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BFG GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB Video Card
Introduction
I'm going to start with this: if you have $1000 in your video card budget, two of these is a great idea. If you have $500 and one PCIe slot, one of these is a great idea. If the above doesn't apply to you, then you shouldn't really bother with this card. I say don't bother, because for the first time ever, SLI'ed cheaper cards are a better deal--how weird is that? (Granted, two 9800 GTXs costs a little more, but you're already looking to spend more on a single aspect of your machine than many people are willing to spend on their entire computer, so in that light, they pretty much cost the same--a freaking buttload). But even if you're only building a dream machine in your head, this card makes a sweet read. This totally stock, non-overclocked, bundle-free BFG 9800 GX2 is still a marvel of gaming force. First Looks Taking the style of the 9800 GTX to heart, the GX2 is completely wrapped into its heatsink. The top is all vents and a single SLI connector, near small exhast vents out the back. There are two DVI connectors, one upside-down (given the PCB-and-heatsink sandwitch nature of this specimen) and an HDMI socket. The front of the card is slotted for air intake, and here's to it not being as obstructive as it looks.         Also at the top are two power connectors, one 6-pin and one 8-pin, connectors once firmly ATI. Each plug is translucent and backlit, red means the card is angry and the not properly powered, green means you did everything right. The accessories are few but high-quality: a 6-pin-to-8-pin sleeved cable adapter, a small audio cable (for HDMI) a DVI-to-VGA adaptor, and an actual HDMI cable. BFG stickers the card with their logo, simple and flamed, and gives you an install guide and some drivers along with the warranty info. Specifications Performance - GPU: Dual NVIDIA� GeForce� 9800 GX2 - Core Clock: 600MHz - Shader Clock: 1500MHz - Shader Model: 4.0 - Texture Fill Rate: 76.8 Billion/sec. - Stream Processors: 256 (Combined) Memory - Video Memory: 1GB, 1024MB (Combined) - Memory Type: GDDR3 - Memory Data Rate: 2000MHz - Memory Interface: 512-bit (Combined) - Memory Bandwidth: 128GB/sec. Connections - Bus Type: PCI Express� 2.0 - Display Connectors: 2 Dual-Link DVI-I, HDMI� - RAMDACs: Dual 400MHz - Multiple Monitor Support: Yes - HDCP Capable: Yes, Dual link (Requires other compatible components which are HDCP capable. Designed to meet the output protection management (HDCP) and security specifications of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, allowing the playback of encrypted movie content on PCs when connected to HDCP-compliant displays) - HDMI� Capable: Yes Included In Box - BFG NVIDIA� GeForce� 9800 GX2 1GB graphics card - Quick install guide - DVI to VGA adapter - Single 6-pin PCI Express� to single 8-pin PCI Express� power adapter - HDMI� cable (6 ft.) - S/PDIF audio cable - Driver CD, which includes: NVIDIA ForceWare unified graphics drivers and Full installation manual .pdf Minimum System Requirements - One vacant add-in card slot below the PCI Express� x16 slot. This graphics card physically occupies two slots - 1GB of system memory - Microsoft Windows Vista -or- Windows XP - CD or DVD-ROM drive - 100MB of available hard disk drive space for basic driver installation - 580W PCI Express�-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 40A or more (Minimum system power requirement based on a PC configured with an Intel Core�2 Extreme QX6700 processor) - PCI Express� or PCI Express� 2.0-compliant system motherboard with one vacant PCI Express� x16 slot - One 8-pin and one 6-pin PCI Express� supplementary power connector -or- Two 6-pin PCI Express� supplementary power connectors Test Setup All cards were benched on the same test platform with the recent drivers (April or newer). 
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Page 1: Introduction, First Looks, Specifications & Test Setup
Page 2: DirectX 10 Titles Page 3: DX9, OpenGL, and Synthetics Page 4: Video, Power, and Overclocking Page 5: Conclusion 
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