BFG 9800 GT 512MB ThermoIntelligence Passive Cooling Review

In our last graphics card review, we promised to ply our contacts with wine, women, hockey sticks and maple syrup (yes, in that order) in a quest to find the products that were left out in the cold over the last few months. We were looking for graphics cards that bucked the reference trend set by what seems like an industry full of copycats. Could Nvidia’s and ATI’s board partners deliver with some exciting products? Hell, they better because they have had the last year in which to tinker with the same designs and then overclock the balls off them by way of slapping on an aftermarket cooler. The more we looked at the market, the more we wanted to see something new, something interesting. Last month, Sapphire came to use with one heck of a passively cooled card and we were hooked like a toddler on chocolate and Tic Tacs.

Today we let BFG have a go at impressing us with their own unique take on a classic with their 9800 GT 512MB ThermoIntelligence passively cooled video card. BFG’s ThermoIntelligence line of products always carries aftermarket heatsinks or water blocks and this one is no different. Yeah, this is the same card at the same speeds as the ever-popular 8800 GT but it has been gussied up with the 9-series moniker and BFG has added a crème de la crème cooling solution from our friends over at Thermalright. To our knowledge, this is one of the first applications we have seen of a retail Thermalright heatsink (in this case an HR-03 Rev.A) on a graphics card from BFG or any other manufacturer for that matter.

While this card has not yet been released to many retailers, you can find it here and there with a retail price of around $180CAD / $140USD after rebates. That puts it slightly in-line with most overclocked 9800 GT 512MB cards out there which we believe is more than fair since in this case higher clocks have been replaced with one of the meanest coolers available.

So what we have here is a card with BFG’s legendary customer support and lifetime warranty which is graced with a Thermalright heatsink. Is this a match made in heaven? Let’s find out.

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BFG 8800GT OCX & 9600GT OCX Thermointelligence Video Card Review

In the battle for market supremacy, many times the little guys are forgotten with minimal refreshes to mid-range video cards. That was the way it used to be but these days it seems like it is the high-end (think $500+) that is suffering as both Nvidia and ATI reshuffle their decks in order to broaden appeal in a lackluster market environment. Due to this current economic situation we are all living in, the $100 to $300 price range has seen a massive influx of cards which are either new to the market or are the recipients of price cuts. Cards like the HD3870 have dropped to below the $150 mark while some 8800GT’s have been lowered to $160 without any help of the oh-so-famous mail in rebates. In the end, it is the consumers who reap the benefits since we are now able to play most games at mid to high level settings on a card which costs less than $200.

While it may seem like we have had our fill of mid-range cards here at Hardware Canucks, companies continue to innovate and release new products. Our interest was recently piqued by BFG’s release of two new cards straight into the lucrative mid-end market: the 8800GT 512MB OCX and the 9600GT OCX. Both of these cards are part of BFG’s vaunted Thermointelligence lineup which used to consist of only 8600-series products but are not quite at the forefront of graphics card performance these days. With both the 8800GT and 9600GT going under the OCX microscope, it looks like BFG has added some much-needed flair to their Thermointelligence lineup.

BFG targets their OCX line of video cards at the people out there who want some of the fastest pre-overclocked cards on the market and in this case they have also equipped the 8800GT OCX and 9600GT OCX with aftermarket coolers (hence the Thermointelligence name). This provides a great jump in performance over stock-clocked cards while staying within the bounds of BFG’s Lifetime warranty. This means that users can feel confident that their cards are some of the highest-clocked out there without having to resort to possible warranty-voiding overclocking and aftermarket cooler installation.

At this time finding stock of the 8800GT OCX and 9600GT OCX is not easy but depending on where you look they are priced around $220 and $200 respectively. You also get access to BFG’s lifetime warranty and exclusive trade-up program but more on that later.

This review will be a little different from some of the past GPU reviews we have been doing here on Hardware Canucks. Since both the 8800GT and 9600GT have been around for quite some time, we will be foregoing the usual technology overview and jumping into the benchmarks as soon as possible. So, sit back and enjoy the show.

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BFG announces GeForce 9800 GTX H2OC 512MB Video Card Featuring Thermointelligence Water Cooling

Lake Forest, IL – (May 28, 2008) – BFG Technologies®, Inc., the leading North American and European supplier of advanced NVIDIA-based 3D graphics cards, power supplies, and other PC enthusiast products, announced today the BFG NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GTX H2OC 512MB graphics card featuring a ThermoIntelligence® custom copper water block co-developed by BFG and Danger Den™.

The BFG GeForce® 9800 GTX H”OC™ 512MB graphics card with ThermoIntelligence® water cooling solution is factory overclocked to the highest stable level, and offers exceptional thermal performance in a single slot design, freeing up valuable space for other add-in cards.

“With the addition of our custom high-performance water block, we’ve been able to safely overclock the 9800 GTX to an unprecedented 780MHz on the core clock, and 1944MHz on the shader clock ”, said John Malley, senior director of marketing for BFG Technologies. “Each card is hand-built by a trained BFG technician using Arctic Silver® thermal compound, and is exceptionally cool and totally silent—delivering up to a 28°C lower GPU operating temperature than reference cooling solutions.”

The pre-attached ThermoIntelligence copper water block replaces the standard double slot 9800 GTX cooling solution for those who currently own or are purchasing a PC water cooling system. Each card includes 1/2” and 3/8” fittings (barbs) allowing for seamless integration into most water cooling system loops. Micro fittings are also included to support 2-way or 3-way NVIDIA SLI™ configurations.

9800 GTX H2OC 512MB Graphics Card with ThermoIntelligence

· Core Clock: 780MHz (vs. 675MHz standard)

· Shader Clock: 1944MHz (vs. 1688MHz standard)

· Memory Data Rate: 2320MHz (vs. 2200MHz standard)

About BFG ThermoIntelligence Custom Cooling Solutions

Since the company’s inception in 2002, BFG Technologies has been at the forefront of high performance custom cooling. That experience has lent itself to the development of the ThermoIntelligence series which has been specifically designed to meet the cooling demands of the discerning PC gamer and enthusiast. Featuring custom air and water cooled solutions, the ThermoIntelligence series provides exceptional thermal performance without the drawbacks of traditional custom and aftermarket solutions. Learn more at www.thermointelligence.com <http://www.thermointelligence.com>.

Availability

The BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX H”OC™ 512MB graphics card will be available in limited quantities at leading online retail outlets throughout North America and Europe beginning the week of May 26. Visit http://www.bfgtech.com/bfge98512gtxh2ocwe.aspx for more information.

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