Brand/non-reference cards and aftermarket coolers

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Doomjoon

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Aug 25, 2014
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I'm just wondering, is there any point in getting a brand card (Asus, EVGA, MSI, Gigabyte, ZOTAC, you know the drill) if you're gonna replace the custom cooler that these companies put on the card anyway?

Because from what I know, the only thing the companies do is put custom coolers and increase the default factory clock, but do they make any other changes to the card? The materials and components they are made of for example, to make them sturdier and more capable at overclocking, or increase their power efficiency? Or add extra features such as software? (Because all the extra GPU software I ever knew can easily be found on the manufacturer website for free and used with any GPU, no matter the brand)
 
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DasHotShot
This depends entirely on the model of the card.

They do a lot more than just slap a different cooler on in some cases (different display ports, different VRM, different clocks, different power requirements and therefore power connectors etc etc)

In some cases you pay a premium for a higher ASIC quality rating (means it can OC better), in some cases you just get the plain old reference cards.

Worth comparing the specific model you are after...
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DasHotShot

DasHotShot

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Feb 17, 2015
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This depends entirely on the model of the card.

They do a lot more than just slap a different cooler on in some cases (different display ports, different VRM, different clocks, different power requirements and therefore power connectors etc etc)

In some cases you pay a premium for a higher ASIC quality rating (means it can OC better), in some cases you just get the plain old reference cards.

Worth comparing the specific model you are after...
 
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Doomjoon

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Aug 25, 2014
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As I said I'm just wondering, this is merely a hypothetical question, with no specific model in mind. But I might start to make a custom watercooling loop in the future, so I was hoping that a definite answer could be found here. But if it depends on the model and the brand, I guess we'll just have to leave it at that.
 
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DasHotShot

DasHotShot

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Take the 980Ti or 980 for example...the manufacturer allows third party re sellers to modify the product within reason and upgrade it or make it unique to some extent. This usually relates mostly to performance, cooling, features and aesthetics.

If you took the cooler of a 980Ti Kingpin by EVGA and took it off a 980Ti reference card by Nvidia, you would notice a LOT of differences, the Kingpin being a far superior specimen and prepared for the highest, most extreme forms of OCing...

Hope this helps clarify
 
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