The BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP card

Top of the BFG card

Another shot of the reference 7800 GS

While some enthusiasts may be a little disappointed with NVIDIA’s reference clock speeds for the GeForce 7800 GS AGP, they’ll be glad to hear that the BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP runs at speeds faster than NVIDIA’s reference specifications call for.

BFG starts by clocking the graphics core at 400MHz. This is 25MHz over NVIDIA’s default clock frequency of 375MHz, and brings the GeForce 7800 GS AGP up to par with the GeForce 6800 Ultra in fill-rate at 6.4 Gigatexels/second, an improvement of 6%.

In addition to overclocking the graphics core, BFG also overclocks the memory on their GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP card. Whereas NVIDIA’s reference speeds call for 600MHz memory (1.2GHz effective), BFG runs the memory modules on their 7800 GS OC AGP at 625MHz (1.25GHz effective). As a result of this change, peak memory bandwidth is improved by 4% from 38.4GB/sec on the stock GeForce 7800 GS AGP to an even 40.0GB/sec on BFG’s GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP.



The only other significant deviation that we can see from BFG’s GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP and NVIDIA’s reference GeForce 7800 GS AGP card is the PCB itself. BFG uses a blue PCB while NVIDIA sticks to the more traditional green for the PCB on their reference board. BFG also places a speaker just behind the VGA connector on their GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP card. Based on the pictures provided by NVIDIA of their GeForce 7800 GS reference board, this is another difference between the two boards, but it’s certainly possible that this was added to shipping retail cards at the last minute to warn end users if their card begins to overheat (the speaker will also squeal loudly if you forget to plug in the card to your system’s power supply).

Speaking of overheating, we don’t think this will be much of a problem for the GeForce 7800 GS. During our testing, we never saw the card approach its threshold temperature of 115°C. The card idled at 46°C with a peak load temperature of 67°C in our open-air testing environment.

Size comparison

Dynamic operation

Like previous GeForce cards, the 7800 GS AGP runs in two different modes, a 3D mode where the board runs at its full clock speeds, and a 2D mode, where the graphics core runs at 275MHz while the memory continues to run at full speed. We give a big thumbs-up to the new cooling unit NVIDIA has integrated onto the GeForce 7800 GS AGP. It’s basically a miniaturized version of the GeForce 7800 GTX’s cooler. Cool air is ducted from the card’s fan across the GPU and nearby memory modules, and then shoots out the right side of the card, just below the external power connector. The fan on the BFG card runs quieter than the GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB fan (it’s quieter than the GeForce 6800 GT/Ultra too for that matter) and varies its RPMs based on the GPU’s current temperature. Even in its loudest mode though it’s nowhere close to approaching the noise levels of the GeForce 6800 Ultra, we were actually surprised just how rarely the RPMs had to crank up. Other than while we were overclocking and a few moments here and there, the fan never really cranked up to its full speed setting.

Accessories

Hardware accessories bundled with the BFG GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP include a power adapter and DVI adapter. Software included with the card is limited to a copy of NVDVD 2.0 and BFG’s Gamer’s Toolkit CD, which includes a copy of GameDrive 9.0 (useful if you want to play games without having to keep the game’s CD in your disc drive), and trial copies of System Mechanic Pro 5, Spy Sweeper, Window Washer and Desktop Firewall from Webroot Software. BFG also includes a couple of case badges for your PC’s case.