Does brand for the 6800 GT really matter?

[LiquidX]

Right now I am sitting on a pre-orderd PNY 6800 GT for $336 for a bud. But I am thinking telling him to let me cancel it because its life time warranty is not like EVGA or BGF which covers the card for life as suppose to when they stop making it which can be six months from now with PNY. He does not upgrade heavy like me so he will have it for a bit and dont want him to get raped down the road to save $75.

Is PNY as bad as I see alot of people saying? Never had one and have stuck with Hercules and MSI so I really dont know about there quality.

 

[tranCendenZ]

PNY had some issues with memory in the past, however right now all 6800 cards are the same thing. The primary difference is the warranty on the card, whether the manufacturer tests it or not, and whether the manufacturer alters the stock cooling.

In other words you should be fine, and if it breaks during the lifetime of the card PNY will replace it assuming it has not been mistreated. That being said it is true many have gotten frustrated with PNY's customer support.

BFG has a better warranty, in that they will replacement it for life, period, meaning that if the card breaks and the 6800 isn't made anymore they will replace it with a 7800 or something, but thats really the only thing to consider.

eVGA only has a 1yr warranty, though their support is excellent as is the quality of their cards.

If he is going to hold onto it for a long time and he doesn't plan on overclocking (which voids the warranty), it might be worth it paying extra for the BFG since they are the only manufacturer with a true lifetime warranty - then again if the $60 means GT or no GT, a PNY 6800GT is far better than no GT at all.

 

[DigitalEmperor]

the warrenty is not as good on the PNY as others but .. you will probally get a full year warrenty from your place of purchase. (Buy.com).

That is one killer deal. $70 off is really fantastic.

all of the cards are made by nvidia and sent to the distributors who put on their own cooling so don't worry about bad memory or anything. if something like that happened this early, it'd be global to all companies.