Whats the difference between the different gpu companies?

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Hi
Its incredibly annoying when shopping for GPU to encounter different brands of the same card. I am talking about the R9 295x2 but i suppose most other cards are the same situation. And also in particular from amazon. If you try to search r9 295x2, there should be 9 variants.

there is Asus, Sapphire, MSI, XFX, Visiontek, & Radeon.
Cheapest Visiontek $1399, then MSI 1499, Asus has like 2 different prices. Sapphire has 2 prices too, and so do XFX.

Can anyone tell me which one to go for. And what exactly do these companies add to the same card?

thanks.
 
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zeyuanfu

zeyuanfu

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They are all the same, except it's different companies that rebrand them. If you want another GPU, I would suggest the geforce GTX 780 Ti, it's way cheaper but better.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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Not sure anyone can say that a GTX780Ti is in any way better then a dual GPU card that blows it out of the water. Two GTX780Ti or a Titan Z would be a comparison point to a R9 295. Aside from the difference in power consumption both will let you run pretty much anything.

Sapphire has always been a reliable manufacturer of AMD boards, ASUS is one of the top PCB manufacturers. Presumably they offer one reference design and one custom designed PCB? Hard to say without links, might just be different sellers on Amazon. Generally the differences you see will be base and boost clock or memory frequency differences.

Not really a matter of re-branding. We tend to reserve that term for selling the same product under two different model names, or using previous generation technologies to release "new" products.

Nvidia and AMD manufacturer the GPU chips (really TSMC does, but that is another topic) and provide reference designs. It is still up to each GPU manufacturer to actually build the end product and install the GPU. Some manufacturers choose to design their own board layout.
 
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Guys this is the search link. If not you just need to search "R9 295x2" and these will pop up, then filter on the left side 8gb memory. And it should all be left with the 295x2s.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_price-asc-rank?keywords=r9+295x2&qid=1408430330&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A541966%2Cn%3A193870011%2Ck%3Ar9+295x2%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A6066318011&sort=price-asc-rank

It appears the clock and memory speeds are the same.

Also 2 prices for asus one. 1 at $1499 and another at $1746. Both include the asus GPU tweak software which is additional compared to other brands (at least its indicated, to show asus has provided some value add). However under the product details, both have got different serial numbers. The expensive one is B00KM3MHIS, the cheaper one is B00JVKWNQY.

MSI at $1499 includes the MSI overclock utility. I think this software comes free isn't it?
Sapphire also at 2 prices, $1512 vs $1641 for what looks like a metal box packaging.

Now what I worried is, the more expensive ones are tweaked or upgraded somehow, I will not want to save 100 or 200 on a $1700 card. But if its all bull like some asus software, a white elephant packaging case, or worse still paying for the brand sticker on the fan! Then I rather save the money and not be sucker.

If it were you, which one will you go for?

Thanks
 
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By the way, I have decided on this card, so no need for AMD vs Nvidia war lolz... this IS the best card at the moment. Titan Z is twice the price and well out of reach. Even if I could afford, it has to be at least 30% - 50% better (being generous) which I think its not. If the Titan Z were the same price as the 295, then let the gates open and lets have a NVidia vs AMD face off!

I was also considering 2 290x or 2 gtx780ti but I thought 1 295 gives me some scalability down the road. I can get 1 more 295 down the road (price dropped hopefully), whereas I don't think I want 3 290x or 3 780s. Saves space in the case too.
 
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Ok I have now got my 295s. I am not sure if this deal works for u, but I have done a trial order on amazon to see the shipping rates and taxes. And I compared this to ocuk site and find the price is the same but its on a promo for 1 week and free superflower 1200 psu! I am in the uk at the moment and so made a trip to pick it up. Its a sapphire unit with the metal case.
 
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nikoli707

nikoli707

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op, sounds like you dont know much about computers and their brands. why are you looking at the 295x2?

also all 295x2 i believe are reference designes so there is absolutely no difference hardware wise between those cards. the only difference would the warranty, customer service, etc from the different brands. i would personally just get the cheapest, but sapphire is known as amd's elite board partner.
 
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