EVGA vs MSI

[Mehta23]

I have asked this before, but I'm trying to get more views as I really dont know what to do .


Thinking of getting a 660Ti for my rig. Namely the EVGA 660Ti and the MSI TF4 660Ti.
The MSI is pretty much better than the EVGA - faster , more powerful , quieter , cooler.

However, I've heard the MSI's cooling will just make a warmer case inside as it blows hot air around it. Then , I've heard MSI suppport and warranty isnt as good as EVGA's.

I think MSI gives a 3 year warranty , whereas EVGA give a 3 year + 7 if you register.



So the question is , is the lack of power and perfomance outweighed by the superior support of the EVGA model?
Like, I understand the support is better , but I probably wont be OCing and just use the GPu as stock .... so I dont know if the extra warranty is useful to me? Although , if any problems occur it would be nice to be able to get a fix quickly......


If I were to get a problem, I wouldnt mind as much how I get it fixed, as long as it can be fixed .


So.... EVGA vs MSI.


Opinions?

 

[johnlgalt]

Here is the thing about OCing - eVGA allows you, as a registered user on their site, to DL a very cool, and very easy to use, OCing utility called Precision (now called Precision X). How good is it?

it's basically a modified version of RivaTuner that makes it a ton simpler to OC your card, including voltages, if need be (they used to have a separate voltage tuner, but it got incorporated into the Precision app a while back now). Why is this so awesome?

1. You can control every aspect of your OCing, with 10 preset profiles, plus an automatic profile to run when in both 2D only mode (aka windows desktop) and 3D mode (gaming, etc.)
2. You can also control your fans, incrementally increasing the speed to match the temperature, so that it keeps it the card (and your case interior) a lot cooler even at low temps
3. You can use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=evga.precision from the market via BT to control your OCing on the fly without having o get out of your game / movie / whatever - how cool is that!
4. It's free

I bought the 560 Ti 448 Core a while back, and had a pair of 260s before that. With the 260s, I had one I bought from NewEgg and one I got from eVGA via Step-up (90days to buy a new card, and pay the difference between what your current card is worth and the new card - another reason, BTW). The one I got from eVGA was suppose to be a 260 stock, but they had flashed the SSC BIOS onto it, so I got one stock 260 and one SSC 260. I used eVGA to have them match at SSC speeds and then was able to use them as two SSC cards in SLI for my games (paired with a GTS 250 for PhysX).

IOW, using this app, you can match the specs on the MSI card on your eVGA card and get the best of both worlds.

 

[NYCHitman1]

eVGA ftw!

 

[Mehta23]

So i can easily get the same speeds.... But the same performance ? What about noise / temps.




EDIT: obviously you're from the US.... Would I still get all the advanategs of the eVGA if I'm in the UK?

I was thinking MSI , but now I might be edging towards to the eVGA , especiallly with that 10 year warranty. I just dont know if I would beefit a lot from the OCing, the app, and the extra support. Like , how often do these things break down ?


EDIT: MSI have their own afterburner app. It doesnt seem to look as nice or as good as the evga one , but if it works....

So then its back to support vs power

 

[NYCHitman1]

So i can easily get the same speeds.... But the same performance ? What about noise / temps.




EDIT: obviously you're from the US.... Would I still get all the advanategs of the eVGA if I'm in the UK?

I was thinking MSI , but now I might be edging towards to evga if its still in stock anywhere

I don't think it would be different specs wise just because you are from another country. If it's any consolation, my eVGA GTX 580 SE makes no noise whatsoever. It still delivers great performance too.

 

[Mehta23]

Specs would be the same, but i was referring to the warranty....

One review showed the msi was a good 12-14 degrees cooler and somewhat quieter.

Unless there's anything else I should know, I'm probably gonna favour the msi unless the evga is a lot cheaper, or if the reviews say different.

I have until Tuesday to make a decision it seems.

 

[Mehta23]

Would ocing void warranty for either of the evga / msi

 

[johnlgalt]

Sorry, was not around. That would be another question that you would ask at their forums (EVGA Forums ) about since you are in the UK.

As for OCing - both include the OCing utility, so unless you fry your card, you're pretty OK with OCing.

Why would you need to OC a 660, though? I don't even OC my 560 and ME3 Arkham Asylum And Diablo III run beautifully, not to mention Skyrim maxed out....but, yeah, if you adjust voltage correctly and don't over do it and check your results with apps to check for artifacting and tessalation problems, you should be good to go.

 

[NYCHitman1]

Why would you need to OC a 660, though? I don't even OC my 560 and ME3 Arkham Asylum And Diablo III run beautifully, not to mention Skyrim maxed out....but, yeah, if you adjust voltage correctly and don't over do it and check your results with apps to check for artifacting and tessalation problems, you should be good to go.

You read my mind

 

[Mehta23]

Oc because someone said I could do it to get msi performance on the evga....

 

[johnlgalt]

Yeah, using the eVGA PrecisionX app you can easily achieve that.

 

[Mehta23]

Alright , cheers!!

So I can get the same performance on both GPU's , but is the temperature important? One review showed the MSI to be ~15 degrees cooler, which sounds like a lot.

I don't think I'm overly bothered about the support side of things, just if Iget a fault ( would I even get one ? ) that I can solve it fairly quickly?

Then , what faults are likely to happen to graphics cards? Like, the common ones? Obviously OCing it too far would damage it ....

EDIT: Does it make a difference that I'm now comparing the standard EVGA vs the MSI Power Edition,but I don't know any comparison details..?

Also just re read the comment about adjusting the fan of the evga to make it cooler.... Is this the reason why it's warmer than the msi - software? Or is it that the msi has a better cooling set up?

Too many questions, I know. Sorry.

 

[johnlgalt]

Yes, it makes a huge difference, b/c that MSI Power Edition may also have ramped up fan speeds, thus keeping it cooler.

Precision X though will give you a huge level of customizability on your card. I've been using it for Over 3 years now, and I highly recommend it.

YMMV.

 

[Mehta23]

Just had a thought : would o be ok with a 660Ti with a i5 3750k and 750w psu?

 

[NYCHitman1]

sounds about right

 

[Mehta23]

Because of the PWM thing with the MSI cards I've gone to the dark side - EVGA!

Seeing how a 670 FTW is

 

[Rolo42]

C. Gigabyte. Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N66TOC-3GD GeForce GTX 660 Ti 3GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Yes, you'll need adequate case cooling (nothing fancy, just a proper setup--wife's 580 cools properly in her Antec 902 even when she forgets to turn on the case fans and only the top 200mm fan is on, low).

MSI Afterburner utility works on all cards and allows you to set clocks and voltage and even monitor on Logitech displays.