BFG Technologies
Encyclopedia
BFG Technologies was a privately held U.S.
-based supplier of power supplies and 3D
video card
s based on NVIDIA
graphics technology and a manufacturer of high-end gaming/home theater computer systems. BFG Technologies branded products were available in North America
and Europe
at retailers and e-tailers. The company's main headquarters were located in Lake County
, Illinois
, near Lake Forest
.
) versions of their graphics cards, lifetime warranty and 24/7/365 U.S. based technical support. BFG was among the first graphics card companies to offer cards that were already overclocked from manufacturer recommended speeds. Since then, many other manufacturers have copied BFG's model.
Their most recent flagship graphics cards were the BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 OCX as an air-cooled solution and the BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 H2OC as a water-cooled solution. While they also manufactured an air-cooled version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295, it was not overclocked.
On May 21, 2010, John Slevin the chairman of BFG Technologies, announced that they would no longer be developing graphics cards, as it was not profitable for them.
As of August 2010, BFG is in the process of liquidation
, initially only for the GPU business but eventually expanded to include the entire company. As a result of this, BFG is not honoring RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization
) requests for warranty service, repair, or replacement any longer, instead returning the product to the customer with a short letter explaining the situation. However, PNY Technologies
announced that "PNY has stepped up and will be working to give BFG customers the ability to exchange their video cards" until December 31, 2010. However this is now canceled. The BFG brand name and certain assets of the company were subsequently acquired by Best Data, who also owns the Diamond Multimedia
brand.
compatible PCs. BFG's power supply line up had consisted of 530W, 550W, 600W, 650W, 800W and 1000W in the past, but since was refined to separate categories for separate markets.
The GS Series consisted of the GS-450, GS-550 and GS-650, 450W, 550W and 650W power supplies respectively, and were sold as mainstream units, rated at peak power and at room temperature and were sold almost exclusively at retail stores like Best Buy
. The LS Series was BFG Technologies mainstream series, consisting of the LS-450 450W power supply, LS-550 550W power supply and LS-680 680W power supply. These were rated at continuous power and at a more realistic 40 °C. The flagship of BFG Technologies' power supply offerings was the ES Series, which only consisted of one model: The ES-800. This unit was not only rated at continuous and 40 °C, but featured a technology marketed as "Frequency Conversion" which is a term used to define a method of changing the switching frequency of the power supply to coincide with load. This allowed the unit to be as efficient as possible even at very low loads while conventional designs might have been significantly less efficient at loads below 10%. The ES Series was later replaced by the EX-Series; essentially an ES Series with a modular interface for removal of unused cables.
At one point the company employed the internet power supply celebrity extraordinaire and all-around guru Jonny Gerow, aka "JonnyGuru", as one of their main engineers. His place at the jonnyGURU.com website was taken over by Oklahoma Wolf.
As of 6 July 2010, Jonny Gerow was confirmed to be no longer employed with BFG Tech.
that uses Ageia's
PhysX
processing chip and libraries. The card was only available in a PCI version.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based supplier of power supplies and 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
video card
Video card
A video card, Graphics Card, or Graphics adapter is an expansion card which generates output images to a display. Most video cards offer various functions such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors...
s based on NVIDIA
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
graphics technology and a manufacturer of high-end gaming/home theater computer systems. BFG Technologies branded products were available in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
at retailers and e-tailers. The company's main headquarters were located in Lake County
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, near Lake Forest
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is an affluent city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The city is south of Waukegan along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded around Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in...
.
Graphics cards
BFG manufactured graphics cards for mainstream to enthusiast level computers. They were known for their Asylum brand; however, the NVIDIA 5x series of graphics accelerators were the last to use that name. They were best known by computer enthusiasts for the OC (OverclockedOverclocked
Overclocked may refer to:*The past participle of the verb to overclock.*OverClocked ReMix, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music....
) versions of their graphics cards, lifetime warranty and 24/7/365 U.S. based technical support. BFG was among the first graphics card companies to offer cards that were already overclocked from manufacturer recommended speeds. Since then, many other manufacturers have copied BFG's model.
Their most recent flagship graphics cards were the BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 OCX as an air-cooled solution and the BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 H2OC as a water-cooled solution. While they also manufactured an air-cooled version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295, it was not overclocked.
On May 21, 2010, John Slevin the chairman of BFG Technologies, announced that they would no longer be developing graphics cards, as it was not profitable for them.
As of August 2010, BFG is in the process of liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
, initially only for the GPU business but eventually expanded to include the entire company. As a result of this, BFG is not honoring RMA (Return Merchandise Authorization
Return Merchandise Authorization
A Return Merchandise Authorization , sometimes Return Merchandise Agreement or ' product repaired or replaced or in order to receive a refund or credit for another product from the same retailer or corporation within the product's warranty period.The RMA process and the issuance of an RMA is a key...
) requests for warranty service, repair, or replacement any longer, instead returning the product to the customer with a short letter explaining the situation. However, PNY Technologies
PNY Technologies
PNY Technologies, Inc is a manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, solid state drives, memory upgrade modules, as well as consumer and professional graphics cards...
announced that "PNY has stepped up and will be working to give BFG customers the ability to exchange their video cards" until December 31, 2010. However this is now canceled. The BFG brand name and certain assets of the company were subsequently acquired by Best Data, who also owns the Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
brand.
Desktop Computers
January 5, 2009, BFG Technologies launched its desktop computer line called Phobos that features a touch panel LCD with performance control, BFG Tech graphic cards, liquid cooling solutions from CoolIT and Intel processors.Power supplies
BFG Technologies manufactured a full range of power supply units for ATXATX
ATX is a motherboard form factor specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous de facto standards like the AT form factor. It was the first big change in computer case, motherboard, and power supply design in many years, improving standardization and interchangeability of parts...
compatible PCs. BFG's power supply line up had consisted of 530W, 550W, 600W, 650W, 800W and 1000W in the past, but since was refined to separate categories for separate markets.
The GS Series consisted of the GS-450, GS-550 and GS-650, 450W, 550W and 650W power supplies respectively, and were sold as mainstream units, rated at peak power and at room temperature and were sold almost exclusively at retail stores like Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
. The LS Series was BFG Technologies mainstream series, consisting of the LS-450 450W power supply, LS-550 550W power supply and LS-680 680W power supply. These were rated at continuous power and at a more realistic 40 °C. The flagship of BFG Technologies' power supply offerings was the ES Series, which only consisted of one model: The ES-800. This unit was not only rated at continuous and 40 °C, but featured a technology marketed as "Frequency Conversion" which is a term used to define a method of changing the switching frequency of the power supply to coincide with load. This allowed the unit to be as efficient as possible even at very low loads while conventional designs might have been significantly less efficient at loads below 10%. The ES Series was later replaced by the EX-Series; essentially an ES Series with a modular interface for removal of unused cables.
At one point the company employed the internet power supply celebrity extraordinaire and all-around guru Jonny Gerow, aka "JonnyGuru", as one of their main engineers. His place at the jonnyGURU.com website was taken over by Oklahoma Wolf.
As of 6 July 2010, Jonny Gerow was confirmed to be no longer employed with BFG Tech.
PhysX cards
BFG Technologies offered a 128mb PPUPhysics processing unit
A physics processing unit is a dedicated microprocessor designed to handle the calculations of physics, especially in the physics engine of video games. Examples of calculations involving a PPU might include rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics, collision detection, fluid dynamics, hair and...
that uses Ageia's
AGEIA
Ageia, founded in 2002, was a fabless semiconductor company. Ageia invented PhysX – a Physics Processing Unit chip capable of performing game physics calculations much faster than general purpose CPUs; they also licensed out the PhysX SDK , a large physics middleware library for game...
PhysX
PhysX
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
processing chip and libraries. The card was only available in a PCI version.