boxpressed wrote:

So Reputator's R121/R122 distinction isn't definitive enough for folks?

The difference is between finding a card that will act like a Geforce, vs one that is actually originally built as a Geforce. Resistors can be moved but looking at the GPU confirms the latter.
I suppose there might be some people who resistor-mod Quadros into Geforces before selling them. Not sure if anyone has actually run across that. I think it's more likely that they just get misidentified but haven't actually been modded, and looking at the resistors would be sufficient to catch that.

From a function standpoint I don't see much reason to care between the versions. If anything I'd probably prefer to buy a Quadro since they probably lived a healthier lifestyle than Geforce (gaming) cards typically did, they weren't clocked as aggressively in daily use, and there's less chance it's been modified by anyone (unless it was modded back when people wanted to turn their Geforces into Quadros instead of the other way around). Phil did a video where his Quadro2 overclocked like crazy, so I don't think there's going to be any problem running them at Geforce2 Ultra clocks if one wants to do so.

But from the standpoint of collectibility, an original GF2 Ultra is more valuable nowadays. If one is paying the higher price then they're probably worried about authenticity.

shamino wrote:

The difference is between finding a card that will act like a Geforce, vs one that is actually originally built as a Geforce. R […]
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boxpressed wrote:

So Reputator's R121/R122 distinction isn't definitive enough for folks?

The difference is between finding a card that will act like a Geforce, vs one that is actually originally built as a Geforce. Resistors can be moved but looking at the GPU confirms the latter.
I suppose there might be some people who resistor-mod Quadros into Geforces before selling them. Not sure if anyone has actually run across that. I think it's more likely that they just get misidentified but haven't actually been modded, and looking at the resistors would be sufficient to catch that.

From a function standpoint I don't see much reason to care between the versions. If anything I'd probably prefer to buy a Quadro since they probably lived a healthier lifestyle than Geforce (gaming) cards typically did, they weren't clocked as aggressively in daily use, and there's less chance it's been modified by anyone (unless it was modded back when people wanted to turn their Geforces into Quadros instead of the other way around). Phil did a video where his Quadro2 overclocked like crazy, so I don't think there's going to be any problem running them at Geforce2 Ultra clocks if one wants to do so.

But from the standpoint of collectibility, an original GF2 Ultra is more valuable nowadays. If one is paying the higher price then they're probably worried about authenticity.

I'm with you about not caring about the difference between the Quadro 2 Pro and the GF2 Ultra because their performance is almost identical, especially if you'll be overclocking. Some GF2 Ultras are VGA output only, so the Q2 Pro is definitely superior from a performance standpoint here, especially if you will be using it for video capture.

But I do understand why people would want a "real" GF2 Ultra. If that kind of authenticity is important, I would bypass the Dell OEMs altogether. Having to remove the cooling unit to be absolutely sure is just too much trouble.

shamino wrote:

The difference is between finding a card that will act like a Geforce, vs one that is actually originally built as a Geforce. Resistors can be moved but looking at the GPU confirms the latter.

When it gets to this point, you're wringing your hands over literally the paint applied to the top of the chip, hidden under the heat sink.

xjas wrote:

shamino wrote:

The difference is between finding a card that will act like a Geforce, vs one that is actually originally built as a Geforce. Resistors can be moved but looking at the GPU confirms the latter.

When it gets to this point, you're wringing your hands over literally the paint applied to the top of the chip, hidden under the heat sink.

This was my thought as well, but I wasn't going to say anything.