Video cards retailers in Paris, France

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carlmart

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Next September I will be flying to France on a sort holiday, and it might be a nice chance to get me a new video card.

My budget would be up $200, which in Euros should be around 145.

I wonder what good computer stuff retailers are there in Paris and what's the best Nvidia type I can get for that money.

Of course I can google for this, but a recommendation is always welcome.

Thanks!
 
Where do you live normally that buying locally in France is the best option? That's going to be more expensive than just ordering online I would think.
 
I live in Paris.

There are a couple of options.

If you are dead set on going retail, you need to go the Rue Montgallet. This is the Chinese area and there are dozens of shops selling hardware. You should check out this website.

http://www.rue-montgallet.com/

This will tell you who has what, where, and at the best price.

Personally, I prefer doing my shopping online ie...Amazon.fr, Grosbill.fr, LDLC, as prices are almost the same and you have a more open return policy.

Grosbill.fr does have 2 retail stores too, one in the 4th Arrondissement and another in the 13th. Grosbill is pretty good too, I'd check them out first actually...
 
To add to what RIzen said, in France, you will pay approx. 20% VAT. So, with the same money, you will get a worse GPU than the one you can find in USA. With your 200$, in France you will get a GPU worth 160$ (the rest is VAT). So why would you want to punish yourself like that?

Maybe you should do the opposite. If for whatever reason you need a GPU while in France, buy it in USA, throw it in your luggage and open it in Paris! :)
 
I do not live in the USA: in live in Rio de Janeiro.

But Rizen does have a point, and Faethon too. I'm very distrustful of getting back the VAT when I get out of France. The stories I have read about people not getting it back, for many reasons, are too many.

I wish I knew how to make things properly so I can get the VAT, if possible at the airport itself.

Prices are also higher in France than in the USA. But it's hard to make a comparison, because you can't quite be sure the model is exactly the same.

The ones I was considering were these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133470

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487028

Mostly because they have good feedback from Newegg customers.

Mmarsh: are your interests just in computer or in video too? My primary purchases in Paris will be some pro video stuff: a Sachtler tripod, a Ninja Blade recorder, a Tascam DR-60 recorder. From what I could find out, the best prices are at VISUAL IMPACT FRANCE, but I wonder if there are other places to go for such stuff.

I also think VISUAL IMPACT FRANCE might be safer in duly processing my VAT return.

Let's hope this explains my intentions better.
 
carlmart said:
I do not live in the USA: in live in Rio de Janeiro.

But Rizen does have a point, and Faethon too. I'm very distrustful of getting back the VAT when I get out of France. The stories I have read about people not getting it back, for many reasons, are too many.

I wish I knew how to make things properly so I can get the VAT, if possible at the airport itself.

Prices are also higher in France than in the USA. But it's hard to make a comparison, because you can't quite be sure the model is exactly the same.

The ones I was considering were these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133470

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487028

Mostly because they have good feedback from Newegg customers.

Mmarsh: are your interests just in computer or in video too? My primary purchases in Paris will be some pro video stuff: a Sachtler tripod, a Ninja Blade recorder, a Tascam DR-60 recorder. From what I could find out, the best prices are at VISUAL IMPACT FRANCE, but I wonder if there are other places to go for such stuff.

I also think VISUAL IMPACT FRANCE might be safer in duly processing my VAT return.

Let's hope this explains my intentions better.
Click to expand...

The people above ignore one major problem...most US retailers do not ship abroad (like NewEgg) included because most lack a US export license. TigersDirect is the only one I know of than can (and you have to call them to get shipping rates).
You could use a Package forwarder like Bongo but after you are done with the fees, shipping rates and Duty you will have paid well over what it will have cost you here. It is not cost effective to buy it in the States and ship (at least going to France, Rio might be better). Better to pay the 20% VAT then the INTL shipping, duties. etc.

For example: I bought a Logitech 710 US QWERTY Keyboard for $77 on Amazon and shipped it here. With Bongo fees, Intl Shipping fees, and Duty the total cost was $205. Your best bet is to buy it here unless its something you cannot get locally.

Sorry Can't help you with the Video, not my hobby. I only know of the FNAC (big electronics chain) but I doubt you'll find what you are looking for there. Amazon is your best bet.
 
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I will not be shipping anything from the USA or even the UK or Germany to France. Not even Amazon is an option. I need a physical store to buy from.

Then if the price is fine, compared to that in the US or Brazil, I will buy it. Prices at Visual Impact are quite competitive, even when compared with the US. Unfortunately they do not sell computer stuff.

Rue Mongallet seems to have good prices, and it's a shop, isn't it?
 
I didn't mean Amazon.com (USA), I meant Amazon.fr (France). You'll pay local shipping (a few EUROS and its often free) that's it. Its perfectly good unless you want to browse...

Rue Montgallet isnt a shop...its a city street with LOTS of computer shops on it run mostly by Asians. Think of it like a marketplace. Just go under Google Maps and you'll see what I am talking about.

The website is a price comparison of ALL the shops selling that particular item, (i.e which shop has it cheapest). There are also reviews of both the item and the seller (and not all the stores are good).

This used to be the cheapest soruce in France, but the websites are slightly better now. They are also a pain in the pass when it comes to returns so if you use them make sure you know what you are looking for.

Grosbill is both a shop and a website. I generally prefer them (easier to deal with). They have 2 locations but neither are near Montgallet.

Prices are higher in Europe (because of VAT and because of the EURO) you cannot avoid that. Compared to Brazil I couldn't tell you never been there...
 
I also meant Amazon.fr, but even if I will be renting an apartment to deliver the stuff, I'm afraid I might not get my VAT return buying from them. Also I don't write French, so it might be difficult to communicate.

Already found Montgallet on Google map, where's Grosbill?
 
There are 2 Locations (I translated it for you)

http://www.grosbill.com/

GROSBILL PARIS 4e

Address:
10, rue du Plâtre
75004 Paris

Hours Mon to Friday
11:00 à 19:30



Saturday
11:00 to 19:00

Stored Closed May 1

Customer Support
Mon to Sat
11:00 to 18:00

Train
Métro Stations:

Hôtel de ville (line 1 & 11)

or

Rambuteau (line 11)

GROSBILL PARIS 13e

60, Boulevard de l'Hôpital
75013 Paris

Hours Mon to Friday
10:00 to 19:30

Saturday
11:00 to 19:00

Stored Closed May 1

Customer Support
Mon to Sat
11:00 à 18:00

By Train

RER C - Gare d'Austerlitz

Metro Saint Marcel (Line 5)

Since I have no idea where you are renting your apartment I would probably tell you to go to GROSBILL 4 as its more central. GROSBILL 13 is in SE Paris.
 
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Even though Paris is a great place to visit, had my honeymoon there last year, after reading this thread I'm glad I live in America :cool:
 
hi carl. i am brazilian and would advise you NOT to buy a video card in france.

Even if you receive VAT back when leaving france, and i believe you will receive it back, prices in europe are too high to actually make a difference. use brazilian mercadolivre or a good brazilian store like kabum would be a better choice, especially if you are not buying an EVGA card ( EVGA has better global RMA than other brands).

cheking kabum prices today, your USD200 would get you a 750 or a 750Ti, buying in france would only be worth it if you: get VAT back and do not pay import taxes when coming back, and even then the saves would not be worth the hassle of going out of your way in Paris to visit some obscure chinese commercial center. if all else fails, contact me with PM and i would sell you a radeon 6950 for R$400.

Enjoy Paris!
 
Not Radeons for me, thank you! And yes, maybe buying video card in Paris might not be a good deal.

I need an Nvidia based card because of the video editing program I use (Avid MC).

My last two cards were GT640, first an EVGA and then a Zotac, that proved short lived. Both lasted then than a year, and neither seemed to overheat.

Zotac seems to have a 2-year warranty service, which is rare in Brazil, but it's taking more than a month to get a new one back. Pity I didn't try the warranty with the the EVGA. :(

But what I see now is that I might need a good replacement card when some card is servicing, perhaps the GT640. Perhaps I should try a different approach and find a better, more reliable video card for everyday work and leave the GT640 for basic stuff.

Larger dissipation, in heatsink size and fan, might be a good precaution. And better speed, of course.

So what can I get, perhaps in that that 750/750i range, if that is a good one. The important word now is RELIABILITY. A working horse that can take everything and never break. Is there such a beast?
 
new silicon processes have a hidden cost of lower resistance to Electromigration so newer is not necessarily better in reliability.

About " only NVIDIA". NOPE, you do not need an NVIDIA card for proper avid functionality.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=324790
http://community.avid.com/forums/p/122497/704434.aspx
http://news.doddleme.com/equipment/avid-and-amd-yes-no-maybe-so/

reading the tech mambo-jambo, there were rumors back in 2005 that openGl acceleration did not work on AMD cards, but that was solved around 2008. Open GL acceleration may or may not be a deal breaker, since AVID has qualified Intel systems without NVIDIA graphics, using the Intel HD4000 integrated GPU.

just to prove my point, check this:
http://www.videoguys.com/Blog/PL/0xf12a9f6d177ce263b212d4a30ca20e63.aspx

Macintosh: The Macintosh platform currently does not offer NVIDIA graphics cards for use on any of the Macintosh systems that we test (only AMD/ATI or Intel). Avid qualifies the standard shipping graphics card with Mac Pro, iMac or MacBook Pro system that are outlined on the Macintosh Specifications document listed above.. If there is a choice, we will choose the card with more onboard memory for use with Media Composer. Also, we will choose any graphics card over the onboard Intel graphics. The Intel onboard graphics is part of the CPU chip and classified as low end graphics. It cost less since you are not buying an optional/additional graphics card but you get what you pay for. Older Macintosh systems had a choice between NVIDIA GeForce and ATI. Avid has qualified NVIDIA but the ATI should work just as well. There is no GPU acceleration on a Macintosh therefore the card choice is not as relevant as it is on a PC.

PC’s: For workstation PCs, there are many choices from HP and Dell for each system. If there is a choice, we will always pick NVIDIA (Quadro or FX series cards). Laptops have less of a choice in graphics card options but again, we will also pick NVIDIA (Quadro, FX, or GeForce series cards first). GPU acceleration only applies to certain NVIDIA Quadro or FX cards (mid range or higher) and there is no GPU acceleration on laptops or low end graphics.

it is questionable if those 640s were doing you ANY good, especially if your system has an Intel CPU with HD 4000.
 
I'm not getting what conflict would I have between the 640 and HD4000. Please tell me what it is and what should I do about it?

About the URLs you sent, they do not completely liberate ATI cards for Avid. One of them deals with using an AMD based system with Avid, which they do not support, and that I can confirm does work.

People are not in agreement in the Community or at Videoguys that ATIs have no issues, when compared with Nvidias.

In the past, problems with ATI cards seemed to be plenty, and I did read about them on the Avid Community. In any case I will write a topic there to update those questions.

Onboard memory is certainly an issue for Avid MC processing, as it speeds up rendering. OTOS I probably will never invest on a Quadro or FX card, as I do not think they justify their cost. A friend of mine, working on a major production company in Argentina, also tells me the latest Quadros are having earlier deaths, like it seems to be happening with latest Nvidia cards. My 640 card did not get to a year life.

So, what recent graphics are proving reliable? Nvidia if possible.
 
I did make this reliability question on another thread, but I think the main title didn't catch the eye of many people.

I have bad poor experiences from two GT 640 cards: an EVGA and a Zotac. The former lasted less than the second, so EVGA defenders beware.

So my question (and quest) here is for reliable graphic broads. Nvidia types are preferred, but having had good luck also with some ATI is wecolme to say so.

By reliability I mean having lasted more than two years at least.

Budget is between $100 and $200.

This quest probably goes against what the gamers look for, but my games I play are not so demanding. What I do is video editing with Avid, so that I has to perform with full-screen.
 
I would say if a fan fails, you might want a video card with a heatpipe cooler. They're usually a little more expensive however.
 
No, I really didn't want to rub that off! Really not!

I did mention that to see if some local person would help me and come along, as don't speak French.

But now it really seems it may not be a good deal, considering I won't be paying much less than in Brazil, and the warranty wouldn't be valid. When I buy in the USA, prices justify the risk at least.

I opened another thread now to see which graphic boards are considered the more reliable, as I think the GT640, even if made by EVGA seem not to be.
 
No, it would have to be a physical store, not mail delivered.

In any case I won't be buying that card in France anymore, only the video equipment.

Buying a new graphic card still goes, but in Brazil.
 
If you are not Brazilian, It's quite likely I know about Brazilian taxes a bit more than you.

The question is I have seen the graphic cards taxes in France, and adding 20% VAT, which is not 100% sure you will get back, final price gets close to a mere 20% savings. Not too much for not being right to any warranty or anything.
 
carlmart said:
If you are not Brazilian, It's quite likely I know about Brazilian taxes a bit more than you.
Click to expand...

Well, I live in the country next to it, and I've been several times to Brazil... pretty steep prices there...
 
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