Why are XFX always the cheapest?

[krooton]

I've seen plenty of nightmare posts about their RMA process, but how does that lead to them almost always being the cheapest manufacturer of a card?

Surely the general production method is the same across the board? Or do they really cut corners on parts like voltage controllers and whatnot?

 

[Broken Hope]

They no longer provide any warranty service themselves, it's passed onto the retailer, you'll notice all the cards listed here state that the 2 year warranty is with OcUK.

 

[errata]

cheapest could be more reliable or lesss, we cant tell

more reliable would reduce return rate = cheaper
cut costs ake retailer take risk = cheaper but may lose retailers

 

[ThomasTheTankEngine]

There are always ways to produce things cheaper. Their factory might be in a country which pays their workers less. They might transport all their parts via boat, when other companies use planes. They might not put as much into the advertising department.

XFX are usually the cheapest of the "big name" brands, but even they are often undercut by companies like inno3d or the generic no-name ocuk graphics cards.

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

I have an XFX 6850. Can't say I'm totally convinced by it, well mainly it's the fan that causes this ill feeling. Though the fan shroud does feel unusually nasty and cheap...

I didn't buy it because it cheap, it was a size issue, so to speak. I would have preferred to stick with Sapphire or Asus, and pay that little more but couldn't.

 

[dave_beast]

I've had an 5750 and have a 6870 now, both from XFX - good cards imo.

 

[Barzini]

I briefly owned a XFX 5850, before returning it and paying a bit extra to get a Sapphire 5850 Vapor-X.

To be honest there was nothing wrong with the XFX card - it functioned fine and came at a good price. I just didn't like the cooler on the card - it was a non-reference fan which dumped a lot of the hot air back into the case, and it was quite loud when running games. There was also very little scope for overclocking.

However, the same criticism can be made of many of the standard non-reference cards, including the standard Sapphire 5850. The Vapor-X 5850 card has been a great card for me (I love how quiet it is, even at high fan speeds) and would definitely go with that brand again in the future.

 

[krooton]

I've got a non-ref XFX 5850, but as I have great case cooling and don't bother with overclocking gfx cards, it suites me fine.

 

[setter]

Ive owned 4 or 5 xfx cards, the only one's i had any issues with were a gtx 280, (memory failed) and a gtx 275 that replaced it, (died a day after i got it). Got another one a few days later and paired it up with an identical model in sli, they ran fine, only sold them on a few weeks ago.