Best Company to buy from (GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB)

[Rick]

I am looking at all the GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB cards from a number of Manufactures..

They all use the same chipset

What I need to know is who is the most reliable company to deal with who is making this card

I haven't dealt with most of these companies and am not sure who has the best reputation for quality control and support in regard to the 8800 GTS

PNY
BFG
XFX
DVI
EVGA
Asus

I know there are others making this beast

[pentachris]

Asus is of course highly reputable. I expect the others probably make a good card as well, else Nvidia would be reluctant to allow them to use the chipset.

But...

When purchasing a video card, I've always chosen the chipset and then looked for a card that comes with a good package-to-price ratio. (What free apps or games are they throwing in, or if that's not appealing to you can you get one OEM at a good price, etc.)

Maybe someone else will offer more specific info on the mfgr's you listed, but that's my 2 cents.

[Rick]

Thanks for the reply
Of all those Asus is the only one I know and have used in the past

I may go with it just because of that.
But I wanted to see if anyone else has had better luck the others

[saphalline]

For pure gaming, the "big 3" are: BFG, XFX, and eVGA.

These companies offer no-holds-barred factory-OC'ed vid cards at +5-7% price differentials, but without the bundled fluff of pre-ordered games and whatnot. Other more well-known companies (such as Asus, sadly) tend to overprice their vid cards because of their "big name". Newbies are more likely to pay more for an Asus vid card because their Asus mobo is so fantastic, right?

On ATI/AMD's side, PNY and Sapphire are the big 3rd-party manufacturers. Sapphire became big by offering high quality Radeon 9700 vid cards back when other companies were jumping ship off ATI. Golden oldies such as Hercules and 3D Prophett, traditional ATI counterparts, either diversified into other areas of electronics or were bought-out.

If you're looking for great bundled deals with current gaming vid cards, you're likely to be disappointed. After the fiascos surrounding pre-orders for games that were delayed by months, current vid card manufacturers are pulling back on the extras. Oftentimes, they bundle OEM/limited games, if at all. And for accessories, they've all learned their lessons! :p Any vid card that doesn't come with the full complement of adapters and cables is going to be returned - no one wants that extra hassle.

-

By the way, if you want to know what I bought for my own system, that would be this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130080).

[Rick]

Thanks again

That is one of the 2 I was looking at

Mostly for the clock speed
More bang for the buck :)
Without braking the bank

If it doesn't work for me
I'll just drop it into the grand kids playtoy ( coredual 3g )

But I am still looking