-
CNET editors' rating:
3.5 stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating -
Average user rating:
Write your own review
Product summary
The good: Fast performance compared with other 3D cards in its price range; HybridPower design should use less power on supporting Nvidia motherboards (as soon as the software is ready).
The bad: Pairing up two lower-end cards gives SLI-capable motherboard owners more bang for the buck; requires two connections to your PC's power supply.
The bottom line: Nvidia's new GeForce 9800 GTX chip is fast enough, but if your PC is SLI-capable you can spend just a little more and get a significantly better high-resolution gaming experience. Consider your options carefully before upgrading to this card.
Specifications: Graphics Processor / Vendor: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX; Max Resolution (external): 2560 x 1600; Video Memory Installed: 512 MB; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 04/08/2008
Nvidia's new GeForce 9800 GTX 3D graphics chip is the spiritual successor to the GeForce 8800 GTX. That latter chip has been the PC gamers' watermark for excellence since it came out at the end of 2006. The difference this time around is while the 8800 GTX debuted with a $600 price tag, our Zogis GeForce 9800 GTX review card comes in about $330. Whether this card is for you will depend on the number of 3D card slots you have in your PC, as well as the games you play. Single-slot PC owners who play lots of Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock will find a lot to like in this card. Anyone considering SLI, or fans of Team Fortress 2, should look to other options.
| GeForce 9800 GTX | GeForce 8800 GT | |
| Price | $300 - $350 | $200 - $250 |
| Manufacturing process | 65nm | 65nm |
| Core clock | 675MHz | 600MHz |
| Stream processors | 128 | 112 |
| Shader clock speed | 1,688MHz | 1,500MHz |
| Memory | 512MB | 512MB |
| Memory speed (data rate) | 1.1GHz | 900MHz |
| Memory Interface | 256-bit | 256-bit |
The GeForce 9800 GTX is basically a ramped-up version of the less expensive GeForce 8800 GT chip that came out earlier this year. In fact, as you can see from our comparison chart, the two chips aren't that different technically, and their price-to-performance difference makes the 9800 GTX's potential upgrade scenarios complicated.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
1,280x1,024 |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
1,600x1,200 high quality |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
2,048x1,536, high quality |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
1,600x1,200, high quality |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
2,048x1,536, max. quality, 4x anti-aliasing, 8x anisotropic filtering |
As proven by our tests results, provided with care and diligence by our cohort Sarju Shah at GameSpot, a single GeForce 9800 GTX is faster than a single GeForce 8800 GT when you put them side by side. That's why we recommend the 9800 GTX if your PC has only one graphics card slot (except for players of Team Fortress 2). If your PC is SLI capable, though, we'd strongly suggest you consider picking up two 8800 GTs instead. True, you'd have to spend about $70 more, but we think the dramatic performance gains with two 8800 GTs on Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 show that it's worth it to spend that little bit extra, especially if you have a large monitor capable of playing games at 1,600x1,200 or higher resolutions.
The exception to this scenario is Team Fortress 2. Whether it's the code, the drivers ,or the hardware, we can't say, but the popular online shooter shows a clear preference for
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Nvidia GeForce,
- NVidia,
- card,
- PC
User reviews
Write your own review Be the first one to review Zogis GeForce 9800 GTX and share your experience with the CNET community!
