How much does brand matter

No real difference. Mainly differences in bundles and warranty.

Kind of makes you wonder why your even asking the question huh? Try asking the same question about hard drives.  

Well, I don't know about graphics, but you have to search on your own for reviews to see what the best one for you is.

some manufactures like BFG give their cards a mild overclock and charge extra for them... and like the other posters said some of 'em bundle extra games and crap with them.

either way, if you dont care about all that gimmicky poop - their specs should be listed so just check to make sure it's the same and pick the lowest price

Well I believe bfg and evga have lifetime warranties, and evga has a step-up program, but mostly ya it has to do with what comes in the box.(mostly) not always the case.

Quote from the past:
"There is no such thing as a bad company (or in this case, brand), only a bad product."

Beyond that, it's all up to personal preference; oem or retail, warranty, price, reviews, price erformance ratio, bundles, product variations/alterations, etc etc etc....

maxtor for hdd=evil for me...



only true if the company have made good products before...

great - I have a maxtor HD. Thanks to everyone for the replies!

correct me if im wrong, but didnt seagate buy maxtor?

either that or the other way round, but maxtor are the 'budget' ones, and as far as my experience goes, they dont seem as good. that being said after a few (more) years the technology should be shared between them (more so then now anyway) and Maxtor's performance should inprove. though i still dont really like them that much