Interesting read. I have the 1st release PNY Ultra (bios .13) and have never had a single issue. Seems they say the latest bios reduces performance by relaxing timings. I am rather sceptible about the bios being an issue since there are so many people NOT having problems with older bios.
Basically what this proves is Nvidia's stock design isn't really as bad as many claim. Why BFG would put a aftermarket cooler on the GT when they know its going to run even hotter is beyond me.
LOL....HL2 isn't here. Doom, however is, and that's Valve's loss. I personally believe HL2 will be somewhat of a let down because it's so late it (graphically) will be lacking compared to the new stuff coming out.
Guys, be sure to pull the stickers on your fans. Many have posted in the forums, with issues. The stickers are falling off while the card is running. In some cases, it became lodged in the fan, causing it to stop. One person smoked his card this way. I looked at my Ultra, and the PNY...
I've seen one person over on the NV-News forum that got a BFG version of the card. He ended up having nothing but problems. Basically he was not able to run the card at standard extream settings. He ended up downclocking the card about 10MHz then it was running ok. The funny thing is my PNY...
If you guys can hear your 6800's that much then there is something wrong. I have 4 fans in my case, and I cannot hear my Ultra at all. It runs 51c / 72c @ full load.