BFG Tech GeForce 6800 Ultra OC

Overclocking

As my test system specifications showed earlier, my system is loaded with components. This might be a reason why I simply couldn’t overclock the BFG 6800U OC any further than 427/1150. BFG did tell me that they have gotten boards to 450MHz, but their test systems are not as loaded as mine.  I am also working on a review of a 6800 GT from another vendor, and this card is overclocking well in my system. Unfortunately though, BFG's 6800U OC just didn't overclock more than what BFG already has done.

Screenshots

What use is a $500 video card if you don't play games on it? Here are some screenshots from three games (Far Cry, Soldiers - Heroes of World War II Demo, and Unreal Tournament 2004) I've been playing lately with the card. Each small image opens up to a big image (1024x768, 1280x1024 or 1600x1200), which range in the size between 300KB to 700KB. The format used is JPG with quality set at 90% to make sure minimal quality is lost when converting them from the BMPs.

Far Cry

Soldiers - Heroes of World War II Demo

Unreal Tournament 2004

Conclusion

BFG has once again gone the extra step to give us a great NVIDIA product.  The 6800U OC is a fast card, a very fast card.  The card is able give us playable frame rates at 1600x1200 with all the eye candy on and 4xAA / 8xAF. I still play at 1280x1024 with all details maxed, since I just cannot read some of the text messages at 1600x1200.  I will be looking at this issue of mine with an upcoming review of the Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2070 monitor.

NVIDIA continues on the road of 2-slot solutions. As long as you are aware of this and have room in your system, there shouldn't be a problem. A bigger issue could be the power requirements. 480W is a pretty high demand when many systems come with much weaker power supplies. The fact that my loaded system handled the card without any issues though hopefully suggests that the 480W requirement is intended for a worst case scenario.

Looking at the price around $500, it is clear that the card is meant for the high end enthusiast. If you have even more dough to spare, BFG Tech even offers some upgrades to this card. First of all you can buy a bundle with the card and a BFG 530W power supply for $649.99. If the speed of the card is too slow, you can buy a 6800 Ultra OC with a waterblock on the GPU so you can hook up your existing water cooling system. That card should run up to 470 MHz and costs $599.99 alone and $749.99 together with the 530W power supply.

As mentioned earlier in this review, this card can only be bought online right now over at BFG Tech.

Pros:

+ Excellent performance
+ Already overclocked
+ Lifetime warranty and 24/7 tech support
+ Not too noisy

Cons:

- Expensive
- Relatively large card (long and takes up two slots)
- Runs pretty hot
- Weak bundle

Final Score: 9 out of 10 and the Bjorn3D Golden Bear Award