There isnt really much difference when going with reference made cards. The custom ones though it matters because you need to know which ones have weak areas in their designs. You are probably buying a reference card though so it wont matter, just stick with any major brand: EVGA, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI You can still be getting a reference card that uses an aftermarket cooler that is better. Really the MSI Lightning, ASUS Matrix and maybe one or two Strix models, and EVGA Kingpin models are custom cards, as well as the ones that are "mini" versions of normal stock ones. So unless you are getting one of those special ones then you are buying a reference card.
