Which 7800GTX would you...

D

DangerIsGo

2[H]4U
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Apr 16, 2005
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So question for all:
Your gonna get a 7800GTX
1) What company would you buy and model?
2) Would you OC it? How badly?
3) Stock HSF or aftermarket?

Im looking to get a 7800GTX and was wondering what everyone else would do. Id want to get an eVGA KO edition but im not sure. I know the xfx has one clocked to 490 as well. The BFG one does also look appitizing but accoring to anandtech, they could only get it up to 473 and it does middle of the run compared to a 500Mhz eVGA KO and xfx 490 which are top of the line. Which ones are easy to OC and which ones would be the fastest out there? eVGA's KO wipes all the other cards out when its OCed to 500 in all the games plus its also the quietest. I dont know :confused:

Also, ZZF sells the mb/gfx combo but its only for the 450Mhz version. I mean if i can get a free mobo outta this deal, then thats a bonus. Does the 450Mhz version OC well, like to 500 or 490? Thanks
 
If you want the best peforming GTX at the moment, then no doubt, get the KO. That being said, even though it is the perfromance leader it still only leads by just a few fps. Virtually imperceptible except for benchmarks. It's not like you will be able to tell the difference between a KO and BFG from a gameplay perspective. I say go for the best value. As you said, the MB bundle is a great bonus. The EVGA @ 450 might be a tad slower, but like I said, I highly doubt you will be able to tell. EVGA and BFG both have great warranties. I decided to go BFG because it is just slightly slower than a KO and also that I wanted to SLi them and could not justify spending another hundred dollars on the marginal performance increase of the KO's.
 
Getting a card is luck of the draw. Most of the BFG's I have seen easily exceed 500 on the core for an OC. Sounds like Anandtech got a dud. But, the eVGA cards offer one advantage. If you OC the card, it does not void your warranty. I asked eVGA, and, even if the card dies from a high OC, they will warrant the card, as long as there is no physical (viewable) damage. So, aside from pulling off a memory chip or busting off a cap, eVGA will cover your card. If you want the best factory OC and warranty, get the KO. If you want value, get the eVGA GTX that comes with the motherboard (if you need it) or BF2. The four eVGA cards that I have seen results for all get to 490+ on the core, with two of the three doing better than the KO sample for OC capability (490, 505 for the KO, 515, 530).
 
I have not pushed it, and I don't plan to, but my Albatron GTX does 485/1350 all day long. At 490 on the core I get some small artifacting, better cooling might cure that since I am hitting 82c max temps....have a Zalman on the way.

The damn things are so fast that unless you are a benchmark whore you won't notice the small difference in actual game performance overclocked versus stock clocks. :p
 
I really like the eVGA's warrenty cuase of the OC coverage. which companies are american based? I know ATI is canadian and i think BFG is american. Does BFG cover OC? What kind of HSF was on the BFG to get the 500 core? stock? how welld oes the KO OC? Hows the ACS3 cooling?
 
I would buy the EVGA KO, OC it to the auto-detect, and the cooler, it depends. I have good airflow in my full tower case, but for a mini-tower without good airflow I'd get an aftermarket.
 
f*ck the KO, it's too much money.

Get either BFG, XFX, or eVGA for sure. I'd get XFX because they are the cheapest ($480). OC like crazy. And buy watercooling to OC it more. lol. That's what I'm doing.
 
Well, according to the results of the 7800 OC Survey, the order is BFG, then eVGA, then XFX of OC capacity. The stand out is the BFG on the memory. Most get close to 1400. If you want the best chance at an OC capable card, BFG is in the lead right now.

top36kg.jpg


I left out the volt modded cards for the stats.
 
EVGA non-KO and KO it yourself. :p

The cards are all the same, all that's different is the cooler, and those are all pretty damn similar except the KO cooler. Get whichever of the numerous EVGA packages is cheap and slap a watercooler on it.
 
Better than the stock I guess. I'd strongly suggest water if you're paying that much anyway, maybe just because I like things nice and quiet so I can hear my music without a bunch of fan whine. But it will also knock quite a lot of heat off your various components. Good shit all around.
 
if you can still get the free mobo I'd jump on it if I were you. My 7800GTX does 530/1.3 (haven't gone higher with the memory yet). You can always buy the ACS3 kit eVGA sells and make your own KO card.
 
Then what abouit the BFG card? People said that its easy to OC. But I might be feeling the eVGA..nice warrenty, comes with mobo, stock OC'ed. Curse these hard decisions! The 530 is with water cooling right?
 
530 air and it's not permanent. I just took it up as high as I could before coolbits gave me an error. Coolbits autodetect is exactly 489/1.28 so the same speed as a KO pretty much. I just leave it at stock for the time being though until I get either better case cooling or a good GPU HS.
 
Thats a stock HSF right? How good would water cooling do? Another question, I know BFG is american based, but what about eVGA? And has anyone heard anything about any BFG cards dying from OC? What about any 7800 GTX card from OC no matter what the company is? The BFG has the highest memory OC rite? Those questions would really help my decision.
 
What about this card what about that card...it's the SAME card. All that varies is the cooling solution (slightly if any, mostly looks) and the after-sale support.
 
IMO, EVGA. At least I believe so strongly enough that its where I put my money. Also I'm told their new warranty is good as long as the card is physically intact (your guess is as good as mine where that means they draw the line, but I'm told watercooling is okay as long as you keep the original heatsink).

Aftermarket cooling, I'd say bugger the KO stuff and go for ye olde arctic cooler, or watercooling (my preference).
 
DangerIsGo said:
1) What company would you buy and model?
2) Would you OC it? How badly?
3) Stock HSF or aftermarket?
Click to expand...

1. BFG
2. Yes. Depends on #3
3. Aftermarket if quieter
 
Ok now im really in a heated debate. Both are american based, both OC well. Their roughly the same price. And about the same speed. To everyone that owns a 7800GTX: What influnced your decision to go to a specific brand name?
 
eVGA, BFG, XFX. All have lifetime warranty. I'm sure you wouldn't have problems with service with any of them. So that shouldn't be a factor.

I'd use both price and extras to decide. For me, that was XFX in both categories. I realize you want eVGA or BFG, but your choice. XFX had a lower price (and still does), and it comes with this snazzy (USB) game controller. A big plus for me as I play emulators a bunch, and it's cool to be able to play as if it's a real console.
 
BFG, EVGA Both awesome Choices, But I would go with eVGA. Only cuz there 10 mins away from me and i can start a ruckus outside there hq if my card starts to fail.. :D :D
 
Jasonx82 said:
BFG, EVGA Both awesome Choices, But I would go with eVGA. Only cuz there 10 mins away from me and i can start a ruckus outside there hq if my card starts to fail.. :D :D
Click to expand...
HAHA I like that. standing outside with a pitchfork and lantern yelling 'warrenty!! warrentyyy!!!'

Im still really up in the air. BFG or eVGA. anyone know of any 7800GTX's that fried from OCing?
 
It's been kinda hard to fry a graphics card from overclocking for a while now...there's, y'know, safetys and such. Mostly they go "ooooh I don't feel so good" and shut down.

Which makes it all the more funny when they use it as an excuse to void your RMA...o_O
 
ashmedai said:
It's been kinda hard to fry a graphics card from overclocking for a while now...there's, y'know, safetys and such. Mostly they go "ooooh I don't feel so good" and shut down.

Which makes it all the more funny when they use it as an excuse to void your RMA...o_O
Click to expand...

True, I guess cuase youd have to do some serious sh** to that card to get it to fry then, and that would make it void the warrenty.

Whats the difference?
XFX Card 1
XFX Card 2
 
ashmedai said:
40 bucks?
Click to expand...

besides that...I mean, they look ideantical but I think the cheaper one doesnt have VIVO or I could be wrong. Egg wouldnt have two of the exact same cards for two different prices, would they? It seems the PVT70FUNDE was a bundle with BF2 while the PVT70FUND7 is just the standalone retail OC'd card w/out the game. Now if someone can just clarify the whold XFX OC/warrenty deal...
 
Oh. Typical Newegg pricing...the one comes with a "free" copy of BF2 for $40 more. Wait...can't you get a real retail copy with none of the bundle issues for about that much? Shenanigans! Shenanigans!
 
ashmedai said:
Oh. Typical Newegg pricing...the one comes with a "free" copy of BF2 for $40 more. Wait...can't you get a real retail copy with none of the bundle issues for about that much? Shenanigans! Shenanigans!
Click to expand...

It's to punish you for wanting that miserable game.
 
I just sent XFX an email asking if they cover overclocking. Ill be waiting. Anyways, if XFX does cover OCing, then ill be going with the XFX 490Mhz, if not, then im stuck between XFX, BFG, and eVGA, leaning toward XFX. Im still up in the air until I can see some R520 benchies.
 
I personally have found the BFG cards to be a little gaudy in thier looks.They are as good as EVGA but IMHO the EVGA KO just rocks and for me , however shallow it may sound, I feel better when my purchase not only performs well but looks bitchen!

KO1.jpg
 
That looks hot but cant you buy the KO's heatsink and frame seperately? Also, what would be the best aftermarket HSF to put on a VGA card for best OC performance? Im leaning toward the XFX cuase it performs as well as the KO edition.

I made a list of the cards:
XFX
pro - highest OC with KO.
- cheapest out of 3
- double lifetime warrenty covers change of HSF

con - warrenty doesnt cover OC

BFG
pro - next best compared to 490 cores
- Free tshirt (dunno if i can pass up that deal :p )
- Lifetime warrenty
- USA company

con - warrenty doesnt cover OC


eVGA
pro - KO - highest OC (with XFX)
- standard OC - decent OC
comes with free Mobo (standard OC)
warrenty covers OC

con - KO is highest priced along with the card/board combo

as someone stated before, they arent gonna know you OCed it cuase its all done in the software. so im leaning toward the xfx cuase its the cheapest, highest OC, and xfx is a good name brand (as they all are) BFG isnt that fast compared to the other 2 and evga's are just too expensive although the free SLI board does sound entertaining, it isnt that great of a board if you already have an A8N-SLI deluxe :p
 
Yes the sink is around 40 dollars but i would go with the Zalman if your going aftermarketnd want to overclock on air. GO the ACS3 heatsink that the KO uses if your plans are not to excede say 500/1320 and want drop dead looks. I went KO Becuase i had already spent 6 bills on the stanard GTX 450/1200 the very second it came out so it was a no brainer to step to the KO for.99 cents

PS : My case does not have the best cooling and she runs 505 /1320 all day . I am confident that if i added fans i could easily do 530/1400 but frankly she is all the power i need the added noise would not be a could trade off for me
 
ashmedai said:
IMO, EVGA. At least I believe so strongly enough that its where I put my money. Also I'm told their new warranty is good as long as the card is physically intact (your guess is as good as mine where that means they draw the line, but I'm told watercooling is okay as long as you keep the original heatsink).

Aftermarket cooling, I'd say bugger the KO stuff and go for ye olde arctic cooler, or watercooling (my preference).
Click to expand...

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=950684

I've got another thread where I am trying to bust this warranty myth. Basically when I read the warranty statements from these companies, XFX, BFG and eVGA they all said the same thing. What is SAID on the websites is that damage due to modification, overclocking and anything else is NOT covered. So reguardless of what stupid rumors are floating around the internet, unless you can find something in writing that says differently, no overclocking, no modification, no aftermarket coolers, flashing the BIOS or anything else can be done without voiding your warranty.
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=950684

I've got another thread where I am trying to bust this warranty myth. Basically when I read the warranty statements from these companies, XFX, BFG and eVGA they all said the same thing. What is SAID on the websites is that damage due to modification, overclocking and anything else is NOT covered. So reguardless of what stupid rumors are floating around the internet, unless you can find something in writing that says differently, no overclocking, no modification, no aftermarket coolers, flashing the BIOS or anything else can be done without voiding your warranty.
Click to expand...

Here is a thread from eVGA. I wanted to know the real deal with the warranty. Does OCing the card void the warranty? AT BFG, yes. I have not looked at XFX? eVGA, no. They believe the built in safety functions of the card will protect it from damage.

eVGA Warranty - the real deal
 
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