Unbranded Graphics cards v Branded

[Taxboy]

I'm curious to know if there is any difference between branded and unbranded graphics cards (other than the price)

Thought please

[Dougal]

Branded normally get more choice of teh GPU's

XFX get first picks from Nvidia

[DR]

Depends - which ones....

Most of the ATi boards are made by Foxconn, or Sapphire - then rebranded - some as value some as retail high end.

most of the 'value' lines at UK stockists are basically retail brand ones white boxed.

[autopilot]

I always look for the chipset i want and pretty much ignore the brand unless the price difference to so small I just get the brand because it sounds better. I always go OEM to. I just don't see the point in pre-overclocked boards either - most of the increases you see can be do yourself often with just a reference cooler. Graphics cards are a rip off anyway. I have seen an extra £50 can mean a whole 3 FPS increase from an unbranded card. Wow.

BTW, Scan sell nice cheap ScanFX cards - which are actually XFX branded.

[Taxboy]

BTW, Scan sell nice cheap ScanFX cards - which are actually XFX branded.

Thanks worth knowing

[Lish]

I always save my money and go for unbranded cards as i don't think there is usualy any major diferences between them

[pengellyd]

That tends to happen a lot. It would prove too costly to have your card produced with company brand on it and in such small quantities.

Here are a few other examples that i know of:

Evesham => Leadtek (although they've stopped selling their 'own branded' cards)

Novatech => Chaintech/ExpertVision/MSI (which ever is the cheapest at the time)

Dabs value => Inno 3D

[kalniel]

Sometimes unbranded cards are actually reference ones straight from NVidia (who actually make cards themselves as opposed to ATI I think). When Dell gave me a gf3ti500 it was clearly one of their OEM parts presumably straight from NVidia. In such cases I don't think there's a difference - apart from lack of specific software that you may get with a branded one.

Some brands redesign the odd thing for better performance. Some brands redesign stuff to make it cheaper!

But it seems recently that most brands actually change very little from OEM/reference.

[iranu]

I always look for the chipset i want and pretty much ignore the brand unless the price difference to so small I just get the brand because it sounds better. I always go OEM to. I just don't see the point in pre-overclocked boards either - most of the increases you see can be do yourself often with just a reference cooler. Graphics cards are a rip off anyway. I have seen an extra £50 can mean a whole 3 FPS increase from an unbranded card. Wow.

^^ = sense imho. You also don't need the bundle of 5 naff games and some rubbish DVD software adding to the cost either.

[aidanjt]

I agree... Normally I throw software bundles in the bin if I get a retail hardware product.. Almost always junk and adds more £age for nothing.

OEM re-branded products are always just as good as their retail equivalent as far as circuitry goes, perhaps have a cheaper HSF which causes slight overheating and introduces calculation errors, accounting for the very very slight framerate differences... nothing we can't fix thou right?

[plesuvius]

No-ones mentioned the tech support yet?!

Check for warranty length, terms and conditions, local processing centers (care to ship your card to Taiwan sir?), reputation, and replacement or repair policy. You do see a fair number of faults on graphics cards, i know this first hand. Even something simple like a broken fan on teh card could be a lot of hastle if its teh wrong brand...

Spending 5 mins emailing manufacturers to ask these questions will give you a good idea of how they will react if their card breaks. good luck!

[kalniel]

The point about warrenties is definately valid if you're going for an expensive gfx card. Personally I go for non-top line cards, which basically mean they are obselete before they break. If they do happen to break I use it as an excuse to upgrade

Of course, if you can find a warrenty that gives you a more upto date card as a replacement then thumbs up (happened with Dell for me)

[bertie]

They're all the same pretty much, you pay for the bundle and the pretty box
Personally I like to buy my own games rather than have manufacturers decide which ones I should have