Best Brands for Non-Ref Cards

[Black Thought]

Hello everyone I am looking to buy a card in the next few weeks, around may 15. I could wait a week or two if need be as I have an extra card lying around I could use to buy some time. I am looking to gather some information on the best brands of GPU's in general but specifically in terms of non-reference cooler designs. I like a quiet computer so a reduction in temp and noise really interests me although im not looking to spend a ton extra. I am also not interested in cards having the highest factory OC. I have not made a final decision yet between the 7970 or 680, I would prefer the 680 although there are much fewer non-reference designs available but I'm hoping there will be in a few weeks. Any data you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Note: From my own research Ive heard good things about sapphire and msi's twin fan coolers but looking to learn more.

My Build:

NZXT Phantom Full Tower
CM hyper 212 evo
corsair hx 850
8gb gskill 1600 RAM
Asus p8z77-v
asus 24x DVD
CPU: 3570K?
Crucial M4 128GB
Samsung 7200 1TB

 

[Helltech]

For Nvidia; ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte make the best aftermarket coolers in my opinion.
For AMD; ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte, and XFX (Sapphire should be noted as well) make the best aftermarket coolers.

MSI is my personal favorite.

 

[gary1]

Watch out for the triple slot ASUS cards, those things weigh a ton.

 

[Helltech]

They do weigh a bit, but they are amazing. My friend has used those for his last two builds and gets amazing OCing performance as well cooling.

 

[ouroboros]

HIS has just announced a price cut on their 7000s but the shrouds they're using essentially make their IceQ series cards 3-slotters. I understand they run rather cool but a 3slot card may not fit everyone's case/mbd

XFX offers a lifetime warranty on their DD (Double Dissipation)series but those cost $10-20(USD) more than the norm. Double lifetime warranty used to be the norm with them but they dropped it after the 6000s

Galaxy has actually managed a single slot 680, surprised the heck out of me. The card is said to be longer than normal so it may not fit in all cases.

Myself, I'd sooner see how the midrange wars play out at $300-350. If I end up with a 7870, I'll be going with XFX. Better to have that warranty and not need it than to need it and not have it. Otherwise, I'll have to see how the reviews are on Galaxy's single slot cards (assuming they use that for all the 600 line).

 

[gary1]

7950 is 400$ for a Sapphire one. If you're going 7870 anyways.

 

[Black Thought]

Best answer selected by Black Thought.