Question Gigabyte vs. Zotac

Mar 4, 2019
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This is the first time I have gone a little bit pricier for my parts! But I wanted to know how people felt about the Zotac RTX 2080 AMP Extreme and how it compares to the Gigabyte Aorus equivalent, being the Xtreme series. Sooooo the Zotac RTX 2080 AMP Extreme versus the Gigabyte Aorus RTX 2080 Xtreme!
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
They will all perform the same. What you need to look at is the clocks on both of them and the price tag on them respectively. Mind sharing a link to both GPU's you've narrowed down? Ofc, we're assuming you don't have a PSU issue. Just to be sure, include the make and model of your PSU and it's age.
 
Does your case (Especially if you have standard drive cages) even support the length of the Zotac card which is a three fan model that is very long?

Honestly, both of these cards probably have similar performance and quality. The Zotac card, if it will fit, MIGHT have slightly better cooling and less fan noise due to having an extra fan, but then again it might not. Both are high quality cards. Personally, I'd be good with whichever card was less expensive, although for Nvidia cards I almost universally always try to choose an EVGA card for their superior customer support in most cases. Cost can definitely affect that decision though.
 
Mar 4, 2019
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They will all perform the same. What you need to look at is the clocks on both of them and the price tag on them respectively. Mind sharing a link to both GPU's you've narrowed down? Ofc, we're assuming you don't have a PSU issue. Just to be sure, include the make and model of your PSU and it's age.

PSU is the CORSAIR RM Series RM750 750W ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply; I bought this PSU back in 2015, but was assured I wouldn't have issues due to the gold rating.


For the Zotac: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KB9S34G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



For the Gigabyte: https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Gra...&qid=1551721106&s=electronics&sr=1-1-fkmrnull
 
Mar 4, 2019
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Does your case (Especially if you have standard drive cages) even support the length of the Zotac card which is a three fan model that is very long?

Honestly, both of these cards probably have similar performance and quality. The Zotac card, if it will fit, MIGHT have slightly better cooling and less fan noise due to having an extra fan, but then again it might not. Both are high quality cards. Personally, I'd be good with whichever card was less expensive, although for Nvidia cards I almost universally always try to choose an EVGA card for their superior customer support in most cases. Cost can definitely affect that decision though.

I use the NZXT Phantom 530 (White) !
 
Mar 4, 2019
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If you all are interested here is my original PCPartPicker list! This is what I was working with and my original gut feeling was the Zotac, but I have been looking more into the Gigabyte card and it seemed interesting enough to ask ya'll! I believe it will come down to very VERY slight performance differences, but the more important things here is if people have experience with these brands, what they can say about them, warranties and service!!! (Also everything labelled as $0 purchased is just stuff from my old build I may repurpose!)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/G3fmTB
 
Case clearance:

VGA Card 282mm (With Cage & Pivot Fan), 310mm (With Cage), 444mm (Without Cage)


Card length:

324 mm / 12.756"


SO, the only way that card will work in your case, is WITH the drive cages removed.

The Gigabyte card on the other hand is 290mm, and will fit with only the pivot fan removed but the drive cages still installed. If the drive cages are removed, any of them will fit, otherwise, you need to forget about the Zotac 3 fan card unless you are willing to remove the drive cages.

Personally, I think this is a better card.



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB XC2 ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($859.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $859.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-03-04 13:08 EST-0500
 
Because they've been making graphics cards longer than just about anybody else in the graphics card game, and most long time veteran builders and gamers will tell you that when it comes to having great customer support for product and warranty inquiries, it's just about impossible to beat EVGA. The same would be hard to say for most other manufacturers. Maybe ASRock, but they are fairly new to the graphics card manufacturing process having only recently started making graphics cards. ASUS makes high quality products, but their customer support is not as good, and can be frustrating to deal with.

MSI graphics cards are good quality and they have pretty good support. I avoid their motherboards though. Too much historical problems on their boards and recently a return to those ways. Worth looking at their graphics cards though.

Sapphire, pretty good support, usually, and pretty good quality, usually, but AMD only when it comes to graphics cards.

Zotac, pretty good quality, but I have no experience with dealing with their customer support as I've never had to, but to be honest, they are not a brand that is nearly as popular in the US as it is elsewhere so its rare that I encounter one of their products in a build or system I am working on. Feedback suggests they are worth considering on any of their products though and that their support is at least halfway decent. Others can chime in regarding the quality of their product support and whether they are easy to deal with or troublesome.

Gigabyte is a PITA to deal with when it comes to product support IMO. I've dealt with them on many occasions, on both motherboards and graphics cards, and it has never been a simple process. They make every effort, again, IMO and in my experience, to avoid having to warrant any product and tend to make you jump through a lot of hoops before they will authorize an RMA. I've also had two RMAs sent back, that I had to pay the shipping on, just to find out that they said nothing was wrong with the products. In both cases, there was.

That being said, for the most part they also make high quality products and should still be considered if the price is advantageous because it's not like they have low quality parts that are always going to be prone to failure. Just IF they do, it might be a hassle dealing with them.
 
EVGA was definitely the brand to choose, as I am now having issues with Gigabyte. :LOL:

Well, that sucks, but I can't say I am surprised. I did warn you ahead of time of the potential for issues when dealing with them. I know Gigabyte well. I used to be a die hard Gigabyte loyalist until I had repeat issues with warranty support AND they started removing features from the BIOS settings on most of their motherboards that used to be standard, claiming that in order to support other features they had to lose something which is nonsense because other board manufacturers have those features, and the newer features, using the same size BIOS ROMs. Got tired of it. I'm sorry you're having issues. What exactly has happened?
 
Mar 4, 2019
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Well, that sucks, but I can't say I am surprised. I did warn you ahead of time of the potential for issues when dealing with them. I know Gigabyte well. I used to be a die hard Gigabyte loyalist until I had repeat issues with warranty support AND they started removing features from the BIOS settings on most of their motherboards that used to be standard, claiming that in order to support other features they had to lose something which is nonsense because other board manufacturers have those features, and the newer features, using the same size BIOS ROMs. Got tired of it. I'm sorry you're having issues. What exactly has happened?

I am just having a lot of difficulties trying to activate my 4 year warranty, not to mention their site just does NOT work. Their site is downright awful. :LOL: A friend of mine says he thinks they make it tough on purpose because they don't want to replace your card if anything goes wrong, but what do I know. 🤔
 
Intentionally making support more of a hassle than it is worth IS a commonly used tactic by MANY companies, not just hardware manufacturers. AT&T/DirecTV, many applicance manufacturers and of course just about any company that has a large support need, tend to do this to minimize the requirement on their part and the monetary loss as well.

I would try to make contact with support directly, if possible, and explain that you are having problems with product registration if you have not already. The next step might be to try and contact them through one of the moderators on the Gigabyte forum who might be able to put you in direct contact with somebody from the support team.
 
Mar 4, 2019
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Intentionally making support more of a hassle than it is worth IS a commonly used tactic by MANY companies, not just hardware manufacturers. AT&T/DirecTV, many applicance manufacturers and of course just about any company that has a large support need, tend to do this to minimize the requirement on their part and the monetary loss as well.

I would try to make contact with support directly, if possible, and explain that you are having problems with product registration if you have not already. The next step might be to try and contact them through one of the moderators on the Gigabyte forum who might be able to put you in direct contact with somebody from the support team.
I am thinking about just avoiding the hassle altogether and exchanging my card for either the EVGA FTW3 2080 or the ASUS ROG STRIX Gaming GeForce RTX 2080 OC. My Microcenter is actually selling the Strix card for 799.99! So I might jump on that! Thoughts my friend? :whistle:
 
You already know I prefer EVGA, but ASUS is at least less of a PITA to deal with than Gigabyte on warranty issues. As I said before though and will likely say again, everybody seems to have different opinions on who has the best support and customer service, but you will rarely find anybody who disagrees with the fact that EVGA takes care of their customers. I have had less than satisfactory dealings with ASUS in the past, but I still buy their products because the number of times I've had to DEAL with warranty issues is relatively few compared to some other brands, even though I've bought a lot of their hardware over the years for my own systems and those of customers or friends and family.
 
Mar 4, 2019
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You already know I prefer EVGA, but ASUS is at least less of a PITA to deal with than Gigabyte on warranty issues. As I said before though and will likely say again, everybody seems to have different opinions on who has the best support and customer service, but you will rarely find anybody who disagrees with the fact that EVGA takes care of their customers. I have had less than satisfactory dealings with ASUS in the past, but I still buy their products because the number of times I've had to DEAL with warranty issues is relatively few compared to some other brands, even though I've bought a lot of their hardware over the years for my own systems and those of customers or friends and family.
Yeah, I hear you, and I admit my inexperience in this field. The rig I had before this one way my first PC ever and I had relatively no issues for all three year. I can see its age now and would like to upgrade, like I said. Off topic note, but what are the chance you ruin or break a GPU due to overclocking?
 
As long as you take the time to learn, correctly, what you are doing, BEFORE doing it, practically zero. If you just start pushing buttons (figuratively) and moving sliders (actually) without knowing the reason for doing each thing, then the chances are good you could damage your hardware, even with the protections that most of these GPU OC utilities have now.

Honestly, considering the level of performance most latest gen cards have, I don't see much reason for it. If you need more performance, you should buy a higher tiered card. If you have the highest tiered card you can get, and it's not enough, then drop some settings down, because you're not being realistic for the game, resolution and hardware you have. If you need only a few extra FPS to avoid issues, then it makes sense to apply a light overclock that is just enough to overcome a problem, but the problem isn't big enough to warrant moving to higher tiered hardware.
 
Mar 4, 2019
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As long as you take the time to learn, correctly, what you are doing, BEFORE doing it, practically zero. If you just start pushing buttons (figuratively) and moving sliders (actually) without knowing the reason for doing each thing, then the chances are good you could damage your hardware, even with the protections that most of these GPU OC utilities have now.

Honestly, considering the level of performance most latest gen cards have, I don't see much reason for it. If you need more performance, you should buy a higher tiered card. If you have the highest tiered card you can get, and it's not enough, then drop some settings down, because you're not being realistic for the game, resolution and hardware you have. If you need only a few extra FPS to avoid issues, then it makes sense to apply a light overclock that is just enough to overcome a problem, but the problem isn't big enough to warrant moving to higher tiered hardware.
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing! I don't believe I will have any reason to OC the already overclocked cards, thanks for the advice. I may do some research on overclocking my CPU though. :D
 
My guide would be a pretty good place to get started with that.

*CPU overclocking guide for beginners



Or if you already have SOME knowledge, but are not well versed, the Quick and dirty overview of overclocking/stability validation procedure.

Set CPU multiplier and voltage at desired settings in BIOS. Do not use presets or automatic utilities. These will overcompensate on core and other voltages. It is much better to configure most core settings manually, and leave anything left over on auto until a later point in time if wish to come back and tweak settings such as cache (Uncore) frequency, System agent voltage, VCCIO (Internal memory controller) and memory speeds or timings (RAM) AFTER the CPU overclock is fully stable.

Save bios settings (As a new BIOS profile if your bios supports multiple profiles) and exit bios.

Boot into the Windows desktop environment. Download and install Prime95 version 26.6.

Download and install either HWinfo or CoreTemp.

Open HWinfo and run "Sensors only" or open CoreTemp.

Run Prime95 (ONLY version 26.6) and choose the "Small FFT test option". Run this for 15 minutes while monitoring your core/package temperatures to verify that you do not exceed the thermal specifications of your CPU.

(This should be considered to be 80°C for most generations of Intel processor and for current Ryzen CPUs. For older AMD FX and Phenom series, you should use a thermal monitor that has options for "Distance to TJmax" and you want to NOT see distance to TJmax drop below 10°C distance to TJmax. Anything that is MORE than 10°C distance to TJmax is within the allowed thermal envelope.)

If your CPU passes the thermal compliance test, move on to stability.

Download and install Realbench. Run Realbench and choose the Stress test option. Choose a value from the available memory (RAM) options that is equal to approximately half of your installed memory capacity. If you have 16GB, choose 8GB. If you have 8GB, choose 4GB, etc. Click start and allow the stability test to run for 8 hours. Do not plan to use the system for ANYTHING else while it is running. It will run realistic AVX and handbrake workloads and if it passes 8 hours of testing it is probably about as stable as you can reasonably expect.

If you wish to check stability further you can run 12-24 hours of Prime95 Blend mode or Small FFT.

You do not need to simultaneously run HWinfo or CoreTemp while running Realbench as you should have already performed the thermal compliance test PLUS Realbench will show current CPU temperatures while it is running.

If you run the additional stability test using Prime95 Blend/Small FFT modes for 12-24 hours, you will WANT to also run HWinfo alongside it. Monitor HWinfo periodically to verify that no cores/threads are showing less than 100% usage. If it is, then that worker has errored out and the test should be stopped.

If you find there are errors on ANY of the stability tests including Realbench or Prime95, or any other stress testing utility, you need to make a change in the bios. This could be either dropping the multiplier to a lower factor or increasing the voltage while leaving the multiplier the same. If you change voltage or multiplier at ANY time, you need to start over again at the beginning and verify thermal compliance again.