Any reason I shouldn't get a PNY card?

[Neo559]

I have a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB right now, but I bought the CompUSA insurance on it so I can basically get a free upgrade. CompUSA only stocks PNY cards, so I'd be getting a PNY 6800 GT. Is this a mistake? I know PNY isn't the best brand out there, but I don't expect good overclocking abilities or a good pack-in package or anything like that, I just want the performance and reliability of a standard reference board. Is there a reason PNY is held in such low esteem? All the reviews of them I can find online are glowing, but they're all from small no-name websites. Big sites like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware nary mention PNY cards.

 

[vshah]

their service isn't the best, and their "lifetime" warranty is only good for one year, but other than that, not much wrong with them. all cards right now are being made by nvidia anyway, so if its free, go for it...

-Vivan

 

[Neo559]

I'll most likely upgrade within a year anyway (get the plan on this one, do the same thing next summer), so that's not a problem. Hmm.. the local CompUSA has "limited quantities" of them in stock after not having them for the longest time, so I think I should go get one.

 

[Tenchi4U]

their "lifetime" warranty is only good for one year

WRONG!!!!!!!

The new PNY warranty is 3 years (so if you bought one now, you'd be covered until 2007, time for a new card anyways).

They did away with the controversial "lifetime" warranty (no longer mentioned on their products).

The box (on the side) says its an automatic 1 year warranty plus 2 more years if you register the product (I did it, its REALLY easily, less than 2 minutes to complete, no REALLY personal info, just name, mailing address, what you bought, and where you bought it).

I LOVE my PNY 6800GT (410/1100), and will love it even more when the AC NV cooler comes out in September.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: Tenchi4U

their "lifetime" warranty is only good for one year

WRONG!!!!!!!

The new PNY warranty is 3 years (so if you bought one now, you'd be covered until 2007, time for a new card anyways).

They did away with the controversial "lifetime" warranty (no longer mentioned on their products).

The box (on the side) says its an automatic 1 year warranty plus 2 more years if you register the product (I did it, its REALLY easily, less than 2 minutes to complete, no REALLY personal info, just name, mailing address, what you bought, and where you bought it).

I LOVE my PNY 6800GT (410/1100), and will love it even more when the AC NV cooler comes out in September.

Well, in your case, your 3 year warranty will only last til September then.

 

[Tenchi4U]

True.

I should have stated that if you leave the PNY completely STOCK (even with the crappy tape on the DDR), your warranty will last for 3 years.

Mine would have TECHNICALLY expired the first hour I received mine (got rid of the tape on the mem). But I got it for cheap.

I find the risk is worth the reward. I modded my 9700Pro with the AC VGA Silencer, oc's MUCH better.

Just make sure you know what you are doing before doing ANY hardware mods AND be prepared to accept the consequences of your actions if your mods fail.

So mod at your own risk. Or pay more for a premodded one (like a BFG or GoldenSample (or an Galaxy if you can get one)) if you are concerned about voiding your warranty.

Stock PNY 6800GT operation *should* be okay for most applications.

 

[borntodie]

Originally posted by: Neo559
I have a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB right now, but I bought the CompUSA insurance on it so I can basically get a free upgrade. CompUSA only stocks PNY cards, so I'd be getting a PNY 6800 GT. Is this a mistake? I know PNY isn't the best brand out there, but I don't expect good overclocking abilities or a good pack-in package or anything like that, I just want the performance and reliability of a standard reference board. Is there a reason PNY is held in such low esteem? All the reviews of them I can find online are glowing, but they're all from small no-name websites. Big sites like Anandtech and Tom's Hardware nary mention PNY cards.

PNY has been around for awhile and while they're not held in the highest esteem and they don't have a lifetime warranty their products should be roughly the same in terms of quality and should perform as good as or close to most of the other competing brands if nVidia is indeed in charge of manufacturing all of their boards at this point in time.

Hate to get off the topic but...Free? Interesting... Hrmm how much did the insurance cost you and how exactly does it work? I've always scoffed at the sales clerks when they've tried to pitch the insurance to me on my various purchases.

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: vshah
all cards right now are being made by nvidia anyway, so if its free, go for it...

-Vivan

are you sure about that? i have heard a few people make the claim in passing, but i haven't seen any conclusive reson to belive nvidia handling production on any card sense the 5800u.

 

[CraigRT]

I'd go with any brand.. can't hurt to try it

 

[JBT]

My PNY GT is great OC's to 425/1140 with fast writes disabled. with them enabled I would get freezes in Far cry and 3dmark03 I scored 12812 in 3dmark03 with the rig in my sig. I should have my water cooling setup sometime this week so we'll see how it goes

 

[zodder]

My PNY GT has been running flawlessly @400/1.1 since I bought it. I've benchmarked it up to 420/1.15 (12,751 - 3DMark03) , but I keep it at Ultra speeds for now. It's been a great card so for.