Best Nvidia AIB company?

A

asperity

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
143
Personally, I've only bought from Zotac and EVGA. I found that EVGA has the best customer service but high prices while Zotac has the lowest prices with decent performance.

Does anyone else have opinions on the other nvidia AIB companies? How are the ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte cards in terms of performance? With the new GTX 980 Ti coming out, I want to get something that has the best performance and cooling.
 
I have had a ton of cards in the last 10 years and I can't really say I have had any real issues with the many manufacturers I have had. AMD, Nvidia I have had MSi, HIS, Gigabyte, Sapphire, Galaxy, EVGA, etc. I have only ever had to RMA two cards (HIS 7950 & 7970). I usually sell my cards after a couple years or give to a friend.

I don't think you can go wrong with any.

EVGA has a step-up plan but I have never used it. I hear their support is also top notch. But really I havent had to really use such services often.

Go with coolest one that doesn't have locked down voltage.
 
As far as I know the Gigabyte G1 Gaming is the best 970 and 980 overall, for cooler/OC quality.
I would avoid ASUS and just buy MSI instead, TF5 is better than Strix, and you don't have to worry about dealing with ASUS' customer service.

I don't really buy Nvidia products anymore but I always (and will always) buy EVGA exclusively. American company, support 'em patriots.
 
Is Galaxy still selling cards in the US under a different name? I feel like the Galaxy HOF series were just about the equivalent of Sapphire's Vapor-X in terms how nice the coolers looked.
 
asperity said:
Is Galaxy still selling cards in the US under a different name? I feel like the Galaxy HOF series were just about the equivalent of Sapphire's Vapor-X in terms how nice the coolers looked.
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I think they are going by GALAX now.
 
Get an eVGA. If a card isn't eVGA, don't buy it. It's that simple.
 
rabidz7 said:
Get an eVGA. If a card isn't eVGA, don't buy it. It's that simple.
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It's just too bad the ACX cooler is garbage.
But for a $650 piece of hardware I would go with EVGA for sure. Can't imagine a new card breaking down 31 days after purchase and you gotta deal with ASUS.
 
asperity said:
Is Galaxy still selling cards in the US under a different name? I feel like the Galaxy HOF series were just about the equivalent of Sapphire's Vapor-X in terms how nice the coolers looked.
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I don't think Galax is providing product to US-based retailers, but you can buy directly from them if you live in the US.
 
EVGA has great service, but their budget is limited compared to larger builders, so they can't afford to make the best cooler designs. Do consider EVGA as a top pick, but research the card you want to buy first. They often cheap-out and reuse simple reference blowers, and sometimes their 3rd-party fans have issues.

As far as AIB company with the best cooler design reputation, that would be Asus. They stepped-up as the first maker of Direct-CU, and they have also managed to design some of the most efficient Strix cards without making them overly massive. Gigabyte is a very close second here, with MSI slightly behind (they both have good designs, but MSI has a rep for cheap fans that fail more often). And of course Asus has a reputation of poor service, although I've never had to use their RMA.

Your call which you go with. None is "perfect."
 
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defaultluser said:
EVGA has great service, but their budget is limited compared to larger builders, so they can't afford to make the best cooler designs. Do consider EVGA as a top pick, but research the card you want to buy first. They often cheap-out and reuse simple reference blowers, and sometimes their 3rd-party fans have issues.

As far as AIB company with the best cooler design reputation, that would be Asus. They stepped-up as the first maker of Direct-CU, and they have also managed to design some of the most efficient Strix cards without making them overly massive. Gigabyte is a very close second here, with MSI slightly behind (they both have good designs, but MSI has a rep for cheap fans that fail more often). And of course Asus has a reputation of poor service, although I've never had to use their RMA.

Your call which you go with. None is "perfect."
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I agree: ASUS has the best product while EVGA has the best customer service.
 
I'd get TwinFrozr from MSI over any Asus card anytime. Running pair of 970s MSI Gaming in SLI, and there is no such issue as noise or heat, compared to the pisspoor Strix SLI performance I witnessed. I never was disappointed with MSI solutions.
 
Anemone said:
Evga would be my preferred as well.
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Guess people have forgotten how badly they screwed up the 970 launch.

I used to like EVGA but no more. MSI 980 Ti gaming 6G for me, after the great experience with the 970 Gaming 4G.
 
How is MSI's RMA service generally perceived?
I was looking at 970 reviews the past few days, the 970 ACX 2.0+ gets stomped by the TF.
 
EVGA all day! They don't have the best air cooler, but that new hybrid cooler that they have is the tits.
 
I only buy evga because their cs is top notch. Over the years I've rma'd quite a few cards with them with no Hassell. Then again i only buy reference blower style cards because i prefer the exhaust out the back of my case and i run either 2 or 3 way sli. So that's my preference. I know i can get a few more fps ands maybe have my gpu's run a couple of degrees cooler if i went with asus or msi or whatever other flavor of the month cards are best at the time but i like knowing if i have a problem i can get an English speaking American on the phone taking care of my issue in 5 minutes 24/7.
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
How is MSI's RMA service generally perceived?
I was looking at 970 reviews the past few days, the 970 ACX 2.0+ gets stomped by the TF.
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Personally don't know how it's in the US/NA but in the EU it's one of the speedier ones around (RMAd a mobo got it back after 10 days in the holiday season of 2013 - so around 7-8 if you take out Christmas and New Year, the legal term for returning RMAs here is 15 working days). Granted it's not handled directly by MSI but by local distributors.

@OP usually EVGA has the best CS but lately they are slipping in the hardware department (see beta 970s, most of their custom PCB except the Kingpins and Classy's)
 
Last ASUS RMA I saw, they downgraded the guy from a 780 Ti to a 780 and it took him several months to sort it out.
The one before that, it took them 4 months and ASUS sent back the exact same card still broken.
 
I always go with EVGA for video cards because of the customer service. If I had to go to another company, it would probably be Gigabyte then MSI. I wouldn't buy Asus or Zotac
 
Considering I'd be ripping the HSF off for a water block, EVGA becomes a no brainer. I don't think Asus' better cooler can trump their terrible service... Even if their failure rate is half of EVGA's, the magnitude of the PITA it would be to get it fixed properly if they give you the run around represents a much bigger risk
 
Bonus points for putting an estimated date on something other people might just say "Soon".
 
TaintedSquirrel said:
Bonus points for putting an estimated date on something other people might just say "Soon".
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Yeah, I'm a marketing guy and even I hate when people do that shit. As long as we're not under NDA I generally share whatever I can without guessing. Aggravates the home office sometimes but I find it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
 
Galaxy said:
Yeah, I'm a marketing guy and even I hate when people do that shit. As long as we're not under NDA I generally share whatever I can without guessing. Aggravates the home office sometimes but I find it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.
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I'm a fan of any company where a marketing person is comfortable with saying something like "Yeah, I'm a marketing guy and even I hate when people do that shit," in a public forum ;).
 
Let's see, I've used:

MSI
eVGA
Asus
PNY
Elsa
Hercules
Diamond

- and a bunch of others I can't think of right now. I know, I know, many of them aren't around or don't sell consumer graphics hardware anymore...


Best out of them all for me? Elsa, MSI, Asus, and eVGA.
 
I would have to say EVGA after dealing with Gigabyte's poor customer service.
 
I've stuck with eVGA for a long time. I've never had to use their support system because their graphics products I've used never have failed. Unless beer is spilled on them. :eek: But, that is another story...
 
Galaxy said:
Can't say for sure yet but based on prior launches I'd say to expect it sometime in July.
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Based on previous launches of the HOF series would it be safe to say that the 980 Ti HOF will be around 750+ USD?
 
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