[pdxdude]

Okay, so it's inevitable that we Mac users will have to start understanding a few things in the PC world. For one thing, there are usually multiple vendors per item. In the old days if I wanted an ATI video card, I either bought it from Apple or from ATI, but either way it was basically the same card. Okay, simple enough.

But, in the PC world, there are multiple vendors for an "ATI Video Card," such as: Saphire, MSI, Powercolor, Gecube, Jetway, Rosewill. Whew! How the heck do you tell them apart? Are there any advantages to any particular vendor? Can you shop on price alone? Do some vendors overclock, or add better cooling? Do you need special drivers for other vendors of the same card? How do you tell a good vendor from a shady one?

We're not there yet. But we will be pretty soon. So, if you know the ins and outs of buying add-ons in the PC world, please help me get up to speed.

Thanks!

[jhogarty]

Any wonder why there are "issues" of compatibility and drivers? I like Apple's model better, though we could use a few more choices.

I used to love tinkering with computer stuff. And I still do. But when I need to get stuff done I don't want to worry about blue screens, hang-ups, viruses, spyware, ad ware, incompatible drivers, incompatible hardware, etc.

Just as a quick example, I purchased Newtek's Video Toaster Hardware/Software product. I had a heck of a time building a box that was "compatible". And even still I get hang-ups, and for some strange reason, sound issues in some apps.

On my Mac, it just works. The only software I've had hang-ups on a few times is Word. Go figure. Even still, a lot less issues than on the PC side.

J.

[OreoCookie]

Ok, let's stick to graphics cards for simplicity. Most of them are based on the reference design by Ati (or nVidia, respectively) and the difference is very minimal in terms of performance.

Very often, the difference is in the quality of the parts (capacitors, etc.), the cooling system, `the stuff you find in the box' (TV out, extras) and some control programs. As overclocking is business as usual, the specifications of the RAM differ (better RAM means better overclocking behavior). Some manufacturers even use `selected' GPUs and guarantee that they work outside of ATI's specs. Quite often, the cards are slightly overclocked per se (same for motherboards, it's in the single-digit percent range) to make them `faster' than the competition.

Usually, all cards use the same ATI or nVidia driver, but different tools to overclock/tweak the graphics card.