Same card, different brands, different performance?

[DRYJESUS]

I was at a MemoryExpress store on boxing day during the evening when it was not as crazy as the morning. I talked to a salesperson and asked them if they still had the HIS HD 6950 on sale for 269.99. I asked them for the HIS one because it was the cheapest 6950 they had. They said no, but they did have one last Sapphire 6950, but for 289.99. I know it's a good deal, but I'm just REALLY short on money right now. So I said that I didn't want it.

The guy says "It's only 20 bucks more. Sapphire cards are better than HIS cards anyway."
So I said "Aren't all the brands pretty much the same except the sticker? "
And another employee nearby says "We've done all the testing in Calgary. The Sapphire cards made it on top, better than the HIS cards. The ASUS cards were on top too."

Is this true? Would certain brands be better than others even if they were the exact same card?

[krajee]

I think that they just wanted the sale.

[MpG]

Same card, same clocks = same performance. Just a bad/ignorant salesman.

[Blu]

Yea just salesmen trickery at work, good move not buying it man! I know alot of people sometimes feel stupid around people who do pc's for a living but hell I bet 90% of us here know more then most people that work for the geek squad or futureshop/staples repair shops.

[Jake_HT]

Only difference would be the performance of the warranty departments.

[Arinoth]

There is no real difference between cards other then what the manufacturer offers for warranty, rest is all gimmick crap

[DRYJESUS]

Originally Posted by Jake_HT

Only difference would be the performance of the warranty departments.

That's what I thought! Warranties, the sticker and sometimes the cooler. They're all the same cards acquired from AMD right?

Jee, I don't think I'm going to be shopping at MemoryExpress for a long time... I'll just price match them from NCIX.

[LarkStarr]

some stickers clock the cards higher, and the cooler system can make a nice difference with overclocking. then of course the warranty/CS .. but yeah, X still = X

[FreeKnight]

Was it maybe a non-reference Sapphire card? Their Toxics and Vapor-Xs usually do perform better than the reference models (though by how much varies).

Otherwise sounds like salesmen sleaze.

[DRYJESUS]

Originally Posted by FreeKnight

Was it maybe a non-reference Sapphire card? Their Toxics and Vapor-Xs usually do perform better than the reference models (though by how much varies).

Otherwise sounds like salesmen sleaze.

HIS Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual DisplayPort at Memory Express Computers
Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI, Dual DisplayPort at Memory Express Computers

They seem the same to me. So yeah, guess they just wanted the sale.