A Closer Look at the BFG 9800GTX


And here we finally have our first glimpse at the card so many have been anticipating for the last few months and it definitely looks unique. While the outgoing 8800GTX had a rugged, masculine and almost brutish look to it, the 9800GTX looks much more streamlined, refined and a bit more…feminine. The whole 10.5” PCB is covered by one massive fan shroud that directs airflow from the lone fan out the back of the card so the heat from the G92 core won’t increase your case temperatures too much. It also looks like Nvidia has gone back to their sexy black PCB color which was such a hit from the early 8-series cards, people have basically been counting down the days until they see it again. Beautiful, isn’t it?


Something that we also noticed the second we took the 9800GTX out of the box is that it is a LONG card compared to its 8800GTS 512MB cousin. At 10.5” this card is the same length of other Nvidia flagship cards such as the 8800GTX which makes it a good 1.5” longer than the 8800GTS 512MB.


Due to its high core and memory clocks, the 9800GTX has a pair of PCI-E 6-pin connectors on the outside edge of the card. According to Nvidia, its maximum power consumption is around 160W and if overclocked, that number increases exponentially so the inclusion of two 6-pin connectors is understandable.

The side of the fan shroud also holds an SPDIF input connector for use with the optional HDMI output even though BFG is not supplying the necessary adaptors with this particular card. The SPDIF connector is bordered by a GeForce logo which is positioned in such a way that it will be right-side up when installed into a case with a standard ATX layout.


BFG’s decal on the fan shroud is classy without any overly gaudy logos, colors or winged pixies which is a relief to say the least. Working our way along the top of the card we also see that BFG has applied their logo to the fan hub in order to add a bit more interest to an otherwise drab black design.


The backplate of the 9800GTX holds a pair of DVI connectors as well as the HDTV-out connector. It also looks like Nvidia is going for a bit of “bling” on their new 9-series cards since there is a small green light right next to the exhaust grille. This really comes in handy when you are searching around the back of your case trying to hook up a DVI connector and now you have a green light to guide you home. Some may say this is an LED but in reality it is a fiber-optic cable which transmits the light from an LED on the PCB all the way up to the backplate.


The last stop on our tour takes us to the back of the card where we can see that there seems to be a large portion of the PCB which is not used closer to the rearmost end of the card. This is a bit of an illusion since as you will see a bit later; this area is populated by the VRM modules and capacitors which don’t need traces on the back of the PCB.