Which will last longer?

[admbautista]

Hi, I have a question regarding reference and non-reference cards. I'm just curious which will last longer. I'm trying to choose from a reference: inno3d/evga 600 ti or a non-reference: MSI 660 ti power edition. I'm mostly concerned on their lifespan. Performance is just secondary because i know their difference is only minimal and I don't want to change video card sooner just because of their short lifespan. Can you enlighten me on this?

 

[jaideep1337]

I would get the reference EVGA if I were you unless you can find a non reference card NOT made by MSI

The reason NOT to buy MSI is this : http://www.tomshardware.com/news/MSI-GTX-660-670-overvolting-PowerEdition,18013.html

So look if you can find a EVGA/Zotac/ASUS non reference card for better cooling or else go with the evga reference design

 

[StormOfRazors]

Second the motion to stay away from MSI, that was a dirty trick and you cant treat your customers like that, you know its bad when Nvidia steps in and tells a company to stop something.
EVGA is fantastic for their warranty support, and I have heard they are the best to deal with if your card does happen to die inside warranty.

However, i would really recommend a non-reference card, as the better cooling will result in lower temps, which may prolong the life of the card. Generally speaking though, a card should be fine when used under normal conditions and shouldn't just stop working regardless of whether it is non reference or not. Sticking to a good brand such as EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte etc is more important. However, if noise is an issue, the reference design cards are significantly louder, so for quietness go a non reference card.

Also, your power supply can be a factor in the life of your card. A cheap, no name PSU that does not adequately regulate voltage can damage the card over the long term, so getting a good PSU is important. Some people even get whats known as a UPS to protect them from 'dirty power', power outages or surges, which also are notorious for damaging components.

 

[admbautista]

Second the motion to stay away from MSI, that was a dirty trick and you cant treat your customers like that, you know its bad when Nvidia steps in and tells a company to stop something.
EVGA is fantastic for their warranty support, and I have heard they are the best to deal with if your card does happen to die inside warranty.

However, i would really recommend a non-reference card, as the better cooling will result in lower temps, which may prolong the life of the card. Generally speaking though, a card should be fine when used under normal conditions and shouldn't just stop working regardless of whether it is non reference or not. Sticking to a good brand such as EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte etc is more important. However, if noise is an issue, the reference design cards are significantly louder, so for quietness go a non reference card.

Also, your power supply can be a factor in the life of your card. A cheap, no name PSU that does not adequately regulate voltage can damage the card over the long term, so getting a good PSU is important. Some people even get whats known as a UPS to protect them from 'dirty power', power outages or surges, which also are notorious for damaging components.

Thanks for the heads up and for the info. regarding the PSU, I would be using Seasonic S12II 620w. From what I've heard and read, it is a good PSU.

Regarding the vid card, I may go to Asus this time, will be choosing between OC ed and TOP ed. I'm now just a little confused which will I choose from the two.

 

[mikes1992]

I was going to recommend an Asus card. I recently bought one with stock clocks and it's great. I was experimenting with some Oc's last night and managed to get the clock upto 1200mhz without a problem.

The card is really quiet and stays cool, at 60% fan speed it's almost silent and manages to stay around 58c with a 1100mhz boost... although I havn't changed the voltages yet as the 600 series Ocing takes a while to get used to.

I opened a thread asking which was the quietest card and this one came way ahead in side by side comparisons and the low temps means you have allot of OC headroom (taking into account the silicon lottery... I've also heard rumours Asus aren't very good at cherry picking there cards for the top edition)

 

[ram1009]

Any circuit board can fail at any time. If I were as concerned about longevity as you appear to be I would look for the longest warranty.

 

[admbautista]

Best answer selected by admbautista.