XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 @ [H]

I have a question though. Does this card use enough bandwidth to cap out a pci-e 1 slot. As in, will quad SLI be bottlenecked without going to a 780i board?
 
Great review, I'm impressed that it was seemless to get SLI working just like the 3870X2, after owning a 7950GX2 and reading all the rumors of delays etc it reminded me of the viasco I had a year and some ago with it and Vista, hopefully they have there crap together this time, it's sad however that any support for cards a generation or two ago has completely evaporated in my mind. I still have problems with the 7950GX2 in Vista to this day despite installing it on different systems, multiple OS installs etc etc. Let's hope the support is there this time. Despite my problems I like the single multiple GPU solutions over a SLI solution myself, I am loathe to ever go back to a nVidia base motherboard again. I don't like the price myself, I find that a 3870X2 or combo of 8 series cards would be better for myself budget wise, but for those with money to spare I'm sure if they now have there support sorted out it will be a great buy for the next 6mos.
 
veedubfreak said:
I have a question though. Does this card use enough bandwidth to cap out a pci-e 1 slot. As in, will quad SLI be bottlenecked without going to a 780i board?
Click to expand...

Since PCI-Express 1.0/1.0a x8 slots don't seem to significantly impact the performance of an 8800GTS 512MB card I'd doubt that a 9800GX2 in a single PCI-Express 1.0/1.0a x16 slot would be negatively effected compared to the same card in a PCI-Express 2.0 slot.
 
Oh Gawd I just got a $100 dollar gift certificate to Best Buy....Its gonna be hard to not put a 9800 GX2 on my credit card If I can get one for around $500,
 
Performs exactly like I expected it too.



[H]ardOCP <3 Nvidia btw

.... can't blame them.

Guys, I have 2 EVGA 8800GTS SLI right now, I could 'trade-up' for no money out of pocket. Think the less power consumption and fractions better performance is worth it?
 
this may be a hard one to get answered, but i'll try anyway. i've never used SLI but i've heard of the issues with multi monitor. what exactly is the issue with this? i use dual monitors for a lot of my graphics work, but i also game a lot....would having the 9800gx2 give me issues with using 2 monitors with something like Maya where it requires opengl acceleration on both monitors. maybe someone can help clarify this issue with SLI because i've never actually used and it don't know enough about it
 
Quoting from Dan_D: "Why? Do you think that would honestly make that much difference? The performance differences between Intel and NVIDIA chipset based boards isn't that much and this is especially true when GPU testing. Only at low resolutions would the difference be apparent."

I only wanted to make sure it worked. I had some uncertainty, as did others, about whether the card required an SLI motherboard to function, because that wasn't really clear from the specs or from the previews.
 
dirtypop said:
Quoting from Dan_D: "Why? Do you think that would honestly make that much difference? The performance differences between Intel and NVIDIA chipset based boards isn't that much and this is especially true when GPU testing. Only at low resolutions would the difference be apparent."

I only wanted to make sure it worked. I had some uncertainty, as did others, about whether the card required an SLI motherboard to function, because that wasn't really clear from the specs or from the previews.
Click to expand...

It is SLI on a single card. Why would it require an SLI compatible motherboard? Also the 7950GX2 didn't require an SLI compatible motherboard and this card is the same basic concept but it uses G92 GPUs instead of the ones used by the 7900GT.
 
Great review editor(s). I will be looking forward to the 9800GX2 SLI review too. I welcome this new card with open arms. It is a bit expensive and hopefully its because of the markup like the GT and GTS. Did people complain this much about the GT's markup when it first came out? I read people paying around $300 for it and now you can get it below $200? I just hope there will be a little mark down by the time my step up ends. Either way I will most likely step up to this card. I will give Nvidia the benefit of the doubt that they worked out all or most of the bugs from the previous GX2. We've been working on a system that is in its 2nd year of production that just recently started to work "right". If this 9800GX2 is marked up to as high as $649 I wonder how much the 9800GTX will be.
 
Jaguar Jim1 said:
Yo, I think your missing one valid point, and that the 8800GTX/Ultra's have a much wider 384 Bit Buss as compared to 256, and all that Juicey 768 v 512 Megs of VRam that still isn't being utilised optimally. Once you Factor in its ability to stay and Game with anything right now bespeaks wonders of Nvidia's "Things done Right" Philosophy" and I only Look Forward to when the Real Games that Nvidia has been collaborating with Programmers, really start to get optimised. Remember it takes a couple of Y E A R S for Software to really catch up with hardware.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info...
 
Great job on the review. If I building a new setup, I'd grab two GX2s.
My GTXs handle everything except crysis ATM, so I can fight the upgrade bug... :)
 
Good review, the performance is not bad, but I'll see if the price will drop to a good amount, hopefully soon, heh.

P.S. The new tables are great to look at!
 
Silus said:
Nice review as always. I'm impressed with the numbers and the technology too, as I was with the original GX2 and the X2, but I'm not fond of these types of cards, since they depend too much on driver support, for my taste. I want to see a single GPU card, that can dominate the 8800 GTX. Unfortunately the 9800 GTX doesn't seem to be it.

Although the fastest card on the planet, I don't think this is worth $650. It's true that NVIDIA has no competition, but $100 less would be more appropriate IMO.
Click to expand...

The 9800GX2 is more like dual 8800GTs (or dual 9600GTs, for that matter) on a single PCB. The very fact that it includes single-card SLI from the jump (which the 7950GX2 didn't do) enables several truly eyeball-raising possibilities (SLI on AMD chipsets, anyone?). (Yes; I did say *eyeball*, and meant it.) Such innovation has always commanded a higher price tag (and justifiably so, as much as we wish it didn't).

The 9800GX2 is also not the most expensive gaming card on the planet (it actually undercuts the 8800Ultra, for example, though it outperforms it). Yes, it is priced higher than the 8800GTX; however, the dual GPUs (and single-card SLI) put the GX2 in a class all its own among single-card solutions.
 
On the Lam said:
That's what she said...
Click to expand...
lmfao, someone has to say it :D

Good review, thank you for including apples-to-apples, although tables on that page would have been helpful too. Overall great analysis, definitely won't be upgrading from my 8800GTS 512, despite eVGA's new promotion. The price really kills it, two 8800GTS 512's will clock higher and cost less; in fact, you could squeeze in a decent SLI mobo and still be cheaper. If the card had an MSRP of ~$500 it'd be much more attractive. For $650, I'd expect a 384-bit memory bus and higher clocks on the cores.
 
Dan_D said:
It is SLI on a single card. Why would it require an SLI compatible motherboard? Also the 7950GX2 didn't require an SLI compatible motherboard and this card is the same basic concept but it uses G92 GPUs instead of the ones used by the 7900GT.
Click to expand...


QFT

It requires SLI *if* you want to run two such cards. However, given the performance you rack up with just one, it almost completely obviates the need for SLI in most cases, whether the PCIQ uses an nForce chipset or not! However, I *would* be interested in seeing a shootout with a single 3870X2 on a non-NForce (or better yet, AMD) chipset motherboard (I seriously think that most 9800GX2 purchasers will be those with non-nForce chipsets, because of the single-card SLI option.).

One rather interesting take from all the testing: the 9800GX2 is the *only* single-card solution that is able to play Crysis at decent framerates, high resolutions, and with most of the details cranked to the ceiling. (It is for precisely this reason that I want to see the 9800GX2 tested with non-nForce motherboards.) Is this also why nVidia has been extremely unwilling to open up SLI (because they had this flamethrower waiting in the wings)?

I've been a long (twelve years) ATI graphics customer (in short, every graphics card I've ever bought since 1996 has had an ATI chipset; in fact, all except two have been of the All-In-Wonder flavor); however, since I've also tended to stick with Intel-based motherboard chipsets (and Intel processors), SLI has been a non-starter even if I wanted to consider nVidia. The 9800GX2 (especially with the support for single-card SLI) doesn't merely open the door, it blows said door off the hinges. SLI is actually on the table (even if I remain with an Intel chipset for better compatibility with quad-core processors such as Q6600, my likely next processor), albeit using just one card. Single-card SLI itself brings other options back onto the table that traditional SLI took off:

1. You can add other cards (sound, TV, physics), as you only need a single 9800GX2, even for Crysis, unless you want to play at supremely high resolutions..
2. Cooling is less of an issue with a single 9800GX2 than even a single 8800GTS, thanks to a MUCH more intelligent cooling design.
3. Gaming at desktop resolutions is back. (Is it ever.) If you have a 24" or smaller flat-panel display, in most cases, the 9800GX2 banishes resolution switching into the *things I used to do* pile (unless the reason for it is that the game itself doesn't scale to 1920x1080 or even 1680x1050), and resolution-switching ranks up there with input lag as onew of the biggest banes of PC gaming.

I *have* to put the 9800GX2 on my own shortlist of post-upgrade graphics solutions (amazingly, it's now the top-ranked card on the shortlist due to the versatility it preserves), despite the extremely tall price tag; to do otherwise would be to ignore the forest for the trees.
 
PGHammer said:
The 9800GX2 is more like dual 8800GTs (or dual 9600GTs, for that matter) on a single PCB. The very fact that it includes single-card SLI from the jump (which the 7950GX2 didn't do) enables several truly eyeball-raising possibilities (SLI on AMD chipsets, anyone?). (Yes; I did say *eyeball*, and meant it.) Such innovation has always commanded a higher price tag (and justifiably so, as much as we wish it didn't).

The 9800GX2 is also not the most expensive gaming card on the planet (it actually undercuts the 8800Ultra, for example, though it outperforms it). Yes, it is priced higher than the 8800GTX; however, the dual GPUs (and single-card SLI) put the GX2 in a class all its own among single-card solutions.
Click to expand...

What? What? What?

9800GX2 = dual 9600GTs?
SLI on AMD chipset?
Single PCB?

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
[H said:
ardOCP]As you can see above, for the first time we have found Anisotropic Filtering to be playable in Crysis using these dual-GPU configurations. We found at least 8X AF to be playable on each video card combination tested here today at 1600x1200.
Click to expand...

Of course, in "real-world gameplay" would one ever really use AF with Crysis? AF disables one of Crysis' main features - parallax occlusion mapping therefore cannot be activated without disabling POM through console.
 
I can't read through the entire thread yet, but in case it hasn't been asked


Why Jericho?


Always in response to people asking to test using more games it is said "we test the games people are playing".

Er, since when are any sizable amount of people playing Jericho over oh say, a dozen other recent PC FPS?
 
thx much for the review [H] squad. This gave me the fodder i needed to order the 8800gts(g92) from evga at newegg tonight. Will hold me quite well until the next-gen refresh from nvidia hits(i refer to G100 or whatever it will be named).
 
Stoly said:
What? What? What?

9800GX2 = dual 9600GTs?
SLI on AMD chipset?
Single PCB?

:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Here's the valid points (all from the review):

The GX2's two GPUs are the same G92s used by the 8800GT, new-revision 8800GTS, and 9600GT. (point one)
They are on the same single printed-circuit board (PCB). (point three)
The special drivers (included) not only support the two GPUs linked in SLI mode, that's actually the default. Hence, SLI on non-nForce (Intel or AMD) chipsets. (point two)

Read the review again.
 
OpStar said:
A 790i would be $350 and another 8800GT would be $200 (at least) so $550 to get 9800GX2 type performance with a non-sli mobo.

So I don't see some magical way to get these numbers a whole lot cheaper.
Click to expand...

You dont need a 790i to do SLi, its just the latest and greatest SLi board. I can do 8800GTx2 on my ASUS A8N-32 SLI Deluxe (nforce4 s939)
 
defiant007 said:
History repeats, [H] also thought the 7950 GX2 was totally bitching awesome, we all know how well that turned out.

http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTA4MywxNywsaGVudGh1c2lhc3Q=

Apart from driver issues, the 7950 GX2 was made totally redundant by the 8800 series within months. Same thing is going to happen in 4 months time.
Click to expand...

And you know this, how? What motivation does NVIDIA have to really push the envelope? ATI's newest products can barely keep up with NVIDIA's 2006 product line. There is no motivation for NVIDIA to push things, they're just getting as much money as they can out of their current technology.
 
First, great review, the only one I need to read about this card.

But this card is not for me, I dislike SLI-bugs
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ3NSw1LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
Though we did not experience the water bug with the XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 like we do with the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2, we did experience another odd performance phenomenon.
Click to expand...

I will not be at the mercy of SLI/Crossfire bugs...waiting for the REAL next generation from either ATi/NVIDIA...so even if NVIDIA is targeting none-SLI-Mobo owners...this guy is not falling for it.
 
Svengali said:
And you know this, how? What motivation does NVIDIA have to really push the envelope? ATI's newest products can barely keep up with NVIDIA's 2006 product line. There is no motivation for NVIDIA to push things, they're just getting as much money as they can out of their current technology.
Click to expand...

I know this from history, Nvidia and ATI always release a new architecture after a refresh. They both do it because they know the other will. All rumours point to ATI releasing its new R700 architecture mid year, and accordingly Nvidia has no choice but to be in a position to respond. Nvidia knows the price it will pay from underestimating the competition, it happened with the 9700/9800 vs GF4/5, and it can certainly happen again.
 
Atech said:
First, great review, the only one I need to read about this card.

But this card is not for me, I dislike SLI-bugs
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ3NSw1LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==


I will not be at the mercy of SLI/Crossfire bugs...waiting for the REAL next generation from either ATi/NVIDIA...so even if NVIDIA is targeting none-SLI-Mobo owners...this guy is not falling for it.
Click to expand...
same thing happened in gears of war min fps of both dual gpu cards was 3 :p thats why i am going to get gtx
 
Argh man, no comparison against the 8800GTX/Ultra? It was supposed to replace the Ultra...
 
Something doesn't make sense with this whole situation...

In the review, it's stated that there is a "notable" difference between a single GTX and the GX2, for the most part.

Others have pulled out numbers showing the GX2 to be approx. 50% faster than the GTX.

Yet, as I stated earlier, I get virtually the same results with my stock GTX with virtually the same set-up.

Is this thing that much more powerful/capable than the GTX or not?

If so, then again I ask: why did Kyle (who wrote the review and runs a GTX himself) NOT recommend the move to the GX2 if you already own a GTX, but everyone else is jumping around about it like their standing on hot coals?

Maybe Kyle personally just doesn't feel that a 50% difference in performance is worth $700... but everyone else does?

There's no "venom" behind anything I'm asking/stating, but it's getting frustrating trying to figure out what the real deal is here when there's a conflicting opinion from the reviewer himself, and I'm already running similar performance with a stock GTX, which was also seen in the review using the GTX and the Crysis demo.
 
I just wanted to say that I love your new comparison tables. They were hard to read before (the whole "gameplay advantages" part was a mess). Makes it a LOT easier to compare settings and cards.
 
I think this was asked earlier but there wasn't any replies. How were the temps? I really like the look and idea behind their cooling solution, but does it actually perform well? There's gotta be alot of heat being generated in that small space between the PCBs so I'm interested in seeing how well the cooling system removes it.

Also, do you have any overclocking results? It seems like you had some good headroom to push the card and I would think with the additional clock speeds the GX2 would be able to pull ahead of the "typical" Sli setups.

Otherwise it was a very enjoyable read. This card seems to make the most sense for users with Intel chipsets that want to move into the realm of Sli. But for Nvidia chipset owners, it makes more sense, IMO, money-wise to just grab two 9600GTs or 8800GTs for Sli and comparable performanc. For me, the GX2 doesn't give enough of a boost in performance to get one over my current GTS. If I wanted/needed a boost in performance, I could just grab another 8800GTS 640MB for cheap and slap it into my system.
 
Well, two GTX cards oc'ed to Ultra are much faster than the benchmarks. My avrg FPS in COD4 at 1920x1200 is 150 so....

Still, the main concern is heat. How could you WC a GX2?
 
from XT:

9800gx2ocsvp6.png


http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3266&p=1
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/13...ion/index.html
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/articl...50aHVzaWFzdA==
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/512/1/
http://sg.vr-zone.com/articles/Monst..._GX2/5656.html
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/...mance_preview/
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/...00_gx2_review/
http://www.matbe.com/articles/lire/7...-gx2/page1.php
http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforc...2/page_4.shtml
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...orce_9800_GX2/
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/679/1/
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=535
http://publish.it168.com/2008/0315/20080315000603.shtml
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Z...orce_9800_GX2/
http://www.driverheaven.net/reviews.php?reviewid=538
http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=592
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/xfx_9800gx2/
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=12294
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...raphics_card/1
http://www.it-review.net/article/har...GX2_PCX_review
http://www.clubic.com/article-129512...-790i-sli.html
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ws/xfx9800gx2/
http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...?cid=3&id=2513
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1251
http://www.presence-pc.com/tests/GeF...800-GX2-22765/
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,63...00_GX2/&page=1
http://www.mvktech.net/content/view/4047/48/1/0/
http://www.hartware.de/review_799.html
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/h...orce_9800_gx2/

also
http://en.expreview.com/2008/03/18/another-nda-free-review-of-9800gx2-and-9800gtx/
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/18/nvidia_geforce_9800_gx2_review/page2.html

+++++++++

EVGA 9800GX2 QUAD SLI + 790i Ultra SLI oops!
 
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