Which card should I choose?

[treeSkwerral]

MSI 6850 HD Cyclone Power Edition for $169.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127576&nm_mc=Criteo&cm_cat=Video+Cards&cm_pla=MSI&cm_ite=14127576&cm_ven=BAC-CriteoBrand

or

HIS 6850 HD IceQX for $164.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161348&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na&AID=10521304&PID=4176827&SID=1tedw8lva0kv8


I ask because I looked on the performance charts and saw that the MSI performed 7% above the HIS. Is there any serious integrity trade off for that extra 7%?

 

[bystander]

Those two cards will perform exactly the same out of the box. It's possible one has a better cooler and therefore able to overclock higher, but that will also come with a lot of luck, as the chip plays a bigger role on how well it'll overclock.