Which GTX780? Asus, Gigabyte, or EVGA?

[Braidster]

Is there a big difference with these cards that would make this decision easier? I am leaning towards the Asus because of the looks and brand name, but I seeing people recommend the EVGA. This is for a gaming system that I will overclock and the price range is Giga=$520, Asus=$540, EVGA=$550. Just kinda wondering if I'll miss something choosing the Asus over the Classified.

 

[blackened23]

Are you interested in over-volting? If so, you need the lightning or classified 780 cards. Keep in mind over-volting has a price to pay in terms of noise and heat output. The ACX cooler (used on the classy) is very good, but not as good as the DC II or Windforce 3 rev. B. Going on, you will likely get the highest OCs with the classified, but the classy costs 580$ minimum. The Windforce and DC2 cards are excellent overclockers as well and cost 510$ and 520$ respectively. IMHO, unless you really want to over-volt (with the understanding of the caveats above) I would get one of the latter two - my personal preference is the Asus DC2, but i'm admittedly an asus fanboy. They are both excellent cards. The classified is excellent as well but does cost a good chunk more.

You also have the option for the 780 SC ACX - it will not OC as well as the classifed and the ACX cooler is not quiet as good as the windforce or the DC 2 - but it's still very very good and quiet. It should boost past 1000 out of the box very easily, as mine does.

Basically you can't go wrong with any choice. If you want to over-volt, though, you need the classified (580 or 699$ depending on where you get it) or the lightning (540$) - keep in mind the caveats with respect to heat and noise, because over-volting gives you high clockspeeds but there is a price to pay. I used the 680 lightning which OC'ed past 1400 but it definitely was NOT quiet at that speed. At normal speeds it was quiet - I could OC to ~1250-1300 no problems no noise. But overvolting a lot made noise a problem - this will apply to the classified and 780 lightning as well i'd imagine. To overvolt the lightning you need to email MSI for a special edition of afterburner. To overvolt the classified you simply download the classified voltage controller.

 

[Braidster]

Actually the price for the Classified I found for $550cdn. I prolly won't get to crazy into overclocking at first. It's been awhile so I'm gonna ease into it. I do prefer a quieter card and am going with a red/black build so the Asus will fit in perfect. After my million questions these past couple months my PC will be finally ordered Friday morning. I'll also add I plan on adding another card for SLI in December

 

[Grooveriding]

You can only overvolt so much on air with the Classified. 1.3V, high clocks, a high load - and your card will be running close to 100C.

 

[Teizo]

If you want a quieter card, then the ASUS DirectCu or the Gigabyte Windforce are the way to go. The MSI Gaming 780 is good as well I imagine, and it is red and black as well. I have the 760 Gaming in SLI and they don't make any noticeable noise until the fan reaches 75% (I have a custom fan profile set up) or so and even then it's just the sound of air moving...nothing bad at all.

 

[Braidster]

If you want a quieter card, then the ASUS DirectCu or the Gigabyte Windforce are the way to go. The MSI Gaming 780 is good as well I imagine, and it is red and black as well. I have the 760 Gaming in SLI and they don't make any noticeable noise until the fan reaches 75% (I have a custom fan profile set up) or so and even then it's just the sound of air moving...nothing bad at all.

Yup I've considered the MSI just going with an Asus mobo so decided to match the gpu. Also my retailer hasn't dropped the prices on the MSI's as of yet. If I was to go with the Gigabyte I'd prolly go with a blue theme and get the UD3H to go with it.

 

[Braidster]

lol well looks like I maybe getting the Classified after all. Saving a little bit of money and going with a Gigabyte UD3H mobo instead of the Asus, so I decided to go with the evga instead of the giga gpu.

 

[atm743]

i have a EVGA ACX superclocked GTX 780. it runs very quiet and the warranty from evga is pretty awesome. I was going to go asus but newegg didnt have them up for sale for some reason when i bought mine.

personally i love my evga card but i kinda wish i went with the asus card. the asus card is not reference, meaning that it does not have ref chokes and mosfits plus it has i think 2 more power phases. but i didnt want to get it and if down the road, i needed to RMA the card. asus rma process is just plain horrid. i had to do it for my motherboard and it took over 3 weeks to get my replacement and you have to fax them shit (is it the 1990's???) no thanks on that.

the only gripe i have with my evga card is that at some fan speeds, the unit has a SLIGHT vibration to it which causes the heatsink fins to rattle a little. there are many people having this issue on the forums at evga. mine didnt do it but now it does at around 42%-46% fan speed. others have it more than i do and its quiet annoying and defeats the point in getting this cooler (quiet)


As for the classified, the cards will overclock really well. but note that the cards coming out now are not using samsung memory nand. they are using Elpida. i guess they dont hit high memory clocks as the samsung ones do.

if you are going to be buying a card. wait till the 780 Ti comes out.

 

[Braidster]

if you are going to be buying a card. wait till the 780 Ti comes out.

Problem with that is I'm buying a complete system which I've been holding off much to long for. With how things have been going "wait for xxxx to come out, or xxxx to drop in price" it'll be after Christmas before I see my PC lol. I'm gonna go with a 780 with a plan to SLI in a month or two.

 

[Teizo]

Problem with that is I'm buying a complete system which I've been holding off much to long for. With how things have been going "wait for xxxx to come out, or xxxx to drop in price" it'll be after Christmas before I see my PC lol. I'm gonna go with a 780 with a plan to SLI in a month or two.

Well, the Ti is going to be a hard launch next Thursday...just an fyi. But, if you are planning on going SLI...then those two 780s will be the last gpu upgrade you may ever need with G-Sync monitors rolling out over the next year and half (or atleast a long, long time)...so make sure you get the highest quality build you can to make sure you get your money's worth.

 

[Braidster]

Oh I totally know just the whole overall situation how the 290x came out, when pretty much most would like to wait for non reference. I don't have a system at all right now and it's been years so I'm very eager to get back at it. This whole ordeal started mid august so I'm doing my best to not second guess myself, purchase it, and never look back happily ever after

BTW it's what is in my sig

 

[Teizo]

Well, it's off topic but I don't really think it will be necessary to have separate ssd's for your OS and Video games. 256gb should be enough. Save money and just go with one, and if you need it later on then buy another.

And I would go with the 256GB 840 Pro which are great buys right now @ 215 buck myself, but then again I'm a Samsung fanboy lol...Nothing wrong with Plextor. That is a good drive.

 

[Braidster]

I plan on playing quite a lot of games and I've already seen it's listed in Ghosts requirements of 50gb's space itself. TBH I already know a lot of this really isn't needed, just something I need for myself (long story) .

A big reason I'm going with the Plextor is I have an RMA center semi close to me if anything were to happen, and also the place I'm buying from does price matching and it's costing me $211.

 

[atm743]

you wont really get a huge jump in loading for putting games on an SSD. unless you are playing MMO's that require allot of streaming from storage but games like COD or BF would not really help with it that much. loading times would probably be only a second or 2 faster if that. When i had a few games on my ssd (samsung 840 pro) it didnt see any faster loading or anything (other than SWTOR) if you have the $ and want to do it, go for it but i wuold use the money from that ssd and put it in something else. or pocket that money. for a G-sync thing when that comes out. (not sure of those monitors allow for modding for it or not)