Video Cards

[ChuckFinly]

Thirty brands, and I didn't even have enough room to put ALL of them there, so I tried to pick the major ones.

 

I do have another specific question though: what is the deal with EVGA?

I usually find their products to be less expensive than ASUS or MSI. I just remember the old adage "You get what you pay for. Not to say that EVGA is a bad company, I don't know, but I'm asking you guys why that company seems to be so popular.

Edited February 1, 2012 by ChuckFinly

[hoofhearted4]

i cant vote, cause you have to vote in each of the three, and i only wanna vote it one.

 

i would vote for EVGA.

 

 

the reason everyone loves EVGA, for one, they make quality products. two, they make the high end enthusiast products such as the SR-2 (mobo) and the 580 classifieds. lastly, from what i hear, they have outstanding customer support. which is huge when your trying to get help with or replace an item that costs a few hundred dollars, plus most of their products come with long warranties, if not a lifetime warranty. which again, is simply amazing!

[ChuckFinly]

Thanks for your quick response.

 

To edit the pole, what would be the top ten most popular brands so I can stick with those?

[hoofhearted4]

depends. you got Nvidia and ATI. some make both like Asus and MSI, some only make one or the other like EVGA with Nvidia, and XFX with ATI.

 

in no order

 

EVGA

ASUS

MSI

XFX

Sapphire

Gigabyte

HIS

Sparkle

PNY

Galaxy

 

theres a top 10. im sure others could be in this list. and this isnt a list i make out of experience with all of them or one out of personal opinion. honestly i just searched neweggs Graphics cards, sorted by reviews, and listed what i saw. as well as others ive heard good things about like Sparkle...PowerCooler was another that was there in the newegg query as well.

Edited February 1, 2012 by hoofhearted4

[Vindekarr]

EVGA are popular because they're good, really good.

 

EVGA products are of high quality, fairly good value for money, last a long time, and I can tell you from personal experience their customer support really is excellent.

 

I have an EVGA GTX580 GPU, it was simplicity itself to install, simply clicking into place and being secured with a screw, before installing the drivers and support software via a CD, which was in itself extremely simple. Once working I was mostly amazed by how quiet it was-the 580 is a giant black megalith, but my 580 is actualy about 40% quieter than the R4870 it replaced. That was about a year ago now, and it runs as per new, I've had no bugs or problems with it, and it still lives up to the "black ops" tag on the casing, as it's painted black, still operates, and is as quiet as a Ninja Pro user.

 

Gigabyte is another brand I'd single out for praise, I have a few gigabyte components, and they really are excellent. The mobo on my machine is an X58 gigabyte, nearly 4 years old, and it still works as good as new. The brand may not be flashy but really, they make quality product.

 

Corsair is another brand I use heavily, because in my personal experience their RAM is simply... better. More expensive, but also much much more powerful, and with some interesting features. The kit I bought, 12GB Dominator @ 2222MHZ came packed with a free aux. cooling rack that fits onto the RAM slot and mounts two small extra fans. Not that it needs it on it's own, it runs fine without them, but since the RAM on my MB sits next to the CPU, it's a nice thing to have less heat transfer from the CPU into the RAM, and it shovels more air into the CPU.

 

Finaly I'd mention Cooler Master. I have a Cooler Master HAF-X case, it's a cast steel monolith with fans everywhere and a shiney paint job. But then again, that describes most gaming cases. What the HAF does is mount the high-heat parts of the computer, the PSU and CPU in a gigantic plastic air-duct looking for all the world like something off a race car. I don't know how effective it is, but it cools very nicely, and it's fun bling to have an enormous air scoop on your case. The only problem with the HAF, and most cooler master cases I've used, is it's neutronium weight-over 16 kilograms empty, and the fact it's big enough to contain two toddlers standing side by side. It's also extremely solidly built, explaining the weight but making it no less LAN-unusable, and comes with optional caster wheels. Should you ever need to move this monster, the casters are a godsend, and it's size, proportions, and titanic heft make it a pain in the neck, ass, and back to lift and carry.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Vindekarr

[Handofbane]

I will pipe in as another user of EVGA currently. I have had no major issues with mine to date (some minor heat issues but that may be more related to the case cooling than the card itself).

 

Before that, I almost exclusively relied on BFG cards. I had used others like Chaintech and a few other brands in the past, but typically developed problems with either the fan on the card or the card itself suffering issues. My older BFG cards survived without breaking or suffering any problems for years on end - and the company was willing to stand behind them strongly enough to offer lifetime warranties on their cards. I am certain if I dug them out of my parts pile, they would still fire up today. Unfortunately BFG is no longer in the business of making graphics cards (their assets and name were bought by Diamond, I believe, in 2010), so they may not be worth picking up anymore.

[trog69]

EVGA are popular because they're good, really good.

 

EVGA products are of high quality, fairly good value for money, last a long time, and I can tell you from personal experience their customer support really is excellent.

 

I have an EVGA GTX580 GPU, it was simplicity itself to install, simply clicking into place and being secured with a screw, before installing the drivers and support software via a CD, which was in itself extremely simple. Once working I was mostly amazed by how quiet it was-the 580 is a giant black megalith, but my 580 is actualy about 40% quieter than the R4870 it replaced. That was about a year ago now, and it runs as per new, I've had no bugs or problems with it, and it still lives up to the "black ops" tag on the casing, as it's painted black, still operates, and is as quiet as a Ninja Pro user.

 

Gigabyte is another brand I'd single out for praise, I have a few gigabyte components, and they really are excellent. The mobo on my machine is an X58 gigabyte, nearly 4 years old, and it still works as good as new. The brand may not be flashy but really, they make quality product.

 

Corsair is another brand I use heavily, because in my personal experience their RAM is simply... better. More expensive, but also much much more powerful, and with some interesting features. The kit I bought, 12GB Dominator @ 2222MHZ came packed with a free aux. cooling rack that fits onto the RAM slot and mounts two small extra fans. Not that it needs it on it's own, it runs fine without them, but since the RAM on my MB sits next to the CPU, it's a nice thing to have less heat transfer from the CPU into the RAM, and it shovels more air into the CPU.

 

Finaly I'd mention Cooler Master. I have a Cooler Master HAF-X case, it's a cast steel monolith with fans everywhere and a shiney paint job. But then again, that describes most gaming cases. What the HAF does is mount the high-heat parts of the computer, the PSU and CPU in a gigantic plastic air-duct looking for all the world like something off a race car. I don't know how effective it is, but it cools very nicely, and it's fun bling to have an enormous air scoop on your case. The only problem with the HAF, and most cooler master cases I've used, is it's neutronium weight-over 16 kilograms empty, and the fact it's big enough to contain two toddlers standing side by side. It's also extremely solidly built, explaining the weight but making it no less LAN-unusable, and comes with optional caster wheels. Should you ever need to move this monster, the casters are a godsend, and it's size, proportions, and titanic heft make it a pain in the neck, ass, and back to lift and carry.

 

Get out of my gaming case! Everything you've mentioned is exactly the same in my case, even to the model of CoolerMaster box. I cannot get my EVGA gtx580 to go over 70c ( though I've only had it through this winter; summer temps will likely raise it a little.)

[CommanderCrazy]

I voted for EVGA, Gainward & PowerColor.

EVGA is where ive sunk the most money into, however Gainward sits at the top at the moment. Powercolor simply because its the only brand ive used out of the last box.

[Illiad86]

XFX, EVGA, Powercolor, and HIS.

 

My friend has always bought XFX and EVGA, they seem like decent cards. My boyfriend and I always buy either HIS or Powercolor. His Powercolor 3870 he got years ago still works flawlessly and has a nice large cooler they put on it. My card is HIS, it's great, but the fan died on it after 8 months lol. Can't complain, it was $20 cheaper than all the rest of the brands at the time. We only buy new graphics cards every 4-5 years and they are normally the mid range cards...so getting an insane cooler on them isn't necessary. XFX puts some nice coolers on their cards, but I'd rather not pay an extra $30 if I don't have to.

[Iv000]

Only Sapphire, for now .

I've had a 4850 and right now a 6870, I'm extremely surprised on how well they are performing compared to their low price. I've also had absolutely no problems with any of them.

I can't speak for any Nvidia brands, since my last Nvidia card was a 7300 GT and gave me headaches, it was extremely unstable and every 3D application crashed with a BSOD, I still couldn't fix this issue after years.

I've been AMD only since then, price/performance is just too convenient.