Difference between branded and non-branded GPU's?

[Da Viksta]

OcUk are a decent lot, but just watch out for buying bradned products - i've noticed for OcUK, the branded products like Evga, palit etc cost more than in other stores, but their own brand products are awesome prices...

 

[Harper]

omg i worded that badly......

What i meant was, if you buy like a generic nvidia card without a brand name like Asus, what's the big differences. It seems to be like £30 cheaper just to buy the generic Overclockers UK card, it has the same specs as say the Asus or PNY one. Is paying the extra just for the brand worth it, is there something i'm missing..

When it comes down to the brands, thinks that I consider...
* Warranty. How long, and what will they cover.
* Quality of the fan/heatsink. Thankfully they are not as bad as they used to be, but still I have had my fare share of heatsinks falling off and fans seazing up.

 

[jfenwick]

Add customer service to that list, i'm always willing to pay a couple extra $$$ to know that if i have a problem i'm talking to a real person rather than firing off countless emails or voice messages or waiting on hold for tons of time. Also, take a peek at the webpages between the two and they support they provide there....compare evga to galaxy, i own both but trying to get a hold of galaxy or to find what i want on their page is a nightmare compared to evga. but I paid $30 cheaper for essentially the same card...or even a slightly better galaxy card for less money.

 

[Apokalipse]

I seem to remember XFX used to be a little poor on cooling for their video cards. They're much better now though.

But basically, with today's video cards, the biggest physical difference between cards is often literally the colour of the PCB.

So what sets them apart are things like warranty, what accessories the card comes with, and sometimes they'll have higher stock frequencies and/or a different cooler.