Nvidia by any other name....

[twhitemore]

Hi all....starting my search for info. to build a new gaming rig...

Sorry if this is a lame question, just need the clarification:

Upon looking up prices for the Nvidia 8800 GTX, I saw many different brands. Why would a person not buy an Nvidia card, as opposed to the others with a different label branded on it.

I saw another post where there were several opinions of the best brands; XFX, PNY, Gigabyte, Asus, EVGA, etc. But none of the post replies said Nvidia...

It appears that some are oc'd, is that the only difference since they all have Nvidia chip sets??

Thanks...

jbracer

 

[firetatoo]

Nvidia doesn't make cards, they license the companys to make them.

i like BFG. it stands for 'big fudgin' gun" and they are guaranteed.
i have had 1 PNY card go belly up for no apparent reason (ti4200 in 2003). different brands sometimes use lower quality heatsinks or the good ones that are installed are installed with low quality thermal compound or are made with cheap components (it was a capacitor failure that killed my ti4200).
i dont want to say they are all the same, but the difference is mainly in the bundle of goodies that comes with the card. i have heard of a card not comng with the 6 pin power connector, wich is a reason to read user reviews online.

 

[Achtungbaby]

I have a Sparkle Calibre P880+ OC GTX and i love it, first time i ever bought a sparkle calibre product and it comes factory overclocked at a lower price than other generic GTX's from other brands. With TEC cooler it idles between 45 - 52 degrees c and under load only hits 65 degrees c big plus here in South Africa! Recommend this card to anyone looking for a great GTX!

 

[kpo6969]

1.(tie) Evga-step-up program
1.(tie) XFX-double lifetime warranty (helps to add a little value if you should sell your card)
3.BFG-good warranty, can be a little pricy

Just my opinion

 

[slicessoul]

Nvidia doesn't make cards, they license the companys to make them.

I think Nvidia does make cards and they call it reference board/card. This reference board are sold/licensed to Nvidia's partners such XFX, eVGA, BFG etc but never sold the reference card to end-user.

 

[mactronix]

1.(tie) Evga-step-up program
1.(tie) XFX-double lifetime warranty (helps to add a little value if you should sell your card)
3.BFG-good warranty, can be a little pricy

Just my opinion

Just to say some times these warranties are only valid in certain countries i think the XFX one only counts in northern USA but i could be wrong.
Mactronix

 

[qwertycopter]

So to sum up for you, the various manufacturer's offer:

1) Differing warranties
2) Differing prices
3) Differing heatsinks
4) Factory overclocks
5) Differing bundled extras (games, cables, software, etc)
6) eVGA has the step-up program

Also consider that some manufacturers offer better support than others.

 

[itotallybelieveyou]

Get the BFG 8800 GTX OCE you'll love it straight to hell

 

[spaztic7]

Get the BFG 8800 GTX OCE you'll love it straight to hell

I agree... Almost, you forgot a number. He should get the BFG 8800 GTX OCE2. It is only 4 or 6 Mhz slower then the ultra with about $100-150 less.

 

[chiadog]

Nvidia doesn't make cards, they license the companys to make them.

I think Nvidia does make cards and they call it reference board/card. This reference board are sold/licensed to Nvidia's partners such XFX, eVGA, BFG etc but never sold the reference card to end-user.

The reference boards are manufacturing examples for OEMs. OEMs then manufacture these cards for different brands (like XFX and EVGA uses the same OEM). Then the brands put their own bios, labels, and such and it goes out to the consumers. Some OEMs do sell their own branded cards like Foxconn, MSI, etc.

 

[aevm]

I have a Sparkle Calibre P880+ OC GTX and i love it, first time i ever bought a sparkle calibre product and it comes factory overclocked at a lower price than other generic GTX's from other brands. With TEC cooler it idles between 45 - 52 degrees c and under load only hits 65 degrees c big plus here in South Africa! Recommend this card to anyone looking for a great GTX!

You better have good case cooling, with that Sparkle Calibre. It's a nice card, but persoanlly I decided to go with the BFG 8800 GTX OC2 after all and I'm very happy with it.

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2873

Here's a quote from the review:

Generally, all of the 8800 GTXs show heat levels that are very similar; around 62 to 67 degrees Celsius when idle and 81 to 87 degrees Celsius under load. The exceptions of course are the XFX GeForce 8800 GTS and the Sparkle Calibre 8800 GTX. Interestingly, this test is where the Calibre 8800 GTX's unique heat sink design really makes an impact. The temperature levels of this card under load are even lower than the XFX 8800 GTS by over ten degrees. This is somewhat perplexing considering that our Sparkle Calibre 8800 GTX sample didn't overclock very well compared to the other 8800 GTXs. Also keep in mind that although the peltier cooler keeps the GPU running at lower temperatures, the peltier element itself does contribute heat to the system, so this card won't necessarily keep your system cooler, just your GPU.

OP: read the review too, it should answer some of your questions

 

[gwolfman]

Hi all....starting my search for info. to build a new gaming rig...

Sorry if this is a lame question, just need the clarification:

Upon looking up prices for the Nvidia 8800 GTX, I saw many different brands. Why would a person not buy an Nvidia card, as opposed to the others with a different label branded on it.

I saw another post where there were several opinions of the best brands; XFX, PNY, Gigabyte, Asus, EVGA, etc. But none of the post replies said Nvidia...

It appears that some are oc'd, is that the only difference since they all have Nvidia chip sets??

Thanks...

jbracer

what they said above

 

[Ilander]

nVidia by any other name would smell like envy.

Seriously. Any other etymology nerds here ever notice the brand name is (by pronunciation) the latin word for envy? And their color is green? When I realized that, I just had to laugh.

Ah, marketing.

 

[twhitemore]

Wow....I had a different picture about these cards...Thanks for all the information!!

TW