if reference cards are such "bad" at cooling (or just worse than others), why are they...

[Kevin Hansen]

if reference cards are such "bad" at cooling (or just worse than others), why are they literally in 80% of all high end builds? both here and youtube vids? (no offense, i know there's the ROG also)

 

[Justin Novak]

Because they are usually given to the big vloggers by NVIDIA

 

[Rowan Christie]

It's not that they're BAD, just not ideal in regards to performance.

They are definitely still capable cards, but are limited by their cooling capabilities.

 

[Cameron Edward]

Because they look really, really good

 

[Curtis Jonesjr]

Because ppl want stuff ASAP.

 

[Justin Novak]

Also, REF cards are better in really small cases

 

[James Owens-Case]

They usually plan to rip off the cooler and slap a water block/G12 on them

 

[Micky Bottoms]

It's also the junk that prebuilts have. Also companies give those to alot of those testers. Most people who know better don't buy them