Looking to buy a GTX 780

[darrenkarp]

Are there any specific brands which I should be looking at or avoid?

 

[darrenkarp]

I should have added a 2GB will be fine.

 

[Smok3alot]

I should have added a 2GB will be fine.

there's no 2gb 780's there all only 3gb at the moment!....

 

[setter]

All standard gtx 780's are 3gb models, though i think evga are releasing a 6gb model. Good brands to go for are evga as mentioned, gigabyte, or msi. The latter two have models with much better non reference coolers, gigabytes windforce and msi's twin frozr. Evga and gigabyte are meant to be good for warranty/customer service.

 

[LtMatt]

Do you mean a 760/770? Because there are no 2gb 780's.

 

[darrenkarp]

looking at the prices of a new 780 my budget won't stretch that far and I'd only buy a used one from someone I trust so it looks like a 770.

 

[LtMatt]

looking at the prices of a new 780 my budget won't stretch that far and I'd only buy a used one from someone I trust so it looks like a 770.

What's your budget? Because there are probably faster AMD cards available with more vram, more bandwidth and free games within your price range. Would you consider AMD, or do you want Nvidia specifically for a reason like Physx?

 

[darrenkarp]

Has to be Nvidia. My budget is a max of £275

 

[LtMatt]

Has to be Nvidia. My budget is a max of £275

In that case id probably go with one of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-225-EA&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

 

[darrenkarp]

Looks like a very nice card indeed. My issue is that I've seen some 780's go on eBay for around that money or even less and I'm just concerned that perhaps I'm not doing the right thing and should buy a used 780 but that takes me back to the problem of not knowing the source.

 

[LtMatt]

Looks like a very nice card indeed. My issue is that I've seen some 780's go on eBay for around that money or even less and I'm just concerned that perhaps I'm not doing the right thing and should buy a used 780 but that takes me back to the problem of not knowing the source.

780 second hand sure would make more sense in most situations, but you run the risk of no warranty outside of 45 days with the auction site.

 

[setter]

Id be inclined to go for this.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-115-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1750

Bit cheaper and has a much better cooler and gigabyte have a uk based returns department in the event of something going wrong.

EDIT. Personally id be wary of buying a gpu on an auction site. My own 780 in sig was bought secondhand on here. But at least i know if something go's wrong the original owner will help with the rma procedure.

 

[Ian Evey]

In B Grade there is a windforce ghz edition here > http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-390-GI&groupid=595&catid=683

Its £329 but you get 90 days warranty with OCUK and sometimes whatever is left with the manufacturer, most of the time B Grade is just customer returns ( for whatever reason ).

if you can stretch to £329 then thats a lot faster out of the box and safer than the Bay.

 

[darrenkarp]

That cooler certainly looks great.

 

[setter]

Good shout Ian, if i wasnt so skint id be all over that like a cheap suit myself.

Indeed, the cooler on the wf cards is superb, extremely quiet even under heavy load and stock auto fan. Ive owned 5 wf cards in recent years and all have really impressed me.

 

[darrenkarp]

In B Grade there is a windforce ghz edition here > http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-390-GI&groupid=595&catid=683

Its £329 but you get 90 days warranty with OCUK and sometimes whatever is left with the manufacturer, most of the time B Grade is just customer returns ( for whatever reason ).

if you can stretch to £329 then thats a lot faster out of the box and safer than the Bay.

My budget simply doesn't stretch that far I'm afraid.

 

[AWPC]

Are there any specific brands which I should be looking at or avoid?

EVGA & Gigabyte have the best RMA process right now so I would go for one of them but your not going to buy any decent 780 for much less than £400 so perhaps for £275 look at a decent GTX 770 instead.

OCUK sell the cheapest 780 @ £359.99 with a free game you could sell after to reduce it a little but still nowhere near £275.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-200-OK&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341

Do not buy a used 780 either you may not get the warranty transferred most of these cards are reliable but I just had an expensive GTX 780Ti die a few days ago for no reason on internet browsing & now need to wait up to 28 days for a warranty repair/replacement!

 

[LtMatt]

In B Grade there is a windforce ghz edition here > http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BG-390-GI&groupid=595&catid=683

Its £329 but you get 90 days warranty with OCUK and sometimes whatever is left with the manufacturer, most of the time B Grade is just customer returns ( for whatever reason ).

if you can stretch to £329 then thats a lot faster out of the box and safer than the Bay.

This.

 

[darrenkarp]

Looks like the GB 770 then.

 

[setter]

Mind if i ask what specific features is it that means you need an nv card? As mentioned above, you could probably get something from amd within your budget.