BFG GeForce 8800 GTX review

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GeForce 8800 GTX

As you should know by now NVIDIA developed the GeForce 8800 series under the graphics core codename G80. Expect a LOT of new products in 2007 as this core is the new basis architecture for things to come. I expect the first mid and low range products already in February, close to the CeBIT and obviously somewhat merged together with the public release of the ridiculously priced Microsoft's Windows Vista.

Windows Vista requires a DirectX9 compatible graphics card, so do not worry as a DX10 card is not a requirement ! It however is desired, and exactly that is creating a gap in the market that NVIDIA would love to fill. And trust me when I say they will.

Until February however we'll have two Series 8 products available followed by a good number of series 7 cards. T

he two cards are as speculated the 640MB GeForce 8800 GTS and the big pappa graphics card called the GeForce 8800 GTX that comes with no less than 768MB memory. So how does the GeForce product line shape up until February ? Have a look:
  • GeForce 8800 GTX - $599
  • GeForce 8800 GTS - $449
  • GeForce 7950 GT - $299
  • GeForce 7900 GS - $199
  • GeForce 7600 GT - $159
  • GeForce 7600 GS - $129
  • GeForce 7300 GPUs - <$99

Be afraid, be very afraid! Next to being a 681 million transistor accounting MONSTER (G70 had ~300 Million transistors), this is going to be the top of the line product. The big kahuna, the mack daddy, the quarter pounder, the beast that pimps your rig... the US Enterprise on a PCB! It's also rather exclusive as you can expect a sales price of 599 USD. Now before you point that middle finger at me hear me out okay ?

It took NVIDIA four years to build and it took 400 Million dollars to develop. Obviously in the coming year well see a stackload of products based on this new mArchitecture. But hey I mean this is it, this is the graphics card you want in your uber powered PC. It has the (on 90nm fabricated) G80 core and ALL features as discussed below. It has the 128 streaming cores (Unified Shader processors), it comes with 768 MB of gDDR3 memory that theoretically can push 86 GB/second of memory bandwidth. Again, think about that for a second. 86 GIGABYTES per second memory bandwidth that is being utilized by a 128 Shader cores with a 681 Million transistor counting micro-architecture. Frack... I just realized that this thing is gonna consume serious power, or does it ?

We'll check that out later also ;)

So this is the card with a total of 768 MB of gDDR3 memory at 384-bit (actually 12 pieces of 16Mx32 memory) with that memory clocked at 2x 900 MHz, and a "core" clock at 575 MHz with the 128 Unified Shaders running at 1350 MHz. No water-cooling solution, just a big dual-slot cooler (which actually is quite silent) on a large long black PCB with two 6-pin power connectors.

Size then, and I noticed the concern in our forums once specs started to leak out, indeed the card is very long. The GeForce 8800 GTX graphics card is 27 CM long. But note that the power connectors are now routed off the top edge of the graphics card instead of the end of the card, so there is no extra space required at the end of the graphics card for power cabling. You might want to measure before buying though.

Okay, I seriously can't cram more info in such a small piece of text, we need to speed this article up a little.

BFG

GeForce 8800 GTX 

In today's review we'll actually include a good number of results from other G80 brands as well. Fact is all boards are supplied by NVIDIA to the manufacturers and that's a bit of a shame. This means that all 8800 cards are the same. What do you need to remember when you buy the product ? Well you should not focus on the actual hardware itself. As stated look at other things such as additional software, special coolers, extended warranty and so on. Look at the little extra's if you are going for that reference cooled model.

In the BFG box we'll find such a 100% reference NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB. The only thing different is a sticker saying it's a BFG product. Now BFG is also offering a model of this graphics card with a water-cooling block on it. That product was not ready to be submitted for this review just yet, but we do expect it for a review soon.

Bundle wise BFG did a mediocre job, they include:

  • GeForce 8800 GTX 768 MB
  • Driver CD
  • HDTV block (3-way RCA component)
  • 6-pin to Molex power cable
  • manual
  • VGA->DVI dongle
  • BFG t-Shirt

There's also some mouse sticker crap in the box; which quite honestly could be left out rather then including it. It looks so cheap. BFG:

BFG Teflon® Slick Pads fit over existing mouse feet and instantly reduce the friction between your mouse and mousing surface. These super slick Teflon® pads extend the life of your mouse and improve mouse action during gaming sessions.

I see people running to the stores already. Get outta here, it's 20 cents plastic stickers. Anyway, we do not see any included games but there's one thing that makes up for it bigtime. BFG offers a life-time warranty on their products. Now you can't beat that.

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB review

Overall this is a complete kit to get you started. On closing note, since the card is reference based, it follows all the specs mentioned earlier. The BFG GeForce 880 GTX can be bought for roughly 599 USD/EUR.

Some generic GeForce 8800 facts:

  • All NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX- and GeForce 8800 GTS-based graphics cards are HDCP capable.
  • The GeForce 8 Series GPUs are not only the first shipping DirectX 10 GPUs, but they are also the reference GPUs for DirectX 10 API development and certification and are 100% DirectX 9 compatible.
  • GeForce 8800 GPUs deliver full support for Shader Model 4.0.
  • All graphics cards are being built by NVIDIAs contract manufacturer.
  • All GeForce 8800 GPUs support NVIDIA SLI technology.
  • At this time there are no 256MB models of the cards
  • The NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX has a 24 pixel per clock ROP. The GeForce 8800 GTS has a 20 pixel per clock ROP.
  • GeForce 8800 GTX requires a minimum 450W or greater system power supply (with 12V current rating of 30A). GeForce 8800 GTS requires a minimum 400W or greater system power supply (with 12V current rating of 26A).
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  GeForce 8800 GTX GeForce 8800 GTS
Stream Processors 128 96
Core Clock (MHz) 575 500
Shader Clock (MHz) 1350 1200
Memory Clock (MHz) x2 900 800
Memory amount 768 MB 640 MB
Memory Interface 384-bit 320-bit
Memory BW (GB/sec) 86.4 64
Texture Fill Rate (bil/sec) 36.8 24
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