Which company makes the best GeForce cards?

[Flatline]

Alright, alright, I'm not trying to start a flame war...I really want to know which company historically makes the best GeForce cards (2D quality probably being the most important factor for me). I'm probably going to pick up a GeForce TI4200 when they are released, and I would like to know which companies are my best bets.
Thank you to all the nVidia experts out there for your input!

 

[HardwareAddicted]

I was just going to post this very question !!

I see when browsing Neweggs pics that some have nice heatsinks on the ram, and many do not.

Upside to this is the cooling.....the downside is it could be just overclocked from the start leaving no headroom for more.

I would like to know what the forum thinks about all of this too !

~ HardwareAddicted

 

[Jstic]

All the manufacturers are following the reference design for the GF4's. I really do not think there is one company that stands out. I would look for the best value. MSI is what I chose
because it offered VIVO at the same price as many others who only had video out. Good software bundle too. I have always had good luck with Asus cards as well. Hope this helps.

 

[jcmkk]

I would usually put Gainward, Leadtek, and Visiontek in the lead as the best, but almost all GeForce based cards are pretty equal.

 

[apriest]

I just got my hands on an Abit Siluro Ti4400. Nice card, awesome serious looking heatsinks and fan, good software on the CD. Drivers suck though. I tried installing the latest Detonator drivers (which were 3 revisions newer than what was on the Abit CD), and I blew up the display control panel. Everytime I clicked on the advanced tab I got some sort of display.cpl error (I think that was the file). I must have uninstalled and reinstalled drivers for 2 hours. I was about ready to reload Win2K to fix the error when I had an idea. I put in a Radeon 7500 and installed the drivers for that and uninstalled them. Afterwards I was able to put the Abit Siluro back and reinstall Abit's drivers from the CD. All is well now, but I'll never attempt to update the drivers again. Their website stinks too, as there are no downloads for this card period. The website appears about a year outdated.

That's my first experience with GeForce cards. I'm a little shell shocked to try again any time soon. I certainly won't go with Abit next time around.

:-(

Aaron

 

[cmdrdredd]

It's not Abit's fault you don't know how to install drivers...everyone knows you NEVER use the ones from the Cd. Always d/ld the latest drivers then install them skip the Cd stuff.

If you do a clean of the registry and fully uninstall the device and restart you should be able to get the latest ones.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Personally, I think ATI makes the best GeForce cards ;-).

Actually, pretty much every manufacturer follows the reference design very closely (even closer with the GF4's, with strict regulation of the number of capacitors on the end), and its the little things that make it stand out. That said, Leadtek, Gainward, ASUS, MSI, and even PNY all make fine cards (and I'm definately forgetting someone). I'd say the Gaindward cards are the most robust for overclocking (and those nice pre-overclocked "Golden Sample"), with the new Leadtek design for the GF4's being a close second, but you can't really go wrong with the current batch of cards.

I find it funny how Gainward uses the euphemism "Golden Sample" instead of simply "We overclock our cards ourselves and break the taboo that other manufacturers shun and call 'evil', 'warrantee voiding' and even 'amoral' ".

I never got that, calling overclocking amoral. Yeah sure, and I bet stealing cable is amoral too. Oh, wait a minute...

 

[PowerMacG5]

I personally like the Visiontek cards. I've been using the since GeForce2 and there cards have never failed me. Right now I'm using the GeForce4 Ti4600 Visiontek card and it's the best performer I've ever seen even compared to the other companies Ti4600's. My friend has the PNY and mine always seems like it works much better.

 

[Shimmishim]

i'm gonna have to go with gainward

 

[apriest]

Well, let me tell you, I did try installing the latest Detonator drivers before I dug out the CD. I've been installing drivers since some of you were in diapers! They didn't work with the Abit Siluro Ti4400. Win2K kept saying it couldn't find a compatible driver for the card. After 20 minutes of frustration (and an impatient customer staring over my shoulder asking whey I didn't just use the intended CD), I finally did just that. After installing the drivers from the Abit CD, I was able to install the latest Detonator drivers on top of it. That's when all hell broke loose and I couldn't go into the advanced tab. I couldn't even try to extend the desktop to the 2nd 19" monitor we had. It was a pure nightmare for the next several hours as I tried everything I could think of. I hacked every registry key that looked related. Had I not had an ATI card I could install, I probably would have wound up reinstalling Win2K. Somehow Abit has done something very weird with their drivers and the design of the card. And their website sucks. There are no driver downloads on their website, so I pray my customer doesn't lose the CD (they are prone to misplace things like that). I dunno, not a good first experience with GeForce cards. It worked awesome once I got the Abit drivers reinstalled, even if it's not at it's peak performance. I was impressed with that. I think if I ever try another non-ATI card, it will NOT be Abit.

Just my 2c... ;-)

 

[ChrisADuffy]

I like the Gainward line myself.

 

[DaAvatar]

Love my Leadtek Ti4400......


great card ... pluss it looks cool with the bad A$$ heat sink / fan combo


overclocks very nice.

 

[Dre]

visiontek

 

[Texun]

I have had four Gainwards... they have all been excellent from day one.

 

[Instagib]

Canopus

linkage

 

[Multicron]

I just picked up an MSI GF4 Ti 4400.. very nice card, with great capabilities (go VIVO!) and a pretty nifty SW bundle (including NOLF and Deus Ex).
For some reason, I too could not install the latest (or any recent) Detonator drivers, and I had to go with MSI's drivers from the CD. Other that that, no problems, and works well. Just make sure your BIOS doesn't have "Primary VGA = PCI VGA Card", and you're all set

 

[ChrisADuffy]

that canopus looks different.

 

[Mem]

<< Personally, I think ATI makes the best GeForce cards ;-). >>



Personally I think Nvidia make the best ATI drivers ,getting back on topic ,I would have to say Gainward,Leadtek,Visiontek as well, if your got loads of cash then probably Canopus.

 

[IndyJaws]

Gotta go with Gainward - had nothing but good luck with mine so far!

 

[HardwareAddicted]

 

[RobsTV]

Used to be Visiontek all the way for me.
Using a VT GF3 Ti200 as I type, and it works fine.

But, I was able to test a couple Gainward GF3 Ti200's.
Without a doubt, the Gainward is way above the VT in terms of speed and quality.
I paid $99 after rebate for the VT card, and would gladly trade it plus throw in $40, for a Gainward.
The Gainward GS is worth 40% more in my opinion, but luckily is only about 10% to 20% more.

Pay the extra and get a Gainward. (this advice from a VT owner, not a GS owner).

 

[ChrisADuffy]

bump

 

[Crapgame]

apriest
Next time you install downloaded drivers try the enclosed readme, they say nothing about overwriting drivers in fact show you how not to.

 

[ChrisADuffy]

interesting point.

 

[Brian48]

I'm pretty sold on Visiontek products right now. Having gone through 6 different Visionteks from a GF2-V to a GF4 ti4600, I can say their quality either equals or exceeds those of the other manufacturers (and I've tried a truckload). People tend to forget that they used to be 3rd party vendors for companies like Elsa which was reknown for quality. The only thing I don't like about them is that they're a little more pricier these days than they used to be.