38 replies to this topic

[Vulpesveritas]

Latriam, on 11 July 2012 - 10:25 AM, said:

I would just upgrade to the single best card you can afford if your running intel stick with nvidia if your running AMD stick with ATI
IMHO and my experience that works best.

This is false, this hasn't been an issue ever, it all comes down to chipsets. Intel or AMD boards all support Crossfire, though you need higher end chipsets, or a Nvidia chipset, in order to run SLI.

There are no performance disadvantages whatsoever running an AMD card on an Intel system. Ask any reviewer or long term system builder.

[Sestos]

I do not understand the starting list. I have had cards from ASUS and EVGA without any issue.

[Viper69]

Vulpesveritas, on 11 July 2012 - 10:34 AM, said:

This is false, this hasn't been an issue ever, it all comes down to chipsets. Intel or AMD boards all support Crossfire, though you need higher end chipsets, or a Nvidia chipset, in order to run SLI.

There are no performance disadvantages whatsoever running an AMD card on an Intel system. Ask any reviewer or long term system builder.

I can attest to the above statement. I run an Intel motherboard and an ATI/AMD GPU. No issues what so ever. In fact it would be assinign for a company making either to make their competitors chipset work bad on their system.

Edited by Viper69, 11 July 2012 - 10:40 AM.

[Odins Fist]

Wonderful Greg, on 11 July 2012 - 10:16 AM, said:

Your list is... arguable, softly speaking.
Avoid MSI?! In what parallel universe?

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MSI, yes MSI twin frozer was one of the cards I see get flamed because of heat issues, even though they had a decent cooling solution, or looked like they did.... YOU will also notice I didn't put them on to the list to avoid at all costs, with the MSI cards I would set the fan curve above normal, also the Gigabyte models, they seem to put out slightly overclocked versions that have had some heat issues.
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Since many people think that just because they can plug a Video card into their PCI-e slot, that it makes them a computer whiz, but they don't bother running anything that will set their fan curve above stock specs, NOW couple that with people that have a cramped case, and a Video card that isn't sleeved or ducted with the shroud to direct HEAT out of their case, you will see a lot of people over heating their cards running them at a stock fan curve, the MSI twin frozer model did exactly that, and a lot of complaining seem to be about heat with what was supposed to be a GREAT heat solution, if you look at the card you will see what i'm talking about... Finally, companies that have a FIRE and FORGET Video card (one you can plug in, and not worry about heat as much), seem to have better user responses without having to use fan curve controlling software.. Do you see what I mean now..?
I didn't put MSI onto the avoid at all costs list, I said watch for heat... That's the Universe i'm from, how about you..??

[Viper69]

You know how many "Computer wizzez" I see that get computer freezes and blame their video cards. I tell them to "Blow out your cards heat sink" and all is well. Sometimes smart people are ignorant and give good products bad raps because either A.They overclock the sh!t out of something without changing their cooling or B.Do not do preventative maintenance on their rig.

[Regurgitated]

Yeah I'm not so sure about the OP's list either... I mean, right there you just took out like 2/3s of the gfx vendors, haha.

The first card I ever bought, a ti 4200, was by PNY... and it did not go so well right out of the box. I've avoided them since, and mostly I see their cards in stores like Best Buy, which does help me avoid them. Maybe they've improved but I just don't see many of their cards reviewed.

[Draelren]

My EVGA is great, troll success?

[Greyrook]

Odins Fist, on 11 July 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

.
MSI, yes MSI twin frozer was one of the cards I see get flamed because of heat issues, even though they had a decent cooling solution, or looked like they did.... YOU will also notice I didn't put them on to the list to avoid at all costs, with the MSI cards I would set the fan curve above normal, also the Gigabyte models, they seem to put out slightly overclocked versions that have had some heat issues.
.
Since many people think that just because they can plug a Video card into their PCI-e slot, that it makes them a computer whiz, but they don't bother running anything that will set their fan curve above stock specs, NOW couple that with people that have a cramped case, and a Video card that isn't sleeved or ducted with the shroud to direct HEAT out of their case, you will see a lot of people over heating their cards running them at a stock fan curve, the MSI twin frozer model did exactly that, and a lot of complaining seem to be about heat with what was supposed to be a GREAT heat solution, if you look at the card you will see what i'm talking about... Finally, companies that have a FIRE and FORGET Video card (one you can plug in, and not worry about heat as much), seem to have better user responses without having to use fan curve controlling software.. Do you see what I mean now..?
I didn't put MSI onto the avoid at all costs list, I said watch for heat... That's the Universe i'm from, how about you..??

Not to argue with all your points, but if a card is just plug-and-play without having to fiddle with aftermarket software, I'd say that the card deserves better ratings. Sure you can get more bang for your buck if you're willing to customize the settings, but there's also something to be said for a company that tries to make a card good right out of the box.

[silentD11]

The problem with the MSI cards is end users are stupid. The cooling is fine, but putting it into a small case or a case with low air flow and no matter what the cooling on the card you're going to have heat problems.

Hence why OC is always "at your own risk".

[Odins Fist]

Greyrook, on 11 July 2012 - 10:53 AM, said:

Not to argue with all your points, but if a card is just plug-and-play without having to fiddle with aftermarket software, I'd say that the card deserves better ratings. Sure you can get more bang for your buck if you're willing to customize the settings, but there's also something to be said for a company that tries to make a card good right out of the box.

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I said.....> "Finally, companies that have a FIRE and FORGET Video card (one you can plug in, and not worry about heat as much), seem to have better user responses without having to use fan curve controlling software"
.
That was kind of a hint for people that don't want to use fan controlling software, so i'm not sure where that would bring any debate..
I'm all for fire and forget, it's way better for the (I want to push the button and make it go crowd) but it's seems that some Models from certain companies need a little more attention, like the MSI twin frozer that I was using as an example..

[MogCarns]

The very last thing you want to do is trust the word of some random guy on the internet.

If you order 5 identical pc parts and install each in the same machine, you will get 5 completely different results. Reviews of PC parts is useless.


If the first line of this post just isn't for you, find a company you can deal with, with tech support that you can follow or understand, and buy their stuff until the day you no longer can deal with them. Repeat.

[Voodoo 6]

I have a factory overclocked ZOTAC Gtx 560ti, it's a little glitchy with BF3 because I run it so hard, but Asus has a GPU controller (ASUS GPU Tweak) I DL'ed and I dropped it's core clock speed from 950 to 940, solved all the problems.

I have a factory overclocked ZOTAC Gtx 560ti, it's a little glitchy with BF3 because I run it so hard, but Asus has a GPU controller (ASUS GPU Tweak) I DL'ed and I dropped it's core clock speed from 950 to 940, solved all the problems.

[Turbo]

I currently have 2 EVGA cards in SLI and they've been fine. My previous setup had a single EVGA and was also great. Ive also had Asus cards in the past and they have also been trouble free.

[Odins Fist]

MogCarns, on 11 July 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

The very last thing you want to do is trust the word of some random guy on the internet.

.
Exactly...

[Vulpesveritas]

MogCarns, on 11 July 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

The very last thing you want to do is trust the word of some random guy on the internet.

Right. You need to listen to advice from multiple sources and do your own research.

MogCarns, on 11 July 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

If you order 5 identical pc parts and install each in the same machine, you will get 5 completely different results. Reviews of PC parts is useless.

I disagree here. Professional reviews give a person a general idea of what a part is capable of. "completely different results" usually fall within 10% of each other in performance in most cases.

MogCarns, on 11 July 2012 - 11:06 AM, said:

If the first line of this post just isn't for you, find a company you can deal with, with tech support that you can follow or understand, and buy their stuff until the day you no longer can deal with them. Repeat.

So you're saying people shouldn't build their own and learn themselves how to be their own tech support, and then just ask other's advice and opinions when troubleshooting?

[StainlessSR]

Generally I look to Tomshardware.com and their graphics card hierarchy chart (it is generally updated every month) when I was comparing to find the best card for the amount of money I had to spend at that time. Then when I felt I found what I was looking for I would search for that specific card manufacturer and model. Now when looking at reviews any good review would count double (in my book) due to those whom are dissatisfied are more apt to voice their displeasure than those whom are happy with the product. Also, any product can come Dead On Arrival I discount almost all of those. I have had many car parts arrive dead from the parts room.

[KitK]

For those of you wondering where my list came from, it is from the places I am card shopping locally and on the Internet. These are the card brands that are readily available to me. Some of them I knew and some I had never heard of. My sense was that most, if not all were fairly good cards. But I didn't really know. So, I figured a quick straw poll like this would reveal very quickly if any of the brands were perceived as being sub-par. What I am seeing here is that I should be able to pick up a card from any of those manufacturers with a fair bit of confidence.

Thanks to those who have added to the list, especially the Best Buy "avoid" list.

[Regina Redshift]

I got an old rev. Gigabyte AMD card, which died suddenly after a week, but replaced it with the next rev and it was fine. My partner now runs that card with no issues.

I upgraded to an HIS AMD card, which crashed and spazed randomly. Returned that one the next day.

I got a Sapphire AMD in its place, which had some issues, but the most recent version of the drivers seems to have fixed those issues. (knock on wood).

[Vulpesveritas]

Archwright, on 11 July 2012 - 12:13 PM, said:

I got an old rev. Gigabyte AMD card, which died suddenly after a week, but replaced it with the next rev and it was fine. My partner now runs that card with no issues.

I upgraded to an HIS AMD card, which crashed and spazed randomly. Returned that one the next day.

I got a Sapphire AMD in its place, which had some issues, but the most recent version of the drivers seems to have fixed those issues. (knock on wood).

Someone seems to have had bad luck.