Best Cheapest Reference cooler GPU

[Lord Nicoll]

I kinda collect odd and older GPUs, sometimes they even get taken out for Sunday gaming jaunts, but, while I have a reference GTX 295 in my collect, I'd really like to add a cheap reference card from the more recent offerings, and I'm looking at reference cards in the GTX 770/780-GTX970-GTX980 or the upper Radeon R9 collection, as I think they really are the pinnacle of both companies (I also like the HD 6970 cooler, but they're a little harder to find). I'm not too sure what one to get though, It won't be used much, so age or power isn't an issue, more, obviously get the cheapest I can find is probably best, but they don't turn my collector crank as much, even though they're old and, while still usable, more than superseded. I think the cheapest is the R9 270x that was that style of cooler, and while the Pascal cards do look great, they cost far too much to leave looking pretty on a self. 

[Droidbot]

a used 780/ti/titan

 

the old ref cooler still looks clean today imo

[CFstorm]

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-780-ti

 

[Lord Nicoll]

7 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

a used 780/ti/titan

 

the old ref cooler still looks clean today imo

 

4 minutes ago, CFstorm said:

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-780-ti

 

I was thinking of a GTX Titan Black but I know I'd end up in one of my server being used for it's double FP64 compute performance, so I'd rarely get to see it, but I'd probably hear it (not really, those servers are hear ache inducing-ly loud)   The GTX 780Ti still has a slight premium attached for some reason and reference cooler cards are almost impossible to find. 

[Droidbot]

6 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

 

I was thinking of a GTX Titan Black but I know I'd end up in one of my server being used for it's double FP64 compute performance, so I'd rarely get to see it, but I'd probably hear it (not really, those servers are hear ache inducing-ly loud)   The GTX 780Ti still has a slight premium attached for some reason and reference cooler cards are almost impossible to find. 

780Ti still compares to 1060, thats probably why.. I've seen a lot of ref 580s in AU, so take a look at that

 

 

 

[Lord Nicoll]

Just now, Droidbot said:

780Ti still compares to 1060, thats probably why.. I've seen a lot of ref 580s in AU, so take a look at that

 

 

 

Not really interested in the GTX 5xx or GTX 6xx, kinda plasticy and shit imo, the GTX 295 is only there because it was Nvidia's first real well done single PCB dual GPU card. GTX 480 is kinda funky looking so I might look for one of those too. I'll probably look for a GTX 770

[Droidbot]

1 minute ago, Lord Nicoll said:

Not really interested in the GTX 5xx or GTX 6xx, kinda plasticy and shit imo, the GTX 295 is only there because it was Nvidia's first real well done single PCB dual GPU card. GTX 480 is kinda funky looking so I might look for one of those too. I'll probably look for a GTX 770

for reference (heh) there is not a lot of ref 760s or 770s around. check ie.webuy.com, they're my goto place for ref gpus and general computer upgrades

[Lord Nicoll]

1 minute ago, Droidbot said:

for reference (heh) there is not a lot of ref 760s or 770s around. check ie.webuy.com, they're my goto place for ref gpus and general computer upgrades

yeah, I usually roam around the local cex's but amazingly, very little reference cards, buyers here obviously are more savy and like their aftermarket coolers. 

 

[Mick Naughty]

Yea 770 would be the cheapest. Maybe be able to find a dead card kinda cheap. I'm about to get a 690 for the same reason. Best looking card ever. 

[Lord Nicoll]

5 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Yea 770 would be the cheapest. Maybe be able to find a dead card kinda cheap. I'm about to get a 690 for the same reason. Best looking card ever. 

Get a Tertan Z, even better looking and triple slot lol

[Mick Naughty]

4 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

Get a Tertan Z, even better looking and triple slot lol

Meh, I think it looks tacky because of that but mabye when they are cheap as dirt I will. 

[Lord Nicoll]

5 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Meh, I think it looks tacky because of that but mabye when they are cheap as dirt I will. 

They are still kinda cool for that fact, and due to the kinda ok performance in certain workloads, are still valued for that, they're the most powerful dual GPU card available bar the Tesla that cost in the region of $6000