Video Cards

[Bad Aim]

For the last few years I have only been buying the NVIDIA brand cards. So there is no confusion, I am buying the NVIDIA cards, but they are not the MSI or ASUS, it is the cards released by NVIDIA.

I have recently been reading online that the NVIDIA brand cards are not actually the best cards you can get. I have read that they tend to run hot and have a shorter life span than their competitors.

I will never again buy PNY after the crap they pulled on me many years ago, so they are out. I was wholly unimpressed with the Zotac brand of cards. So, I would rather not go with them again.

Most all of my hardware is Asus. I have had very good luck with them.

I guess my question is, is the NVIDIA brand cards worth buying or should I buy the Asus or Gigabyte brand cards?

Thank you,

[Ð₳Ɽ₭★𐌔Ŧ₳Ɽ]

I really like the asus strix brand and i would recommend them.

[🦜Cloud Boy🦜]

Every manufacturer has their high-end and Low-end models.
High-end models are well-built and come with better PCB and cooling.

MSI Gaming X/Z, Suprim X, Gigabyte Aorus, Asus Strix are some high-end models.

[Introverted Gamer]

Yeston, because their GPU designs are unique, and also a great throwback to the old days of Designs and Packaging Art Box.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

The RTX 20 series Founders Edition cards (the ones direct from NVIDIA) were OK.
Especially compared to a GTX 1080 or 1080 Ti direct from NVIDIA which had the terrible "blower" type of design. But the FE have kind of been classed as inferior when it comes to the RTX 30 and 40 series. The after-market cards for RTX 30 and 40 series are much better overall.

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

I usually go with MSI or Asus, currently Asus. Had Zotac once and it broke down in one month.

[Bad Aim]

Postat inițial de Rumpelcrutchskin:

I usually go with MSI or Asus, currently Asus. Had Zotac once and it broke down in one month.

I didn't have that bad of an experience with Zotac. Mine never broke down but every time I ran it through a benchmark, it always under performed. My games also did not preform as well as they should have.

Back when S-Video was being introduced to video cards, I had bought a new PNY card. The instructions gave a step-by-step guide on how to connect your computer to your TV using S-Video. (This is when S-Video was new) I followed the directions. When I turned on the computer, the back of my computer seemed to blow out, sparks flying everywhere. My new video card was wasted.

I called PNY and explained what had happened, asking for an RMA. My request for an RMA was denied. They pointed to the back page of the instruction manual in very small writing that it was not recommended to connect your TV to your computer. Because I went against their "warning", they refused to issue an RMA.

After that experience, I vowed to never buy another PNY product again. I also made a point to voice my opinion to anyone that asks that PNY is a bad company that works hard to screw their costumer base.

[✨Saint✨]

Nvidia is a gimmick imo, I am not going to pay extra because they slammed a few pieces of plastic on it with their brand, useless LED that only consume more power.
Add competition, and the prices are sky-high, for a product you may not even use for THAT long.

[AmaiAmai]

These days you have no idea of what kind of chip you're getting as far as ASIC quality, OC possibility, and the ability to undervolt.

If I were you, regardless of brand at a minimum I would check what brand of VRAM is on the card I am buying. I've had some cards with VRAM from Elpidia and other "no-names" from MSI, and I can tell you the VRAM failed in less than 2 years.

That has never happened with Hynix or Samsung memory -- in fact my RX 480 still works after over 8 years.

Always consider at least that when buying a card, and the warranty.

[UserNotFound]

OP thread title is deceptive, or misleading. It shouldn't be called 'Video cards', because it'd invite suggestions from nVidia, AMD and Intel users. Instead, I put it to you that it should have been called, 'nVidia ONLY cards'.

[Illusion of Progress]

My experience with nVidia is as follows.

My first couple of cards were PNY. This was back when they still had a bit more of a consumer (and gaming, specifically) presence. Now they're kind of on the prosumer/workstation/data center side of things more it seems. Anyway, those first two were a GeForce 4 Ti4200 and GeForce 6800 GS AGP. Both were fine, and I got both used.

Next I went to a pair of MSI cards. The first was a 8600 GTS OC and was awful. The card itself was fine, but the fan (blower type, too) ran ALL the time at maximum speed and it was rather loud. It was replaced with an 8800 GT also by MSI, which was fine.

The next was EVGA, a GTX 560 Ti. Unfortunately, my first (and only ever) graphics card failure came here. It was mostly fine outside that. I'm not entirely sure what failed on it. I know I suffered the infamous TDR issues (only at idle) during nVidia's poor driver days (and some claims stated this led to failed cards, but this was anecdote). After the driver crashes getting a bit worse, it would just go straight to a blank screen moments after booting. It had failed. There was some slight discoloration around the VRMs but I'm not sure if that was just "wear and tear" or not. Everything being Black made it harder to tell. Nothing was visibly burnt/blown up looking otherwise though. Oh well.

Tried to get a GTX 970 (all EVGA as well) but they all coil whined. Minecraft and one other game in particular (very low on demand, even) made the card screech when playing them. Odd. EVGA refunded me and I gave up and bot a $70 GTX 560 from best Buy, PNY brand. Remember when a one generation entry level card was double digit figures? Better times. I loved this thing because it was quiet and small and had a bigger cooling solution than it needed.

After that, went to EVGA with my current GTX 1060 and it's been going for six and a half years. Unfortunately, it's developed coil whine over time. It's not unbearable, but funny enough, the same two games are the ones that show it worst.

Never tried Asus/Gigabyte/XFX (old) or any other brands on nVidia. I recently had to RMA and Asus motherboard and while it went fine in the end, I had to be rather forceful tog et them to honor the warranty, and it cost me around $50 to ship it to them. My RMA with EVGA (the graphics cards and a PSU recently) was all far, far, far better of an experience. I'd personally be shy of choosing an Asus GPU just based on my recent RMA experience, but this is down to luck anyway.

Postat inițial de Introverted Gamer:

Yeston, because their GPU designs are unique, and also a great throwback to the old days of Designs and Packaging Art Box.

I saw one of those once recently and was... surprised when I did. I think it was mostly White with pastel floral designs? It was definitely unique.

I wish there were more stuff like that. Everything is Black and full of RGB and angsty gamer angles and design cues these days. Which, I don't mind those things being things too. I just wish that wasn't ALL there was, but unfortunately the RGB thing warps the entire market around it. Everything has to become all Black to not clash with it, for example.

It's like when you see an all White PC it stands out now. White (or Beige) used to be boring and Black was the new stylish thing. And it was fine then because you still had so many different colors on PBDs (and the parts on them) and cases had different styles and colors. Now? Everything is Black, everything has tinted windows, and everything has RGB.

[Hawk Firestorm]

Nvidia has the best cards for performance. but their pricey. Amd has a good lineup of cards too.

me like you I generally buy nvidia though I've had a amd card in the past which was fine, also nvidia driver support is better than amd.

As someone has stated asus strix cards are the best.

[Illusion of Progress]

OP's asking specifically about nVidia AIB brands, not GPU chips brand.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

GPU coil whine can be more audible the higher the active FPS is

[DasWulf]

Nvidia Founder's Edition cards are fine for the most part, though some models and generation cards are worse than others. They generally tend to hold their value more so than most of the non-premium AIB cards.

The lower the stack you go, the less cooling is required and Nvidia FE edition cards tend to shine more in that category. In most cases, I'd prefer the FE over AIB partner cards, though there are always exceptions.

Some AIB brands like to cheap out as much as possible, other's don't. PNY and Zotac fall into the "cheaping out" category.

Check out videos that break down the cards, the parts used and whether they cheaped out with VRM and other components. For example, MSI for the 40 series cards opted out of a vapor chamber, which causes it to run a bit hotter and louder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGORmB6GoH8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa4A12gQTHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5b2YF9POP4

[Illusion of Progress]

Postat inițial de Bad 💀 Motha:

GPU coil whine can be more audible the higher the active FPS is

Yes, but it's not the frame rate itself causing it. The demand certain parts of the power delivery is under is what does it. And even that probably only touches on the cause because my GPU has started developing it in the recent year and it happens even at 60 FPS or lower, and even in lightly demanding games.