Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2 Benchmark & Review

Nvidia GeForce 9800 GX2 Benchmark & Review

Probably the most anticipated card in the GeForce 9 series, the 9800 GX2 is based on Nvidia's very successful G92 cores (G92-450 or D9E-40 to be precise). Similar to the 7950 GX2, this card is also a dual-PCB, dual-core card. This is an adaptation from the original review, which is in German.





Exterior:

This card looks very solid, and yes, heavy. The whole card is wrapped in a black plastic cover. If you look at the photo carefully, you can see a SPDIF-in connection right beside the 6pin + 8pin power input. Output wise, the card has dual-DVI + HDMI.




Specifications Chart:

	GeForce 9800 GX2	GeForce 8800 GTS512 (G92)	GeForce 8800 GTX	GeForce 8800 Ultra
Chip	2x G92	G92	G80	G80
Process	65 nm	65 nm	80 nm	80 nm
Memory	2x 512 MB	512 MB	768 MB	768 MB
Bus Width	2x 256-Bit	256-Bit	384-Bit	384-Bit
Core	600 MHz	650 MHz	575 MHz	612 MHz
Memory	1000 MHz	970 MHz	900 MHz	1080 MHz
Shader	1500 MHz	1625 MHz	1350 MHz	1500 MHz

Test System:



Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770
Motherboard: nForce 790i
Memory: DDR3 2GB
Driver: Forceware 173
PSU: ? (Recommended: >=580W; 12V rail > 40A)




Test Result:



Due to manufacturer's restriction, they could only run 3DMark06 at 1280x768. This resulted in a CPU-limited situation at this low resolution, thus the testers added in the 4xAA (level 7) and 16xAF to keep the card busy. Despite the limitations and their failure to get hold of a 8800GTS 512 card, the 9800GX2 managed to beat the top-of-the-line Ultra by a margin of 22.4%.





Screenshot of 3DMark06 with 9800 GX2.

It's too early to make a conclusion on the test, but it's pretty clear that the 9800 GX2 runs faster than anything Nvidia had ever made. I look forward to see how 9800 GX2 would compete against AMD's HD 3870 X2.


Source: http://www.hardware-aktuell.com/viewtest.php?article=42


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