Need suggestions for vid MANUFACTURER

Okay, this is probably a bad way to start my first post. I have just installed Vista 64-bit OS. All good except I ran into the infamous display driver stopped responding error. I believe my video card went bad, as it works without a hitch with a different card.

My question - I want to buy a new video card (no more than $150). Would you recommend I steer clear of certain manufacturers. This is not an NVidia/ATI question. Rather, my eVGA card went bad after 1 year, and I'm wondering if certain cards (Sapphire, eVGA, others) have a shorter lifespan. I'm guessing Vista and 7 will have higher demands and I don't wanna get burned again so quickly.

Will I regret buying the Sapphire Radeon HD 4770?
Another eVGA?
MSI or VisionTek?
Nvidia and ATI are both fine. I just want a card that will last
Recommendations gladly accepted!

Thanks!

ASUS M2N-E SLI Motherboard
4GB DDR2 Memory
Formerly eVGA e-GeForce 7600GT

Try Gigabyte or Gainward. For that price, the Nvidia GTS 250 is sufficient.

if you get ati go visiontek or diamond.... :D

EVGA are a good brand, most GFX horror stories i read are not related to this brand, so i wouldn't let one bad experience put you off them...

they're customer support is pretty dire (here in the UK at least)

the 4770 is a powerful, cheap card...... i'd look at ''XFX'' they're a SUPER brand with excellent build quality, & they have a ''no quibble'' RMA policy (which is always handy )

but as you have an SLI board, i'd maybe look at the 9800GT's, they're very cheap these days & SLI GT's still deliver SMASHING performance.

skunksmash said:

EVGA are a good brand, most GFX horror stories i read are not related to this brand, so i wouldn't let one bad experience put you off them...

they're customer support is pretty dire (here in the UK at least)

the 4770 is a powerful, cheap card...... i'd look at ''XFX'' they're a SUPER brand with excellent build quality, & they have a ''no quibble'' RMA policy (which is always handy )

but as you have an SLI board, i'd maybe look at the 9800GT's, they're very cheap these days & SLI GT's still deliver SMASHING performance.

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i second that notation skunk, ive had my XFX card for a year and its not even shown signs of going bad or anything of the sorts, EVGA are a good brand as well, my motherboard is EVGA and its one of the best motherboards ive ever used.

skunksmash said:

EVGA are a good brand, most GFX horror stories i read are not related to this brand, so i wouldn't let one bad experience put you off them...

...

Click to expand...

I'll quote this again to say that I've always been an eVGA fan..

My most recent purchase from them was a 7800GT which I overclocked for two years before setting it back to the default timings.. It has yet to give me any trouble, with the exception of the cooler becoming slightly louder after about a year.

BFG, EVGA, and ASUS(not 100% sure). All supposedly have lifetime warranties with registration. if your looking under 150 I'd say Asus or PNY but I don't think Pony's got warranty. Keep an eye on newegg if it's not dire and pressing issue look follow a card you like the look of and it may go on sale or free shipping!