Hard ocp review of BFG 8800gt Waterblock edition.

[MustangSVT]

the price does not justify the performance at all.

and yet they give it a silver award.

when someone questions it in the forum, he gets all defensive and says :

"We think it is an outstanding product in the watercooling arena that offers something that others don't. Installation and warranty of the water cooling solution. We did spell that out.

However, if you would rather install yourself and not have a warranty, then save the $45 and go for another option. As with pretty much every other product we have reviewed in the last 10 years, it all comes down to personal value and whether or not the product holds it for your specific needs."


am I just crazy or did they have biased review all along?

I registered there to leave a comment but I have to wait to make a post or something..

EDIT :Here is the review's last page

 

[Throckmorton]

HardOCP sucks. And watercooling is an outdated fad that belongs 5 years ago.

 

[kylebisme]

Nothing new. When BFG first started up HardOCP ran this article on them which is basically just one big advertisement full of marketing hype, and when I questioned it on their forum I was promptly banned.

And yeah, some card makers insist that using alterative cooling voids the warranty, but others are fine with it as long as the card doesn't fail from overheating.

 

[ronnn]

I thought the conclusion wasn't too bad. Didn't make me want it. All sites have to somewhat careful when reviewing a major advertiser.

 

[MustangSVT]

Originally posted by: ronnn
I thought the conclusion wasn't too bad. Didn't make me want it. All sites have to somewhat careful when reviewing a major advertiser.

I question the silver award. for that price, and not much on performance, would anyone still get that? but the review was thourough and the detailed pictures are always nice to have.

 

[Cookie Monster]

? Its true that for most vendors you lose your warranty by installing any 3rd party HSF or GPU block. In this case, you dont since it already comes with it which is nice.

 

[IL2SturmovikPilot]

Contradiction FTW?!?!

 

[Lithan]

Yeah, they also ignore that fact that XFX warrantee's cards with aftermarket coolers. So their primary argument that you wont void your warranty (kinda flimsy to begin with since 99% of people just swap the cooler back to RMA their cards) is pretty much ignorant.

Of course is it biased?
The card is a 8800gts with a waterblock on it that costs way too damn much. Does that make it a bad product? 9800gx2 costs way too damn much. Does that mean it should get bad reviews. True, with gx2 you're getting bleeding edge which we are used to paying too much for... but the point is a parallel... buyers KNOW they are overpaying, so the reviewers practically ignore that fact.

Would I give a product that doesnt really have a market a silver award? Probably not. I probably wouldn't bother reviewing it. But suppose I did review it? I'd mention in summary that it cost way too damn much and then say, ignoring that, if for some reason you still have to buy it, my rating is based on what you get versus what you expect. And if you got a 8800gts 512meg with a decent waterblock on it... well it certainly doesnt deserve a bad review, it delivers.
Manufacturers caught onto Watercooling too late. People have already learnt all the tricks and can do it better and more efficiently than they could ever viably market solutions for. That in mind, this isn't a bad effort, but you can see that they dont understand their market. The only card it makes any sense at all to watercool for most gamers is the top of the line. Why watercool a 8800gts that costs what a 9800gx2 costs, overclock it and still get trounced by the stock cooling gx2?

 

[panfist]

The reason the card gets a silver award is that the card is a complete package, with warranty.

Anyone who is willing to install their own waterblock on a video card is not the targeted customer. The review is written with the target market of the video card in mind.

 

[kylebisme]

As if anyone who is willing to install a wattercooling system would be unwilling to put a watter block on their GPU.