GTX 1080 Brand?

[delta5]

Does it matter what brand you buy when it comes to the GTX 1080?

 

[captaincharisma]

some brands have better warranties then other and some can be more reliable

 

[Atomicdonut17]

NVidia is the company that has created the 1080, and that's their standard. What they make, they do it the same, every time. So, the only thing the brandnames can do is make the card better by factory overclocking, and they decide how to sell them, at what price- usually at or above MSRP. (Sales don't apply). The biggest factors in deciding what brand of 1080 you want are in the details- such as, 'Which one is more aesthetically pleasing?", "Which one is cheaper?", "Which one has the best reviews?". "Which one has the highest factory overclock?", "Yadayadayada--"

Now, alot of people decide based on how it looks, how good the cooling solution is, and the price. It's true that your budget dictates the quality level. For people with bottomless pockets, aesthetic and cooling usually guide them. For people with modest budgets, they can usually still manage to find something that they like the look of, has a moderate fan system/waterblock, etc. And those on tight budgets typically only get what's cheapest, or what fits.

If you're asking for a definite best overall, my personal opinion is between Asus and EVGA. EVGA has some of the nicer looking cards (to me, anyways, I like the black theme), and I've never heard but a few EVGA horror stories. Asus' STRIX cards usually take the cake among enthusiast gamers. Aesthetically pleasing, great quality, excelling cooling.. very nice overall.

 

[cryoburner]

NVidia is the company that has created the 1080, and that's their standard. What they make, they do it the same, every time. So, the only thing the brandnames can do is make the card better by factory overclocking, and they decide how to sell them, at what price- usually at or above MSRP.

Well, technically, Nvidia only manufactures the processor that goes on the graphics card, and designs a basic reference layout for the rest of the card. The various manufacturers decide many details on how to build their implementation of the card though, and which components to use. Some cards may use better components than others, and the location of components on the boards or even the size of the boards will often be quite different from one card to the next. And of course, the coolers will vary, with some offering quieter, or more effective solutions. All of these things can affect the performance, overclocking headroom, and long-term durability of a card, although in general, performance at a given clock-rate will be very similar from one card to the next. It's a lot like the role motherboard manufacturers play (and many of these companies also make motherboards), although in the case of graphics cards, the processor and memory are built-into the board.

As for which brand is better, I couldn't say for sure, and really it could vary from one model of a particular graphics card to the next. I agree with looking for one with a decent warranty though. For a card in this price range, I wouldn't go for anything less than a 3 year warranty, which seems to be pretty standard now. And of course, look for one with a large, quiet cooler. In my opinion, looks aren't particularly important, since you probably won't be looking at the card much once it's installed, and even if you have a windowed case, the "front" side of the card with the fans will likely be facing toward the bottom of the case anyway.

 

[delta5]

I really don't care what it looks like. I'm not into the glass display window. I like a solid built black case that is quiet, holds what I want in it.