Does the BRAND of a video card matter (as opposed to the chipset onthe card)?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fish
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Fish

After looking through tomshardwareguide.com and pricewatch.com, I'm
considering getting a GeForce4 TI 4200 128MB video card. The only
confusing point is: does it really matter who makes the card if it has a
GeForce chip on it? I have my choices between a generic branc, Inno3d,
VisionTek....a bunch of companies I've not hear of as opposed to Gigabyte
or ATI.

So, does it really matter? I've been considering buying a Radeon board
specifically because I don't want to deal with this issue.

Danke,
Brian-
 
Fish said:
After looking through tomshardwareguide.com and pricewatch.com, I'm
considering getting a GeForce4 TI 4200 128MB video card. The only
confusing point is: does it really matter who makes the card if it has a
GeForce chip on it? I have my choices between a generic branc, Inno3d,
VisionTek....a bunch of companies I've not hear of as opposed to Gigabyte
or ATI.

So, does it really matter? I've been considering buying a Radeon board
specifically because I don't want to deal with this issue.

Danke,
Brian-
Click to expand...

Back a couple of years I would say yes it does matter. Now days , not so
much. I still like to stick to Gainward/Gigabyte but only because thats
what I started with and thats whats always worked for me. Back in the GF2
days I had a powercolor card and it was noticeably slower than my mates Asus
card. (same chipset). It is so compeditive now that they all pretty much
stick to refernece design. Some may add a little faster/better ram which
would be better for overclocking but at stock standard they are much of a
muchness.
 
Fish said:
After looking through tomshardwareguide.com and pricewatch.com, I'm
considering getting a GeForce4 TI 4200 128MB video card. The only
confusing point is: does it really matter who makes the card if it has a
GeForce chip on it? I have my choices between a generic branc, Inno3d,
VisionTek....a bunch of companies I've not hear of as opposed to Gigabyte
or ATI.

So, does it really matter? I've been considering buying a Radeon board
specifically because I don't want to deal with this issue.

Danke,
Brian-
Click to expand...

no, they all use the same design and components. the only difference is the
box and the freebies if any. and the color/style of heatsink.
 
After looking through tomshardwareguide.com and pricewatch.com, I'm
Back a couple of years I would say yes it does matter. Now days , not so
much. I still like to stick to Gainward/Gigabyte but only because thats
what I started with and thats whats always worked for me. Back in the GF2
days I had a powercolor card and it was noticeably slower than my mates Asus
card. (same chipset). It is so compeditive now that they all pretty much
stick to refernece design. Some may add a little faster/better ram which
would be better for overclocking but at stock standard they are much of a
muchness.
Click to expand...

So, in other words - pick a card based on price, heat sink, and software
bundle (if I care) once I have the chipset I want. Sounds about right?

Thanks,
Brian-
 
Fish said:
So, in other words - pick a card based on price, heat sink, and
software bundle (if I care) once I have the chipset I want. Sounds
about right?

Thanks,
Brian-
Click to expand...

yep. All you have to do if choose which of the 12342641 chipsets will suit
your needs.
 
A brand comes into play when you run into a problem. I had a
BFG Ge4 Ti4200 128meg card almost a year old. It started
having serious problems and I was able to return it and get
a replacement with no hassle. So, look at the warrenty and
tech support the BRAND offers.

Walker
Walker1940
 
There are characteristics of graphics card that vary enough that some
boards are more desirable than others. First of all, not all vendors
follow the stock board layout. Some add their "special" touches to the
board that can make it faster, slower, or unstable.

Boards with these special features and modifications might not work
will with stock video drivers and your vendor might get weary of
offering driver and utility software for a graphic board that is a
year out of date.

One of the factors that you hear about a lot today is noise. I just
bought a graphics card MSI that is quieter than the Chaintec card
using the same chip set. Noise might be a factor for you, but it is a
consideration for a lot of us.

The MSI card also does video input [not a big deal for me], and most
of the other card with this chip set do not. Of course there is the
goody package of games, utilities, etc.. that is worth of being
considered too.

Pete
 
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