Q1
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-Gold plated TV out and DVI connector that allows better signal quality and less oxidization
-Custom made cooling solutions with systematic noise reduction
-Stylish Ramsinks that assists with heat penetration
Q2
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When i look to prurchase a graphics card, i take in a number of things into consideration. The first is its performance (as at the end of the day, its why you upgrade). I expect every card i buy to be able to play most current games at my top resolution (1280x1024) with atleast 30 fps. This is beacuse i like to keep my graphics card for atleas 2 years and thus i require above avearge performance to begin with. the next this i look for is if a GFX card is in my price range, however this is flexible as i am more than willing to stretch my budget for a card which will provide better performance to price. the final thing i take into consideration is aesthetics (silly i know). this is because, although i know i will probably not be looking at it for the majority of its useful life, it is nice to know that whenever you open it up, theres a shiny heatsink/cooling unit with some great looking stickers. In other words, its a childish thing. I personally couldn't care less for the amount of noise it produces, so long as my windows are intact, im happy with a futureproof card. Also, as of late, i am more inclined to go wih NVidia due to their wider range of cards (more price cuts) and increased number of bundles with free stuff or lots of cabling.