video cards... different brands...

Okay, I've been using one of my friend's video cards, and he wants it back soon. I'm not looking for an upgrade, this card is fine. It is an AGP nVidia GeForce 5700 Ultra. I'm planning on just buying another one of these cards. My situation is, on eBay, they have this same card model, just instead of being manufactured by nVidia, it is a "Chaintech". If the model is the same, will the brand alter performance, or will I be okay just buying this card? Thanx!

hmm, i am unsure. with burners that are just renamed there is no change in performance.
http//www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/product_spec.asp?MPSNo=14&PISNo=328
http//www.chaintechusa.com/tw/eng/About/AboutChaintech.asp

looks like they are from taiwan

nVidia doesn't make any video cards for sale, they never have. They make the GPU and design reference boards that other manufacturers, like Chaintech, use to make the boards for sale. So the card you have isn't made by nVidia either.

Chaintech is a decent brand.

However I have to say that you could buy a MUCH better card than a 5700 Ultra for probably the same money. The 5xxx series of nVidia cards were pretty close to crap compared to the same generation of ATI cards like the 9800 Pro/XT, which ate nVidia's lunch at the time. I would instead look for an AGP 6600GT or something similar, it won't be that expensive and will blow the doors off that 5700.

eVGA 128MB 6600GT from Newegg for $96+s/h[=http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130059]eVGA 128MB 6600GT from Newegg for $96+s/h

Edit Even better deal XFX 7300GT 256MB $120 - $20 MIR = $100, free shipping[=http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150198]XFX 7300GT 256MB $120 - $20 MIR = $100, free shipping

Hmm... That makes a little more sense David. Thanx. Just the thing is, will installing an ATI, make me have to mess with configurations to get things right? And I don't really want to spend around $100 either though, because I just don't use this PC for games really, except for one, which this card displays great. Do you have any recommendations of possibly older cards, that I could get for maybe around $50?

I don't need anything [i873c053fc7]really[/i873c053fc7] great, as I said, so, would you recommend any of these (they all have great reviews on NewEgg)...
This[=http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130197]This
Or This[=http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103162]Or This
Or This One[=http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102410]Or This One

Man, this thread is inspiring me to build a computer.