Help me pick GTX1080 from amongst these brands

[Zaporro]

Hello,

I want to double check on which GPU to pick. Ill be completing my gaming rig in about month (Z270 i7-7700k) and i was thinking of getting GTX1080 AMP! Extreme from Zotac with it but just in case i would like to get some second opinion's.

Keep in mind that i live in wild wild almost east Europe so when you reply with "for X$ you can have Y GPU instead" this might be different for me (scumbag shop owners price them at whatever they want not looking at MSRP or anything, every time i talk with friend from US im his laughing stock for how much i have to pay for components....) but anyway I still look forward to replies like that and ill be verifying myself if that board is available where i live and at what prices.

So below I'm going to list what GPU's are available here in, pretty much ordering them from cheapest to most expensive - the Zotac AMP! Extreme is something i choose personally but if there is better thing on list ill switch.

Oh, last but not least, what i expect from GPU? I certainly looking forward for a sturdy construction (fortunately backplate is a standard in GTX1080's). I mildly dislike color red but if there is no alternative ill settle for having them (prefer neutral colors like black or gray/steel or delicate decals). Im not planning to run SLI anytime soon. The case ill have will be medium/full tower with plenty of space for 300mm+ GPUs. Also, motherboard ill pick will have reinforced PCIE slots so should handle good heavy GPUs.

Can afford:
Gigabyte Windforce OC 8GB DDR5 GV-N1080WF3OC-8GD
Gigabyte Turbo OC 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080TTOC-8GD
MSI Armor OC 8GB GDDR5X GeForce GTX 1080 ARMOR 8G OC
MSI Gaming X+ 8GB GDDR5X GTX 1080 GAMING X+ 8GB
Zotac AMP! 8GB GDDR5X ZT-P10800C-10P

Stretching budget but still affordable:
Palit Dual OC 8GB GDDR5X NEB1080U15P2D
Inno3D Twin X2 8GB GDDR5X N1080-1SDN-P6DN
Gigabyte Aorus 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080AORUS-8GD
Gigabyte G1 Gaming 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080G10-GAMING-8GD
Palit GameRock 8GB GDDR5X NEB1080T15P2G
EVGA SC2 Gaming 8GB GDDR5X 08G-P4-6583-KR
Gigabyte G1 Gaming 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080G10-GAMING-8GD
EVGA FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 8GB GDDR5X 08G-P4-6286-KR
Zotac AMP! Extreme Edition 8GB GDDR5X ZT-P10800B-10P

Very far budget stretch:
EVGA FTW2 iCX 8GB GDDR5X 08G-P4-6686-KR
Inno3D Gaming OC 8GB GDDR5X N1080-1SDN-P6DNX
Palit JetStream 8GB GDDR5 NEB1080015P2J
Palit Dual 8GB GDDR5X NEB1080015P2D
Asus STRIX Advanced 8GB GDDR5X ROG-STRIX-GTX1080-A8G-11GBPS
MSI Gaming X+ 8GB GDDR5X GTX 1080 GAMING X+ 8GB
Palit GameRock 8GB GDDR5X NEB1080T15P2G
Gigabyte Aorus Extreme 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080AORUS-8GD
Asus GTX1080 8GB GDDR5X STRIX-GTX1080-8G-GAMING
Gigabyte Turbo OC 8GB GDDR5X GV-N1080TTOC-8GD
ASUS OC Edition ROG-STRIX-GTX1080-O8G-11GBPS


If its not much trouble, i would love to know your opinion on these motherboards which of them is best when it comes to quality and features (but useful features not fireworks) in each of my price ranges.

For reference, my two previous GPU were Gigabyte R9 280 WindForce - that card left bad taste in my mouth as pretty much out of box it came with a fragile HDMI port which crumbled apart after plugging in cable, had to return it and then fight with shop for my money becuase ofc they claimed "i didnt use card properly" and warranity would not work.

My second and current GPU was Sapphire R9 390 and i was very happy of it beside that it has enormous power requirement and it once in a while ill get "display driver stopped working" error.

 

[superninja12]

get the cheapest dual fan 1080 you can find.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

go for the gaming x+ and call it a day

 

[10tacle]

Performance wise they'll all be within a few FPS of each other in games and you won't notice the difference. Go with the best deal. But STAY AWAY from Zotac. They are notorious for 1) terrible customer support and 2) poor quality cooling fans that die early if you have a fan curve profile set in a GPU managing program like MSI Afterburner.

 

[superninja12]

Performance wise they'll all be within a few FPS of each other in games and you won't notice the difference. Go with the best deal. But STAY AWAY from Zotac. They are notorious for 1) terrible customer support and 2) poor quality cooling fans that die early if you have a fan curve profile set in a GPU managing program like MSI Afterburner.

I think you overreact a bit, zotac is a good brand .

 

[Zaporro]

Performance wise they'll all be within a few FPS of each other in games and you won't notice the difference. Go with the best deal. But STAY AWAY from Zotac. They are notorious for 1) terrible customer support and 2) poor quality cooling fans that die early if you have a fan curve profile set in a GPU managing program like MSI Afterburner.

Thanks, thats the insight i come here for. Looking at your reply maybe it will be easier if people will answer "what to not buy" rather than "what to buy" and then from what is left ill pick card according to other criteria as others mentioned.

Too bad for Zotac, they have 5 year warranity but if customer support sucks that much.... well they are Chinese company after all.

 

[10tacle]

I think you overreact a bit, zotac is a good brand .

Google "Zotac fan failure" and "Zotac customer service" then get back to me on that.

Too bad for Zotac, they have 5 year warranity but if customer support sucks that much.... well they are Chinese company after all.

I've been watching for several years now since the GTX 9xx series of people having horror stories trying to get RMAs from Zotac. A warranty is only as good as the company backs it. This is why I strictly buy EVGA, even if they may be a little more expensive.

I had a GTX 970 die and EVGA handled it without time wasting harassment questions and troubleshooting that I've heard Zotac owners complain about. I'm very tech knowledgeable. I know when a GPU is dead. Don't insult my intelligence and waste my time trying to blame me for the failure because you don't want to replace your dead GPU under your warranty.

 

[superninja12]

I think you overreact a bit, zotac is a good brand .

Google "Zotac fan failure" and "Zotac customer service" then get back to me on that.

your statement is just as deep as water is wet, I can google that for any other brand.

 

[10tacle]

your statement is just as deep as water is wet, I can google that for any other brand.

Speaking of water, if you think Zotac's customer service is at the same level as say EVGA, I've got a bridge to sell you in Death Valley.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Before things get out of hand I'll just remind all that civility is absolutely required at ALL times in these forums. Please confine your remarks to the question originally asked and keep the sniping out of it.

 

[superninja12]

your statement is just as deep as water is wet, I can google that for any other brand.

If you think Zotac's customer service is at the same level as say EVGA, I've got a bridge to sell you in Death Valley.

I cannot recall I mentioned evga or something , neither did I compare customer services.
Thank you for your input anyways.

@op, get the cheapest dual fan 1080 you can find, a 1080 is a 1080, 1 card will be 1db louder and the other 1 will be 1 celcius lower.

 

[Karadjgne]

Hmm, I'd not go that route ninja, some swear by PowerColor, but I'm not one of them. Not a fan of PNY consumer cards either, they have a tendency to last 2 days past the warranty expiration date.

@Op, choose wisely, and not based strictly on budget. Asus, Gigabyte, Evga, MSI are all solid, well established, known vendors, you might say AAA vendors. PowerColor, Zotac, PNY, Palit, Galax and some others, I'd say fall into the class 2 category, and it gets worse from there.

It's a gtx1080, and at base they are all roughly the same. The enthusiast class cards take it up a notch, but are mostly about user oriented OC, and have the cooling to handle it. So figure on what you want to do with the gpu. Plug and play, buy the cheaper grade cards, they usually use reference pcb anyways, if you want to tinker, or push the card, go for the enthusiast class upgrade cards.

 

[Mousemonkey]

When the fans on both of my Zotac 970's failed I just replaced them with some cheap case fans and they run just fine and dandy. EVGA is a criminal company that steals stuff.

http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/evga-steals-the-rivatuner-rtss-design-concept-into-precisionx-15.html

 

[Zaporro]

Hmm, I'd not go that route ninja, some swear by PowerColor, but I'm not one of them. Not a fan of PNY consumer cards either, they have a tendency to last 2 days past the warranty expiration date.

@Op, choose wisely, and not based strictly on budget. Asus, Gigabyte, Evga, MSI are all solid, well established, known vendors, you might say AAA vendors. PowerColor, Zotac, PNY, Palit, Galax and some others, I'd say fall into the class 2 category, and it gets worse from there.

It's a gtx1080, and at base they are all roughly the same. The enthusiast class cards take it up a notch, but are mostly about user oriented OC, and have the cooling to handle it. So figure on what you want to do with the gpu. Plug and play, buy the cheaper grade cards, they usually use reference pcb anyways, if you want to tinker, or push the card, go for the enthusiast class upgrade cards.

me man, my fat fingers clicked wrong place on phone screen and I downvoted your post, I'm terribly sorry for that, how TF I can cancel it? It keeps telling me "you already voted" when I try to upvote it and balance it out...

Anyway, yeah I get what you say about AAA companies and runner ups.

I'll remember that when choosing, but on side note, when looking at company review I hate when people say "X company is reliable because when my card broke after one month they replaced it in just two weeks"

and I'm like WTF reading it, 1st people call two weeks short and 2nd they put "good company" next to "card broke after month".

Is a this normal nowadays? What I understanding as a good company is one that will make card which will be work for at least year very or two without hiccups and then I can understand if it starts showing some abnormalities that require RMA.

 

[superninja12]

Hmm, I'd not go that route ninja, some swear by PowerColor, but I'm not one of them. Not a fan of PNY consumer cards either, they have a tendency to last 2 days past the warranty expiration date.

@Op, choose wisely, and not based strictly on budget. Asus, Gigabyte, Evga, MSI are all solid, well established, known vendors, you might say AAA vendors. PowerColor, Zotac, PNY, Palit, Galax and some others, I'd say fall into the class 2 category, and it gets worse from there.

It's a gtx1080, and at base they are all roughly the same. The enthusiast class cards take it up a notch, but are mostly about user oriented OC, and have the cooling to handle it. So figure on what you want to do with the gpu. Plug and play, buy the cheaper grade cards, they usually use reference pcb anyways, if you want to tinker, or push the card, go for the enthusiast class upgrade cards.

me man, my fat fingers clicked wrong place on phone screen and I downvoted your post, I'm terribly sorry for that, how TF I can cancel it? It keeps telling me "you already voted" when I try to upvote it and balance it out...

Anyway, yeah I get what you say about AAA companies and runner ups.

I'll remember that when choosing, but on side note, when looking at company review I hate when people say "X company is reliable because when my card broke after one month they replaced it in just two weeks"

and I'm like WTF reading it, 1st people call two weeks short and 2nd they put "good company" next to "card broke after month".

Is a this normal nowadays? What I understanding as a good company is one that will make card which will be work for at least year very or two without hiccups and then I can understand if it starts showing some abnormalities that require RMA.

fixed it by upvoting karadjgne.

See that is the problem by the majority of things, it works? 5/5 on amazon.

I agree with karad, that Asus Gigabyte EVGA and MSI are solid, but I disagree with his tier 2 class.
Just because their market isnt as huge, doesn't make the products of those vendors bad.
I Think that the reason for zotac beeing cheaper is is your location. Palit and PNY are most of the times cheaper in asia, and I have seen just as good overclocks as a msi or evga card on those.
Zotac/sapphire and galax are cheaper in europe usually.

I think karadje his tier 1 list exists because of their monopoloy positition in the states.

 

[Mousemonkey]

@OP, watch your language.