from their website to avoid a constant stream of e-mails inquiring about the difference in card appearance.

ATI still manufactures cards on their own, but not in any quantities to be able to cover the needs of OEM's and similar. For what I know the real "built by ATI" are all made in their own production line.

Crash Override

The only cards that ATi really manufactures for their own BBA line are the All-In-Wonder Series of cards and perhaps the XT line but not too sure on that.

The 9700s were primarily built by Sapphire and sent to ATi which is why so many of the Saphhire 9700NPs were able to be overclocked so well. They were in fact identical parts minus the different BIOS.

Im not sure if they are building the 9800s or not for ATi this time around.


Some of the OEM cards are the ones that were supposed to be BBA cards or cards from the original builder, however some of PowerColors cards are actually made by PowerColor or another 3rd party builder.

If its not Built By ATi then its not Built By ATi
If it is Built By ATi and if its an All-In-Wonder its guaranteed to be Built By ATi.
If it is Built By ATi and isn't an All-In-Wonder it might not really be Built By ATi.

Markius

wouldnt that be classed as false advertising then?
it clearly states " Generic made-by-ATI card in Powercolour box"

mkk

Isn't most advertising inaccurate in one way or another?
Seriously, stores oftenly claim a lot of things they don't know about.

Crash Override

they can easily claim they meant Powered By ATi but were confused by the marketing scheme

Markius

good point crash.

today i bought the latest edition of "Atomic" magazine, it is a PC hardware mag. geared mainly towards the gamer. ( check them out at ~ www.atomicmpc.com.au ~)
In the magazine, in an article on video cards (r9800xt vs. FX5950 + r9600xt vs. FX5700) they said that, and i quote:

" The NV3x and R3xx generation of cards were made at a central location and then passed on to card manufacturers for rebadging and fancy heatsinking."

now my question is: isnt the 9800pro in the R3xx series?

mkk

Yes, but the statement above is simply not true. Perhaps they've mixed up the fact that the chips are made by ATI or nVidia. Can't remember when the last time I read a computer mag was either.

Markius

whats that supposed to mean? did you look at their web site?

and also, kakarot said something similar to the Atomic crew...

mkk

I only meant to imply that I stopped reading computer magazines a number of years ago due to the overall quality of articles. Wich means I don't expect too much coming from there nowadays either. Therefor I'm not surprised to see a mag being wrong on such a relatively simple fact as that one. I guess I also mean to say that people shouldn't expect more from a printed mag than any generic website.

Markius

ok im not saying you are incorrect but what have you said that proves Atomic arent right?
i know i asked for thoughts...i should of asked for facts i guess

mkk

Quite right. You shouldn't believe me more than any magazine either, since you have no way to value my knowledge. Others will surely comment on this soon enough so that you can get more "opinions" on regarding this fact. In the meantime you could if you like try finding any one resource out on the net that agrees with that magazine. Go go go.

Markius

ok i e-mailed the guy who wrote the article yesterday and am still waiting for a reply.
In the meantime you could find some information that proves he is wrong and you arent,
hows that sound?

mkk

Hold on and others will likely confirm it. If it weren't for the weekends I'm sure a few would have already. I leave the hunting to you because I'm sure it would do you good to get more experience with hunting for information on the net. Just check for instance the difference of components and coloring of various cards. Surely the supposedly "fake" manufacturers (according to what the mag said) wouldn't change components like memory modules and capacitors, or in some cases even repaint the PCB just to look different. That doesn't sound logical, does it? Be sure to post that editors reply as it might be fun to read, if you get one.

If you have the means, perhaps you could scan that part of the article too? Scanning whole articles isn't a good idea, but a small part of one couldn't hurt. I'm just thinking that perhaps it was written in a greater context that might explain otherwise the very odd statement. Although the editor should of course point any such situation out if he replies.

The_Neon_Cowboy

ati cards ar made by ati,
nvida cards are made by nvida

"ati powerd" power color card is made by power color useing ati chips/and specified parts acording to stregant guidelines. morethen just the heat sink is cusomised such as the memory used sometime the chips/capistors resistiors used al long as they meet spec. If a card maker follows the referance disghn thier card will look just like ati's. even though thier asslemed in a diffrent plant with same/simular parts.

more proof
for exaple some cards ati has stoped makeing all togeater. yet 3d party card maker still make and sell the discontenued products. Ati still makes the cores they just stop producion any cards based on them.

Markius

yeah IF i get one i will for sure....

and i have never stated what I believe to be the case, i was just wondering if anybody knew the facts.
no need to get fiesty mkk i dont have a scanner myself but will see what i can do.


and thanks neon for the info, the whole reason i brought it up is bacause it struck me as odd that they (Atomic) would say something like that.....i hope this guy does reply.

Edit: in the mag it says ATi cards are made at the factories of PC partners (ATi) and Flextronics (nVidia)
could that mean that all the cards are made there, but to each brands specs/colours etc?

The_Neon_Cowboy

but that wouldn't be true... ati makes one board one way same with chips .....


lets take a closer look at the cards eh....

thiere is moree differance then that i'd have to have better shots i can see more but ran out of marking room... the boards are simular but quite differant...

Markius

great! a fact to help towards the answer to my question (thats question not statement )

i had a look at my card and noticed a few of the differences between the pictured built by ATi and my powercolor.
but i will say that my powercolor doesnt look exactly like that pic you posted of a power color,one thing i noticed straight away was the fan sticker, it isnt plain white with the ATi symbol like the one pictured, it has the same black writing as the built bu ATi pictured.
but thanks for the info minus the sarcastic attitude given by others....

i am REALLY keen to see what this guy from Atomic meant exactly...as my quote was a whole sentence from beggining to the full stop (not just an extract)

i need to think twice about buying Atomic mag. if he hasnt got a reply for me

btw does that mean that built by ATi cards arent made in the "PC partners" factory?

The_Neon_Cowboy

be sure to take a close look at were i made pointers heatsinks on stuff, chips, the ram is diffrent, the chips used are diffrent, there are chpis that are on the power color that are not on the ati card. the heastink loos the same but upon closer inpection the ati cooler is nice and smothly machined. the poer cooler has a "surface" to it. also upon closer inpection the fan blades surface looks a little diffrent. the ati sticker on the fan on the power cooler is overized...

biggst is alsot of the chips are simular but diffrent brand or chips with diffrent values then used on the built by ati cards....

i've work on circut boards @ the chips level .... to me i see differaces all over the place

Markius

oh for sure neon, i can see the differences also, they definately look different (as does mine) and im not saying otherwise.
All i am saying is the sticker on the powercolor you pictured is bigger and different that the one on mine (mine looks exactly like the one on the pictured built by ATi)

Falstaff

tomato
tamoto
LOL