Hello, I've been looking to buy a new GPU for around 200 USD and I figured I'd rather get a card nvidia card with Physx, TXAA, and GPU Boost (especially since I'm too affraid I'll fry may card before I get a chance to use it) rather than a 7870. So I've been looking at the various cards from the manufacturers and two of them stood out to me. I've been leaning toward the Gigabyte model because it stays very cool and it still maintains a high boost clock. The EVGA on the other hand has a higher boost clock, but I'm afraid the heat will shorten the lifespan of the card especailly in my poor airflow case (not sure what the model is my dad got me the computer for christmas, but its cramped). I've been looking around and people say that the EVGA 660 SC is better, but I'm not very clear on why. I came here looking for intelligent discussion which seems to be rare in most places. Which is better the EVGA 660 SC/FTW 2gb or the Gigabyte 660 OC 2gb and if I should know any thing about the other cards It will always help, thanks.
Well, SuperClocked and ForTheWin are different grades of overclocking from EVGA, and usually have different prices. The benefit of buying pre-overclocked cards is that it is covered by the manufacturer's warranty. In this case, all have a 3 year warranty. Personally, I'd get the Gigabyte 660 OC. While the EVGA does come with better overclocks, overclocking is free, and very safe if you aren't adjusting voltages. Gigabyte's WindForce cooler is also a little better imo.
If you buy a standard card and overclock it and something goes wrong and you RMA it, they have no means of seeing if the card was ever overclocked. So warranty is not a factor. Personally I would never buy overclocked cards because you can do it yourself so easily and you surpass the factory overclocks with ease anyways. So it is just moneygrab from the manufacturers. But some cards are binned by the manufacturer. So they have picked cards which overclock well and overclock and sell these. These cards might be worth it. Also when you buy an overclocked card it oc is written in its bios, so it will run standard on higher speed and thus consume more power even while you don't need it. With a standard clock card you can use less power and only overclock when needed thus saving power.
Don't buy overclocked cards unless they are binned. The cooler is what's most important.