Lots of guys who have bad cards in these forums are PNY owners, they seem to go rather quickly after purchase as well.
Get a quality brand card for a few dollars more and you can usually see the difference as soon as you pick it up and look at it, the good cards actually look more expensive and well made in general.
Saving money by buying a cheap video card is not the way to go. Save money in other areas of the PC perhaps, but buy a decent video card.