BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP

Overclocking:

We overclocked our BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC video card using NVIDIA's coolbits registry hack. The default clock speeds for the BFG Tech 7800 GS OC are 400/1250MHz and we found that we were able to increase those frequencies to 450/1264MHz without any visual artifacting. Of course, your mileage may vary, as overclocking is always a bit of a lottery.

Final Thoughts:

The BFG Tech GeForce 7800 GS OC AGP is based on the fastest AGP solution that we've ever seen, and that seems to be the case across all shader-heavy games. From our testing, it seems like F.E.A.R. is one of the only games where the Radeon X850XT came close to the performance of NVIDIA's new AGP monster. BFG Tech's card is fast, but we have been informed by other board partners that there are even faster versions being announced today. We understand that EVGA will be launching a card clocked at 490/1400MHz, priced at just under £300.

We didn't have much success overclocking our sample, but we're sure that others will fare better with retail products. It's also impossible to say that BFG Tech's GeForce 7800 GS OC is a generally poor overclocker based on the results from one card. It's quite possible that you would be able to reach the heights of 490/1400MHz with one of BFG Tech's 7800 GS OC video cards, so you have to ask yourself whether you're prepared to pay an extra £60 for an 18% core speed improvement.

ATI has suffered from the fact that they've not launched a high-end AGP-based video card for over a year now, as the Radeon X850XT/Platinum Edition remains the fastest AGP card that they've released. We found huge variances in the price of Radeon X850XT's and couldn't find any Platinum Editions in stock anywhere. Overclockers UK have a PowerColor Radeon X850XT 256MB on pre-order for just under £200 inc VAT, but we're not sure whether we will see any stock arrive there. Scan has a Sapphire Radeon X850XT listed for £312, but there's no stock there either.

All in all, the GS is a decent performing card, and will quite possibly be the last bastion of the AGP gamer. We've examined the value of the PCI Express upgrade path, and you'll have to decide if that is for you or not right now, based on the pricing economics. As it is, this is easily the best thing you can add to your ailing AGP system.