[SOLVED] Should you ever buy nvidia founder edition cards ?

[OrdJk]

I was wondering whether to purchase the rtx 2060 super fe or get an aftermarket rtx 2060 super

Now I like the look of the founders edition a lot more and that's why it's kind of hard to decide

 

[Phaaze88]

My 2 cents on why I'd buy an Nvidia FE card:
1)Guaranteed binned silicon.
2)Custom liquid cooling.
-Reference design waterblocks are widely available, as opposed to the custom PCBs usually present on the fancier aftermarket models.
-The FE cooler design is usually inferior to the aftermarket models. Sometimes the vendors drop the ball on their cooler designs and they end up cooling worse than the FE.

 

[OrdJk]

My 2 cents on why I'd buy an Nvidia FE card:
1)Guaranteed binned silicon.
2)Custom liquid cooling.
-Reference design waterblocks are widely available, as opposed to the custom PCBs usually present on the fancier aftermarket models.
-The FE cooler design is usually inferior to the aftermarket models. Sometimes the vendors drop the ball on their cooler designs and they end up cooling worse than the FE.

Should I buy one though if I am going to use it for a years in a row without any modifications

 

[drivinfast247]

My 2 cents on why I'd buy an Nvidia FE card:
1)Guaranteed binned silicon.
2)Custom liquid cooling.
-Reference design waterblocks are widely available, as opposed to the custom PCBs usually present on the fancier aftermarket models.
-The FE cooler design is usually inferior to the aftermarket models. Sometimes the vendors drop the ball on their cooler designs and they end up cooling worse than the FE.

Many AIBs use reference PCBs so you can still add a water block if desired.

 

[Phaaze88]

Should I buy one though if I am going to use it for a years in a row without any modifications

I don't see any problem with doing so, sure.

Many AIBs use reference PCBs so you can still add a water block if desired.

Ehh, yes and no. It really depends on the vendor: http://gpu.watercool.de/WATERCOOL_HEATKILLER_GPU_Compatibility.pdf

People don't plan for it in advance; most of the time, it's on a whim - I'm not including the liquid cooling enthusiasts here. They already know what the heck they're doing.

Say a user buys a nice air cooled card - let's use the 2070 Super FTW3 model - and suddenly, they want to custom cool it, but then run into the nightmare of finding a block that fits, because the RTX 2070 Super waterblock they bought didn't fit, because they also failed to notice that the block was for a reference card, and they didn't know that the PCB on their card was custom made.
I've seen that happen a few times; some people just dive right in without consulting the right people and end up screwing themselves over...