BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX

Many enthusiasts now consider a lifetime warranty a prerequisite for purchasing a videocard, and for those of you who fall into that category, you have BFG to thank for pioneering the concept. The company didn't invent lifetime backings, but it was the first to port the concept over to discrete graphics cards, and it has been doing so since the company's inception in 2002. Even today, you can count on one hand how many videocard manufacturers have followed suit, and still have fingers left over.


Today we put BFG's GeForce GTX 285 OCX under the microscope. We already know what Nvidia's new flagship single-GPU (not to be confused with its dual-GPU single videocard) solution brings to the table, and BFG looks to up the ante by overclocking its card beyond the reference design. Not only that, but BFG's OCX model currently ranks as the fastest-clocked GTX 285 on the market. Combined with the company's lifetime warranty, this would appear to be a slam dunk right from the tip-off, but even the favotires have a tendency to falter. Does BFG have game? Let's find out.

Â	BFG GeForce GTX 285 OCX	EVGA GeForce GTX 285 SSC Edition	GeForce GTX 285	GeForce GTX 280	GeForce GTX 260 (Core 216)	GeForce 9800GTX +
 GPU	GT200	GT200	GT200	GT200	GT200	G92
 Manufacturing Process	55nm	55nm	55nm	65nm	55nm	55nm
 ROPs	32	32	32	32	28	16
 Memory	1GB	1GB	1GB	1GB	896MB	512MB
 Bus	512-bit	512-bit	512-bit	512-bit	448-bit	256-bit
 Core Clockspeed	702MHz	702MHz	648MHz	602MHz	576MHz	738MHz
 Memory Clockspeed	1332MHz	1323MHz	1242MHz	1107MHz	999MHz	1100MHz
 Shader Clockspeed	1584MHz	1584MHz	1476MHz	1296MHz	1242MHz	1836MHz

We already covered Nvidia's new GPU lineup in a recent GeForce GTX 285 review, but to quickly recap, the main difference relates to the die shrink from 65nm to 55nm. The trickle-down effect of this die shrink starts with a lower power consumption, which in turn leads to lower temps, and the end result is more frequency headroom to play with. And that's exactly what videocard manufacturers have done.

Right from the get-go, Nvidia partners have been taking advantage of the new manufacturing process with factory overclocked videocards, and it's here where BFG puts some distance between itself and the competition, at least for the time being. Like other OC'd GTX 285 cards, BFG aggressively clocks the GPU at 702MHz, but the OC'd memory clockspeed of 1332MHz (2664MHz effective) is enough to give BFG the overall speed crown.

Specifications

Model	BFG GTX 285 OCX
Core	GT200
Memory	1GB GDDR3
Memory Speed	1332MHz
Core Clockspeed	702MHz
Vista/DX10 Ready?	Yes
HDCP Ready?	Yes