8800 Ultra Brands

[Scarecrow]

I just wanted to find out from people what companies produce the better products for the 8800 Ultra's?

I was going to get XFX, but i really dont know who the good companies are. And i also dont need to game bundles either, as chances are i already have the game they are bundling in any case.

[newconroer]

The only reason to go with XFX or EVGA might be the warranty, unless something is specific about the bundle that you like.

Often pre-flashed/overclocked cards are not a good idea. They're generally the 'runt of the liter' so to speak. The test and determine which are the least flexible in terms of overclocking, then flash them and slap a 'extreme' or 'ssc' sticker on them.

So if you can get a non OC EVGA card, then you'll still get the warranty.

Otherwise, I'd recommend Palit, Gainward or MSI standard cards.

[Kasparz]

I just wanted to find out from people what companies produce the better products for the 8800 Ultra's?
All 8800Ultras are built by Nvidia. There are no 2nd party manufacturer built ones.

[Demos_sav]

Often pre-flashed/overclocked cards are not a good idea. They're generally the 'runt of the liter' so to speak.

Why do you say that? I totally disagree. If you want to overclock and burn your vcard loosing guarantee be my guest. I and a lot others want a factory overclocked card so that we feel secure. Plus I don't want to open ATI Tool/Rivatuner every once in a while to overclock my card just to play a game. I get constant overclocked core/shader/memory and in guarantee and you get lower clocks and while you overclock you loose your guarantee and for what? $10-20 lower price

[Airbrushkid]

Nvidia doesn't build the cards. They design them. They contact other compines to build them.



All 8800Ultras are built by Nvidia. There are no 2nd party manufacturer built ones.

[newconroer]

Why do you say that? I totally disagree. If you want to overclock and burn your vcard loosing guarantee be my guest. I and a lot others want a factory overclocked card so that we feel secure. Plus I don't want to open ATI Tool/Rivatuner every once in a while to overclock my card just to play a game. I get constant overclocked core/shader/memory and in guarantee and you get lower clocks and while you overclock you loose your guarantee and for what? $10-20 lower price


You don't have to open ATi/RT everytime, it will load the clocks at startup, or you can flash the card.


I'd rather not pay for a lesser quality card, that's been fumbled and handled by a bunch of intern tech. guys, then -beyond factory- heat and stress tested, then flashed, for an extra $20.

Companies like EVGA will cover overclocking, so moot point?

So that you feel secure? You're totally buying into a gimmick, plain and simple, and what's worse, is your paying for a lesser quality piece of hardware, because you cannot be bothered to spend half an hour reading straight forward information on how to adjust your clock speeds.

[Kasparz]

They does build them. At least 8800 cards except GT and few others, do have reference design cards that are built by nvidia. If you want to be precise they are built by Flextronics specially for Nvidia. But not by XFX, eVGA, sparkle, club3d, bfg of any other well known companies that you may think.

[largon]

Sooo, infact, nVIDIA doesn't build them...
The board partners orders a bunch of cards from Flextronics and/or Foxconn. The customer decides the brands&specs of the onboard components such as RAM, caps and chokes. And most importantly, the sticker. Then the assembled cards get shipped to the brand owners (eVGA, XFX, etc.) to be binned and redistributed.

nVIDIA only sells binned (crippled pipelines) & packaged GPU chips and licenses to build reference circuit boards.

[BullGod]

You don't have to open ATi/RT everytime, it will load the clocks at startup, or you can flash the card.


I'd rather not pay for a lesser quality card, that's been fumbled and handled by a bunch of intern tech. guys, then -beyond factory- heat and stress tested, then flashed, for an extra $20.

Companies like EVGA will cover overclocking, so moot point?

So that you feel secure? You're totally buying into a gimmick, plain and simple, and what's worse, is your paying for a lesser quality piece of hardware, because you cannot be bothered to spend half an hour reading straight forward information on how to adjust your clock speeds.


Well I don't see your point really. Companies have been selling cards with higher speeds than the originals since the begining of video cards. Only then overclocking wasn't that "cool" so it wasn't advertised as that. Anyways this thing about poor quality cards being overclocked is an internet myth most likely as logically it would be the other way around as companies don't really want to replace cards, now do they? What do they gain if they sell you a lesser quality card overclocked and the thing fries and they have to give you a brand new one? Anyways imo if you can get a card that is atleast 50 mhz faster for only 20 bucks more, why not?

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

dont buy an msi

[Tatty_One]

Why do you say that? I totally disagree. If you want to overclock and burn your vcard loosing guarantee be my guest. I and a lot others want a factory overclocked card so that we feel secure. Plus I don't want to open ATI Tool/Rivatuner every once in a while to overclock my card just to play a game. I get constant overclocked core/shader/memory and in guarantee and you get lower clocks and while you overclock you loose your guarantee and for what? $10-20 lower price

Overclocking a card without software or hardware modification DOES NOT void your warranty on most manufacturers cards. Why do you think that many Gfx card manufacturers actually supply their own overclocking utilities?

And of course it is not detectable in any case so could be RMA'd without worry because it always defaults back to stock BIOS settings.

[trt740]

The only reason to go with XFX or EVGA might be the warranty, unless something is specific about the bundle that you like.

Often pre-flashed/overclocked cards are not a good idea. They're generally the 'runt of the liter' so to speak. The test and determine which are the least flexible in terms of overclocking, then flash them and slap a 'extreme' or 'ssc' sticker on them.

So if you can get a non OC EVGA card, then you'll still get the warranty.

Otherwise, I'd recommend Palit, Gainward or MSI standard cards.

what source are you getting that from because in my experience thats not true at all

[hat]

Otherwise, I'd recommend Palit, Gainward or MSI standard cards.

LOL--those guys are teh sux. XFX and BFG is where it's at.

[mrw1986]

LOL--those guys are teh sux. XFX and BFG is where it's at.

Erm, Palit and MSI are both excellent companies. While Palit may not be huge in the states its one of the most well known manufacturers outside of here. Also MSI isn't crap, I've never had a single problem with any of their products...also they have excellent RMA service. Wanna talk about a headache, check out XFX customer service/RMA...And I would recommend BFG or eVGA. I'd personally take eVGA for their step-up program as well as because they support aftermarket coolers. BFG does not warranty a card once an aftermarket cooler has been put on, but they have excellent RMA service.

[Tatty_One]

Gainward FTW!!!! :rockout:

[hat]

My uncle had 3 MSI socket A motherboards... of which all 3 the memory controller forked up and would no longer support dual-channel.

[Scarecrow]

so should i get the XFX 8800 Ultra, or pay and extra $55 AUD for the XFX 8800 Ultra Extreme?

Ive got no idea about overclocking GPU's, however from what ive seen, its just a matter of opening up ATi Tool, or Riva tuner and dragging a couple of slide bars to the point of instability, then come back a notch.

if the Ultra and the Extreme are effectively the same card, wouldnt it just be possible to buy the standard Ultra and then use ATi Tool to drag the slide bars to the same speeds as the Extreme edition, or am i being way to simplistic because i dont know what im talking about?

[theonetruewill]

so should i get the XFX 8800 Ultra, or pay and extra $55 AUD for the XFX 8800 Ultra Extreme?

Ive got no idea about overclocking GPU's, however from what ive seen, its just a matter of opening up ATi Tool, or Riva tuner and dragging a couple of slide bars to the point of instability, then come back a notch.

if the Ultra and the Extreme are effectively the same card, wouldnt it just be possible to buy the standard Ultra and then use ATi Tool to drag the slide bars to the same speeds as the Extreme edition, or am i being way to simplistic because i dont know what im talking about?

You are spot on actually. In fact why not get a GTX and clock it to Ultra speeds?

[cdawall]

yes the XFX cards it is well known that when you buy a factory oc'd XFX vs the stock the stock 9/10 the card WILL NOT reach the level that the factory OC'd edition hits


BUT i would juts get the 8800GT and save some money and loose a couple fps in games :roll:

[Scarecrow]

im playing at 1920 x 1200 resolutions, so it would equate to more then a couple of FPS for me :(