980GTX MSI vs Reference
#19
(You probably will not find a source for most of the things I say. If you do manage to find a source, you will likely see me quoted as that source's source.)

My source is first-hand experience and specific knowledge. If you know who I am and what I do, then it should be no surprise that we have direct relationships with several OEMs, and we have purchased literally thousands of GPUs over the past five years. So we have quite a bit of experience with this stuff, more so than anyone else.

I can count the number of reference cards that we have had fail on one hand. Either they're DOA / fail burn-in testing, or they last forever. OEM design cards are the exact opposite. I can count the number of OEM design cards that HAVEN'T failed on one hand. But this really isn't that big of a surprise to us, because that's literally the point of an OEM design card: "how can we cut costs on this design and maximize profits."

One of the other things we commonly see are OEMs shipping new GPUs with old PCB designs (most of the GTX 900 OEM designs are based on previous GTX 600 and 700 designs), but we also saw last year that some OEMs were shipping new GPUs with previous-gen firmware too. When I wrote od6config last year, I started getting lots of emails from people who bought a 290X, but od6config would tell them that it wasn't an Overdrive6 device. That's because several OEMs were shipping cards with 290X chips, but with old Overdrive5 firmware. This was done intentionally because they didn't want to add the extra circuitry required by Overdrive6. Yet more cost savings.

Anyway, I have dozens of OEM design card horror stories, but it would take me hours/days to recall them all. Just take my word for it: do not buy an OEM design GPU unless you really know what you're doing. There are some OEM design cards worth buying, but you have to know a lot about GPUs to make that determination. Play it safe and just buy a reference design card.


Messages In This Thread
980GTX MSI vs Reference - by blackstarek - 05-24-2015, 09:49 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-24-2015, 10:31 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by blackstarek - 05-24-2015, 10:37 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-24-2015, 10:50 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by rsberzerker - 05-25-2015, 01:36 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by blackstarek - 05-25-2015, 01:56 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by rsberzerker - 05-25-2015, 03:21 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-25-2015, 06:09 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-25-2015, 06:12 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by blackstarek - 05-24-2015, 11:08 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by undeath - 05-25-2015, 01:56 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by blackstarek - 05-25-2015, 10:58 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-25-2015, 08:52 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by dingrite - 05-27-2015, 05:56 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-27-2015, 07:23 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by dingrite - 05-27-2015, 09:14 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 05-27-2015, 10:20 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by dingrite - 07-01-2015, 04:57 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by epixoip - 07-02-2015, 06:09 AM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by Difermo - 08-26-2015, 02:06 PM
RE: 980GTX MSI vs Reference - by Flomac - 08-26-2015, 05:07 PM