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If you have never heard of BFG technologies, you have probably been living under a rock (which is good, we all need to get outdoors more often). BFG is a privately held US based company best known for their NVIDIA and Ageia based graphics cards. As one might expect, they are a gamer focused company (their slogan is “The Gamer’s Choice!”). Graphic cards are not their only product however, and BFG carries a product line ranging from mousepads to motherboards, and in a place in between, they also carry power supplies.
Today we get a chance to check out one of BFG’s PSUs in the form of an 800 watt unit. BFG technologies touts its 800 watt power supply as perfect for a “…gamer running dual PCI Express graphics cards, or a PC enthusiast building a killer system with tons of power-hungry components." They back that with a lifetime 24/7 warranty. Among the features of the BFG 800 watt PSU are quad 12V rails and “Silent Control Technology” for quiet operation. Does this 800 watt monster represent? Let’s find out!
Contents and Features
Out of the box, the BFG 800 includes a manual, mounting screws, a main power cord, and a specification panel on the PSU itself (which is also included on the outside of the retail packaging as pre-purchase information). The “manual” is more of a pamphlet (single sided sheet of installation instructions), but it does include support information if needed. If that were all that was included, it would meet our basic requirements, but there is just a bit more. Zip ties! Not only does BFG include a few zip ties, they also included five reusable Velcro straps. They know the way to our heart! We honestly feel that zip ties should be mandatory as part of a PSU package and BFG is one of the few not to disappoint!
The BFG 800 watt comes with what we would call a nickel or stainless steel type finish; very shiny, but not quite chrome. The unit sports two 80mm, BFG badged fans - one for intake and one for exhaust. Ventilation holes are kept to a minimum, which means that airflow is determined by the fans and internal layout alone. The overall visual impression is that of a clean, quality, no nonsense unit. It’s a good looking piece of hardware, but not so much as to draw attention to itself.
The specification panel numbers tell us that the 800 watt BFG sports four 12V rails. Each of these rails can carry up to 20A (240 watts). As printed on both the box and the PSU itself, the combined 12V rail power is limited to 648W (54A). However, BFG has informed us that this number is actually a typo and the unit can handle a combined 12V rail wattage of 768W (64A). Wow! Of course, if you are running that high on the 12s, you only have a few amps left for the 5V + 3.3V rails, as the combined 12V+5V+3.3V wattage is 780W (the remaining 20 watts is reserved for the -12V and 5VSB rails). The maximum wattage for the 3.3V+5V rails is 170W total. Outside of the crazy 12V amp ratings, this is a typical power distribution for this size class of PSU.
Cables, Connections, Dimensions
The BFG 800 watt is not a modular PSU, and comes hooked with ten cable harnesses. All harnesses exit the PSU from one spot, which can lead to some issues in wire management. Mitigating these issues somewhat is the black nylon mesh sleeving that all ten harnesses have from tip to toe, including between multiple connectors on harnesses that have them. Not all PSU makers bother to sleeve between connectors. We welcome the attention to detail. Good sleeving also helps in cooling, and did we mention that BFG included zip ties and Velcro straps to help in wire management? Yes we did!
| Harness | Connectors and Lengths |
| 1 | ATX 20/24 pin mainboard connector. 17" long. |
| 2 | SATA power cable with connectors at 16”, 21” and 27”. |
| 3 | SATA power cable with connectors at 16”, 21” and 27”. |
| 4 | Peripheral power cable with 4 pin molex connector at 16” and 21.5”. |
| 5 | Peripheral power cable with 4 pin molex connector at 16”, 21.5”, 27”, and floppy connector at 33”. |
| 6 | Peripheral power cable with 4 pin molex connector at 16”, 21.5”, 27”, and floppy connector at 33”. |
| 7 | EPS/12V 8 pin CPU power cable. 16” long. |
| 8 | 12V/P4 cable with 4 pin connector at 16” long. |
| 9 | PCI-E 6 pin connector. 16" long |
| 10 | PCI-E 6 pin connector. 16" long |
The BFG 800 has the bases covered when it comes to connectors. Everything a typical deployment would need is there. We were happy to see that the 24 pin connector has the 4 pin breakaway for use in a 20 pin system, even though an 800 watt PSU may not find itself into such a system. Not only do the 4 pins break away on this harness, they are separately sleeved so they can be coiled up, zip tied, and neatly tucked away. Nice touch for wire management.
Cable length on the other hand had us wondering. A direct route from a PSU to the bottom card slot in a moderate sized ATX case is in the neighborhood of 15 inches. Of course, if you are going to route cables around, you may need up to twice those lengths. In a large tower case, the length from the harness exit of the PSU directly to the base of the case can be close to 20 inches. These are outer envelope numbers, but nonetheless, we feel the two PCI-E 6 pin connectors are a bit short at 16 inches. In fact, this PSU has some of the shortest wiring we’ve seen. The 12V/P4, EPS 8 pin, and 24 pin could all use two to four more inches in our opinion. Few users may actually be affected by this, but we would hate to be one of the ones left “short”. Measuring your case interior before purchase would be a very good idea if considering this unit.
UPDATE, Jan. 3rd 2008: BFG is aware of the cable length issue for the PCI-E connectors and informed us that, "If customers find themselves in this circumstance (short PCI-E cables), BFG will provide an extender cable, free of charge, if the customer calls support at 1-866-234-3499 and provides the serial number off of the side of the unit." Additionally, the PCI-E extender is also a 6/8 pin adapter for users running newer high performance graphics cards. This adapter/extender is also available at BFG's web store: http://www.bfgstore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=PCIXPRESPWREXT
The dimensions of the BFG 800 watt are 3.4” tall, 5.9” wide, and 6.9” deep. This is not the deepest PSU we’ve seen, but it is still deeper than the 5.75” depth the ATX 12V v2.2 specification calls for. We are not sure why companies keep saying they adhere to the ATX 12V form factor specification when they don’t, but BFG is far from alone in this “mistake”. The BFG’s dimensions are clearly printed on the box and available online. BFG isn’t hiding anything. However, don’t assume that just because it says “ATX” on the box that it will fit in your system. As we find ourselves saying in just about every review, make sure you measure your case (and add a bit of extra room for cabling).