CoolGamer48

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Aug 20, 2008
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Just wondering...

I'm buying an EVGA GTX 280 from NewEgg. What exactly does EVGA do? I mean, doesn't NVIDIA make the card? And NewEgg sells it. What does EVGA do? Does NVIDIA only make the chip, and EVGA creates the entire card?
 

dagger

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Mar 23, 2008
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Nvidia always makes the chip. As for the card, it depends. When a new line first comes out, the card is manufacturered by 3rd party subcontractor, then sold to distributers such as EVGA, who puts on different labels. It all comes from the same factory floor, no matter the brand. There is no difference whatsoever. Right now, we're at this stage.

Later on, distributers begin to produce cards in house or through their own subcontractors. The gpu will still be the same, but minor parts, like caps, might be from different sources. It still runs off the same reference design, and there should be no real-world performance difference.

At the last stage, when the cards begin to become outdated, some distributers begin to develop nonreference designs. Those will look physically different, and can perform differently. For example, Asus's nonreference version of the aging 3870x2 supports 4 monitors instead of 2, and Powercolor's version use ddr4 instead of ddr3 vram.
 

dagger

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The card itself is identical. Some distributers may have longer warranty or better support though.
 

CoolGamer48

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OK, thanks.

Totally random question: I noticed you have 8GB of RAM. Just wondering why. Do you use it for video editing? I was thinking of getting 8GB but for gaming people said I won't gain any noticeable performance.
 

dagger

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I don't use the 8gb. It was on sale at $60 per 4gb at the time. Ram at that timing for such a price is a steal. Besides, it's ideal to use same model of ram. If I had gotten 4gb and ever want to add more in the future, the same model may not be available then. 4gb is fine.
 

rockyjohn

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It is my understanding the EVGA and other manufacturers actual assemble their own cards - some through different contract manufacturers - but they certainly aren't all manufacturerd by one third party subcontractor and then sold to distrubutors. Where did you get that info?

It is false on the surface - a third party SUBCONTRACTOR is a SUBCONTRACTOR to others and is paid for his work; he does not SELL to anyone. Each manufacturer is in control of his own cards - not all taking what they can get from single sub as you are saying. Each manufacturer designs his own - usually closely following a reference design - but they are not merely putting a label on someone else's card. Why are you pretending to know what you so obviously do not?
 

dagger

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Mar 23, 2008
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Initially, when a new line is first launched, all cards (entire cards) are manufacturered by subcontractor under contract to Nvidia. The subcontractor obviously does not sign the sales with distributer, Nvidia does. This was never a secret. They don't advertise it, but don't hide it either. As for pasting on labels, for those early cards, I meant it literally. Many people have peeled off distirbuter's labels on their early reference cards, and found a Nvidia label under it. Ask around the forum.