Aesthetics vs functionality

jeffery7466 · September 7, 2017

Apologies for dwelling on this matter. Your opinions are appreciated.

I have decided to blow my budget and get the GTX 1070. I am considering two models that are at similarly ‘low’ prices (~£400):

Asus GTX 1070 Dual OC

EVGA GTX 1070 SC Gaming Black Edition ACX 3.0

I really do not like EVGA’s exterior design, so in the looks department, I’m more incline to get the ASUS. ASUS also has 6 phases, compared to EVGA’s 4. It is also SLIGHTLY higher OC’ed.

However, EVGA do have (much?) better cooling, and this model is ‘more reputable’.

What do you guys think? How much did the aesthetics of parts influence your build?

JDK319 · September 7, 2017

I think aesthetics are a big influence on a build, but I always keep performance a first. I would check what you plan to run on it and look up benchmarks to see if the GPU that looks good will work, if it doesn't, go for the better performer. If you are on a tight budget, get the ugly ones that do better and then don't get glass sides.

Mira Yurizaki · September 7, 2017

Aesthetics sometimes can harm the performance of a part. Like for example, here's a heat sink from a gaming motherboard:

Compared to a heat sink from a server motherboard

The problem with the gaming heat sink is it goes for looks over performance. The shroud over the heat sink restricts airflow that can go into it, practically necessitating the need for a downward fan on the CPU heat sink if it wants any real amount of airflow through it. Whereas the server heat sink is open, and is less restrictive of how air can go around it.

That's just one example. While looks are nice, if it looks like it can hamper performance, that hardware should be dropped.

jaysangwan32 · September 7, 2017

3 hours ago, jeffery7466 said:

Apologies for dwelling on this matter. Your opinions are appreciated.

I have decided to blow my budget and get the GTX 1070. I am considering two models that are at similarly ‘low’ prices (~£400):

Asus GTX 1070 Dual OC

EVGA GTX 1070 SC Gaming Black Edition ACX 3.0

I really do not like EVGA’s exterior design, so in the looks department, I’m more incline to get the ASUS. ASUS also has 6 phases, compared to EVGA’s 4. It is also SLIGHTLY higher OC’ed.

However, EVGA do have (much?) better cooling, and this model is ‘more reputable’.

What do you guys think? How much did the aesthetics of parts influence your build?

In general, I would personally weigh whether the aesthetics matter more to me than performance in one specific instance. For example, I'm opting to got for a 240 rad over a 280 because a 280 doesn't fit in a case I like.

In your situation, I would go with the ASUS. Both cards are 1070s from reputable companies. Both cards will have nearly identical performance with differences being not even 1 fps. EVGA might have better cooling, but as long as you have enough airflow in your case it should be fine.

Look at benchmarks though. If the EVGA cards is blowing the ASUS out of the water (which I doubt), go for it. If anything less, it's not worth buying a card you don't like the looks of, specially if you're gonna be building with a glass/acrylic side panel.