Graphics card brands question

[ralfk]

Dear all,

I recently finished my build and got OS X workign perfectly fine.

Motherboard: Gigabyte H170M-d3H
CPU: i5 6500
RAM: 8 Gb

I'm looking now at some GPU's and was wondering if Nvidea GPU's from the brands ASUS and MSI will work as well as long as they are the same chipset? I only see EVGA and Gigabyte graphic cards in the buyers guide, is there a reason for this?

I was considering the following card:
ASUS Graphics Cards TURBO-GTX960-OC-2GD5
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WJOU6RM/?tag=tonymacx86com-20

 

[nobodynose]

This question comes up a lot. Yes, other brands will work just as well. The reason EVGA and Gigabyte cards are in the Buyer's Guide is probably because many users have reported successes with them.

A more general answer has to do with reference boards; in general, the closer a given video card is to Nvidia's reference platform, the more sure you can be that it's compatible. I get the impression that EVGA and Gigabyte stick more closely to Nvidia's reference. Reference boards typically have a single fan to cool them, that blows the hot air out the PCIe slot cover. Custom boards often have more than one fan, and blow the hot air into the PC case (requiring better case ventilation). There are of course other differences besides the blower. Here's the best article I've seen describing the differences between a reference card and a custom one: http://www.hitzestau.com/reference-versus-non-reference-design-graphics-cards/.

 

[Stork]

+1 to nobodynose.

EVGA and Gigabyte closely follow the Nvidia Reference Card design and are considered by most of us to be in the top tier of graphics card manufacturers. I, personally, prefer Gigabyte graphics cards.

Check out the Graphics forum section for insights to other members' experiences.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/graphics.13/

 

[nobodynose]

+1 to nobodynose.

EVGA and Gigabyte closely follow the Nvidia Reference Card design and are considered by most of us to be in the top tier of graphics card manufacturers. I, personally, prefer Gigabyte graphics cards.

Check out the Graphics forum section for insights to other members' experiences.
https://www.tonymacx86.com/forums/graphics.13/

FWIW, my GTX 750 is from Gigabyte.

 

[ralfk]

Thanks for the clear explanation. I'm proceeding my quest for a card!