Do brand models make a difference in performance?

[Yease]

So i'm a noob and in the market for a new GPU and have gone with the 580, however different brands of 580 are different prices e.g the PNY 580 is the cheapest i can find and EVGA are the most expensive with brands such as Zotac and Asus somewhere in the middle. I was wondering if this has anything to do with performance or how well they overclock, would i see the same results from the PNY and have a good a chance of getting a good OC as the others?

Sorry if this seems like a stupid questiln but as i said i'm a noobie, so bare with me guys.

 

[gurusan]

No. Some have higher stock clocks than others, some have different coolers, but the major difference with cheaper brands is their warranties.

Provided all cards are clocked the same then no, there won't be a difference between Asus, EVGA, or Zotac.

 

[Sin_Chase]

Depends.

Generally they are much the same.

Pre-overclocked models might have been binned to find good/reliable clockers.

Some cards have value-added stuff. Be it cables, non-reference cooling, bundled software etc

Some cards are literally no different to a reference design with very little in the box and cost more.

Depends what you want to do, I do not overclock my GPUs however my current GTX285 is a pre-clocked model, it did not cost me any extra though. If you want a card, which works, at stock clocks get the cheapest.

If you value quieter fans, more efficient cooling solutions then look at spending the extra for a non-reference design.

 

[Faztastic]

So i'm a noob and in the market for a new GPU and have gone with the 580, however different brands of 580 are different prices e.g the PNY 580 is the cheapest i can find and EVGA are the most expensive with brands such as Zotac and Asus somewhere in the middle. I was wondering if this has anything to do with performance or how well they overclock, would i see the same results from the PNY and have a good a chance of getting a good OC as the others?

Sorry if this seems like a stupid questiln but as i said i'm a noobie, so bare with me guys.

Certain more expensive brands usually are made with better quality capacitors and coolers, and occasionaly slightly higher clock speeds we are talking about 10-20mhz here so marginal.

This in essence is meant to make the product last longer and overclock slightly better but in this day and age in my experience it doesnt make any difference, due to the competition being so tough close.

The only reason you should consider a more expensive brand is if you want to overclock a fair bit and need a better cooler that is more efficient and quieter with a non reference pcb.

and yes warranties.

 

[cmndr_andi]

The main differences between graphics cards of the same model number, but different brands/versions are generally:

- Warranty -PNY for example has 2 years warranty, while EVGA cards often have a 10 year warranty, also the warranty replacement turn-around time varies between manufacturers

- Component Quality -these should at least be as good as the reference versions, but some companies do install better quality VRAM and other components which can be a benfit for longevity, heat output, overclockability etc. But I wouldn't get too worked up about component quality - as the reference component requirements are usually more than sufficient for years of good use.

- Cooler used -most use the stock cooler which is of a reference design, while others use custom coolers - which usually cost more. These tend to be both cooler and quieter than the stock reference cooler (though definitely check this with reviews as it isn't always the case). Cards with good custom cooler often can overclock further than standard cards - as the GPU can be kept cooler. One thing to note is that stock coolers usually exhaust most of the hot air out of the back of the case, while most custom cooler don't exhaust it out of the back - so these cards can heat up the rest of your system.

- Factory overclock -Graphics cards have a reference clockspeed, which AMD or Nvidia have validated with their reference card design. However, card manufacturers often apply more aggressive settings to provide better performance out of the box. Even though these "factory overclock" are more than the reference levels - the manufacturer warranty will cover them entirely should you have any issues. Two thing you should note about factory overclocks is that they often command a price premium % much greater than the performance increase %, also if they are implemented on cards with stock coolers then the manufacturers often increase the fan speeds to compensate for the increased heat - which means more noise than a standard card.

- Games included in the bundle - pretty self explainatory, some card come bundled with a few new £30 games. If you intended to buy these games anyway (or are willing to sell the codes on) then they can make a certain card a lot better value.

 

[Yease]

Ah okay, thank for the great replies.

Would i be fine going with the PNY580 then or is it worth paying the extra £20 for a Zotac?
Edit: Being drawn towards a Asus GeForce GTX 580 782MHz 1536MB PCI-Express HDMI (DirectCU II) looks like a good overclocker.

 

[SheepBeast]

Ah okay, thank for the great replies.

Would i be fine going with the PNY580 then or is it worth paying the extra £20 for a Zotac?
Edit: Being drawn towards a Asus GeForce GTX 580 782MHz 1536MB PCI-Express HDMI (DirectCU II) looks like a good overclocker.

i'd go with the asus as the quality of products i have owned from them has earned my brand loyalty

 

[cmndr_andi]

The ASUS GTX 580 DirectCU II is a really nice card and probably one of my top choices too. It uses a custom cooler which is massive, but really quiet and keeps the card nice and cool. However, bear in mind that the cooler takes up three slots (not the usual two) so running two cards in SLI will be a problem if you even plan to go down that road. If you never plan to SLI, then buy with confidence- it's a good bit of kit.

 

[Yease]

Thanks guys, gonna go for the Asus.