Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX Review

[muk]

The 9800 GTX is not a revolutionarily new card. We look at the card's design and test it against a strong set of competitors. How well does its performance match up with its name?

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/01/nvidia_geforce_9800gtx_review/index.html

 

[satanpro]

I'm glad tom's reviewed the gtx against a variety of cards, instead of the shameful lack of this in the gx2 review!

 

[ausskiller]

Man, this is even more disappointing than I had feared it would be, I'd hoped it would at least top the 8800 ultra by a few % but not even being able to do that (I'll be getting a 1920x1200 monitor) has significantly reduced my will to get a new PC at all , and I was so excited about a new PC last night too .

 

[John Vuong]

Don't get the 9800 GTX, just wait for the 9900 GTX/GX2 or get something else. Even a 9800 GTX here costs less than a 8800 GTX which is a joke. NVIDIA really screwed this up.

 

[SpinachEater]

Fizzle***

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

This is starting to look alot like the 1900xt vs the 1900xtx vs the 1950xtx debacle. All three of those cards were extremely close, using the same arch. Tho they did come out in less than a year from each other. Hmmmm.. Of course then we all know what happened, nVidia came out with the 8xxx series. For 300 bucks, still a good deal for those who dont have a 8xxx series or a 3xxx ATI series

 

[Jaevric]

I'm putting the final touches on a new system right now and was debating between buying a pair of 8800GT or GTS cards, or scavenging the 8600GTs out of my old box (I got them cheap, and I had done no research at all; I went to Fry's and asked a frigging salesperson, who told me what he thought I wanted to hear. I consider that purchase to be a case of paying the "idiot tax.") and using them until the "next big thing" came along.

I looked at a 9800GX2 but...ugh. Heat dumping into the case? And if I ever wanted to SLI them the heat problem would be even worse. I'm just not sure this card is a good investment; I want something that'll last me a while, not a gimmick. "Thanks but no thanks," I said.

So I thought I'd wait and see what the 9800GTX was like...and I'm not impressed by this review. I despise an extremely noisy video card, and it sounds like that's exactly what this one is; I'd imagine it's absurd if you SLI them. The performance seems nice, though; I'm just not sure whether or not it's nice enough to justify the irritation factor.

Hopefully the 9900s will be powerful without rattling the windows in your house.

 

[Kari]

but hey, it uses a lot less power.

 

[cyph0r]

Yeah I'm not impressed at all... even though I knew this GTS knockoff was coming. I would really like a new next gen chip to come out and replace my 7900gtx sli setup. Wonder how much longer I will have to wait for the next gen version of the 8800gtx.

 

[mihirkula]

hahahahahahaha the 3870x2 beats the sh**e outta the 9800gtx in Crysis 1280*1024 with 4xAA+AA...hillarious

 

[Paul_gren]

ATI has the ball now )

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Ive heard early Q4 for them, tho maybe earlier. Plus, dare I say, theres the 4xxx from ATI

 

[SpinachEater]

Of course then we all know what happened, nVidia came out with the 8xxx series. For 300 bucks, still a good deal for those who dont have a 8xxx series or a 3xxx ATI series

Yeah that is true. I am sure this makes the 8800GTX owners happy seeing that their 1.5 year old card is still the shiz niz.

Ive heard early Q4 for them, tho maybe earlier. Plus, dare I say, theres the 4xxx from ATI

Now would be perfect timing to unleash the RV770. This gives the Chrome time to move in too [:thegreatgrapeape:7]

 

[bydesign]

Unfortunately no self respecting gamer plays a FPS at 1280x1024.

 

[radium69]

Yeah that is true. I am sure this makes the 8800GTX owners happy seeing that their 1.5 year old card is still the shiz niz.




Now would be perfect timing to unleash the RV770.

Couldn't agree more, I want some real competition. Not just milking the G92's out which the g92 was a bit milking the g80 core out.

But it puts a smile on my face that the Ultra still takes a big lead. For such an old card. Just like the GTX, I bought the 8800GTX pretty long ago, and it still kicks ass.

Another thing says, we should have bought the GTX when it came out, and wouldn't have to upgrade for over more then a year now. I think that is a very budget like question.

Anyway, I think if you had bought the ULTRA or GTX from the beginning it came out, it still does great job for its bang, also because it's more than a year old now.

 

[SpinachEater]

Unfortunately no self respecting gamer plays a FPS at 1280x1024.

^ hehe

Cow = 8800 GTX, Milker = NV, Milk = $$$

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Chrome gamers do!!!! Chrome FTW!!!!!

 

[mihirkula]

The 9800GTsuX might seem more attractive at maybe $250. ... at $350 its just daylight robbery. Fanboy zombies would, of course, deny it vehemently and hurl curses and expletives at me...

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

The 9800GTsuX might seem more attractive at maybe $250. ... at $350 its just daylight robbery. Fanboy zombies would, of course, deny it vehemently and hurl curses and expletives at me...

How bout I just hurl? :lol: :lol: Its what it is. For someone not having anything close to this card, its not bad. A let down? Sure, but its better than we were a year ago when 8800GTS320 was going for $300 US

 

[mihirkula]

Then they shudve at least named it 9800GTS at least... the GTX is a sort of a premiuim spot ...like miss world.

 

[SpinachEater]

All I have to say is that the GT200 better make some real leaps and bounds after all of this G92 frazzle dazzle. I might have to toss out my PC and get a PS3...oh god the thought makes me cringe...

 

[Petimus]

This is just a more efficent card with similar performance to the 8800GTX. Less power consumption and less heat. Most of its improvements can be attributed to the 65 nm process. Although the memory being 256 bit and 512MB, but still performing similar to the 8800GTX indicates something else is going on as well. Maybe the new compression process I've been hearing about?

Its more of a 8800GTX revision than a new generation. Not an upgrade, but still an advancement.
Good buy for those without an 8800.

 

[Maziar]

TOMSHARDARE:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/01/nvidia_geforce_9800gtx_review/

So come on, Nvidia. Is this really the best you can do 17 months after the 8800 GTX?

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX: A card that's almost as fast as the 8800 Ultra at a much lower price is a good thing. But a year and a half after the release of the GeForce 8 series, and even though AMD doesn't really have anything that can go head to head with this card, we'd have liked a little more punch to replace the 8800 GTX with (which is also now being sold for under $400). What we got instead was a card that's very noisy under load and limited by a stingy 512 MB of memory. These drawbacks are especially disappointing given that the 8800 GTS 512 MB is very similar and less expensive.

+ Performance close to that of the 8800 Ultra at half the price / Support for HybridPower (with compatible motherboards) - Noisy under load / Only 512 MB of memory / Not different enough from the 8800 GTS 512 MB, 8800 GTX and Ultra, although they're previous-generation cards and often less expensive.

HOTHARDWARE:
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/NVIDIA_GeForce_9800_GTX_RoundUp_BFG_EVGA_Zogis/?page=9

ANANDTECH:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3275&p=7
So, now that we have the 9800 GTX in the mix, what has changed? Honestly, not as much in terms of performance stack as in price. Yes, the 8800 Ultra is better than the 9800 GTX where memory bandwidth is a factor, but other than that the relationship of the 9800 GTX to the 3870 X2 is largely the same. Of course, NVIDIA would never sell 8800 Ultra at below the 3870 X2 price of $400 (the binned 90nm G80 glued on there didn’t come cheap).

 

[SpinachEater]

Its more of a 8800GTX revision than a new generation. Not an upgrade, but still an advancement.
Good buy for those without an 8800.

^ nah, it is GTS v3.0 It doesn't deserve the GTX status.

 

[Maziar]

Agreed^^ 8800GTX beats a 9800GTX in high resolutions with AA and AF due to its 768MB memory compared to 512MB of 9800GTX