Asus 9800 GTX 512MB EN9800GTX
Introduction, Packaging, Package and Specification
Published: 2nd April 2008 | Source: Asus | Price: £223 |
Introduction
Nvidia have been piling the pressure on ATI recently with a swathe of high spec, high speed cards. Today sees the launch of yet another speedster, the 9800 GTX. With a super-clocked GPU running at 675MHz and the 128 stream processors clocked at 1688MHz, the GTX really is cranked up a notch. Nvidia also saw fit to grab some GDDR3 that weighs in at 2200MHz, not bad.
Asus sent us a 9800 GTX to put through its paces in the labs so we grabbed the usual benching suspects off of the shelf and started to bench it.
Read on to see how it gets on.
Packaging
Asus are returning to the CGI character style packaging with the box of this stock clocked GTX. Its bright lime green should stand out from the crowd but for the sake of the environment: please Asus: make the packaging smaller!
The inside is the usual Asus affair with a lot of room and a decent amount of packaging to ensure that the GTX stays safe.
Now onto the bundle...
Package
The package with this particular Asus 9800 GTX is pretty sparse and doesn't seem to come with much out of the box at all.
We have:
* 1 x Leather CD wallet
* 1 x Quick start guide
* 1 x Driver CD
* 1 x CD-based instruction manual
* 1 x DVI to VGA connector
* 1 x Dual molex to PCI-e 6PIN power
* 1 x S-Video to component out
The Asus 9800 GTX is a stock clocked example of the 9800 GTX, so perhaps you can forgive Asus for a slightly sparse bundle. I'm sure a "Top" Edition will be out there with a game bundle and an armful of hardware floating around inside that capacious box.
Specifications
The specs on the 9800 GTX are as follows:
GeForce 8600 GTS | Radeon HD 3850 | Radeon HD 3870 | GeForce 9600 GT | GeForce 8800 GTS | GeForce 8800 GT | GeForce 8800 GTS | Radeon HD 2900 XT | GeForce 8800 GTX | GeForce 9800 GTX | GeForce 8800 Ultra | |
Shader units | 32 | 320 | 320 | 64 | 96 | 112 | 128 | 320 | 128 | 128 | 128 |
ROPs | 8 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 x2 | 24 | 16 | 24 |
GPU | G84 | RV670 | RV670 | G94 | G80 | G92 | G92 | R600 | G80 | G92 | G80 |
Transistors | 289M | 666M | 666M | 505M | 681M | 754M | 754M | 700M | 681M | 754M | 681M |
Memory Size | 256 MB | 256 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 320 MB 640 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 512 MB | 768 MB | 512 MB | 768 MB |
Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 320 bit | 256 bit | 256 bit | 512 bit | 384 bit | 256 bit | 384 bit |
Core Clock | 675 MHz | 670 MHz | 777 MHz | 650 MHz | 500 MHz | 600 MHz | 650 MHz | 742 MHz | 575 MHz | 675 MHz | 612 MHz |
Memory Clock | 1000 MHz | 828 MHz | 1126 MHz | 900 MHz | 800 MHz | 900 MHz | 970 MHz | 825 MHz | 900 MHz | 1100 MHz | 1080 MHz |
The 9800 is basically an 8800 GTS with a bit more horsepower. Nvidia keeps the 256bit bus which many feel hinders the G92 chips, but we'll see how it goes.
Most Recent Comments
Good review mate.
I'm not very impressed with the 98** series so far, but at least the card is reasonably priced and is a good buy for someone who doesn't currently own an 88** card.Quote
I'm not very impressed with the 98** series so far, but at least the card is reasonably priced and is a good buy for someone who doesn't currently own an 88** card.Quote
That's a good, well rounded review - much appreciated.
I won't be swapping my 8800GTX - but for for someone buying a card, well... is a much lower priced 8800gt better value?
How would anyone feel spending £210 on this (lowest I've seen), knowing the next gen chips (if they really are next gen) are just a few months away?
It looks quite a good card - but the timing of it's release seems a bit strange.Quote
I won't be swapping my 8800GTX - but for for someone buying a card, well... is a much lower priced 8800gt better value?
How would anyone feel spending £210 on this (lowest I've seen), knowing the next gen chips (if they really are next gen) are just a few months away?
It looks quite a good card - but the timing of it's release seems a bit strange.Quote
I'm in a bit of a situation.
My X2 died a death and it needs replacing. It cost £270.
I was going to upgrade to the GX2 and cough up the extra £120ish as the other reviews I have seen of the gx2 show it smoking crysis etc (they included youtube vids/screenshots to give an idea, mascaras @ xs iirc). That and a few other things sold me.
Now, I have my 88GT atm as backup but it is sold to my mate who is the slowest pc builder in the world so I can't keep it forever.
The 9800GTX is ~£220 so if I got that as a replacement I'd get £50 back.
I demand performance, high res, aa/af etc. I get very angry if my gpu doesn't perform well, conversely I don't like wasting money and the new gpu's are coming, which are probably just die shrinks but who knows...
Does the gx2 justify the extra £170 over the 98gtx? This review suggests no...
Have you just been too nice Matt? I need to read this at lunch or after work... Food for thought.Quote
My X2 died a death and it needs replacing. It cost £270.
I was going to upgrade to the GX2 and cough up the extra £120ish as the other reviews I have seen of the gx2 show it smoking crysis etc (they included youtube vids/screenshots to give an idea, mascaras @ xs iirc). That and a few other things sold me.
Now, I have my 88GT atm as backup but it is sold to my mate who is the slowest pc builder in the world so I can't keep it forever.
The 9800GTX is ~£220 so if I got that as a replacement I'd get £50 back.
I demand performance, high res, aa/af etc. I get very angry if my gpu doesn't perform well, conversely I don't like wasting money and the new gpu's are coming, which are probably just die shrinks but who knows...
Does the gx2 justify the extra £170 over the 98gtx? This review suggests no...
Have you just been too nice Matt? I need to read this at lunch or after work... Food for thought.Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by name='Jim'
Good review mate.
I'm not very impressed with the 98** series so far, but at least the card is reasonably priced and is a good buy for someone who doesn't currently own an 88** card. |
Nothing established as to the extra 6 pin power requirement ?
If I`m not buying for a new pc, I don`t think I`ll bother. Need to get out of this plateau of similar cards released ~£200.
9800GTX in SLI vS GX2 - that`d be interesting.
Thanks for the review Kemp.Quote
Will take a look at lunch.Quote