Does company matter?

[lakeoffire800]

Is there a big difference between companies when they are making the same types of cards?

[farlex85]

Not really. Everyone has their own personal experiences with certain brands and will tell you that one brand is better than the other. Really, it comes down to personal preference, and more importantly, the product. Video cards and mbs can vary from brand to brand, so you just gotta do some research and see which one offers the most stuff you want. A nice warrenty and good customer support are always a plus too. But individual experiences with things such as customer support will vary, and people like to vent, so take everything you hear about such things with a grain of salt.

[tkpenalty]

Originally Posted by farlex85

Not really. Everyone has their own personal experiences with certain brands and will tell you that one brand is better than the other. Really, it comes down to personal preference, and more importantly, the product. Video cards and mbs can vary from brand to brand, so you just gotta do some research and see which one offers the most stuff you want. A nice warrenty and good customer support are always a plus too. But individual experiences with things such as customer support will vary, and people like to vent, so take everything you hear about such things with a grain of salt.

I'd take your statement as a grain of salt as you are misinformed.

Basically take it this way, some companies offer better warranty/tech support, and generally those products are more on the expensive side. Especially in Nvidia's case its this. However some manufacturers differentiate from the reference design, and that makes them DIFFERENT.

Generally, manufacturers like Gigabyte, PALIT, etcetera prefer to redesign popular selling designs, in better forms, usually coming with better cooling and a better power phase.

Example, Gigabyte 8800GT Turbo Force vs normal 8800GT. Normal fries, turbo force doesnt, normal one has two phase, turbo force has a cooling running three phase, normal has a long PCB, turbo force has a shorter PCB.

These are just some of the benefits of non reference design GPUs.. IMHO reference designs generally are flawed by the chip maker's logic that if it aint broke dont fix it.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

I'd take your statement as a grain of salt as you are misinformed.

Basically take it this way, some companies offer better warranty/tech support, and generally those products are more on the expensive side. Especially in Nvidia's case its this. However some manufacturers differentiate from the reference design, and that makes them DIFFERENT.

Generally, manufacturers like Gigabyte, PALIT, etcetera prefer to redesign popular selling designs, in better forms, usually coming with better cooling and a better power phase.

Example, Gigabyte 8800GT Turbo Force vs normal 8800GT. Normal fries, turbo force doesnt, normal one has two phase, turbo force has a cooling running three phase, normal has a long PCB, turbo force has a shorter PCB.

These are just some of the benefits of non reference design GPUs.. IMHO reference designs generally are flawed by the chip maker's logic that if it aint broke dont fix it.

Those are the differences I was referring to in the aforementioned post. Different companies do have different designs, however which one is better often comes down to personal preference. I know that you like your phase three coolers, and I agree they have their advantages, however some prefer rear exhaust. That is not really the point of the thread though. I was simply stating that many people are biased towards particular brands for their own reasons, but really it comes down to personal preference.

To me, warranty and support are most important. To some, a different cooler may be. Really, the product is what matters.

[Creatre]

Also remember some companies, actually a lot of companies will overclock the gpu's as well. Some companies will provide upgraded cooling with that or instead of that. Some companies will provide a graphics card the consumer will overclock once it is in the system and some will provide a preoverclocked card that they assume the average consumer will not overclock more. Really, there is a huge variety of reasons for chosing different cards. Personally, I've always been fond of buying the original and cooling and overclocking myself. However, these days there are 10-15 different varieties of each graphics card, or more, each with their advantages. I guess it all boils down to you just have to research each card individually, and see what company seems to be providing the best bang for the buck.

[divinebaboon]

Avoid companies like Leadtek, who has horrible customer support and RMA department. just do a quick google on leadtek customer service. on the ATI side of things, Apollo is pretty crappy.

[imperialreign]

Originally Posted by Creatre

Also remember some companies, actually a lot of companies will overclock the gpu's as well. Some companies will provide upgraded cooling with that or instead of that. Some companies will provide a graphics card the consumer will overclock once it is in the system and some will provide a preoverclocked card that they assume the average consumer will not overclock more. Really, there is a huge variety of reasons for chosing different cards. Personally, I've always been fond of buying the original and cooling and overclocking myself. However, these days there are 10-15 different varieties of each graphics card, or more, each with their advantages. I guess it all boils down to you just have to research each card individually, and see what company seems to be providing the best bang for the buck.

although, with regards to doing the cooling and OCing oneself - many of the "top tier" brands offer great cooling to begin with, and better OCing capabilites over mid tier cards. take, for example, the 1950 PRO lineup; Sapphire and HIS cards are known to be much better OCers than the ATI, VisionTek and Diamond models - even though everyone is using the same GPU, PCB components play a heavy role in what a specific card is capable of . . . but, not to say that the mid-range cards suffer from crap cooling, either - with the 1950 PROs, again, the mid-range cards (specifically ATI, VisionTek, Diamond Media) use full copper fan coolers on one side of the card, and a heatspeader over the back of the card. No other models, as far as I know, use a heat spreader.

[BrooksyX]

Originally Posted by divinebaboon

Avoid companies like Leadtek, who has horrible customer support and RMA department. just do a quick google on leadtek customer service. on the ATI side of things, Apollo is pretty crappy.

+1 to stay away from leadtek. I had to send my 8600gt into to them for repair/replace and I just have a feeling Im not even going to hear from them for a while. At least I got a steal on a VisionTek 3850 from ebay. I can't wait to it comes in the mail .

[wolf]

Originally Posted by tkpenalty

I'd take your statement as a grain of salt as you are misinformed.

Basically take it this way, some companies offer better warranty/tech support, and generally those products are more on the expensive side. Especially in Nvidia's case its this. However some manufacturers differentiate from the reference design, and that makes them DIFFERENT.

Generally, manufacturers like Gigabyte, PALIT, etcetera prefer to redesign popular selling designs, in better forms, usually coming with better cooling and a better power phase.

Example, Gigabyte 8800GT Turbo Force vs normal 8800GT. Normal fries, turbo force doesnt, normal one has two phase, turbo force has a cooling running three phase, normal has a long PCB, turbo force has a shorter PCB.

These are just some of the benefits of non reference design GPUs.. IMHO reference designs generally are flawed by the chip maker's logic that if it aint broke dont fix it.

lol tk, you just cant get enough of that gigabyte 8800 can you ?

[Palit_Guy]

That's because he hasn't had a Palit card yet- lawls.

Being from Palit I would say that, unless it's a reference design, there is a significant difference between what companies produce. I also don't think there is anything wrong with supporting companies because they do the right things when it comes to gaming and enthusiast communities as long as you're still getting the product you want.

For instance, the Palit 9600GT Sonic has dual dual-link DVI ports, HDMI, Optical AND DisplayPort all on the same bracket. No other card in the world does that now so I would count that as a significant difference.

Some people say you can't listen to me cause I work there and others say you can listen to me because I work there. I suggest you do both and check around, read some reviews and do your homework.

[MKmods]

Originally Posted by Palit_Guy

That's because he hasn't had a Palit card yet- lawls.

Being from Palit I would say that, unless it's a reference design, there is a significant difference between what companies produce. I also don't think there is anything wrong with supporting companies because they do the right things when it comes to gaming and enthusiast communities as long as you're still getting the product you want.

For instance, the Palit 9600GT Sonic has dual dual-link DVI ports, HDMI, Optical AND DisplayPort all on the same bracket. No other card in the world does that now so I would count that as a significant difference.

Some people say you can't listen to me cause I work there and others say you can listen to me because I work there. I suggest you do both and check around, read some reviews and do your homework.

Are you the same guy thats on PDXLAN also?

[Palit_Guy]

I am. Had a great time at the event as well.

[MKmods]

I wasent there that time, but PDXs are pretty good times. I am markkleb there but switching over to MKmods, time to stop goofing off and get serious.

Its great to have you here as well, you are a very good rep for Palit.

LOL, back to the topic:
Ive been a fan of XFX (loved the black PCBs) but after the great review of the 9600GT at [H] and reading through ur posts may jump ship.

[Palit_Guy]

Ahhhhh, I remember you. Didn't I meet you at PDXLAN 9? Either way, I know I've seen your posts in their forums.

Thanks, BTW.

[Gam'ster]

Originally Posted by Palit_Guy

That's because he hasn't had a Palit card yet- lawls.

Being from Palit I would say that, unless it's a reference design, there is a significant difference between what companies produce. I also don't think there is anything wrong with supporting companies because they do the right things when it comes to gaming and enthusiast communities as long as you're still getting the product you want.

For instance, the Palit 9600GT Sonic has dual dual-link DVI ports, HDMI, Optical AND DisplayPort all on the same bracket. No other card in the world does that now so I would count that as a significant difference.

Some people say you can't listen to me cause I work there and others say you can listen to me because I work there. I suggest you do both and check around, read some reviews and do your homework.

I can +1 for palit cards my 7900gs is a palit, been rock steady OC's ok too, as tkpenalty said re-designed pcb and aftermarket coolers on the palits, gigabytes and others mean a solid product that will/should last the duration you have it.
My 2 pennys.

Cheers
Gam