List Price: $1,410.00
Sale Price: $749.00
Today's Bonus: 47% Off
What you want to know about this card upfront:
Careful with the processor and motherboard combination you choose to install this card in. All I can say for sure is that it seems to work with an AsRock Z77 based motherboard and 3570K processor. Only time will tell if other unknown incompatibilities I am not aware of at this time are present.
What you want to know about Amazon as far as this card is concerned:
Amazon was exemplary in its dealing with the problem I experienced with this card and accepting the return of the first card which on hindsight was almost certainly not defective. That kind of customer service is invaluable.
What follows is what you may face if you purchase one of these cards:
This card is a mixed bag due to the manufacturer. It is not compatible with a lot of common hardware. Specifically, the first one I got worked fine as long as 5 or less cameras were connected to it. If 6 or more cameras were connected to it, the video would be corrupted. After testing every possible thing in the installation, including cables, connectors, cameras and camera combinations, computer configuration and every imaginable detail, I was convinced the card was defective and sent it back. The fact that it worked fine with 5 cameras but not 6 seemed to indicate a defective card.
The replacement card (same model) exhibited the same problem but with one additional camera connected to it. That is, if 7 (instead of 6) or more cameras were connected to it, the video would be corrupted in the same way as it was with the first card. At this point it seemed unlikely to have gotten 2 bad cards in a row and further testing/research was warranted.
After spending days testing everything imaginable again and taking the computer system to a different location where 16 cameras were already installed and working properly with a GV-1480A (not B), the system with the 1480B card exhibited the corrupted video problem while the system with the 1480A card did not.. This clearly established the problem to exist in the system hosting the 1480B card.
After contacting the manufacturer and getting a list of compatible motherboard and CPU combinations and, a lot of hardware swapping, it became clear that this card is _not_ compatible with the intel i5-3570 CPU on the motherboard (the motherboard itself was intel made, very standards abiding as most intel motherboards are) but is compatible with a 3570K (a very similar processor)
Additionally, be aware that the list of compatible motherboards given by the manufacturer is _incorrect_. The manufacturer claims the B version of the card is not compatible with Sandy Spring and Ivy Bridge chipsets. That information is _incorrect _. The card is now working (tested with 16 cameras connected to it) on an Ivy Bridge based motherboard (Z77 chipset) with a 3570K instead of a 3570. What this card seems to be sensitive to is the graphics processor built into the CPU (and possibly other things which I do not know at this time and hopefully won't find out the hard way in the future.)
The manufacturer (geovision) should be a bit more diligent and figure out which processors this card is, and isn't, compatible with instead of having its customers figure it out for them. This card does not work with 3570 processors no matter which motherboard you use. It will work with the 3570K as long as it "likes" the motherboard as well. The U.S representative of the manufacturer genuinely tried to help as much as she could but, the information she has available to offer leaves something to desire. She gets due credit for her genuine desire to help and having helped as much as she could given the information available to her.
When the card is on a compatible platform, it is a capable card that gives good performance, features and image. It would get 5 stars if this evaluation was based on its performance alone but, considering the lack of reliable and up to date information about its hardware compatibility, I cannot give it a better rating.
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