Graphics Cards differences?

[tzammit_96]

Hi all, need some help. I'm currently deciding on which graphics card to buy (going towards the gtx 1080). However they have all these flashy names and I'm quite lost in this regard. When one graphics card from the same 3rd party is different from the other, what does it mean? Example EVGA gtx 1080 ftw gaming and EVGA ftx 1070 acx 3.0. There is quite a price difference between the two cards. Now I know that most of the difference is due to overclocking. However, if I take the standard, lower priced EVGA card, will it have the same maximum overclocking potential as the higher priced EVGA card? For example, will they both have a maximum of say, 2100mhz core speed? If so, is the price difference just because of out of the box different clock speeds but the same maximum potential overclock?

 

Also I'm sorry if what I just said is total garbage, I'm quite new to these things. Thanks

[DominicNikon]

if you buy the higher end model you only get better cooling and stuff like that. it depends on the silicon lottery and because of that the lower price one might go to 2001mhz and the higher price one might not overclock at all without crashing

[DawN the 13 year old]

Well, it IS possible but it is NOT recommended since doing such could break your gpu since going over the reccomended for the GTX 1070 FTW ACX 3.0 is 1797 MHz Boost Clock and going over will also probably (but not with EVGA) void your warranty. Please note that EVGA in most cases allow you to remove and replace coolers as long as when you send it back for whatever reason you replace the old cooler. So, in the short answer YES but i would not recommend it as it will PROBABLY break it, Knowing my luck haha. If you have $400 to drop down the toilet then go ahead.

[daniielrp]

Higher price points generally get better cooling as mentioned above, but OC performance is generally a bit of a lottery. EVGA offered an option to attempt to get a better 'binned' board with their 980ti  (clicky here: http://www.evga.com/articles/00944/EVGA-GeForce-GTX-980-Ti-KINGPIN/) but I think all the current ones are just random. 

[daniielrp]

3 minutes ago, DawN the 13 year old said:

 going over will also void your warranty. 

You might wanna fact check that, even EVGA say OCing will not void your warranty:

 

http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=55

[Daveeede]

You are comparing a gtx 1080 to a gtx 1070 so obviously there are major differences between the cards. That is why there is a major price gap. 

 

If you compare the same gpu (like two different gtx 1080s)  from different vendors, then usually the performance of the worst version is within 5-10% of the best. Most people will not see the difference in performance at all. 

 

Overclocking potential depends on many factors. As the others have stated, the silicon lottery plays a big role in this since no two gtx 1080 chips are the same. Some overclock well, some will not. Other factors include power and temperature limits. Buying higher end card will give better cooling and power delivery but there is still no guarantee it will affect the overclocking potential. Hope that helps.

[DawN the 13 year old]

2 minutes ago, daniielrp said:

You might wanna fact check that, even EVGA say OCing will not void your warranty:

 

http://www.evga.com/support/faq/afmviewfaq.aspx?faqid=55

I apologise, I will edit that out now. Thanks for the heads up!

[Humble_newbie]

Lets talk about EVGA for a second here,

Currently EVGA sells 6 versions of 1080.

1. EVGA Founders Edition 1080

2. EVGA GTX 1080 SC ACX 3.0

3. EVGA GTX 1080 ACX 3.0

4. EVGA GTX 1080 FTW ACX 3.0

5. EVGA GTX 1080 Classified ACX 3.0 (Upcoming)

6. EVGA GTX 1080 Hybrid with Corsair Cooler (Upcoming)

 

The first one is the reference design from Nvidia that EVGA sells as it is manufactured and configured my Nvidia just under EVGA name and warranty. 

 

For the next 5 GPUs, notice the ACX 3.0! Thats EVGA's inhouse developed cooler.

(BTW all GPU AIB partners have their own like GIGAByte's Windforce, ASUS's Strix, etc)

So all the GPUs with ACX 3.0 will have EVGA's cooler on top and the cards are going to be configured differently, fans profiles are configured differently, so the FTW ACX 3.0 (no 4) out of the box can make more power that the ACX 3.0 version (no 3)

 

They also have different features like RGB lighting and all that if you are into it. 

 

Performance wise, they are all going to perform different out of the box, BUT

if you OC them manually, mess with the fan profiles and shit, you can get them to perform about the same. 

Now, if you take off the custom coolers off of all of the cards ( everysingle one of them) and put a watercooling loop on it, they will all perform the same. Usually better than these fans. 

 

So its really upto you to get whatever you want, YES the companies will market the cards at different performance so that they can sell. But pretty much they perform the same. Some time you see gains  of like 5-10 fps but thats normal.