Investment vs durability?

[qwertymatrix]

So im wondering about the longevity of cards (since i hear that some will burn out), i think i may already know the answer to this but would like people more knowledgeable to to confirm or critique my question and that is;

If i buy a more expensive card that goes above my needs will it last longer than a cheaper card that just barely delivers what i need? and then what other factors may go into affecting the quality and lifespan of a card?

 

[mightymaxio]

Nope only factors affecting quality and lifespan that you can control are, Good power supply feeding good voltages, Good airflow so no overheating, and once a month blowing out the dust from the card. Those three things affect your longevity. Cards these days are meant to last a long time, at least longer than their usefulness anyway. If you really want a card that will "last" so to speak and you don't plan on gaming, buy a workstation card since those are made to run 24 hours a day without failures.

 

[Scotty99]

This is why i buy nvidia products, usually built by evga or galaxy. I currently own a gtx 465 produced by galaxy and its a TANK, i could throw it off my room and it would still work. I believe this is why nvidia is usually a bit more expensive than AMD in the same performance bracket, they are of a higher manufacturing quality.

This is obviously not fact, just an opinion ive gathered over the years.

 

[qwertymatrix]

Alright cool thanks for the replies helps alot! While i may sometimes run my computer for days on end without shutting down I prob need something better than a workstation card as I do game alot; or at least as much as i can with my current system. (upgrading soon)

 

[qwertymatrix]

This is why i buy nvidia products, usually built by evga or galaxy. I currently own a gtx 465 produced by galaxy and its a TANK, i could throw it off my room and it would still work. I believe this is why nvidia is usually a bit more expensive than AMD in the same performance bracket, they are of a higher manufacturing quality.

This is obviously not fact, just an opinion ive gathered over the years.

Could you tell me some more about this, NVidia vs ATI/AMD?

 

[qwertymatrix]

Best answer selected by qwertymatrix.

 

[gary1]

Could you tell me some more about this, NVidia vs ATI/AMD?

There's fanboys on both sides, you won't get a clear answer.

However, at this point, the 7850 dominates the 250$ price point, and the 7870 the 350$ price point.

 

[qwertymatrix]

So its something of a coin toss then between AMD and NVidia?

On the 78XX radeon cards i was just looking at an article in Maximum PC which seems to show that the 7850 is basically the same as the 7870 just somethings deactivated/clocked down; is this right and if so could I buy the 7850 and save $100 and and modify it so that it performs just like a 7870? (I dont think i will be spending 250 on a card but to have an idea what can be done to gpus will be helpful)