How would you compare BFG, Leadtek, Gainward?

[fstime]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

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.

Leadtek makes the #1 6600GT card.

Leaktek's 6800GT uses a big copper HS/F which is a lot less noisy than the refrence disign.

I know first hand BFG's stock heatsink on the 6800GT is no where near as good and i've seen at least three people complaining about ramsinks falling off their 6600gts. And overall quality wise leadtek wins. Both are good brands.

 

[kylebisme]

The 2d image quality on BFG cards seems to be hit and miss, I have never seen any complaints about that with Leadtek. That said, my BFG 6800gt's 2d quality is just fine.

 

[ZobarStyl]

People keep saying LeadTek is higher quality because they always use innovative cooling solutions that make them stand out from the other 10-odd companies that won't deviate a single bit from the reference design. Basically, you get a BFG and you get an awesome warranty, but higher temps unless you install an aftermarket cooler (which I think voids the warranty even with BFG). With the LeadTek, you don't get the lifetime warranty, but you get a great cooling solution right out of the box that is covered by the shorter (1 or 3 years, can't remember) warranty. Of course in my experience if something is going to crap out on you, it does it within the timespan of the regular warranty. My old LeadTek Ti4200 is still blazing away in my fiancee's rig after all this time: the warranty is long gone, and the card shows no signs of stopping. Either way, it's LeadTek's constant challenging of the standard cooling solutions that makes us say they are "higher quality." I personally waited weeks for the LeadTek 6800GT, only to have it be sold out within 5 minutes of recieving the Auto-Notify e-mail. I had to settle for the eVGA, which is working quite nicely, but man I would've loved to have another LeadTek.

Take your pick of either one, they are definitely the top 2 in my opinion.

On a random note, LeadTek put out what is by far the most awesome looking card ever...their old FX5900 had a metal casing around the entire freaking card with dual fans...it looked like the front of a semi truck. Still couldn't do DX9, but god it looked cool.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: TheSnowman
The 2d image quality on BFG cards seems to be hit and miss, I have never seen any complaints about that with Leadtek. That said, my BFG 6800gt's 2d quality is just fine.

What is 2d image quality? I have a ti4600 with DVI and VGA. Do you mean the VGA output?

Edit: OK, 2D quality as opposed to 3D games and stuff! Seems OK to me.

Like I posted, I have had problems with all three fans that came on my BFG cards. The first time, they sent me a replacement card. Second time, they sent me a ti4600 instead of my original ti4200. Of course, I considered myself very lucky on that score. Third time, I just decided to live with it until I removed the fan (rudely noisy until Windows finished booting) and put on a fanless Zalman heatsink. I'd have done that anyway, because the box serves as an HTPC (among other things). BFG tech support always took care of me, but I think they should try to improve the quality of the product at least to the point where they use decent and dependable fans. Of course, my experience is limited and I haven't researched the threads, but 3 bad fans out of 3 isn't a good record.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: BobDaMenkey
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.

BFG has DOA cards too... all companies do... its not Leadteks fault buyxg sucks?

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: BouZouki

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

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.

Leadtek makes the #1 6600GT card.

Leaktek's 6800GT uses a big copper HS/F which is a lot less noisy than the refrence disign.

I know first hand BFG's stock heatsink on the 6800GT is no where near as good and i've seen at least three people complaining about ramsinks falling off their 6600gts. And overall quality wise leadtek wins. Both are good brands.

Ahh. About the cooling. I have owned 2 BFG 6800GT's. One had the BFG dual blue LED fan/heatsink. It ran hot. My other one had the Nvidia reference design fan/heatsink on it. It ran much cooler. In my opinion, the fan/heatsink does not have anything to do with the cards performance except if you intend to o/c. It will not affect 2D clarity or make capacitors fall off.

I am not disputing that you heard these things. What I was asking for is any kind of published documentation stating Leadtek is actually assembled using higher quality components. White papers, and such. Hear-say is no good really. Seems to be a myth at best.

 

[Silversierra]

My friend's Leadtek 6600gt didn't seem to be of too high build quality. It failed as soon as he tried to run his first game. A capacitor physically exploded, which rendered the card useless. There's nothing wrong with his mobo, he tried another card and it worked fine. I guess all companies have there "lemons". But that experience would put me off from Leadtek.

 

[PhlashFoto]

I previously had a Gainward 4200 GS card. I had a werid problem with the refresh rate on my monitor. After a call to Gainward, I was stuck with the card, no help and they refused to RMA. I can see why they are leaving the video card biz. Good Riddence!!

As for BFG, which I am using in my system right now. I had a 5900 card that went dead, they RMA'ed for me no problem. Then a month later I bought the BFG 6800NU @ Best Buy. No complaints!!

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Leadtek > eVGA > BFG > Gainward > Rosewill etc.

 

[dvsOasis]

I have 3 leadtek products (tv 2000 xp tv tuner card, geforce4 ti4400, and 6600gt)

All are quality products. The TI4400 had dual fans, but I never bothered cleaning it out from time to time. Eventually the filter got sucked, and started hitting the fan...I unplugged that fan, and it kept up with the overclock (didn't have to downclock or anything).

The 6600gt never goes above 56C or so in my system, and overclocks well. The only problem I had with it is that the fan started making a little whine, but now I run expertool and put my 2d fan speed at 50%, so now it's silent, and only goes to 100% when playing 3d games.

 

[Steven the Leech]

Do not buy gainward, they will not honor thier warranty,

 

[Compnewbie01]

I have a Leadtek 6800GT and so far I am happy with the quality of the card. However it runs extremely hot (80C on Doom3 and 90C on CS:S). I think it is because of my case not having sufficient cooling (53C ambient). Anyway, does anyone know exactly what voids the warranty as far as aftermarket cooling, applying AS5, or overclocking? (I ask about OCing because on their site it boasts how the 7800GTX OCs to 450 core.

 

[daftpunkit]

I like eVGA cause of their warranty. Their warranty should be the industry standard. (And they usually bundle great games with it too!)

 

[imported_g33k]

LOL this thread is ancient.

 

[bdoople]

Originally posted by: Rhoel
BFG has amazing customer service, check this link out...

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=884132&page=1&pp=20

Love my Leadtek, but it's nice to see really good customer service.

Wow.. not only is it a repost.. but in the same thread!