jasontan80 is lich, that I am quite sure. Even much more licher than Chai and PsYkHoTiK combined. Okok, back to topic. Jason, you can go to 1Stop and check it out. But it seems nowadays there are only very few shops there. Wonder why... There used to be many...
My young brother, don't bluff around man Ya, I really found that one-stop recently left only few computer shop around, no idea where all those shops have migrated. did you know any other shop that has cool stuff to sell? furthermore, did you know which shop has artic silver available?
If you are interested in a 7800GT PCI-E card, stick with trusted brands you know IE: XFX (my personal pick), eVGA, or BFG. Don't go with an unknown manufacturer... you never know what you'll get
Well the way I see it is its all the same. What differs is what kinda support you get. Most of the cards aren't even made by them. It's just rebadged (attach a specific cooler design, added value features - like OC) and distributed by the vendors.
Actually, on the subject...this is something I've been pondering. Let's take a cheap brand like say, Xpertvision, Forsa, etc. Would they use the same components on the graphics card PCB as manufacturers like XFX, BFG, etc etc? Reason I ask is because they tend to do that for motherboards, with capacitors in particular being of different quality when comparing cheap boards with premium ones. Or is it a stipulation that ALL graphics card manufacturers must follow the reference design as far as electrical components are concerned?
Most follow the reference design. The only thing that they usually change is the cooler and OC it sometimes. It wouldn't be suprising if a few of the cards from different vendors came from the same factory.
Yup, I agree with Papercut. Look at Dashken's XpertVision...Some may not follow the reference design and start cutting corners...
Hmm.. Actually, I think the reference design only states the kind of capacitors and surface components used. Manufacturing companies do not need to adhere specifically to the same brand or model. Hence, they should be able to choose "alternative" components, and yet stick to the reference design.
If a tight budget is desired why not go for the 7600GT? Nearly as potent as the 7800, but only half the price! Cheers Olle
