Greetings,

By now I have posted a few updates on my system acquision. I have reached a stage where it is time to choose a graphics card. I am going to get a 7800GT. The only problem is which one? There are quite a few cards by different manufacturers, but not all of them have reviews. Here are some of the cards I am considering. I would appreciate any feedback.

7800GT 256-P2-N517-AX
BFG Tech 7800 gt oc

Asus 7800 gt

XFX 7800 gt

Leadtek Winfast

I am particularly interested in experience regarding ASUS and Leadtek cards, since I couldn't find too much info yet. What makes ASUS carry such a premium price?

I am also curious as to which of these cards is quiter than the rest?

Thanks,

Andrew.

My 6800 GT OC has a lifetime warranty. Doesnt the 7800 GT OC?

It is a VIVO card (video in video out) while the rest are not.

Hehe. If you run across a good way of determining that, let me know.

If a card is exceptionally quiet a trend should show up in reviews. If it is exceptioanlly loud, it will definitely show up in reviews. Remember the FX5800? Review sites were hosting sound files of its fan...

But in general finding a quiet card can be difficult. If you are truly concerned about noise an Artic Cooling VGA Silencer GPU heatsink might be the way to go, although I'm not sure if one is available (yet) for the 7800-series.

I just installed this Zalman VGA cooler on my X800XL and I'm running it in silent mode and the GPU temps are still lower than the stock cooler. You can check the Zalamn website to see if it fits the 7800, I think it does.

http://www.us.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=14102&vpn=VF700-CU&manufacture=ZALMAN%20TECH
ZALMAN VF700-CU FULL COPPER BASE VGA COOLER W/ RAM SINKS

The BFG & Leadtek should have VIVO as well (in fact I think that all 7800s have VIVO as standard - my retailer ownlabel oem {it's actually an XFX} does ?).

I have the BFG 7800GT, it comes with a lifetime warranty and is factory overclocked an additional 25MHz on the core and 50MHz on the memory to give you a 425MHz / 1050MHz respectively.
BFG also have 24/7 Free Technical Support.

It's a pretty quiet card,for me anyway, and the performance is incredible -as is the price difference over the GTX.
You could be playing for eg F.E.A.R x8S x16 maxed out (i get no less than 40fps) at 1280x1024. MSFS2004 looks gorgeous with full settings 1152x864 x8S and x4 and FS Terrain/World Airports 2 added -it's so realistic and still hitting over 30fps.

Temps wise; i've never went over 57C after a full days playing. It has a 'Core slowdown threshhold of 115C' as it's default!!
I have an AMD Athlon64 3500+ CPU so the bigger it gets the better the GPU will perform.

The biggest purchase that will make the difference is your PSU, the 7800GT requires a 400W PSU with a 12v rating of 26A (from the BFG box) to run stabily. Thanks to BUFF and his advice i bought a TAGAN Easy Con 480W PSU which easily handles the current needed and also comes with the 2 PCI-E connectors as standard as well as 36month warranty.

Reviews and cards compaired here
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/08/11/bfgtech_xfx_7800gt/1.html
http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?cat=grfx&id=400&pagenumber=5

Joe the BFG is a VIVO card also.
http://www.bfgtech.com/7800GT_256_PCIX.html

Arctic Cooling's Rev 3 for the 7800GT is now available at Cooler Guys

I use a similar Rev 2 on my 6800GT and also on my son's new X800XL and it is excellent. Extremely quiet, much higher airflow, and direct-ducted/exhausted out an adjacent PCI slot.

If you have another video capture capability, e.g. a TV Tuner card, then the VIVO implementation is a waste of money and also somewhat inferior. I've been pleased with present XFX, although you really can't go wrong with Asus. I've had Leadtek in the past and also very reputable. Go with best price and don't worry about it.

Erm, yes, you're right. I don't know why the "VIVO" stood out when specifically looking at the newegg listing; all 5 cards linked have VIVO.

Thanks guys!
Tracer - thanks for the links to those review sites. They had a nice comparison of XFX vs BFG.

I went ahead and got the XFX one from Newegg.

Andrew.

No problem Andy, i bought the BFG over the XFX basicaly because of two reasons; 1) it was £50 less than the XFX and 2) because of the poor warranty that XFX offer

When you pay mega bucks for a card that is already overclocked, like the XFX. Why do they go and ruin it by only giving a 2year warranty??

from that review:
The BFG is factory overclocked also *but* comes with a lifetime warranty -it's only marginaly slower than the XFX anyway. But hey, you makes your own choices in life

Tracer, in the US XFX offer a "double-lifetime" warranty i.e. not only a lifetime warranty for the 1st purchaser but it's a lifetime warranty for the 2nd purchaser if the original owner sells it on.

2 years is good enough for me because I won't have it by then

Tracer,
Newegg actually had XFX cheaper by 10 or 20 - can't remember now. And as BUFF said, XFX also has the double lifetime warranty.

Andrew.

XFX was a bit cheaper when I bought mine too. Enjoy!

Oh dont i know it guys...

Since my gripe (and warning to others in Europe) is about XFX, here's the breakdown.

This is the exceptional support from XFX:
This is BFG support:
Quite a difference eh.

So what makes an XFX card in America different from an XFX card in the UK? -apart from the bit in the warranty that goes thus; "Mugs in Europe get 2years..."
It's not like the XFX is cheaper because it has a 2year warranty -you pay MORE for the XFX than the BFG card!

BUFF *just* because you change your g-card like your underwear doesn't mean we all do. :p

Put it this way;
you buy the XFX 512mb 7800GTX, it has a 580MHz core and 1730MHz GDDR3 memory and it only has a 2year warranty for £500+!!!

BFG also have the 512mb 7800GTX, it ships with 580MHz core and slightly faster 1750MHz GDDR3 memory and it's lifetime supported for around the same price!!

Am i missing something here?

They also have extremely fast UK-based email support Tracer & online RMA if necessary.
Plus I don't have to have anything to do with OcUK .

BUFF that's a cop out of a reply, and totaly sidestepped the original warranty issue that i was questioning...

Someone *everywhere* has had garbage service with every etailer on the internet. None are first class.
Then you have people that never have problems -such is life.
Besides, OcUK *didn't* make the 7800GT that i own, BFG did, so it's the same model that's stocked by a thousand other etailers around the globe.
What would be the biggest complaint is if i *hadn't* received my order, but i did.

How do you know if XFX service is good?? used them already :p

Actually I had a question (not a problem) & I had a reply in under 2 hours (which is when I checked so afaik it could have been within 5 minutes).
Bear in mind that XFX are probably nVidia's no.1 gfx partner these days (amazing when you think that only a few years ago they were Pine & nobody would touch them unless you were really skint).

Mind you I also know how to get a hold of 1 of XFX's senior guys in Europe if I had to whereas I wouldn't know how to do that with BFG.