Features - QOTW: Which graphics card partner do you trust the most?

[najiro]

RMA procedures differ from country to country since RMA centers are also in different locations. I used Palit, EVGA, Sapphire and ASUS video cards so far. I like the solid construction of EVGA cards. Very heavy too compared to nvidia cards of other brands of the same variant. However, most EVGA cards are also hotter than the competition (perhaps the reason why they dual fan signature 2 appeared). Right now I am amazed with ASUS cards. The extra VRM is very impressive! Not really a fan of the beefy heat sink modules but they are effective. Maybe it's something they should improve in the near future. Right now, I am loving ASUS cards.

[AGTDenton]

ASUS, Gigabyte, Gainward, Palit are my top choices when searching for a new card, not necessarily in that order. Though I will always check out other brands to see what they are doing. I have only ever had one ASUS card fail on me and that was the fan, got it replaced under warranty and dint have any problems with the replacement. Even if I do have an issue with a particular brand I won't write them off just because of one bad experience. All brands have failures, its whether its down to a design fault, they admit to it, do something about it and how often it happens between models.

I've had better gaming experiences with nVidia based cards in recent years but I always check out the other options too just make sure I'm not losing out. Sadly its been a while since more than 2 parties were part of the decision making process. The days of having nVidia, 3dfx, Ati and Matrox as an option are long gone. And intel onboard options have generally only been ok for much older games or 2D platformers.

[AGTDenton]

Most graphics cards are reference - I thought that this meant that they were physically manufactured by NVidia, but re-badged by partners. Is that not correct?

nVidia don't manufacture cards for sale. They likely make cards in house for development, research and testing.
The launch product you see at events or even on sale are manufactured by a select partner, I believe at one stage they used BFG to make their reference / show off card but don't quote me on that.
The general rule is that they design a reference board and pass on this design to all the card manufacturers that build cards with nVidia chips. Some card manufacturers launch their first cards to market quickly based on the reference design so that they are making money as soon as possible. Later on they come up with overclocked cards, cards with custom coolers etc... it takes a little longer to re-arrange all the components so that their custom coolers fit correctly or so that it can overclock more efficiently or just have better temperatures.

Of course none of this information is the definitive rule as I'm sure they do different things upon release of each new model range, and each card manufacturer will have their own release strategy.

[Prototype]

EVGA is the #1. Than comes MSI/Asus/ Gigabyte .

[abychristy]

Asus, Gigabyte, Sapphire, XFX and MSI

[0iD]

Gigabyte or EVGA. Anything but Gainward, every Gainward card I have had over the years has been flaky.