EVGA vs BFG

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 4:34 pm

Has anyone purchased a EVGA card?

I'm looking at the 7800 GT from EVGA and BFG.
I have had 2 cards from BFG and have had no problems whatsoever and I have read similar experiences. I haven't heard much about EVGA but their 7800 looks to be a bit quicker and I can get it for the same price.

Both have 256 of DDR3 - EVGA is at 1100MHz vs 1050MHz for the BFG.
The EVGA GPU runs at 470MHz vs 425MHz for the BFG.

All the other specs are the same.

Opinions?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2006, 4:39 pm

I own the 7800GT Copper EVGA card. It works great. As with all 7800 cards, the fan is a little loud so I bought a Zalman fan for it. Check this thread for picts:

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... sc&start=0

scroll down about halfway or so.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 4:50 pm

What case have you got?

I'm gonna be dropping it into an Antec Sonata which might muffle most of the sound from an ornery video card fan.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2006, 5:20 pm

miir wrote:What case have you got?

I'm gonna be dropping it into an Antec Sonata which might muffle most of the sound from an ornery video card fan.

Check the same thread a few posts up. I have the Antec P180 case which is quieter than the Sonata and cooler. I could still hear the 7800GT enough to warrant the Zalman fan. It has nothing to do with EVGA, all 7800 card stock fans are loud. If you don't care about noise, it's not a big deal.

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 5:27 pm

Whoah, I didn't even see the pics of that case.
Guess I'm gonna have to rework my budget now

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 27, 2006, 5:41 pm

Anandtech has been leaning towards EVGA over BFG for the past few models. EVGA seems to put together better OC'ing benchmarks (don't have any links or pics, sorry), though if you're changing to a Zalman fan, I'm not certain which is a better OC'er.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » February 27, 2006, 5:44 pm

I never owned a BFG card, but I just got a EVGA card and proceeded to OC the AGP bus as well as the GPU and memory clock speeds by ~40% and it's rock solid stable.

Also, any video card I buy ever again will have the stock fan replaced with a Zalman before the card ever gets installed.

Post by **pyrella** » February 27, 2006, 6:15 pm

I was BFG4life until this last system I built.

first 6800 was a bfg, took a crap - went back and bought 2 EVGA 6800's, running like champs ever since.

BFG is lifetime warranty on everything but fan, EVGA is lifetime warranty on everything.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 27, 2006, 6:25 pm

Tenuvil wrote: Also, any video card I buy ever again will have the stock fan replaced with a Zalman before the card ever gets installed.

Good man!

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 6:29 pm

Thanks guys.

Marbus · Post by **Marbus** » February 27, 2006, 7:42 pm

I've got an EVGA 6800GT that I've had since last summer and had no problems. I purchased it because it was cheaper than BFG but had the same warranty. Been very please with them so far as have others I know with EVGA cards.

Marb

Xyphir · Post by **Xyphir** » February 27, 2006, 8:09 pm

miir wrote:What case have you got?

I'm gonna be dropping it into an Antec Sonata which might muffle most of the sound from an ornery video card fan.

I recently built a system using the Antec Sonata Case. The power supply is a bit lacking (380W), but suits my needs. After getting everything up and running the video card is by far the loudest component in the rig, so I'll be installing a Zalman to hush it up (thanks Winnow).

Regarding the case itself, I like the hinged door and the locking handle. Also, drives slide into place instead of being mounted, making installation that much easier. There is a locking mechanism on the front (guarding the drives) and the side. I found the front LED to be extremely bright and annoying, so I keep it unplugged. I don't particularly care for the 'Antec' drill holes in the case, and it isn't quiet, but I had less that $100 to spend on a case and this one does just fine.

Antec Sonata Review

miir · Post by **miir** » February 27, 2006, 9:07 pm

Xyphir wrote:
miir wrote:What case have you got?

I'm gonna be dropping it into an Antec Sonata which might muffle most of the sound from an ornery video card fan.
I recently built a system using the Antec Sonata Case. The power supply is a bit lacking (380W), but suits my needs. After getting everything up and running the video card is by far the loudest component in the rig, so I'll be installing a Zalman to hush it up (thanks Winnow).

Regarding the case itself, I like the hinged door and the locking handle. Also, drives slide into place instead of being mounted, making installation that much easier. There is a locking mechanism on the front (guarding the drives) and the side. I found the front LED to be extremely bright and annoying, so I keep it unplugged. I don't particularly care for the 'Antec' drill holes in the case, and it isn't quiet, but I had less that $100 to spend on a case and this one does just fine.

Antec Sonata Review

I actually meant to say a Sonata II which is a bit quieter than the original Sonata and comes with a 450 watt power supply. I currently have an original Sonata and a Sonata II and my system (in the sonata 2 case) is getting a long overdue upgrade.

I love Antec cases.

Kluden · Post by **Kluden** » February 27, 2006, 10:35 pm

I own an evga 6800Ultra...the fan is loud, and I should replace it, but it was a replacement unit from EVGA when the first one I bought died. Took them 1 week to get the new one to me. The told me the first card had some pipeline problems, overheating other circuitry, which fried something, and rather than try to repair, they just sent a new card.

1 week. That's CS. That's why I'll always buy EVGA in the future too.

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » February 28, 2006, 12:15 pm

I have 2 of these, I love them both! Love them long time!

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » February 28, 2006, 4:41 pm

I own the same card that winnow has (7800GT) and also three 6800's all from eVGA. Its pretty much a no brainer.

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » March 3, 2006, 1:14 pm

I would recommend the EVGA as well.

I would recommend the Arctic Cooling Nv Silencer 5 (Rev 3) over the Zallman as a replacement fan\cooler.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2006, 1:40 pm

Forthe wrote:I would recommend the EVGA as well.

I would recommend the Arctic Cooling Nv Silencer 5 (Rev 3) over the Zallman as a replacement fan\cooler.

Why? Because of the exhaust out the back of the PC? I'd rather have individual memory heatsinks easily attached and a small contact area over the GPU than a huge metal plate that you need to be sure contacts all the surfaces. If you have a well ventilated PC, I don't see an advantage to this solution. If fact, I like that the Zalman fan also blows air over my MB chipset and the multiple 120mm fans in the P180 case (three speed settings if low isn't enough) are outstanding in maintaining air flow.

The few reviews I've seen show the Zalman outperforming the Silencer although not by any significant amount. Both will help, just curious why you'd recommend that one over the Zalman.

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » March 3, 2006, 2:27 pm

Winnow wrote:
Forthe wrote:I would recommend the EVGA as well.

I would recommend the Arctic Cooling Nv Silencer 5 (Rev 3) over the Zallman as a replacement fan\cooler.
Why? Because of the exhaust out the back of the PC? I'd rather have individual memory heatsinks easily attached and a small contact area over the GPU than a huge metal plate that you need to be sure contacts all the surfaces. If you have a well ventilated PC, I don't see an advantage to this solution. If fact, I like that the Zalman fan also blows air over my MB chipset and the multiple 120mm fans in the P180 case (three speed settings if low isn't enough) are outstanding in maintaining air flow.

The few reviews I've seen show the Zalman outperforming the Silencer although not by any significant amount. Both will help, just curious why you'd recommend that one over the Zalman.

Yes the main reason is it exhausts out the back rather than blow warm air around in your case raising case ambient temps...simply a better design.

It is also quieter than Zalman, unless you turn the Zalman down to 5v where it is doesn't cool as effectively.

If you have a big case then it *may* not make any dif, for smaller cases especially HTPC or cubes then I wouldn't consider the Zalman. It would probably make less of a difference with an AMD system as opposed to a electric heater\Intel based system as well.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2006, 2:40 pm

Forthe wrote:

It is also quieter than Zalman, unless you turn the Zalman down to 5v where it is doesn't cool as effectively.

If you have a big case then it *may* not make any dif, for smaller cases especially HTPC or cubes then I wouldn't consider the Zalman. It would probably make less of a difference with an AMD system as opposed to a electric heater\Intel based system as well.

Quiet is a relative term when speaking about the Zalman and Silencer. There are other components in the system much louder. I have the Zalman on the high speed setting so that's not a factor. And again, the Zalman cools better than the Silencer so the only thing I can see as an argument is exhausting the air out the back which is only important unless you failed to buy a good case.

It definately does not make a difference (exhaust out the back) with a good case. In fact, with the Zalman blowing air over my MB chipset, I can turn off the lame little noisy chipset fan. I monitor all temps and the actual temp of the GPU/GPU RAM is more critical than the temperature inside the case. The Zalman takes care of business as well or better than the silencer in that department.

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » March 3, 2006, 2:55 pm

It has less to do with the case being a "good case" than the air volume inside the case your zalman is heating up.

I just built a HTPC for the woman so I'm on a bit of a quiet trip, heat being a much less important second concern. I'm also researching a small cube system for myself so both noise and heat are paramount. The Zalman blowing hot air around in a mATX case is not very appealing.

As for cooling both do well, expect 15-20C dif under load from stock cooling. Neither cooler is more than 1-2C better than the other.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2006, 4:24 pm

Forthe wrote:It has less to do with the case being a "good case" than the air volume inside the case your zalman is heating up.

I just built a HTPC for the woman so I'm on a bit of a quiet trip, heat being a much less important second concern. I'm also researching a small cube system for myself so both noise and heat are paramount. The Zalman blowing hot air around in a mATX case is not very appealing.

As for cooling both do well, expect 15-20C dif under load from stock cooling. Neither cooler is more than 1-2C better than the other.

My internal case temperature isn't even on the radar of being a concern. The Zalman isn't just blowing around internal air. The air is being refreshed continuously. Your silencer is acting as an additional exhaust fan which is nice if you need one. The rest of the design for the Silencer fan/heatsink doesn't appeal to me.

Have you installed/listened to a Zalman or are you just basing your thoughts by the design alone? I've also had a Zalman 7000Cu running 24/7 for years on my last CPU with excellent, quiet results.

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » March 3, 2006, 5:54 pm

I have 2 Zalman 7000 alcu's running at 1300rpm (2 HTPCs), you can barely hear them at that speed (I can hear the clock in the living room clicking over it easily when everything else is turned off). Full speed they are a bit too loud for a living room PC. I plan to use another in my cube.

For the VGA coolers it is based mostly on design and info from silentpcreview.com

Other parts of my Quiet Cube PC:
Samsung HDs
Seasonic PSU
AMD CPU (Intel runs hot)

I really want to use a Silverstone SG01 case, beautiful case but the thermals are challenging.

Considering using a couple of Vantac Nexstar 3s (NST-360SU-BK - USB and eSata interface), should help with case temps. Pretty nice having Sata performance with the flexibility of USB but you lose one of the 4 case expansions slots.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2006, 7:12 pm

Those Samsung HDs are nice.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 3, 2006, 7:21 pm

Funny how things change. A few years ago it was AMDs that ran hot. Course once I switched back to Intel then they were the hot ones. Can't keep up!

Forthe · Post by **Forthe** » March 3, 2006, 9:40 pm

Winnow wrote:Those Samsung HDs are nice.

They are, very pleased so far. I picked them purely for quiet operation but they are damn fast. The 250 SATA II puts out ~75MB/s, access times are a couple of ms slower than some other brands but I have never heard any noise from them (AAM enabled). They also run cooler than other brands.

The Seasonic S12 is awesome. 90+ efficiency and the thermal 120mm fan spins at ~800rpm. You can't hear it unless you put your ear directly up against it. Highly recommended.

The Zalman at 1300rpm is the loudest thing in the system.

The only downside is working on my desktop that sounds like a jet airplane in comparison drives me nuts now.