BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC™
The BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC™ comes overclocked out of the box at 400/625, versus the reference clock of 375/600. The board uses the reference cooler specified by NVIDIA with BFG's branding plate on top, on a blue PCB.
Clearly an AGP board, it puts the VGA output nearest the mainboard. It requires more power to run it correctly than the AGP slot can provide, so the board asks for a 4-pin power feed from your PSU.
The rear of the board shows you just how far right (looking at the board from the front) the GPU is placed. The retention plate lets BFG retain the heatsink to the GPU with good pressure, aiding cooling. You can see the traces for the BR02 bridge IC and them leading directly down to the AGP slot at the bottom.
The DVI port is single-link, despite the GPU sporting a dual-link integrated DVI transmitter, and you get a single analogue VGA and S-Video outputs to go along with that. Insert the obligatory whinge about dual DVI ports on any mid-range board or above.
Fan noise on the board is commendably low and very like the first GeForce 7800 GTX in its aural makeup. I wouldn't mind suffering the noise of one in my system too much, but those in the persuit of silence will maybe want to swap it for something else.
Presentation and Bundle
BFG's usual packaging gets a run out for the GeForce 7800 GS OC™. It's easy to tell that it's very much an NVIDIA-based product, and the base hardware specs are easily spotted and understood. Just what you want to seal bricks-and-mortal store sales.
There's no mistaking its a 7-series GeForce on AGP from the box, and it lets you get a glimpse of the card before you buy.
Bundle wise you don't get much; there's just a DVI-to-VGA adaptor, Y-splitter for power, manual (well written, very good), driver CD, a couple of stickers and a quick install guide. No bundling of games you might already have and can't let BFG Tech keep for a bit less on the sticker price, and no fancy frills. If it helps you spend less pennies all the better, right? For this class of product that's pretty important, since the £200 price point also captures folks that'd usually spend a bit less but who aspire to the board and will save up the needed readies.
That said, unlike the 7800GS AGP offerings from eVGA and XFX, it seems BFG Tech have chosen not to include an S-Video cable with its BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC™, and we think this is a mistake.
