Vendor Cards: BFG GeForce 7800GTX OC
by Derek Wilson & Josh Venning on August 4, 2005 2:39 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Conclusion
In performance, the numbers show that the BFG GeForce 7800GTX OC comes out on top overall. This is essentially because of the factory overclock. It has the highest core and memory clock speeds out of the box, but it's the memory overclock that really makes a difference. With a memory core set at 1.3GHz, the highest that we've seen yet, those who like enabling AA with higher resolutions should definitely consider this card. Even if you don't care so much about AA, you'll still see slightly better performance out of the box with this card than with the EVGA or MSI version.At the time of writing this article, the deal that we mentioned in the MSI review where EVGA's overclocked 7800GTX came bundled with Battlefield 2 for $500 is no longer available. That card is selling for about $25 more now. Also consider that the MSI's 7800GTX is selling for $480 and comes with The Chronicles of Riddick. However, the downfall of the MSI card is that it doesn't have the benefit of the factory- overclock that EVGA's has.
The BFG 7800GTX OC reviewed today is selling for about $525, and while it doesn't come with any games, it's still not that much more to pay, considering that it will outperform both of the other two off the shelf. To be fair, however, for those who like to do some overclocking of their own, you might very well be able to bump up the speeds of both the EVGA and MSI cards just as high, if not higher, than the BFG. Like we've said before, each individual card overclocks differently, so you can't be sure how high one will go until you take it home and try it for yourself. Since the price market is so dynamic on the GeForce 7800GTX series right now, you might want to take a look at our Price Engine for the lowest prices on 7800GTX cards.
This is what makes it difficult for us to say which card out of the three it is that we would recommend. If you're not going to overclock manually, we would say that the MSI is the weakest card of the batch. As we mentioned before, however, The Chronicles of Riddick is an excellent game and given that it's the lowest priced 7800GTX, the MSI might be a worthwhile pick. If you absolutely must have the best performance regardless of cost, then BFG's 7800GTX OC is your card. The EVGA 7800GTX performs almost as well as the BFG and comes with Battlefield 2, one of the most popular games out now. It is actually cheaper to buy the card with the BF2 bundle right now than to purchase the game separately (though, we can say the same of the MSI card and Riddick).
Overall, the EVGA 7800GTX bundle comes out on top for the third time in a row, although the gap between the cards seems much closer this round. Interest in the game bundles combined with the games that you already own may well be the deciding factor. Something else that we'd like to congratulate EVGA on is their recent decision to offer a lifetime warranty for their cards starting June 22, matching BFG in that respect. We'll see if EVGA can hold the title in our next article on the XFX 7800GTX. As always, please email or comment if there is any way that we can make these reviews more helpful to you when considering in which 7800 to invest.
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PeteRoy - Sunday, August 7, 2005 - link
Anandtech reviewing vendors 7800 GTX looks like a way to get a freebie 7800 GTX to every Anandtech editor,
But I admit it's interesting to see what each vendor brings with the board, to see what games, what box and cooler.
Scotty - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
In the hardware reviews, there is the shootout from Hexus. They remove the heat sinks to show the card and chips. I would like to see/know how well this card would accept a water block to integrate a dual 7800 setup into my current water cooling system. I am running a triple monitor system and this card makes this quite a bit easier to do than the the 6600 cards. Obviously I can not run this in SLI mode with three displays.Backslider - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
I have to disagree with the article.BFG 7800 OC wo/game = $525
MSI 7800 w/game = $475
The whole whopping 1% faster then, doesn't account for $50 plus a $40 game, at lease not to my wallet. I mean give me a break already, the card was like 1 FPS faster give or take a half of frame! But, ooooohhhh its "Over clocked" and I guess you get a cookie for that?
Then again, if your buying a graphics card this expensive, I'm sure you have the money to go out and buy all the games you want anyhow. Even then the benchmarks were just not impressive at all (realitive to 7800 vs. 7800).
darksparkz - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
I think, on the next review you should have the 7800GTXs stock speeds AND the 7800GTXs speeds that are OC to the exact same speed. It's harder to compare which is better because of the clock speeds.If you have eVGA, BFG, and etc. all at the same clock speeds, we'll truely be able to compare which is better
JarredWalton - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
I believe the whole point is that there is *NO* difference between any of the current 7800GTX cards if they are clocked the same. Minor differences in fan speed seem to be the major influence right now.Some Body - Thursday, August 4, 2005 - link
EVGA have released a new 7800GTX...7800GTX KO edition (with and without BF2). Core at 490MHz, Memory at 1.3GHz.
http://www.evga.com/products/moreinfo.asp?pn=256-P...">EVGA 7800GTX KO Edition w/ Battlefield 2
(Also note that they've dropped prices on their 'regular' 7800GTX)
GuniGuGu - Thursday, August 4, 2005 - link
I love this website, it's my favorite hardware site, but I really have to ask, do we really need reviews of the same hardware?A quick overview, is the most thats really needed.
Really, Anand was talking about the 4fps difference between the games in 4xAA as actually a deciding factor??? It's 4fps guys!!
In all honesty, the only think people should look at, so long as the core/memory speeds are in-line, is the package and cooling used.
And by the looks of it, they are all folowing the same cooling options, so I would just like at the package (vivo?/cables/games) and choose from there.
Because in all seriousness, they are all the same.
at80eighty - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
true. However - what do you suggest? that AT reviews ATI's enviously large range of cards that they have existing at your local tech store?GuniGuGu - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Perhaps, disregarg the entire video card section altogether, until there is something, actually worth talking about...We all know that the GTX is the fastest card on the market, but the article could've been summed up in a few lines. "The card is oc, it cost a bit more, and doesn't offer any real extra performance, much like all other GTX's"
There's always new hardware coming out.. AT doesn;t have to review the same video card 3 times ya know...
GuniGuGu - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Or he could brake NDA and review a 7700 gt :)I'm in the process of buying a new machine, everything new, and i'm contemplating waiting on a 7700gt, because of the price it may sell for, and how it may overclock/unlock..
But I'm also extremly pissedd off at ATi for taking so damn long... they've basically lost my sale (if the product could've proved to have been better that is).