GPU manufacturers pros and Cons

[VigiFlyer]

The rank ordering in my head:

Green Team

1. ASUS and MSI
2. AORUS
3. EVGA
4. Non-AORUS Gigabyte
5. PNY and Palit
6. Zotac
7. Inno3D


Red Team

1. ASUS and MSI
2. XFX
3. Sapphire
4. Gigabyte and Powercolor
5. ASROCK

It's more complex than a simple manufacturer average though. e.g. both PNY and Zotac make some great cards (HOF and Holo Black respectively) while ASUS and MSI both make a weak card (Dual and Ventus 3X respectively).

Thanks for sharing your list. One of the main concerns for me is thermal performance. I’ve seen a few videos of people replacing thermal pads and at first glance they don’t look particularly thermally efficient judging by the thermals after pad replacement. I’d rather not have to do that.

 

[philo-sofa]

Thanks for sharing your list. One of the main concerns for me is thermal performance. I’ve seen a few videos of people replacing thermal pads and at first glance they don’t look particularly thermally efficient judging by the thermals after pad replacement. I’d rather not have to do that.

Thanks Although it was luck of the draw, being concerned about memory temps am glad I happened to get the TUF. Both their AMD and Nvidia cards connect the memory ICs directly to heatpipes and on to radiators. The thermal pads tear if you remove the heatsinks (which afaik is common) but otherwise appear solid.

In practice my 3080 memory can hit 98c, not bad but aftermarket pads would probably lower that substantially.

 

[Alan McFall]

MSI are usually my brand of choice, I think they hooked me with twin frozr II on the 6870, never had thermal/quality issues with any of the cards I've had since.

Current situation is grab what you can when there is a deal / offer on. Or try for an FE drop.. don't buy at shelf prices.

 

[VigiFlyer]

MSI are usually my brand of choice, I think they hooked me with twin frozr II on the 6870, never had thermal/quality issues with any of the cards I've had since.

Current situation is grab what you can when there is a deal / offer on. Or try for an FE drop.. don't buy at shelf prices.

Yes it is a bit of a lottery atm. I’m trying to line up for an FE card. Does anyone know when they are?

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Green Team

1. Founders Edition
2. Palit, ASUS and MSI
3. Gigabyte
4. EVGA
5. PNY
6. Zotac
7. Inno3D

Just make sure you upgrade warranty on the EVGA's and register Gigabyte ASAP to get their longer warranty cover. Asus also allow you to upgrade warranty.

 

[Jacky60]

Warranty period is the most important attribute, Zotac Nvidia and Sapphire is my preferred AMD partner. Never XFX as they cheap out on important components
to rip off their customers and nerf their cards.

 

[BigBANGtheory]

Warranty is increasingly important as the replacement cost and unavailability of GPUs has risen so much in the past 5years.

I would immediately exclude anything less than 3yrs and never buy anything (computer related) 2nd hand above £500.

 

[VigiFlyer]

Warranty period is the most important attribute, Zotac Nvidia and Sapphire is my preferred AMD partner. Never XFX as they cheap out on important components
to rip off their customers and nerf their cards.

please excuse my ignorance, What does nerf mean?

 

[philo-sofa]

please excuse my ignorance, What does nerf mean?

Reduce the potency or effect of something. It comes from FPS games, as in making a particular firearm into a nerf gun.

 

[VigiFlyer]

Reduce the potency or effect of something. It comes from FPS games, as in making a particular firearm into a nerf gun.

Ah ok thanks for explaining.

 

[Jacky60]

The consensus from you ladies seems to be that I'm desperately wrong Go on @Aretak @Gerard, I'm happy to be corrected. What would you put where?

For what it's worth while I'm more certain about Nvidia cards I'd suggest I'm about right for current AMD GPUs. ASUS have excellent cooling at least, am less sure about the PCB itself, similarly the current XFX line-up reviews damn well.

XFX might be vaguely OK for AMD but I have severe trust issues since my 4870 (iirc it was that model) from them turned out to have gimped memory. That saved XFX a couple of dollars and left me with sub par performance, never again XFX.

 

[Jacky60]

Yes it is a bit of a lottery atm. I’m trying to line up for an FE card. Does anyone know when they are?

You need to get a telegram or discord Nvidia parts alert which you need to respond to immediately you're informed they're in stock. There's something about it on the 3080 FE thread I think but you'll have to look as I haven't.

 

[heatonpkmassive]

XFX might be vaguely OK for AMD but I have severe trust issues since my 4870 (iirc it was that model) from them turned out to have gimped memory. That saved XFX a couple of dollars and left me with sub par performance, never again XFX.

XFX are awful products these last few years.

 

[VigiFlyer]

You need to get a telegram or discord Nvidia parts alert which you need to respond to immediately you're informed they're in stock. There's something about it on the 3080 FE thread I think but you'll have to look as I haven't.

I’ve heard of discord. What is telegram?

 

[BigBANGtheory]

I’ve heard of discord. What is telegram?

telegram is cocaine ordered over the internet

 

[VigiFlyer]

telegram is cocaine ordered over the internet

And there was me thinking it was an antiquated communication system.