05-25-2015, 06:09 AM
(05-25-2015, 01:36 AM)rsberzerker Wrote: IMHO, I think it would be helpful you could post a way to ID reference cards from non-reference cards. What would a potential buyer look for? The most expensive model XXX for instance???
undeath is correct, and this has been stated a few other times on the forums as well: the way to identify a reference design card is to look at the official product photos on amd.com or nvidia.com. If the card in question doesn't look precisely like the official product photos, then it is not a reference design card.
(05-25-2015, 03:21 AM)rsberzerker Wrote: But another company *COULD* build to the exact same specs...How often that is true is another story.
OEMs certainly do manufacture reference design cards, in fact 99% of the time when you buy a reference design card, it will have been manufactured by an OEM. This is fine. It's not that you shouldn't buy a card made by an OEM, it's that you shouldn't buy a card designed by an OEM. All that matters is that the card adheres to the reference specification.