Do you care about graphics card aesthetics?

[Ottonomous]

As we're all aware, graphics cards manufacturers have been really aggressive with aesthetics recently. I am curious to hear your opinions on certain designs.

Personally, this is my all time favourite design:


The industrial and (seemingly functional) look work nicely

 

[GodisanAtheist]

It does seem a bit silly, and I will never leave quality or performance on the table for appearance, but all things being more or less equal I will pick the card with the cleanest,most "mature" aesthetic when I can.

Case has no windows and I have no interest in color coordination, but an angsty, edgy looking graphics card can be downright fugly.

XFX had some real winners on the AMD side with their 3xx family of cards, Sapphire had some real winners with their Nitro line of 480/580 cards, and EVGA has always produced respectable looking NV cards.

 

[BoomerD]

Nope...the way my PC is generally set up, even though the cases often have windows, you really can't see the insides. Why spend money on bling that I'll never see...and does nothing to improve performance?

I'm fine with lighted fans...to a point, but don't want to be able to read by the light of my PC.

 

[SPBHM]

a cool extra, not really a significant factor for me,

 

[MangoX]

For the most part, no. In a regular case the fans face down so you can't even see the fans. But any card I buy must have a backplate.

 

[ItsAlive]

I would much rather have more/better performance and higher quality electronic components, than flashy colors, lights and aesthetic designs.

 

[sandorski]

Chose the 5700xt partially for aesthetics. Backplate and the closed shroud just looks better than the 5700 and/or what most Custom Cards will look like. Also, the bottom half of my recent PC Build is annoyingly dark, so the lit Radeon name is going to help alleviate that, although I may need to add some lighting still.

 

[mikeymikec]

I voted for 'meaningless' though maybe if I thought a graphics card looked utterly freaking ridiculous then that would be a minus point against it when shortlisting graphics cards, even though I wouldn't be able to see it until I opened the case.


I'm not sure I've seen a graphics card before that fitted that description.

 

[EXCellR8]

I like a subtle and clean design where I can get it, sure.

 

[DeathReborn]

Function is important, looks only have any bearing if you have a open case, no case or a big window in your case.

ps: The backplate on the 5700XT reference is useless. Plus it has a useless dent.

 

[guachi]

Once the card is in my case, I don't care at all. My case has no window, and even if it did I couldn't see it. My only level of care is while I'm installing it and (maybe) when I'm looking at pictures of it online.

But it's more of a "this is an attractive/ugly card" and then I install it/buy it. There are really only so many possibilities with a video card, anyway.

 

[mopardude87]

Lately for me its a good price with reasonable to good cooling without to much noise. Getting this triple fan Strix 2070 for the price of a 2060 Super really just made me happy.

 

[Guru]

As we're all aware, graphics cards manufacturers have been really aggressive with aesthetics recently. I am curious to hear your opinions on certain designs.

Personally, this is my all time favourite design:
View attachment 8921

The industrial and (seemingly functional) look work nicely

Yeah, I love the Gainward Phantom series GPU's, one of the best looking design. They were also really cool and quiet as well.

 

[Dribble]

None of my cases have ever had a window - I was always more interested in the noise level which means solid sides with sound dampening on the inside. Given that I really don't care what my cards look like.

 

[Muadib]

Count me in with the non window case group. As long as it works well, I could give 2 craps on how my GPU looks.

 

[gk1951]

Function over form.

 

[Stuka87]

Performance and brand are the most important to me. But looks certainly matter. If two cards perform the same, and both are from reputable companies, I am going for the one that looks better.

My current Nitro+ card has LED lit writing on it, and I can read it through my case, which sits next to me. This may seem lame, but I like it. But I would never choose looks over performance.

 

[EXCellR8]

Having both is better than... not both.

 

[mohit9206]

Price, warranty and after sales service over looks and aesthetics any day.

 

[Midwayman]

I'm not spending extra money for it anyways. It would be the last tie breaker if I had to make a choice. Honestly the one way I could see if happening is if the same company made a card in a couple colors for some reason.