BFGTech Exits Graphics

They will probably fold the company and start a new one. This way they don't have to honor any warranties and can start fresh with ATI.

VisionTek > BFG Tech > WTH Tech.
 
Evga does more than video cards. They have motherboards (X58), monitors, NIC's, display adapters, etc. They are also, imo, THE partner for nvidia, and there's no chance nvidia would let them slip away. People sometimes even equate evga with nvidia (as if they were their retail division of sorts).

Yup, I have an EVGA mobo in my PC right now, also very happy with it.

It's not surprising to me that the smaller players (like BFG) have left the scene. The profit margins on most hardware components are razer thin (unless you're named Apple). The money they do make comes from either overclocked versions or custom cooling solutions, which very few people buy these days given how easy it is to overclock or slap on a new heatsink yourself.

Margins on hardware is razor thin, absolutely, especially in the high end where sales are on the low end of the scale so they're getting killed on both margins and volume.

BFG didn't have the economic moat and product portfolio that EVGA has. That said, we'll see how long EVGA can go without selling ATI products. As far as I know there is nothing that says EVGA has to be partnered with nvidia, its just the will to slap their sticker on more products and give them nice warranties and support.
 
They will probably fold the company and start a new one. This way they don't have to honor any warranties and can start fresh with ATI.

VisionTek > BFG Tech > WTH Tech.

That is not going to happen.

You are a bit off in your understanding of the situation as well. While you look at VT becoming BFG, that was not truly the case. Former employees of VT founded BFG, but they were not owners or founders of the company.
 
wow.

I mean, judging from reading forums, I thought BFG had secured a good market share within nVidia cards(along with EVGA).
You always see threads about BFG and people raving about them as a company.
And even they couldn't profit off the GPU business huh. XFX has seemed to left the green too, whats next, EVGA?
What about other vendors that you don't hear too often like Zotac, PNY, Palit?
Do they profit as well?

High end hardware has both low sales volume and thin profit margins. Nvidia and ATI make most of their profit from low-midrange, low end, and integrated parts. Significnatly higher sales volume and better profit margins. The high end stuff functions as epeen for the high end and as technology to eventually trickle down to the lower end parts, but given the relatively low sales numbers and slim margins it isn't exactly there to rake in big bucks. It seems as though a bad product cycle for an all ATI or all nvidia house can be make or break, but maybe this wasn't all to do with Fermi, I dunno.
 
Sorry to see em go. Their cards were decent, my experience with their support was meh. Time to move on ... oh wait,,, I did to EVGA.
 
Recent BFG tech support for both the GTX 295 OCFU and the EX-1200 certainly was not EVGA-like or even Coolermaster-like in their execution.

Sorry to see the company go.

Now I really have to wonder how long they will be able to support the products. I expect to see longer and longer delays of 1+ months for their turnaround times once BFG recevies the product being RMA'ed. At least that is the current time. Especially for the 295's I don't expect anything less than 2+ months.
 
I have always owned BFG graphic cards.
They were even nice enough to trade me a 9800 for my 7800 GS OC back when they had that program going.
Jeff? Can I ask now what you guys needed with those older cards?
 
I predict a steady back pedaling from other companies with lifetime warranties.

its just taken advantage of to much i mean the forums are full of people demanding huge upgrades for their old cards. and bitching/making stuff up till they get it...
 
Let me be first to speak for the rest of the forum...

FUCK!!!!!!!!



/thread.

+1. The last 4 graphics cards I have owned have all been BFG cards, and each one has been great. ONly the GTX260 needed an RMA and it was very quick and painless. I might go over to best buy and get a cheap BFG card just for kicks...
 
I never owned a BFG video card, but they always had a good rep and were one of the first to offer factory overclocks and lifetime warranties. RIP BFG video card division. The video card market is less rich for their loss.
 
Its always sad to see a huge tech company falls. Although ATI cards are doing better, IMO the graphic card market is a very tough place to be in at the moment, red or green.

I really wonder how's the demand these days for performance graphic card, compared to previous years.
 
Tomorrow, I will be going to Compusa and buy at least one BFG card and leave it sealed on my shelf.
 
Very sad day to see such a good company change direction. Maybe when the economy gets better they will come back.

KM
 
What.....I totally did not see this coming. Isnt BFG one of nVidias big three, other being Evga and XFX (which used to be) ?
 
NOOOOO!!!!!!!

Thanks to their lifetime warranty, I haven't paid for a GPU since 2003. Maybe that's why they went under?

I started with a TI4200, it crapped out so I got upgraded to a 5900XT-OC. That fan died, so it then I got a 6800 vanilla. That lasted me for a while. They then had a program to trade in your AGP card for a PCI-e a couple of years ago. I sent in my 6800 vanilla and received a 9600 GT I still use now.

It's going to be weird having to pay for a GPU now. I just used em till they died. :(
 
Yet another Fermi victim.

(sorry had to)

I'll at least look forward to checking out some of their other stuff. They're well cemented in my list of vendors I like to buy from.

I agree. They were in the Nivida ship, and that ship just isn't riding very high in the water anymore. I'll bet EGA is counting their lucky stars they have motherboards as well... what I think they only carry Nivida MBs.. Ieeeee!
 
they rock. i got my 295 with the step up program. damn going to miss them. but nvidia sucks bad right now. i am glad i don't own stock. they suck.
 
I've never owned a BFG product, but hate to hear about this.
 
I stopped buying BFG a while ago. All the cards I've bought from them, always got some kind of artifacting issue after a year of use. The warranty was great, but I don't feel like having to RMA all the time.
 
Back in 2003 when I did my first complete gaming PC build BFG was the company I went to for my card. In fact of my first 4 video cards, three of them were BFG. Actually the second BFG card I bought was some mid-range FX5 series card I had to get because the 9800 Pro I had been using fried out on me and left me without a computer. Amusingly that cheap card lasted a longer time than the 9800. When it came time to do a total rebuild in 2006 BFG was the first, last, and only company I would look at to buy a video card from. The company always impressed me and the 8800GTS 320 I bought back then has seen constant use in my own computer or others over the years.
 
I've been buying BFG Tech cards since reading a nice little writeup here years ago. Hate to see them go, never had a problem with one of their cards.
 
Great company. Decided on two BFG's for my 8800GTS-512 SLI when I finally took the plunge (and, for the time being, turned my back on ATI). Cost a little more, but they also ran great, lots of overclocking headroom and comfortable temps. They still run like a dream with decent performance. Probably the best I've owned since my 9800 Pro, and that's saying something. Sad to see them go.
 
I stopped buying BFG a while ago. All the cards I've bought from them, always got some kind of artifacting issue after a year of use. The warranty was great, but I don't feel like having to RMA all the time.

Part of the reason is that the NVIDIA GPUs usually run hotter than the AMD/ATi GPUs of comparable performance to begin with. Plus, many of BFG's cards had some overclocking applied to them. Third, many of those cards ran inside relatively cramped cases with relatively poor airflow. Put them all together and you have a card which dies out relatively early.

And I would have to agree with some of the other responses that the NVIDIA-based cards are relatively poor buys at each price point unless one spends at least $350 for one.

One bright note... my Blackhawks are up 2-0 over the Sharks, coming back to Chicago for the next two games... :eek:
 
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This is really a sad day.

First BFG no longer selling video cards.
Second is Newzbin is shut down :(
Third... my Habs are down 2-0 to the Flyers... grrr...
 
First Jack Bauer, now BFG.

They're what customer service is all about.
 
It looks like rather than kill the competition, Fermi killed or is killing, nVidia board partners.
 
First and foremost, I have to say that HardOCP is sad to see BFGTech go. It was a company that opened up new ways of doing business with customers in the graphics card arena. The solid warranties and support you all enjoy now with high-end graphics cards companies can be traced back to BFGTech and its three founders, Scott Herkelman, Ric Lewis, and Shane Vance.

Of course our biggest concern is that our readers that have purchased BFG video cards are taken care of. Speaking this morning with then BFGTech CEO, Scott Herkelman, he assured me that BFG has taken measures to make sure full RMA and support will continue. Eight full time employees and the full group of tech support will remain in place as well as warehouse labor. That means continued 24/7 phone, email, and full RMA support for registered cards. As of today, BFG has a full reserve of cards and monies set aside to sure proper support occurs.

Kyle R. Bennett

Kyle it is a sad day.. i still remember when i met you and the guys at bfg's hq back in 04 i hope they return to graphics i don't care if it is nvidia or ati . kudos to BfgTECH and its staff . i hope things get better for them
 
As a long time BFG customer,add me to list of disappointed people who will really miss them. I was really hoping the rumors of BFG producing ATI cards was true,I'm not impressed with Nvidia's offerings lately but am equally unimpressed with the quality and customer support of most of the manufacturers offering ATI cards. Having BFG entering the ATI market would have made switching to the ATI camp a lot easier. I hope they reconsider this move in the near future.
 
Never owned any of their products. But I know what they started, reflected upon many others as was stated. My XFX products have the warranty they do because of the bar that BFG set. Bummer, but I hope that slimming down their offerings allows them to refocus resources and remain in strong business competition, the future has many possibilities, and I hope BFG is one of those companies that will be around. Not everyone has 100% satisfaction ratings, but these guys maintained a good margin of that, and their reputation was well earned, and well deserved.
 
Part of the reason is that the NVIDIA GPUs usually run hotter than the AMD/ATi GPUs of comparable performance to begin with. Plus, many of BFG's cards had some overclocking applied to them. Third, many of those cards ran inside relatively cramped cases with relatively poor airflow. Put them all together and you have a card which dies out relatively early.

And I would have to agree with some of the other responses that the NVIDIA-based cards are relatively poor buys at each price point unless one spends at least $350 for one.

One bright note... my Blackhawks are up 2-0 over the Sharks, coming back to Chicago for the next two games... :eek:

I ended up going with Asus based Nvidia gpus. No problems there. I tried watercooling the BFG cards and the temps stay low. I threw on copper ramsinks with two 80mm fans blowing over it. Still got the artifacting issues. I think the memory chips weren't binned well or binned at all.
 
Damned shame... the whole thing seems to have a "3DFX feel to it"- only because I only bought BFG or PNY cards for the longest time- edit... I've got two ASUS cards as well.

But it's such an uncertain time for graphics right now. I've used nVidia cards since the GeForce 256. ATI is starting to look pretty good to me. The only thing that keeps me on nVidia cards is CUDA and Physx. And that's admittedly not much.

Time to start exploring alternatives. Hello XFX and EVGA. My how things change.
 
So sad to see such a solid company bow out of the market. With XFX jerking me around with RMAs I was hoping to have another two alternatives, now it seems I only have one, EVGA. May the marketshare be with you, BFG.
 
Other than the 9800 gx2 All my Nvidia cards were BFG...damn Wonder what kept them from doing a XFX red/green thing
 
Can I say "Fuck!" on here?

This sucks :(

I own a bfg 6800gt oc and a bfg power supply. Never a problem from either. On the other hand my evga and zotac cards had to be RMA'd multiple times each (twice each). I blame these hot running GPU's and the too slow fan speeds nvidia is using last few generations of cards. I was planning to go back to BFG with Fermi if they released one.. :'(
 
This truly sucks but comes as no suprise to any of us who follow the industry day to day. It was suspected when they didn't have any new fermi's at launch and even more so when they were quiet as church mouses when pressed as to why. They had pulled out of the EU a while back and this was envietable here as well. I suspect it won't be long before they fold all together, which sucks. That's how these things go. If you ask me I would guess they are trying to save as much face as possible here for the moment and buying as much time as possible. Imo they are probably on lifesupport financially and just don't want to panic all there customers and employees. I've seen this before and I'm willing to bet in 90 days they are gone for good. :(

I've owned many a BFG video card over the years and they have always provided great support so I am truly saddened by this news. What can ya do, that's life.
 
wtf no article link?

and this is bananas. BFG was always badass, weird how they aren't profiting as much as they wished..
 
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