graphics card manufacture

[mgame]

I am wondering if it matters if you buy a graphcis card from a company, such as ASUS, Chaintech, and Gainward etc...!
Is the quality of the graphics card effected, or in the least not as good as buying direct from either ATI or Nvidia. Even though it still has per say a Radeon or Nvidia chip set on the card?

This question came to mind when looking for a new card on pricewatch.com and seeing how many different manufactures make a Nvidia based card or ATI card.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

nV doesn't make cards, they only make the chips, and sell them to OEM partners. ATI will soon be following that lead.

ATI reference cards are just that. The golden standard. Now some people may add beter features, tus becoming he platinum standard I guess. The main thing is to know what you are getting, researcht the reviews of the cards you are considering. They can be VERY different, and even the same line of one mfr can be VERY different. Take the Sapphire Atlantis R9600Pro, it can have memory modules ranging from the 2.86ns Samsung (the same as ATI's reference boards) to 3.3ns Samsung memory, and a bunch o different speed and mfr memory in between. All on the exact same version from the same manufacturer. If you aren't into overclcocking, then it makes little/no diff. That being said, ATI only guarantees THEIR cards will be exactly the same and reach reference 'stock' speeds every time. OEM partners don't have to make that guarantee, although some do, Sapphire does with their FIREBLADE edition of the R9600Pro. And some people like Hercules add a ton of extras to the package, usually making it a much more attractive product that the ATIs.

With nV board partners it's the same thing, do some research. Gainward is usally among the very best, and others (XFX as an example IMO) aren't all that great. Check the Buying Guide FAQ here for some ideas.

The main thing is you almost always know what you're getting with a Built By ATI board, whereas with OEM partners it's best to makesure you're getting what you think you should be getting.


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