Reference Vs Custom

[Guest]

Hi, so I'm trying to plan ahead for my possible liquid cooling build in the future. I was wondering, which would be better or is there even a difference between a reference and a custom graphics card if it's going to be liquid cooled anyway? 

[TheKDub]

Reference cards typically have better waterblock support, though there are some aftermarket coolers that use the reference pcb, or have their own waterblocks for that specific model.

[alexhelvetica]

Some custom coolered cards use non standard PCB's and hard to get water blocks for, but the ones with custom PCB's also tend to be better for OC'ing!

[JebKerman]

custom cards don't always have Water-blocks. but they also tend to have better overclocking potential, so they make better use if there is one.

use http://www.ekwb.com/configurator/ to check for water-block compatibility/availability.

[Guest]

Reference cards typically have better waterblock support, though there are some aftermarket coolers that use the reference pcb, or have their own waterblocks for that specific model.

Is it easier to find blocks for the reference ones? 

[TheKDub]

Is it easier to find blocks for the reference ones? 

 

Yes.

 

 

Reference cards typically have better waterblock support

[KemoKa]

Is it easier to find blocks for the reference ones? 

You can get adapters for some that support ordinary AIOs.

[Guest]

Seems like the better option would be to go with reference ones. I guess it just depends on the manufacturer then or something. I guess it depends on if you're overclocking or not?

[colinreay]

Seems like the better option would be to go with reference ones. I guess it just depends on the manufacturer then or something. I guess it depends on if you're overclocking or not?

Depends what what card you want to get. Most mid-high end aftermarket gpus from Nvidia (Asus Strix, Gigabyte Windforce, EVGA SSC ACX 2.0, Galax(sometimes), MSI Gaming) and some AMD R9 cards are supported. I would buy a gpu that you know for sure has a water block beforehand. But, better performance (sometimes marginal) can be gained by getting a custom pcb card and a waterblock for the same price as a reference card and waterblock.

[Guest]

Depends what what card you want to get. Most mid-high end aftermarket gpus from Nvidia (Asus Strix, Gigabyte Windforce, EVGA SSC ACX 2.0, Galax(sometimes), MSI Gaming) and some AMD R9 cards are supported. I would buy a gpu that you know for sure has a water block beforehand. But, better performance (sometimes marginal) can be gained by getting a custom pcb card and a waterblock for the same price as a reference card and waterblock.

Any videos on that last part? I just want to be sure on checking sources 

[JebKerman]

Any videos on that last part? I just want to be sure on checking sources 

well, you wouldn't be able to get EVGA Kingpin or MSI Lightning level overclock-ability without all of those extra PCI power headers. Most aftermarket PCBs will allow you to OC better by granting more potential power. If you want to see if a particular card has a water-block just use this site: http://www.ekwb.com/configurator/