GeForce 9800 GX2 Review

[MikeC]

Sorry, in a rush to get to work. Will update later:

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/index.shtml

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/xfx_9800_gx2_1s.jpg

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/evga_9800_gx2_s.jpg

[|MaguS|]

Nice Review

[Lonestar]

Good work indeed!

Hardware upgrades are inevitable. But having to throw away your PSU for an easy upgrade is really bad. Especially if you bought a monster just to be "future proof". Surely there must be a way to use adapters?

Another thing that worries me is that it's more driver dependant than a single GPU card, right?

[zeejay]

Nice review, looks like a bad ass card but theres gotta be a better way then having to upgrade the PSU just for a connector.

SLI is pretty nice but im still holding out for a faster single card.

[jcrox]

IMO they would have been better off making it 3 of the 6 pin power connections rather than taking the 8 pin connector route. Buying a new PSU for more power I can deal with.... buying a whole new PSU for 1 connector seems a bit silly :thumbdwn:

[K007]

The card does show promising things...I think the biggest advantage for the GX2 is that p35/x38/48/etc people can stick this in and get SLI, but on the other hand..buying a sli motherboard and going 9600GT SLI with a sli motherboard might be a cheaper option than going for a GX2/New PSU -.-.

Btw does this vent the air back out the case? If so...that is probably one of the biggest advantage of this card over 9600gt

Twice the components also means twice the heat created, now the cooler does a really good job, yet that's a lot of heat to push out.

In idle you'll notice fine cooling performance; expect a temperature of 45-50 Degrees C when the GPUs idle (desktop mode) and during gaming when heat builds up, heavily stressed the GPU core temperature rose towards roughly 80 Degrees C. Not too bad, yet you now have two GPU's at that temperature .. it's a lot to take handle. The outside chassis of the cooler will get very hot. Though most of the heat is exhausted outside the PC due to the dual-slow cooler design, some residual heat from the top mesh is dumped in the PC.

I'm not really thrilled about this to be honest, a lot of heat is being disposed and likely can become an issue in lesser ventilated systems. So please just make very sure your PC innards are well ventilated. [Ed - or look into a new case, perhaps like the Cosmos S Hilbert reviewed]

A very bold heat test

Since heat worries me with this product I closed the chassis, disabled the intake fan and started monitoring what happened. Temperature of the GX2 when fully stressed rose over 100 Degrees C after 15 minutes. Luckily there is a safety built in for overheating, as performance halfed itself. We think that one GPU disabled itself, but how do you prevent that ? Well, buy a very well ventilated chassis. - Guru3d.

I think...a lot of people might go for a 9800GTX because of the heat.

[KasuCode]

You dont have to upgrade your supply to get 8pin support.

All the 8pin is for is to make sure you meet amp and watt requirements. the two wires on the 8pin are simple ground wires. They are more less letting the computer know that your power supply does meet the requirements of something like 750Watts and some odd ammount of amps(56-60?) cant remember.


More less If you know you have a good supply comparable to the specs of other good 8pin supplys. You can make or buy an adapter that will take care of the extra 2 pins.

[MikeC]

More less If you know you have a good supply comparable to the specs of other good 8pin supplys. You can make or buy an adapter that will take care of the extra 2 pins.Interesting. I'll have to look into that as I have a $549 paper weight laying on the floor right next to me :)

[K007]

Doesn't the x38 have like 150W on the PCI-e?

[KasuCode]

Interesting. I'll have to look into that as I have a $549 paper weight laying on the floor right next to me :)


3 random supplys with 8 pin support. you can see all they do is ground the two side pins into the other two grounds.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703012


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153062


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817814011





I looked up what it was for when I wanted to use overdrive on my 2900xt. Really all it is, is a sensor if you ground the pins into each other it works the same.



Heres something I googled real quick.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=155646


Im sure adapters are easy to find now, they didnt have them when I needed em but.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=34_186&products_id=21721

[MUYA]

As always great stuff!

I like your %increase/decrease columns. The range against the ultra which replaces is good, except Dark messiiah..something funky there.

The %columns should allow potential buyers of the card to really gage performance and am sure is appreciated by readers!

[Sazar]

Sorry, in a rush to get to work. Will update later:

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/index.shtml

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/xfx_9800_gx2_1s.jpg

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/evga_9800_gx2_s.jpg

I love you :wonder:

[MUYA]

I love you :wonder:
I love you more :wonder:

[CaptNKILL]

Wow...

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/geforce_9800_gx2/images/benchmarks_min_fps.png

Those minimums are a bit scary.

I have a feeling that the limited amount of memory and bandwidth are to blame here.

Glad I didn't jump on a GX2 based on average frame rates and 3dmarks alone. :o

[Kerrysucks]

That card looks like an overpriced paperweight to me. Anyone that has a 8800 GT or higher should definitely avoid pissing away money on that thing. It still can't handle Crysis and once you're past 60-70 FPS, the framerate is quite irrelevant if you're able to apply your chosen AA/AF.

I'm definitely taking a pass on this blatant money-making scheme (and I don't blame them one bit for doing it).

[methimpikehoses]

Thanks for that hard-hitting review MikeC. :thumbsup:

[crainger]

Base Hit!

Have the boffins at Nvidia really run out of ideas?