Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Hiku said:

JEMC said:

Yeah, the fact that here the prices are final, with all the taxes included, give the impression that we're paying more for electronics than they do in the US. And don't get me wrong, sometimes that's the case, but it's easy to forget to include VAT when comparing prices.

Cards from third party brands usually cost more because the coolers tend to be bigger or have other characteristics or gimmicks to set them apart, like tweaking the card with a mild overclock so it runs faster while still be in warranty. Usually the coolers really do a better job in not just keeping the card cooler, but also with the noise. For example, from the Techpowerup review of the ASRock B580 card, we have this comparison:

The cooler from the ASRock card is noticeably better than the stock one from Intel, and it's also quieter. And for some reason the card also uses a bit less power.

But that doesn't mean that the extra price is always justified or worth it.

I'm not sure how long will the Limited Edition last. Last time around Intel also labeled some of their cards Limited Edition, but it just a marketing name and they kept selling them for many months. Or maybe the demand was low and they had too many in stock, it's hard to say.

As for how expensive the B580 is in Spain where I live... well, I can't tell you because none of the usual stores I check have listed the card yet. Hopefully by tomorrow they'll do it, but we'll see. I've used "Alternate" to compare prices because they operate in many EU countries (but not in Sweden, they only go as north as Denmark), and it's around the 310€ mark. Keep in mind that different countries have different taxes so the price will vary from one to another. Here in Spain the highest one is 21%, 4 points lower than yours.

Yeah, I've heard that more fans allow each fan to spin slower, producing less noise. Figured it'd keep the card a bit cooler. But didn't expect the difference to be as big as it is between the ASRock and base model. Also didn't think about lower power consumption.

The reason I like fewer fans may be an incorrect way of thinking, but I've had experiences where one fan malfunctions and starts spinning extremely fast and making terrible noises. So I figured the fewer the fans, the less likely it may be that one fan gets that issue. 

If it ends up at 310 Euro in Spain then it's in the ballpark of the prices here.

It's not just having more fans that helps keepinf the temperatures lower, the cooler is also bigger, helping dissipate the heat faster than with a smaller one. And that shouldn't have any effect on the power draw (besides improving efficiency), which is why seeing this card use a bit less power is weird given that it has two 2x8-pin power connectors instead of only on like the reference Intel card, allowing it to draw more power, not less.

As for fans malfunctionin or not working at all, yeah, it can happen. I replaced my former GPU because the fan started to fail, and Chazore also has experience with a fan failing on his GPU...