Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB

BFG Tech GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB

Manufacturer: BFG Tech
Warranty: 10 years (parts and labour) in Europe
UK Pricing: £223.23 (inc. VAT)
US Pricing: TBC


Another new BFG Tech graphics card means another new box design – there’s a new character on this one and from what we’re told it’s part of a series of box designs that all fit together. The card is packed inside an anti-static bag and then secured inside a cardboard insert to prevent it from being damaged during shipping.

All of the required information is presented in an intuitive manner and this time the performance indicator in the bottom right corner on the front of the box suggests that this card is at the high side of "best." On the bottom, there's a more detailed breakdown of this – and this time the shield is coloured Gold.


Like we're used to seeing, BFG Tech's GeForce 9800 GXT comes with a fairly bare bundle that isn't anything special. There are no games or software included in the box, but the question of whether or not that's important to you is of course personal preference. Personally, I prefer not to be given free games in a graphics card bundle, as it's usually an excuse to increase the price and, more often than not, the game isn't to my liking – what’s more the bit-tech community seems to agree with me.

What you do get in the box though is one DVI-to-VGA converter, a component-out dongle that connects to the card's HDTV out connector, a 2x4-pin Molex to 6-pin PCI-Express cable (for those that don't have one on their PSU), a couple of case stickers, a quick install guide and a driver CD. There is also an important piece of paper that tells you how to activate your lifetime warranty – you need to register your purchase within 30 days otherwise you’ll be given a statutory one year warranty. This is also required to partake in BFG Tech’s 100-day trade-up programme in the future.


It’s disappointing that BFG Tech doesn’t include the DVI-to-HDMI converter and S/PDIF cable, but this card is aimed at the gamer more than anything. Whether or not that is important to you will of course be a matter of preference, but as we said during our look at the company’s GeForce 9600 GT OC, it’s something we’d like to see rectified if BFG Tech aims to cater for a wider user base. Not including so-called value-adds like games is one thing, but not including cables and connectors required to use the card’s full feature set is another thing entirely.

Warranty

One area where BFG Tech excels above most other Nvidia board partners is with its warranty service and after sales support. The company offers a ten-year (parts and labour) 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.

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