Yes. There are basically 3 categories of GFX cards.
1. Reference cards - These are the basic nVidia designs and every brand nis pretty much the same as the other.
2. No-Reference cards - These can fall into many categories.
a) Reference card with nice cooler
b) Reference card with nice cooler and factory overclock (EVGA SC)
c) Custom PCB with nice cooler, beefed up VRM and factory OC (Asus DCII, Gigabyte WindForce, MSI N Gaming Series)
d) As above with handpicked GPUs
3. As above with heavily modified PCB, voltage unlocking and other features (EVGA Classified, MSI Lightning).
I usually grab the c) or d) options.
The differences can range from small to significant.....
In category 1, they are all virtually the same.
In category 3, there are very few entries and the players remain very competitive.
In category 2 you will find the widest range of performance, cooling and acoustics. The standout in the 6xx series was the Asus 670 DCII ..... which stood well above the competition..... the only card to ever score a 10.0 from techpowerup
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_670_Direct_Cu_II/33.html
With the 780 Ti, the MSI Gaming Series is the champ.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_780_Ti_Gaming/29.html
As for overclocking potential, this is hard to judge by reviews as cards vary and 1 guy can get a great OC'er and another a crappy one. I have been able to get 20-25% OC's on the Asus and MSI cards pretty consistently since the 5xx series tho have seen a few go up to 30%.
The best card can also change. Looking at this 780 review for example, the Asus came in 1st and EVGA last.
http://us.hardware.info/reviews/4639/10/nvidia-geforce-gtx-780-asus-vs-evga-vs-inno3d-vs-msi-conclusion
But MSI retooled their 780 raising the core from 902 to 954 and it's usually been the cheapest card available rather consistently so whereas I bought two Asus DCIIs in October, I would buy the MSI today @ $470.
Also the guy who has the best 780, doesn't mean they have the best 770 or best 760.
On a final note, we may be seeing less and less custom PCBs. I would guess that nVidia;s continued efforts to limit voltage adjustments, both by design and legally, has to a large extent negated the need for these type of modifications. MSI managed to get the top ranked 780 Ti with a reference PCB.
Whether the 780 Ti reference design was deemed that good or the restrictions not warranting anything better I can only guess.... but fir whatever reason, after announcing and demo'ing the 780 Ti Lightning, MSI decided not to release it. I can only conclude that whatever they came up with just didn't distinguish itself enough from th 70 Ti Gaming Series to warrant the extra investment.
i will be ordering it right now
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