What's the verdict on the BFG?

[Razielian]

I'm looking for a new video card and used to have a radeon 9800.... I've heard.. or so I believe that the 6600 gt card is better for about the same... is that true if it is... is the BFG GT OC worth the extra like $40??

I have roughly like $250 to spend in about 2 weeks.. just give me the heads up on what I should spend? Any help would be great......
I'm a pricewatch whore.. IF you can actually give me direct links to a video card from a trust worthy site ex. newegg. :)

My system is a
xp 1800+
512 ddr
200 gig hd
radeon 7500 64 mb

I have my pc rigged to have a lot of stuff turned off in the background and I'm good with the spyware stuff...

Thanx guys... I know it's time to upgrade.... I did before my pc got stolen...
should I get a processor or vid upgrade first.. I really think personally a vid card.. lol

I'm trying to play half-life 2, source, battlefield and pretty much any newer game that comes out.... wow, guild wars and what not... PLEASE HELP... :D

[Tweb]

BFG comes with a life time warrenty so there's the extra $.
My friend has a BFG 6800 Ultra an it rocks, I know it's not the 6600 but the qualities the same...

$250, if u could cough up another $50 u could get a 6800GT with a $30 rebait from monarchcomputer.com, this would last u if u decide too upgrade any further an be much better then a 6600GT. The rebait will soon be over....

Old card 5900 flashed to 5950U
New card 6800GT eVGA

This card KILLS my 5900, all game @ high or ULTRA high.
Can watch 3DMark05 at reasonable FPS as my 5950 I got 2 FPS on the 1st tests.....:)

[Midknyte]

a 6600GT would be a good fit for that system. it would be severely cpu bottlenecked if you got a 6800GT. a 6800NU would be ok.

BFG sells preoverclocked cards WITH lifetime warranty. Not too many manufacturers have overclocked cards AND a good warranty. $40 goes towards performance and peace of mind. Some cards could potentially overclock higher. it's luck of the draw on your max OC, but you get at least their advertised speed.

It's up to you if it's worth it.

[Tweb]

He said he was/might upgrade, so if he upgrades to a 6600GT this could be the bottleneck. As it stand now the 6800GT would beat hands down the 6600GT with his current system, adding an upgrade would benefit both cards. If in the future he/she upgrade MB, mem, etc.... the 6600GT would be the bottleneck for shure!

[Midknyte]

at $150, the 6600GT is an adequate card for that rig. At $220 (newegg), the BFG 6600GT is overpriced. that's a $70 difference.

the cheapest 6800NU is $165. i'd get one of those and see if you can unlock the pipes. best case scenario, you'd have a 6800GT core with DDR1 memory.

The cheapest 6800GT is around $270. A 1800+ doesn't have enough muscle to push a 6800GT, so your gains over a 6600GT or 6800NU would be limited.

[Razielian]

So the one you are talking about for $220 at newegg... exactly which one is that and is it a good card? I don't want a card that gets extremely hot or can't unlock the pipelines... I know that the different manufactures have diffeent settings and fan loudnesss.... so if you can tell me which card can be unlocked and maybe over clocked a bit with the default fan that comes with it.

[Midknyte]

At $220 (newegg), the BFG 6600GT is overpriced
is there still confusion? That's the only BFG one I saw, but there are other brands at around $150. I have to go through some backdoors to see newegg, so it's a pain for me to post links.

you can't unlock 6600GTs at all; only overclock. The 6800NU have 12 pipes, but you may be able to unlock the extra 4 to make it a GT core. no promises. it's all luck of the draw. There is also 1 VS unit that could be unlocked. I would still spend the extra $15 for a 6800NU. worst case scenario, you end up with a card equivalent to a 6600GT. best case, you'll have a card slightly slower than a 6800GT.

not too sure about the volume; you'll have to look up some reviews. the stock 6600GT fans aren't too bad.

[The Lodge]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170057 6800GT shipped to your door for $269.99.

I know some of you are going to say that this card would be seriously bottlenecked by his rig, and I agree totally. But he says he wants to upgrade the card then the cpu so I take it he wants to bring this card over into his next build. If he plans on spending $250 I say why not go with this one.

[Razielian]

so if I get a card that bottlenecks my cpu... will it ruin my cpu and will I get a noticable difference in my 7500 ati if I get a 6800GT even if my cpu is a bottle neck?

[The Lodge]

No it won’t “ruin” your cpu. Yes it will crush your 7500. You might as well, you’re planning on carrying this card over into your next cpu\mobo upgrade correct?

[Magua]

Bottleneck simply means that the video card will be able to process its information faster than your CPU can handle its side of the work. So if you went with a 6800GT the video card wouldn't be able to really 'stretch its legs' because the CPU can't keep up. In no way is it damaging, but you won't be getting your full moneys worth out of the 6800gt unless you do plan on upgrading the CPU later.

[Razielian]

Okay.. well I decided I'm gonna get the albatron 6800GT from newegg that was linked up above this friday.. But before I do I would like to make sure it's gonna work with my mobo and setup since its a new age card I have a....

ecs K7s5a
xp 1800+
512 ddr 2700 ram
soundblaster live!
and a viewsonic 20.1 inch with 85 refreash rate for all resolutions.

[Midknyte]

it'll work, but you'll probably want to look into upgrading the cpu soon. you need around a 3G CPU or better to get the full benefit of a 6800GT.

what kind of PSU do you have? the 6800GT has higher power draw than the 6600GT.

[Razielian]

I currently only have 350 watt but only have 2 hard drives, 1 cd rom. I don't have any flashy neons or anything like that.. heh I acutally don't even have a floppy drive either. I think I have 2 fans.... soo.... think I'll be okay... and if I do upgrade cpu what would you reccomend? a 3000+ or a amd 64 3000+?

[Midknyte]

If you go with a A64, then you gotta upgrade mb, cpu, and ram. You might as well go with PCIe also, so that's another video card. that's why I figured you would get a 6600GT to tide you over until you got a new system. AGP is getting phased out.

[Razielian]

sooo is the 6600GT better then a standard 6800???

[MadPistol]

sooo is the 6600GT better then a standard 6800???


No. The 6800 is definately a better card than the 6600 GT, but if you're not planning on upgrading your cpu, mb, and other essentials for a while, save yourself the money and get a 6600 GT. That's what I would recommend, but this convo is kind of hard to follow. if you're planning on upgrading soon, go ahead and get the 6800 GT as it would be a very powerful addition to your system. :t

[Razielian]

i won't be upgrading for a few more months... and I just saw online i could get a standard 6800 for only 184... is that a good price?

[Midknyte]

yeah, that's pretty good. 6800 series card prices are dropping now that the 7800GT and GTX are out.

[Razielian]

Cool.. cool.. well I just orded a 6800 from moncarchcomputers.com for $184... I also was reading online that you can unlock the piplines... I heard that with this evga card it's possible.. lets hope and see what happens. :)

[eband00]

Well, i see you want to upgrade ur pc later, i wouldn't suggest getting a card so good, cause probably, when ur going to upgrade, u'll get a PCIe setup. There is no sense of getting an agp motherboard now...

Anyways, u allready preordered.

Like me, i have an ATI 9600pro thats is chocking. I can't change my videocard now cause my next upgrade will be a full PCIe system with AMD 64 and a PCIe videocard, so i'll bear with my ****ty 9600pro for like 4-5 months..

[Tweb]

Don't be disapointed if u can't unlock the extra 4 pipes, the card should run the new games at a good FPS on highest setting with a good system. I have a eVGA 6800GT from the same store an it runs cool as compared to others an the 6800nu has the same HS an fan.