My vote went to eVGA. Step-up program, warranty, and great customer service.
XFX comes in at a close 2nd with OC'ing and modding covered in it's warranty. Not sure about their customer service, but you really can't beat their warranty. (The warranty differs outside the US, so others may not like it as much)
How can I say which is the best if I only owned 2 of the brand names? I heard Evga is the best, but since I never owned any cards from them, I'm picking bfg.
--------------- "Nvidia, the Way It's Meant to be PAID Played! - Corrado
*Lesbian Lover Club* - founder Assman
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"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic."
EVGA, XFX, and BFG are the best. Palit is a top notch quality brand name. I don't think that they have same the OC potential as the other 3 but at the same time they have a very low failure rate which is as low if not lower than the other 3.
In all honesty I've had and EVGA card for 3 year and never had an issue. I've had and XFX card with issues from day 1 with, but I've had multiple other card from the same company and never had any issue except that one so who knows. I've had a BFG H20 cooled card that never had issues, but I know DangerDen helps them design the cooling block so I know it's top notch product anyway.
I've never personally owned a Palit product, but I hear that they are good and that do things a little different to make things a little better. Although I've never owned one, I can attest that 4 of my friends have owned them and I've actually held a few in my time. They are a some what new company but worth a try.
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P35-DS3L l E8400 @ 3.6Ghz l OCZ Vendetta 2 l 4GB G.Skill 8000PQ@1000mhz 4:5 l WD3200AAKS 320GB l Evga 8800GT SC 713/1782/1998 l Zalman VF-900 w/unisinks l Creative SB X-Fi Xtreme Music l Corsair HX520 l Antec Sonata III 500 l Vista Home Premium-SP1
XFX all the way, double life time warrenty, great customer support, best I've ever seen and they even walked me through my first GPU overclock, did I mention they support modding, custom coolers, and overclocking in the warrenty!?! Yeah everyone will say eVGA, because of their step up program, but that is kind of mute since I would never be able to use it, because I usually always break the terms:
-90 days, and can stretch to 104 days? Nope thats broken I would not buy a card to keep it for a maximum of 104 days..
-Must be Nvidia's stock reference? Can't be factory overclocked and I can not overclock it? nope
-ABSOLUTELY NO bent capacitors?! Yeah thats easy to do by just looking at it let alone cleaning it out!
-No aftermarket installation, including thermal paste?! Do you know how hard it is to fully clean out a dual slot cooler without taking it off the card!?
Did I mention that XFX usually has the best factory overclocks as well?!
Message edited by The_Blood_Raven on 06-03-2008 at 04:10:58 AM
You stated your question the wrong way. You should have ask which brand name is the best because there is only a handful of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) who builds video cards. They then sell them in bulk to the vendors (EVGA, XFX, Asus) and slap on the appropriate brand name logo sticker.
EVGA is a standout amongst the crowd because of their "Step-up Program". They also allow you to install a 3rd party HSF w/o voiding the warranty (unless you grossly f**ked up your card).
XFX is known for their "Double Warranty" on their high end cards.
BFG (to the best of my knowledge) is known for OCed video cards.
