jimmysmitty :
I do think the FE cards were a mistake though because now we are paying more than we need to for the same product.
I think buying in the 1st weeks after a release is unwise:
1. Supply is short, vendors will take advantage knowing that every card they ship will be sold the same day it arrives.
2. Retailers jump on the same bandwagon.
3. Drivers are not quite up to snuff as yet, making comparisons difficult especially when considering single versus multi-card options.
4. There are no tear down articles as yet detailing VRM, MOFSETS, chokes, .. are there heatsinks / thermal pads used to help cool these, etc ?
5. The aftermarket cards are all in their first stepping... in other words "bleeding edge". Remember last generation (9xx series) 1st stepping cards ? For example...
a) The 1st round of EVGA 970 SCs had a cooler where 1 of the 3 heat pipes, missed the GPU. At first EVGA ridiculously claimed that it was "designed that way", but they didn't wait long to release the SSC model that corrected that problem.
b) The MSI cards had an adhesive plastic that oft damaged the fans when removed.
c) Initially the user reviews on newegg had the Giga G1 with almost 30% highly negative user reviews, it jhas since dropped to 20% (the other 3 of the "big 4" are at about 7%) indicating that the newer cards are getting less complaints.
It also must be noted that the assumption that the GFEs will be more expensive id not universal.. in Euope the FE cards are all £399.00 inc VAT... the non-refence designs are running £25 - £30 more. here, one of EVGAs cards is $10 less than FE, another is clocked exactly the same as the FE is as $30 less. The question is... where will the card versions people actually want like the Strix, Gaming, and G1 be ?