Power Consumption and Conclusions
Power Consumption
With a move to the 90nm process technology on their 7900 and 7600 GPUs, NVIDIA should have a better place in the power consumption charts than they used to. Will BFG’s overclocking increase power consumption at all?
Not enough to matter, apparently. The reference and BFG cards are pretty much showing the same numbers here. The SLI system has some pretty steep power requirements we can see pulling 290 watts continuously when running 3DMark06 at 2048×1536.
Conclusions
The 7900 GT, much like the 6800 GT before it, quickly became the most sought-after part for the budget conscious consumer as it paired top performance with a lower price than the flagship GTX and/or Ultra cards. Does BFG’s implementation of the 7900 GT with overclocked specs fit into this position well?
Performance
The BFG 7900 GT OC is a great performing video card for all types of gamers — casual or hardcore. The GT has the power to get through any game currently available and should be able to continue to perform well in future games through all of 2006. Even though it only sports 256 MB of memory, the BFG 7900 GT OC was able to perform on par with the ATI X1800 XT card that has twice as much memory. In games that are extremely memory dependant, like the open-areas of Battlefield 2, the X1800 XT did see performance advantages, but not too drastic. Also, keep in mind that the X1800 XT may soon be going out of production according to what we have heard from partners.
The only area that disappointed me on the 7900 GT was in our HD gaming tests at the 2048×1536 resolution — the 7900 GT with 256 MB of memory just doesn’t cut the mustard. The ATI X1800 XT with double the memory is able to pull off gaming at 20×15 most of the time while the BFG 7900 GT OC was left wanting. If you don’t plan on gaming at this kind of resolution through the life of your video card (say, if you have a fixed-resolution monitor at 16×12 or 12×10) then its not really an issue to you yet.
SLI Platform
As I mentioned several times throughout the review, the SLI platform is one of NVIDIA’s advantages over ATI. The SLI platform has grown much more than we thought it would over the past two years from a simple graphics card gimmick to a full on enthusiast platform. You can now find SLI certified graphics cards, motherboards, memory, CPU coolers, power supplies and more. Despite what AMD feels about their “Live!” initiative, I think the SLI platform has the best chance of beating on Intel’s dominance in platform control.
ATI has tried to start the same wave with thier CrossFire products, but board vendors so far have mostly focused on either it or SLI, not both. And most have gone with NVIDIA’s SLI as their choice, leaving only a few dedicated CrossFire motherboards that really impress.
Pricing and Availability
As of this writing, the BFG 7900 GT OC card can be found online for about $315 at various online retailers. Some less expensive models of the 7900 GT exist from other vendors if you are so inclined and you can find them here. The $315 price range puts the BFG 7900 GT OC squarely in the performance market that NVIDIA and ATI know the enthusiast community loves — cheap but high performing. Where as most users won’t spring for a $599 flagship card, $300 isn’t too bad, right?
Availability on the 7900 GTs is great, with no shortage expected for the life of the product. Since the first couple of weeks of the 7900-series launch, the BFG 7900 GT OC video card has been readily available. Should you choose to go with an SLI configuration at a later date, this means you will be more likely to find one waiting for you.
Support
Since we saw the latest video card stability issue rise and fall, one trait that graphics cards have been tested on is support. How much can you depend on your card’s manfacturer to help and support you and their product down the road? Since BFG started the 24/7 phone support and lifetime warranty trend that is sweeping through the video card market, it makes sense that they still do it the best. From all of our working with users and other editor’s everyone I’ve talked to has been impressed with BFG’s level of support and their timely response to questions and any necessary RMAs. In fact, BFG was the most recent recipient of the PC Perspective Reader’s Choice Award for graphics cards manufacturers.
Final Thoughts
BFG has taken the very popular NVIDIA 7900 GT GPU, overclocked it, put a lifetime, 24/7 warranty behind it, and put it for sale at a reasonable price to enthusiast gamers. What else can you ask for? While there are some games and some resolutions that make the 256 MB of frame buffer strain, the majority of users will find the 7900 GT to provide a fantastic gaming experience at a price their wallet can handle.
Be sure to use our price checking engine to find the best prices on the BFG 7900 GT OC, and anything else you may want to buy!
