Lifetime warranties, overclocker friendly policies, with active community tools, knowledgebases, and also live chat are what keep people buying from NVIDIA's partners like XFX and EVGA, no matter what. ATI partners don't seem to have the same kind of interest, or dedication, maybe. Diamond's definitely leaning in that direction. The Radeon HD 4870 is an excellent card, but for now, all the models are functionally identical, and there are yet to be factory overclocked cards, let alone custom cooled models. The variation ranges from changing the sticker to adding spiffy adapters. And if you buy Diamond, you are not buying a different card, you are buying better service. - TechLounge

Diamond Radeon HD 4870 512MB Video Card Review

The departure from other unmistakably Asian companies is visible right on the box. The green, highly visible USA customer support is brandished beneath the stars and stripes. Now, don't take this the wrong way, we believe that customer service, no matter what country it's in, is staffed by the same brand of phone monkey. Their operating close to home just makes a lot of things faster and easier. Their retail box is very clear about what kind of slot you're going to use and which video-out options you're getting, and uses pictorials just in case. Diamond doesn't change a thing with this card, even the sticker is stock.

While the support's there, we used their technical support's live chat and received an immediate answer to our question, we think they're shorting their users with their warranty. Well, not genius, but it satisfies our desires to not have to read stupid technical crap and find the tiniest link ever to get answers. Like all Radeon HD 4000 series video cards, Diamond's Radeon HD 4870 excels with video. The previous subjective shortcoming's of ATI's video processing, namely delays with moire compensation, are gone, another thing Radeon HD 4000 series gets right. In the end a great improvement worth to put on your positive points.

There's no reason to expect this stock card to consume less power or make less noise than any other stock Radeon HD 4870, and it doesn't. The card runs hot and loud, with the fan speed modulating up and down frequently. The shifts make its profile higher than if it just blew constantly. It still makes less noise than a GeForce GTX 280 card. Like with my other Radeon HD 4870's, this card easily reached the overclocking ceiling in the Catalyst control center. And don't tell Diamond, but this card's warranty is void. Thermally, the card doesn't seem to be affected by the slight overclock, since most of it is memory overclocking.

People have fewer brand favorites in the ATI camp simply because manufacturers have been slow to vary the high-end models, let alone policies. People end up buying from one company because they save $10 over some other brand's identical card. Diamond's in a good position to develop a community fashioned after EVGA and other massive NVIDIA partners. The only thing holding them back is their short, limited warranty. Their service is about right. The Radeon HD 4870 still deserves commendation, it's an impressive card at a very good price. But we can't wait to see some better cooling.