I know that ATI & NVIDIA are IT when it comes to the GPU's and everybody has their opinion as to which one is better...you know just like the whole Coke vs. Pepsi deal. Coke is better but that's besides the point.

My question is: Once you decides that you are going with the:
X chipset manufacturer
X GPU
X type & amount of memory
X-bit memory interface

Then how do you decide which Video Card Manufacturer?
Is that also a personal preference or is there further investigating that needs to be done.
There are so many and the only difference I can tell is the packaging.

Thanks for the help.

Some manufacturer's warranty plans are shorter/longer? They also have different coolers and websites. Factory over clock speed is different depending on the manufacturer sometimes.

pepsi. :), anyway, no there is much more to it then packaging, Nvidia is leading the way right now with its 8800's seriers, refer to this chart.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graph...

but, if you dont have 700$ to blow on the best video card, $300 will get you a nice 8800 gts 320, which i have and is a fantastic card. It really all depends on what your budget is, not the packaging ;-)

all about the $$$. and Coke is my choice. going for top notch, then the 8800 Ultra is the choice for now, or hold out for the 9+ series due soon. also depends on what your uses are w/ your pc. for me, I want to play the biggest and baddest FPS at max graphic settings, while getting acceptable performance.

DigitalStorm, Stacker 830, XP Pro sp2, nForce 680i SLI, Kentsfield, 2gb, 2 8800GTX'S, X-FI Fatal1ty, 244T

I think you guys misunderstood me I'm not talking about ATI or NVIDIA. I'm talking about the companies that actually make the cards: MSI, PNY, ASUS LEADTEK..and so on. I'm trying to figure out if there is a difference between those manufactureres

oh ahhaha, well, not really, they just change the overclock speed and small assortments, if you really want to know in depth differences google is your best bet, but mainly there isnt a giant differece

Coke Zero .... FTW! ;-)

On a serious note, I personally prefer Dr Pepper.

Now beverages aside. One distinct difference is: ATI .... cough .... AMD directly market -- to consumers -- it's proprietary cards alongside other third party vendors, who also sell graphic cards based on their (AMD) chipset. On the other hand, NVIDIA does not directly sell video cards to end-users. Their cards are offered exclusively through their many approved partners.

For what it's worth, both chip designers offer great GPUs, although NVIDIA seem to pull ahead quite more often competitively on the highest performance end. However, this does not mean getting an NVIDIA card within your price is automatically the way to go. You still have to do your homework before deciding on what to get. Fortunately, Tom's Hardware is there to make things a little easier for you. But you still need to ensure that your other components are up to par when you eventually pull the trigger on the video card purchase.

Is your PSU adequate?

Do you have enough RAM - another 512MB or 1GB ought to give you a nice boost there.

Are you looking at an AGP or PCI-e card?

Is the card likely to be bottlenecked by your CPU?

The above are a few of the things to think about.

Good luck!

According to the brands (MSI, PNY, ASUS LEADTEK), most will be the same, but Nvidia's website lists many to choose from.

http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce8...

I'm currently using EVGA, and they have been great, and run very very cool (40C when idle, 50C+w/r&g). I would always stick with the mfg co's that have the best rep, and are recommended the most. Googe for reviews.

DigitalStorm, Stacker 830, XP Pro sp2, nForce 680i SLI, Kentsfield, 2gb, 2 8800GTX'S, X-FI Fatal1ty, 244T

oh and MOUNTAIN DEW if we are deviating from the original lineup Saber.

DigitalStorm, Stacker 830, XP Pro sp2, nForce 680i SLI, Kentsfield, 2gb, 2 8800GTX'S, X-FI Fatal1ty, 244T

eFFF coffee, I drink Diet Coke for breakfast! (no lie) minimum of 2L/day. Right now I'm sucking down my 2nd 24oz'er, sitting at my workstation with Disturbed/Believe blasting thru my earbuds!

ATI Chips Comparison Table

nVidia Chips Comparison Table

Thank you all for the response.

Now Jam with his " sitting at my workstation with Disturbed/Believe blasting thru my earbuds!" remark has sparked a new question.
Check it out here

http://computing.net/gaming/wwwboar...

Insanity is doing the same thing over & over & expecting different results. Now unplug it & wait a few minutes & plug it back in and see if it works

"sitting at my workstation with Disturbed/Believe blasting thru my earbuds!"

Let me add that I'm not your typical 50+ yr old baby boomer that yearns for the past & listens to 70's music!