What's the "Golden Sample" on the name of Gainward Cards mean?

[RamzaBeoulve]

I've heared that it means that the card is still under warrenty if it is overclocked... is this true?

 

[John]

Gainward sometimes sells different versions of it's graphics cards, designating some cards Golden Sample. Golden Sample is Gainward's way of telling you that the card you own is certified to run at higher speeds than the stock cards. Some say they hand pick them.

 

[Rand]

The Golden Smple varieties come pre-tested to overclock by a small margin... generally 5-10%.
Gainward will warranty the board if you run in at those pre-tested settings.
Should you choose to overclock beyond their pre-tested settings then your warranty is gone as usual.

Not a big deal really, because their pre-tested speeds are usually relatively conservative, enough so that even their non-GOlden Sample boards easily hit those speeds albeit unwarrantied.

 

[McCarthy]

What it's supposed to mean is that it's a board made to be overclocked.

What it actually means is you get a nice sticker on the box.

My GF2ti "golden sample" won't overclock without artifacts/lockup. That's ok, don't want to overclock it, but worth noting.

--Mc

 

[ObiDon]

It means Gainward's marketing department did their research

 

[murphy55d]

Both my Golden Samples(Ti200, and Ti4200) have been GREAT overclockers. But, like McCarthy posted, there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

[herbage11]

I hvae my Ti4200 64mb Golden Sample to 275/553...Have not tried higher yet but may since I have had no artifacts yet. What is the highest someone has gotten the 64mb Golden Sample too? Anyone?

 

[A5]

Looking at the pics of each, it also appears that the golden samples have slightly larger heatsinks.

 

[CubicZirconia]

Some say they hand pick them.

Others say its a sham.

 

[Alphazero]

The "Golden Sample" is just like the points on Whose Line - they just don't matter!