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- Date:
- Monday , March 31, 2008
- Author:
- Mark Warner
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
BFGTech GeForce 9800 GTX
NVIDIA is launching the successor to the GeForce 8800 GTX! Will the new GeForce 9800 GTX live up to the impressive legacy of the 8800 GTX? Is the 9800 GTX an upgrade? Or is it a step backwards? We evaluate the new card from BFGTech.
BFG Tech
BFGTech is well-known by most, if not all PC gaming enthusiasts. They are one of very few companies to offer lifetime warranties on NVIDIA video cards, having only EVGA and XFX for company. By offering lifetime warranties and 24-hour technical support based in the USA, BFGTech quickly established itself as a premium brand for high-end video cards. BFG's other products include motherboards, Physics accelerator cards, and power supplies. Recently BFGTech has earned a Gold Editor’s Choice award from its ES-800 800W power supply, but back to video cards.
BFGTech GeForce 9800 GTX
The video card we have for evaluation today is the brand new BFGTech GeForce 9800 GTX. This video card follows NVIDIA's reference design completely. It has not been overclocked by BFGTech and it has the same cooling device that NVIDIA designed for these video cards. In fact, the BIOS in the video card we received still bore NVIDIA's name, not BFGTech's.
This video card comes in BFG's typical packaging with a stylized CG face, looking somewhat angry. There are large letters advertising the tech support and warranty offerings as well as a small gauge indicating that this video card is in the "Best" category, though it is a couple of notches away from the highest mark.
The system requirements listing found on one side of the box is fairly thorough. It goes so far as to indicate that a minimum 450W power supply is required, and that it must have a combined 12v rating of 24A or more. Another side of the box shows that there is one video card in this box, and that you will need more equipment if you want 2-way or 3-way SLI. By the look of the diagram, it appears as though BFG may offer boxes with more than one video card inside in the future.
The back of the box is mostly marketing talk, accompanied by a game screenshot and an "HD Video" screenshot.
The video card itself is 10.5 inches long, 1.25 inches thick, 3.75 inches tall, and completely covered by a very shiny black plastic shroud. The rear end of the shroud is curved and recessed to facilitate good airflow if another device is installed in a slot adjacent to the video card. The cooling fan is similar to that found on the GeForce 8800 GTX, but with more (narrow and shorter) fins. BFG's branding is prominently displayed on a large sticker on the forward end of the shroud and on a small sticker on the fan's hub. The fan pulls air in from inside the PC case and pushes it across the heat-sink and exhausts wavy slits through IO panel. This basic design as served NVIDIA well over the past year and a half, so we are not surprised to see them include it here.
By comparison to the GeForce 8800 GTX, the 9800 GTX weighs less. It is noticeably lighter, which can only be a good thing for motherboards straining to hold up one or more of those hefty 8800 GTX cards.
The rear end of the heat-sink shroud is molded and curved not unlike the front end of a sports car. Along the top edge of the video card are found a pair of 6-pin auxiliary power supply connectors which supply the extra power to the video card. The double-wide PCI expansion slot bracket has the same metallic black finish found on the GeForce 8800 GTX and the DVI ports are made with a black plastic insulator.
The backside of the video card's PCB is lacking in anything interesting but is home to rather a lot of screws, used to hold the heat-sink and its shroud to the video card. There is a large white sticker indicating the BFGTech serial number in large print, presumably so that customers can see the serial number when calling BFG for support.
Inside the box, there is a single DVI to VGA adaptor, a single dual-molex to 6-pin power adaptor, an HDTV component video output dongle, and a small cardboard envelope. Your retail card will of course include a driver CD.
Opening the envelope, we find a surprising amount of paperwork, explaining how to do just about everything, from installing the video card to setting up an HDTV. There is also an advertisement inviting the customer to BFGTech's sponsored LAN event, and two "Powered by BFG" case badge stickers.
The Competition
We are evaluating the BFGTech GeForce 9800 GTX and comparing its performance with three other video cards. First, we want to know if this new card better performing than the card it's replacing, so we're comparing it to the GeForce 8800 GTX. Second, we wanted to see if it represents a real value over the next product down NVIDIA's pricing scheme, so we're including the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 MB in this evaluation. Lastly, we want to know how it compares to ATI's strongest offering, so we'll have the Radeon HD 3870 X2 represented as well.
For games, we'll be using Crysis, Clive Barker's Jericho, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Crysis, of course, is the “big dog” that no current video card can max out. Jericho is less demanding than Crysis, but puts a strong emphasis on shaders rather than complex geometry. And Call of Duty 4, of course, is very well optimized for most video cards, and is less demanding than both Crysis and Jericho, striking a balance between shader intensity and complex geometry.