Video Card Manufacturers

Well, we've had literally dozens of debates over the AMD vs. nVidia thing, but I do not recall once discussing whom makes them.

So, lets try some ground breaking debating.

I have had good luck with BFG, and had really shitty luck with PowerColor.

What experience have you guys had with card builders?

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Well BFG is outta business.. no more lifetime warranty from them.

For details on BFG.. http://en.wikipedia....FG_Technologies

EVGA is the best Nvidia card ATM. EVGA has lifetime warrenty plus the step up program. You can upgrade to a better card within 3 months of your purchase. You just need to pay the price difference.
http://www.evga.com/stepup/

I suggest the EVGA 460GTX 1GB. This card costs $209 but it comes with a $30 rebate. Its by far the best Nvidia card for under $250 range. It can OC to beat even the nvidia 470GTX.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130566

If Nvidia comes out with the a 560GTX for around $200 within the 3 months you can get it using the step up program. Currently the only 500 series cards are the 570GTX for $360 and the 580GTX for $500.

XFX is a good card also as they and EVGA are the 2 top brands for Nvidia. ATM tho knowing Nvidia may come with the 560GTX gives EVGA with step-up a bit of an advantage. On the ATI side I would say XFX and Sapphire are equals. XFX has a bit better support but Sapphire has added components such as mini dp to DVI and PCI-E power supply adapters. ATM any of these 3 are a good brand choice.

I have always heard good things about Sapphire cards. Since I go back and forth with the winds I never really lean more nVidia or Ati. I usually get what gives the most frames for the bucks I have in my pocket at that particular time.

Right this moment I am looking hard at the 470 and the 6870. Both are neck and neck in both price and frame rates. and 250.00 isn't to much if the card last until its usable life is over.

I'll tell'ya what though bud, I'd like to know what they are doing with the step up cards. I mean, they gotta be still good card or the would refuse to exchange them.. That means there is a grave yard of really good cards out there being unused by us poor folks.

I wonder how someone would go about contacting EVGA for details.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Get EVGA. End of topic.

EVGA and XFX are the only companies that offer lifetime warranties on their cards at all anymore ... and XFX has a really bad history with their cooling solutions.

BFG is no longer in the GPU business.

At this point in time, I don't really think it's wise to go with anything less than a lifetime warranty on a GPU. It's just silly not to.

If you want a card in the GTX4XX land The GTX 460 SC is the best bang for your buck. The 465 is a better bang than the 470, but 460 performs nearly the same and uses WAY less power.

Also, it'd be cheaper to buy two GTX460 cards and run them in SLi than to go out for the 470 range cards ... and those cards in SLi perform even better than the GTX480 at above HD resolutions. The only real reason to go for a 465/470/480 is if you want 3-way SLi or higher. The 460 and under cards don't support it.

Orph, they use them for RMAs and refurbished units and it makes sense, it's a pretty easy way to offer a lifetime replacement warranty, eh? So, they're being used.

To note, the trade up program is only for cards that are under 90 days old in the consumers hands. You can't like ... take a three year old card and trade up.

As for AMD cards, I couldn't really tell you to be honest. But keep in mind the manufacturer's warranty will tell you a lot about the card.

I recently got the GTX460 1GB SC EE (comes pre-overclocked (SC), so damage from overclocking they performed is still covered by warranty) EE means external exhaust, which is what you want. It takes up two slots on the board, but it pushes the hot air from the card straight out the back of the case. I haven't been able to use it yet, my power supply is 20W shy of the minimum recommended and I just don't want to try it yet. But benchmarks are good for it. I chose it over the same priced 465 mainly due to heat and power consumption. The FPS difference in most games is, literally, 1-2 fps. so that's really nothing.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I know to you it seems like I am still asking dumb questions so why stop now..

I take it that linking two cards still operate only one monitor, right? So two 1 gig cards are working in pair/unison to make in essence a 2 gig card. Am I missing something?

Well it looks like I might be buying two 460's soon.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I have not run 2 cards ever, but from my understanding you double the info you can process with 2 cards, since you have in a sense widened the pipe the info can travel.. added more lanes so to speak.

It will NOT be double performance. HOWEVER, it is very close to 1.7x

There is a lot of overhead for utilizing SLi, but at higher resolutions it makes a big difference. It will perform better than a GTX480, overall. But it's not going to be double performance.

You can configure it however you like, single monitor, dual monitor ... triple. You can also designate when the cards should be used in tandem (SLi) or if there should be a primary and secondary card and use the second just for physics or something like that.

The 460 actually renders well enough on its own for the time being. I would probably suggest utilizing it with an old cheap card, like a 9600 and using it for dedicated Physics. It makes a big difference.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

Crono said:
It will NOT be double performance. HOWEVER, it is very close to 1.7x

Check. Thanx bud.

It will be something to bare in mind for future. I don't see paying 365+ dollars right now anyway.

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The best things in life, aren't things.