Manufacturer Product Page: BFG Tech - BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE
Product Number: BFGEGTX260MC896OCXE
TechWiki Info: BFG GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE
Availability: Now
Warranty: Lifetime
Price: Click Here to Compare Prices



As time marches on, Nvidia has gone from an extremely confusing line-up just a few short months ago to one that is quite a bit more streamlined. Within this same timeframe there have been a number of new cards released from both Nvidia and ATI which have hit at different portions of the market. If you take a step back and look at what has happened since the release of ATI’s R770-based HD 4870 and HD 4850, Nvidia’s role has shifted from taking and keeping the performance lead to desperately trying to react against unforeseen competition. The problem for Nvidia was that both of ATI’s new cards hit straight into price / performance categories where Nvidia didn’t have much to answer with. To partially rectify this situation, Nvidia’s partners introduced the 9800 GTX+ to compete with the HD 4850 and after a short delay, showed us what their competitor to the HD 4870 looked like with the GTX 260 with 216 Stream Processors.

When we first reviewed the GTX 260 with 216 SPs, we mentioned that every company would be calling their card something different and it turns out that we were spot on with that assessment. All of Nvidia’s major partners have their hands in this new 216 SP cookie jar so it is only natural that BFG would release their own overclocked versions of this card. Much like their competitors, they have chosen a unique name with their new MAXCORE designation for the “unlocked” GTX 260 cards. They have also gone ahead and introduced quite a few different versions of the MAXCORE starting with the basic overclocked OC branded card, going up a notch with the OC2 and finally the highly overclocked OCX version. Even though there are three versions of this card, today we will be reviewing the highest-clocked one: the OCX.

Since this is the highest-clocked GTX 260 in the BFG lineup, it is not just meant to compete with the HD 4870 but to absolutely destroy it in as many applications as possible. As with all BFG cards, the GTX 260 OCX MAXCORE (boy, that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) carries with it BFG’s Lifetime Warranty as well as numerous other perks that come with owning a BFG product. However, being the top dog also has its drawbacks and in this case price will become a stumbling point for a good many people. As it stands, $365 is the going rate for BFG’s wunderkind which puts it a good $70 over the price of a bone stock GTX 260 and $40 over a stock GTX 260 with 216 SPs. All in all, this isn’t that much to ask for considering the performance potential of the OCX.

While we have already reviewed a GTX 280 with 216 SPs, it will be interesting to see how the BFG card stacks up considering its price and the potential competition it has been put up against.