Both AMD and Nvidia, in addition to selling reference cards directly, also allow their partners (authorized video card suppliers ) to sell their graphics cards. These are for example EVGA and Zotac( Nvidia partners ), XFX and Sapphire ( AMD partners ). Do you pay any attention to these brands when you're buying graphics cards ? I don't. I just buy the cheapest model of a particular card to save money, since they seem to work just as well as more expensive models from other brands like ASUS Strix.
I think people do pay attention to the brands. And that is because some of the time there are issues with the replacement. And some known brands can offer that. And other brands may not be good enough on that context. So it's reasonable to understand that graphic cards after sales support can be different there as well. So to save cost stick with the known brands.
All brands offer warranty periods, as far as I know ( they pretty much have to ). Some are just easier to work with if you do end up needing a replacement. I've bought myself a cheap Powercolor brand card about 7 years ago and it still works perfectly. So yeah, cheap brands are really just as good as more expensive ones.
I do pay attention to brands when buying graphics cards. I've always preferred NVIDIA when I was using a desktop but had to shift to AMD/Radeon when I bought a new laptop recently because it's considerably cheaper. I'm not a gamer but I sometimes have to use graphics-intensive software for special projects and other productive endeavors. Otherwise, I can do without it. Well, you have another thread that says you were looking for a decent gaming card: Log In
I do, but it has nothing to do with this thread, and I didn't buy the card anyway. GTX 1050ti does poorly in DX 12 benchmarks/games, and since next generation cards are coming relatively soon I might as well wait for them. Anyway, this thread has nothing to do with the old "Nvidia vs AMD/ATI" debate. I was pretty much asking whether people prefer specific board partner cards ( some of which I've named above; like Sapphire, EVGA, Zotac and XFX ) or do they just not care.
I usually buy the name brand graphics cards. I have has too many problems with buying off-brand products. Off-brand products are cheaper for a reason. They use cheaper parts and they don't last as long and in the end, you end up spending more money in the long run when you have to replace the cheap off-brand parts.
