BFGTech GeForce 8800 GTS

BFG Tech GeForce 8800 GTS:

Warranty: Lifetime (10 years in Europe)
Availability: Now
Price: £299.61 including VAT - Overclockers UK

BFG Tech has redesigned its box artwork with its GeForce 8800 series video cards, as the previous boxes were a little bland if we’re honest. Aside from the funky new artwork, the box hasn’t really changed – BFG Tech has clearly printed all of the information you need to know about the card on the front in a similar fashion.

Although, there is one thing that appears to be missing from the new box artwork – there is no sign of the clock speeds. In saying that though, none of the first-generation GeForce 8800-series cards are overclocked so it’s not going to make a fat lot of difference. In fact, overclocked GeForce 8800-series cards were nothing but a distant hope until Friday, when XFX announced its pre-overclocked GeForce 8800 GTX and GeForce 8800 GTS XXX Edition cards.

BFG packs the card in an anti-static bag inside a padded plastic sleeve to ensure that the card doesn’t get damaged during shipping. On top of the usual selection of cables (which includes two DVI-to-VGA converters, a 6-pin power adapter and an HDTV-Out to Component break-out box), the bundle includes a free BFG Tech T-Shirt, a set of Teflon Slick Pads to reduce friction on the bottom of your mouse. There are no games in the box, with the only software being a driver/utility CD that contains a soft copy of the quick install guide in addition to the paper version that BFG has supplied.

To round off the bundle, there are a couple of leaflets with information on HDTV connectivity, SLI and BFG Tech’s gaming servers. There is also a selection of fun stickers to stick... errr, somewhere – the pick of the bunch is clearly OMGWTFBFGSAUCE. I think I uttered something similar last week when I got to see one of BFG Tech's watercooled GeForce 8800 GTX cards in the flesh for the first time.

Not surprisingly, BFGTech’s GeForce 8800 GTS is essentially a reference design card with BFG’s own artwork on the top of the heatsink. The design is the same as the one on the front of the box – simple but effective. With that said, there is little more to say about the card. It works, the cooling solution is the same as the reference design and there is a selection of adequate connectivity options, complete with both dual-link DVI ports being HDCP compliant.

Warranty:

One area where BFGTech excels above most other NVIDIA board partners is with its warranty service and after sales support. The company offers a ten-year warranty with all of its cards in Europe, and a lifetime warranty to its customers on the other side of the Atlantic. The reason for the lower warranty term in Europe is EU legislation, but that shouldn’t worry you.

BFGTech also offers its customers free 24/7 technical support, albeit on an American 1-800 number (it’s free via SkypeOut), although if you don’t have SkypeOut or don’t live in America, BFGTech also offers free 24/7 support via email too. In the past, the downside of BFGTech’s RMA process was the fact that all RMA’s were handled by the company’s US office. Recently though, BFGTech opened an RMA Centre in the UK, meaning that there will be much shorter turnaround times for UK customers.