Why do people prefer non-reference versions?

[skylane]

Just curious as to why it seems most people like non-reference versions of GPU - say for the GTX 980ti for example? 

 

I've heard that non-reference models can be OC'ed more and the cooling is better. I'm coming from the workstation world where blower style cards are a must for heat management in the case. I've seen some reviewers say OC'ing a reference vs non-reference has a negligible difference - youtube Joker comes to mind. Thoughts? 

[DigitalHermit]

better cooling solutions outside water cooling... basically...

[Aytex]

because its "cooler"

[Oshino Shinobu]

They're generally quieter, with better cooling performance, sometimes beefed up power delivery for overclocking, as well as often looking better. 

[Tagiau]

Non-Reference pcb's because they can come with better quality components. Aftermarket coolers because they are cooler. 

[Lizardon]

The cooler is better and they are improved in many other ways too. In my opinion the only reason to get reference is if you really like the design or look.

[othertomperson]

Blower coolers are a lot louder and less effective at cooling than most of the custom designs. Also non-reference boards tend to have superior power management and custom bioses that allow for higher overclocks than the reference card, even if the cooler itself is the same. Specific examples like the Lightning, Kingpin and G1 editions are also higher binned chips to guarantee a chip that can overclock well.

 

People say that open coolers are a problem for dumping heat inside you case, but this is why we have case fans. Correctly set up your case ventilation and this isn't an issue.

[TomvanWijnen]

Why do people prefer reference versions?

[Swndlr]

They're generally quieter, with better cooling performance, sometimes beefed up power delivery for overclocking, as well as often looking better. 

Idk about looks man, 2 Nvidia reference cards in SLI looks pretty baller -

 

[NeatSquidYT]

Why do people prefer reference versions?

Looks and water block compatability

[IateMApoo]

Runs cooler, overclocks better and overall better quality components.

[Oshino Shinobu]

Idk about looks man, 2 Nvidia reference cards in SLI looks pretty baller -

-snip-

 

Often looking better.

 

I raise you this:

 

 

 

Reference coolers are often pretty dull and boring. Nvidia's Titan cooler is an exception really. Look at coolers before that, the non-reference designs look better. Of course, it's subjective, but the majority of people prefer non-reference. 

[Swndlr]

Often looking better.

 

I raise you this:

 

 

 

snip

 

Reference coolers are often pretty dull and boring. Nvidia's Titan cooler is an exception really. Look at coolers before that, the non-reference designs look better. Of course, it's subjective, but the majority of people prefer non-reference. 

Tru tru I myself have one of those DCU2 coolers in my system as I type this

[skylane]

Blower coolers are a lot louder and less effective at cooling than most of the custom designs. Also non-reference boards tend to have superior power management and custom bioses that allow for higher overclocks than the reference card, even if the cooler itself is the same. Specific examples like the Lightning, Kingpin and G1 editions are also higher binned chips to guarantee a chip that can overclock well.

 

People say that blower coolers are a problem for dumping heat inside you case, but this is why we have case fans. Correctly set up your case ventilation and this isn't an issue.

I'm wondering about the trade-off between higher case fan noise vs the GPU blower noise. Gaming on my 2-way EVGA 980 SC ACX2 the GPU fans ramp up a bit but it dumps a ton of heat inside my case - so much so that I have to set all 4 of my Noctua 140 fans on Max - I've had them operate on low (400rpm) and the top of my case get's pretty hot. Wonder if having the GPU blower would let me keep those 4 fans on low while just dealing with GPU high spin. 

[othertomperson]

I'm wondering about the trade-off between higher case fan noise vs the GPU blower noise. Gaming on my 2-way EVGA 980 SC ACX2 the GPU fans ramp up a bit but it dumps a ton of heat inside my case - so much so that I have to set all 4 of my Noctua 140 fans on Max - I've had them operate on low (400rpm) and the top of my case get's pretty hot. Wonder if having the GPU blower would let me keep those 4 fans on low while just dealing with GPU high spin. 

 

You don't need your fans to be moving particularly fast, you just need to make sure that there is a clear path for air to enter and leave your case.

 

Sure you can have a tiny fan spinning at 3000 rpm in order to practically turn off your 140mm fans, but that's going to be noisier, less effective and a more high-pitched whiny timbre of noise.

[Nena Trinity]

Less noise and trottle!

[EllieThePurpleFuzzy]

1 Temps, Usually non reference coolers seem to do a better job at keeping the graphics card cool, which is better for overclocking or just not having your card overheat when given some load, im sure there's been one or two cards that are highly reccommmended you get a non reference cooler for since the reference doesn't do a good enough job of keeping them cool or sounds like a screaming kid at trying to keep them cool (GTX 480 and R9 290X spring to mind as the two big examples, and cards like the GTX 590, HD 5970, 6990, would definately have benefited if they had a custom triple fan solution?)

 

2 Aesthetic, Again some reference coolers do look pretty awesome, (HD 5970, HD 7900's, Most of nvidia's one's (GTX 580's with the EVGA or MSI decals on them probably are my favorite nvidia one's). But probably to some people the non reference coolers just look better and "cooler", Personally my favorite is the Vapor X, Sapphire did for the HD 7950,7970,7970GHZ which goes beautifully with my Zalman Z11+ Case

 

3 Better Quality Components/Features? I know that the GTX 900 Series cards can be ran fanless and i'm not sure you can do that on reference 900 series cards, and that might be tempting to one of those people that want to run a silent system (or like the one linus did a build to).

 

4 Manufacturer Warranty? I heard EVGA seems to have a good rep hen it comes to customer service and probably would seem to have you in good hands if anything goes wrong?.

 

5 Bigger VRAM/Manufacturer Overclock?. I guess this would be handy for those that just want to take the card out of the box and put it into their system and just play, rather than going about tinkering with overclocks (be it nervousness or just not really bothered with overclocking), also you can get some cards that are non reference that have increased vram (i'm sure i've seen a 3GB GTX 660 and HD 7870 somewhere? if not then ye)  or double the vram, (like what i have :") ). 

 

 

I know the reference blower style coolers do have their uses over non reference, Smaller PC's (like LAN machines or even HTPC's) are probably better off since the smaller case wouldn't be as good with dealing with warmer air coming off the graphics card over a larger case. and maybe they work better with 3-4way SLI/Xfire builds ,but to be fair i'd just liquid cool if i was doing 3-4 way SLI myself.

[skylane]

Seems like all good reasons. Wonder how much of those reason are measurable and how much is placebo effect? 

 

Only one way to find out. I ordered a reference 980ti and I'll compare it to my evga 980 - know it's not apples to apples but I'm interested in seeing firsthand how much of a difference the fan noise is. 

[tsubasa hanekawa]

i personally have always preferred reference coolers, but ESPECIALLY the nvidia ones as of late, since the original titan days, that aluminum lump is just a brilliant looking thing (hence why im planning on using some 'reference' 970's in my next build, they just look so much nicer than anything before it, but another thing i do rather like them for is that they get all their heat out of the back of the case with the exception of the smaller amount that'll come through the PCB and whatnot, but it's better than an open one where most of the heat is back in the case for all the other bits to sit in, and for SLI/CF they are better too, and my apologies if this is considered as necromancing the thread  

[maizenblue]

The Nvidia titan reference model was decent for a blower cooler in the 780 and 980. It was still louder than a non reference and only moderately good for overclocking but it does look nice and vents the heat out of your case, which is a big plus.

 

With the 780 ti and especially titanx/980 ti its weaknesses are more of an issue. It just doesn't cool well enough to get the most out of the card even at stock speeds, much less overclocking. In order to avoid high temps you have to run the fan at high speeds, like 75% and above, and at those speeds its pretty loud.

[tsubasa hanekawa]

The Nvidia titan reference model was decent for a blower cooler in the 780 and 980. It was still louder than a non reference and only moderately good for overclocking but it does look nice and vents the heat out of your case, which is a big plus.

 

With the 780 ti and especially titanx/980 ti its weaknesses are more of an issue. It just doesn't cool well enough to get the most out of the card even at stock speeds, much less overclocking. In order to avoid high temps you have to run the fan at high speeds, like 75% and above, and at those speeds its pretty loud.

i have heard that with the titan x/980ti it can be more of a problem but then they're a tad toasty anyways, personally i'd go reference and not touch the clocks really, i like my builds to look nice and generally (in my case) the 970's perform well much less the 980 onwards  

[Praesi]

Much cooler

Better Factory OC

Better further OC potential

More silent

 

Reference Cards are out of the Question for me.

[dougdangger]

Sickest looking gpu.  Looks like Megatron's arm or something.

[Arct1c0n]

Reference cooler for the 980tis causes the card to hit the thermal limit very quickly which causes down clocking and thus, less FPS and that's just not acceptable for a lot of people shelling out that kind of money on a high end gpu. It's like buying a Ferrari that only comes with a 4 speed

[Statecat]

They are usually faster, cooler, quieter, and look more slick. Have you SEEN MSI's cards? Dear Lord those things are a red and black build guy/girl's dream. They also can overclock more because of the cooling solutions I just mentioned.