BFG 9800GTX 512MB Review

Conclusion

There was a time when the inclusion of “GTX” on an Nvidia product meant performance above all else and went hand in hand with a price that would make even hard-core enthusiasts wince in sympathy for their bank accounts. With the 9800 GTX, Nvidia has taken a completely different route and has once again proven that high performance does not have to carry with it an astronomical price tag. In the new graphics card market, less and less consumers are looking to spend $600 and more on a single piece of hardware so they can play the latest games at the highest settings. Rather, they are looking for a card that will allow them to play the latest games, operate quietly, offer HD decoding, have compatibility for high-def output formats, not consume copious amounts of power and carry a reasonable price. Making that kind of Swiss Army Knife for the graphics card world is tall order to fill and I feel that the 9800GTX fits the bill perfectly.

Let’s be honest here for a second and cut through the majority of the marketing BS which accompanies every product on the market today. The performance figures don’t lie and in many cases the 9800GTX doesn’t look like the 2000lb gorilla so many people were hoping it would be. This is because these days Nvidia is only competing against itself in the $300 to $450 performance category so there really isn’t a need to release anything that blows the doors off the other cards on the market. What we have here today is another evolution in the G92 silicon rather than the revolution we saw when going from the G71 core to the ass-kicking G80 core. And is there even any need for Nvidia to release a completely new architecture which is leagues ahead of everything else? Absolutely not. As we saw in the tests today, unless you are playing at extreme resolutions, the $350 BFG 9800GTX is more than enough to play literally any game on the market and even if you intend to play on a 30” screen Nvidia still has you covered with the 9800 GX2.

After all this being mentioned, I am sure that there are plenty of you out there that are more than a little disappointed that the 9800GTX seems to be “just another” G92-based card that will perform 10% - 15% better than a stock 8800GTS 512MB. However, there is a flip side to the coin which shows that this card has an MSRP that is equal to that of most overclocked 8800GTS 512MB cards on the market while offering the functionality of optional full HDMI support for the HTPC buffs and Tri-SLI compatibility for those of you with deep pockets. There is also the additional HybridPower feature which is sure to appeal to those of you who are looking at a new Nvidia chipset for your AMD processor.

Nvidia is putting this card up against the ATI HD3870X2 and without a doubt it competes very well against ATI’s flagship card from a price / performance point of view. While the 9800GTX stays behind (to various degrees) the X2 in the majority of our tests, Nvidia’s card has much more going for it than raw performance figures. Not only does the new GTX consume much less power, run quieter and cost about $150 less but ATI’s dual GPU card relies on a game’s Crossfire compatibility for its performance. This means that in games like Crysis with spotty Crossfire support, the 9800GTX will pull ahead at nearly every resolution which equals more consistent performance across the board.

While the 9800GTX is a hell of a graphics card, BFG has only made it better by adding their own unique flair and making it more appealing to you, the consumer. Their Lifetime Warrany and 24/7 customer support are second to none and are reason alone to recommend the purchase of this particular 9800GTX. Add to that the newly-instituted 100-day Trade Up program and you would have to be nuts not to take a serious look at this card.

When all is said and done, the BFG 9800GTX has added a new wrinkle in the fabric of the graphics card industry by rewriting the rules of how much you have to pay for a high performance product. In addition to this performance, it consumes less power than its predecessors, has near-silent operation and offers optional HDMI output. What more is there to ask for?


Pros:

- Sets a new benchmark in the price / performance arena
- Features a-plenty
- Quiet Operation
- Lifetime Warranty
- Trade-Up Program


Cons:

- Somewhat disappointing overclocking with stock cooler
- Stock BFG version does not come with optional HDMI output accessories