How would you compare BFG, Leadtek, Gainward?

housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
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Anyone who has owned all 3 relatively recently?

I'm just curious. I went BFG from this forums recommendations, and I've been happy so no complaints..

I will likely buy BFG in the future, I'm kinda a fan of their factory overclocking and lifetime warranty now.
 

nweaver

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2001
6,813
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Gainward tech support after my HS/Fan (factory) fell off the card while in the case.

"Eh, sorry, you could just glue it back on"

"Can I get a replacment?"

"Sure, ship it to us, we will ship one back to you within 6 weeks of recieving the card. The guy who does that is at lunch though"

"Can you cross ship me one, so that my computer is usable?"

"No, we don't do that stuff"'


I won't buy gainward again.
 

WT

Diamond Member
Sep 21, 2000
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In no way will you EVER surpass a warranty on a BFG card. Thats why they should be #1 on your list.
 

fstime

Diamond Member
Jan 18, 2004
4,382
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Leadtek for overall quality, BFG for warranty. I would simply go with BFG because although their quality isnt as good as leadteks, its still GOOD and you get a great warranty.

my 2 cents
 

housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
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What exactly do you think makes the leadteks higher quality?

Just curious.
I've had leadtek cards (in fact I am using one right now). I found this particular leadtek GF4 to be a subpar overclocker.

heck, i even have my nvidia/leadtek tshirt on right now.. what a coincidence.

Leaktek
"We make Dreams a Reality"

lol
still a cool shirt
 

orangat

Golden Member
Jun 7, 2004
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Why? Leadtek seems to put some care into hs designs unlike other manufaturers. The 6800 series have a good copper design and the 6600gt has one hs which doesn't wobble and lose proper contact.

Since most cards now follow the reference design closely, the cooling solution and memory speeds are the only visible difference among brands.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
39,347
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Originally posted by: WT
In no way will you EVER surpass a warranty on a BFG card. Thats why they should be #1 on your list.
I got a BFG card quite by accident, seeing a thread in Hot Deals on a Black Friday sale at Best Buy. It was a ti4200. The fan went bad and I called BFG. They are easy to get on the phone and they replaced the card. I don't think I asked for a cross ship because I had another card. When THAT fan went bad a few months later I called again. This time they sent me a ti4600! Some months after that I realized that an option wasn't included, a special plug that lets you plug an SVHS or composite video device into the card. One call and they sent that to me free! In my experience, that's some of the best customer service in the business. They obviously are trying to get that reputation and in my experience, they deserve it.

The ti4600 came with a weird fan, but I didn't complain. It made bad noise until Windows was fully booted, but then it quieted down. I have to think that they are putting low quality fans on their cards, but they don't hesitate to extend service if you ask for it, at least in my experience. I'm running the card fanless with a Zalman heatsink, so it's no longer an issue.

 

imported_bum

Golden Member
Jan 15, 2005
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I have heard that Leadtek makes solid cards, and they do offer some interesting heatsink options. However, BFG service is untouchable. You may think you'll never have lots of problems, but that may come back to bite you in the ass =p.
 

bpt8056

Senior member
Jan 31, 2001
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BFG has made a good impression on me in terms of technical support, product quality, and warranty coverage. I'll buy their stuff anyday even if it costs a bit more.
 
Feb 2, 2005
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I would not recommend Gainward. I once had to RMA my 5700ultra gold sample, only to recieve yet another card that needed an RMA. It also turned out that the 5700ultra gold sample I had was very buggy in alot of AMD mainboards.

Tech support was barely in english, and it was hard for me to communicate with tech support because of the language barrier.

This is the only Gainward card I have ever owned, I had heard, and still hear they make a solid card, but I would not invest in there product again.
 

ohnnyj

Golden Member
Dec 17, 2004
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BFG, they are all about the customer. Check out this case from the Hard Forums, where a user was complaining about a bum card and a BFG tech guy posted right on the forums indicating a new card is being shipped immediately.
 

housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
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And again, I get another thread full of BFG recommendations!
People just love BFG here, and for good reason.. sounds like they have no parallel in customer support.. which DOES matter.. and to the guy who thinks it doesnt.. well, like that one guy said it will come back to bite you. :)

It makes me feel good that I bought 2 new BFG cards.. sounds like this is a great company that will continue to take care of me after I bought these cards.

I'm really glad I went BFG though, and will in the future. I think the difference is, the rest of the companies are foreign based, so their customer service just isnt there.
And they obviously dont want to provide good service.

But the domestics (BFG, Evga) seem to have better customer care by far than leadtek, gainward.
 

Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
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ostif.org
Leadtek for highest build quality, BFG for warrenty, Gainward is an oddball, they come out with some great "golden sample" cards but their support is horrible and reliability issues have popped up in the past with certain models requiring Video BIOS flashes and the like in order to fix.
 

Ryland

Platinum Member
Aug 9, 2001
2,810
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I thougth Gainward had closed its doors about a month or two ago. I have only had good experiences with BFG tech support.
 

sbuckler

Senior member
Aug 11, 2004
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Never buy a non golden-sample gainward card if you want to o/c as they make all the good ones golden samples so you'll be left with a dud.
 

BobDaMenkey

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2005
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From a Leadtek owner: I wish I had gone BFG.

My first cards fan wouldn't stop shreaking while the computer was on. I RMAed it to the company I bought it from, they sent me one that artifacted from the POST. That company wouldn't pick up their phone or reply to my emails afterwards(www.buyxg.com) so I went to Leadtek. I sent my card in, and waited 5 weeks to get my replacement, during which my Gainward GF4 Ti 4800 SE's fan died on me(2nd one to go).

The whole ordeal left a bad taste in my mouth with the company. And from time to time my fan will still make odd sounds it shouldn't while playing some games or using some applications. I just don't want to screw around with trying to get a perfect product that I paid for. I'll live with what I have until it dies on me, at which point it will be BFG for life.
 

cirrhosis

Golden Member
Mar 29, 2005
1,337
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I loved my BFG card, never had a problem with it.
Though....
Recently I purchased a BFG 6800 Ultra PCI-E for my upcoming build. The card seems fine; I haven't installed it as of yet. However, the 2nd Far Cry cd that came with it was defective, not installing on any of my optical drives. Annoyed, I sent off a bitter email to BFG informing them of the error. Much to my surprise they said, "Sorry, won't be a problem." Few days later I recieved a new copy of the game. That's what I call customer support!

I'm sticking with BFG for good.
 

hans030390

Diamond Member
Feb 3, 2005
7,326
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I love my leadtek...they aren't the best overclockers, but, oh well, better quality...temps are really cool, performs great.

go with a leadtek
 

Keysplayr

Elite Member
Jan 16, 2003
21,209
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Originally posted by: BouZouki
Leadtek for overall quality, BFG for warranty. I would simply go with BFG because although their quality isnt as good as leadteks, its still GOOD and you get a great warranty.

my 2 cents

BouZouki, do you have any links to back this up? I mean what makes Leadtek better overall in quality? If you say they use better components, it can only be believable if you post some published information that backs this up. Or is it just what you have heard? Which never holds water.