Anand's 9800 GX2 Review - 9800 GX2 IS KING?

[batmang]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3266

EDIT:
I'm sure you guys have seen this article, one word, wow... innaccurate?

Why does Anand's review show the GX2 getting awesome results, when Hard OCP's shows not so worthy results. Either or, I'm never getting a GX2. It's too expensive, its over hyped and dual 8800's or 9600's perform the same if not better.

 

[Magusigne]

Originally posted by: batmang
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3266

I'm sure you guys have seen this article, one word, wow? But is it $600 wow?

Basically All the articles pointed for me the best price/performance ratio is a
9600 GT x2 in SLI for sub 300 dollars..keeping up with the 9800GX2 in many cases. The only drawback is buying a SLI board but they are getting better at least.

 

[ghost recon88]

Yea, or if you already have a G92 GTS, just grab a 2nd card and SLI board for less then $450 and you'll smoke the 9800GX2.

 

[Genx87]

Hardocp's review pretty mucu backs up Anands review. If you look at the settings. The 9800GX2 was maxed for the most part. The 8800GT SLI usually had to run a few notches down. And then the 3870x2 wasnt even in the same ballpark.

For a single card solution the 9800Gx2 is king. There is no if and, or buts about it.

Many people cant SLI due to using an Intel chipset. The 9600GT SLI is a nice cheap alternative but in most of the tests I have seen it is not in the same class of performance either.

 

[Wreckage]

9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Hardocp's review pretty mucu backs up Anands review. If you look at the settings. The 9800GX2 was maxed for the most part. The 8800GT SLI usually had to run a few notches down. And then the 3870x2 wasnt even in the same ballpark.

For a single card solution the 9800Gx2 is king. There is no if and, or buts about it.

Many people cant SLI due to using an Intel chipset. The 9600GT SLI is a nice cheap alternative but in most of the tests I have seen it is not in the same class of performance either.

QFT :thumbsup:

 

[lloydxd]

I liked techreport's review. It showed in a few games that 2 and sometimes, 3 8800Ultras matched the 9800GX2. It's one beast (I mean two), plus its got those fancy lights. Though, two 8800GT's and 9600GT's are amazing. I wonder how the G200 ( i think thats the name) and the R700 will perform.

 

[hooflung]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

 

[lopri]

wrong thread.. sorry

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

I agree. I think the 3870 X2 is still a better buy because of how it performs at resolutions most of us can actually afford. And I still think something is fishy about the results of the 3870 X2... they seem lower then what we've been seeing in other reviews. Either or, the 9800 GX2 to me is over priced and over hyped.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

By the same token you couldn't call the 3870X2 King of the Hill when it was released as it wasn't even sweeping benchmarks across the board against *single* GPU competitors when compared to the likes of the 8800 Ultra.

But as others said, if you were willing to crown the 3870X2 as the best single card solution then that title undoubtedly belongs to the 9800GX2 now. Are there nearly as good alternatives for less? Sure, but they all have their shortcomings and asterisks compared to the GX2.

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

By the same token you couldn't call the 3870X2 King of the Hill when it was released as it wasn't even sweeping benchmarks across the board against *single* GPU competitors when compared to the likes of the 8800 Ultra.

But as others said, if you were willing to crown the 3870X2 as the best single card solution then that title undoubtedly belongs to the 9800GX2 now. Are there nearly as good alternatives for less? Sure, but they all have their shortcomings and asterisks compared to the GX2.

edit:
How much do the 8800 ultra's cost?

Actually, they don't really exist do they... can't buy them anymore?
I would compare the 3870 X2 to the 8800 GTX since they cost about the same. The 9800 GX2 I wouldn't even compare to the 3870 X2. I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is. Your still coming out with $200 in your pocket if you go with the 9600's. If you can afford a 9800 GX2, I'm sure you can afford or already have a SLI capable board.

 

[TVisitor]

Do the 9800 series cards *require* PCI Express 2.0? I have a relatively new build (about 6 months?) using a P5K motherboard, which is the prior version of PCIe (is that 1.0 or 1.1... not sure).

I'm not intending on upgrading, I'm quite happy with my 8800GTX at the moment - it's just a matter of curiosity.

 

[golem]

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

I don't think you have to win ALL benchmarks to be considered King of the Hill, that's just incredibly nit picky. You just have to win a majority of the more relevant ones.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: batmang
I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is.

I think it's more like two 8800GTSes, not two 9600GTs. 9600GT has a G94 gpu, whereas the 9800GX2 has two G92 gpus that are identical to the one used on the 8800GTS 512. HardOCP's tests show the 9800GX2 to perform almost exactly like 8800GTS SLI.

 

[trajan2050]

http://www.hexus.net/content/i...php?item=12294&page=10

It doesn't just squeak by the post, barely eclipsing the GeForce 8800 Ultra and ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 - it batters them into submission in each and every benchmark. Indeed, the other SKUs do well to get to two-thirds of the GeForce 9800 GX2's performance.
there seems little point in looking at a three-way SLI or two-board 3870 X2 setup for ultimate performance.
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the 9800 GX2 at 2560x1600 4xAA 16xAF is almost twice as fast as the Radeon HD 3870 X2. Food for thought, huh?

King of the Hill!

 

[krnmastersgt]

Don't base a card's performance and worth off of just 1 game, besides QW is known to be nVidia card optimized. I think the GT beats the 3870X2 in QW, maybe even the G80 GTS could beat it.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: Wreckage
9800GX2 is the fastest single card available.

The 8800ultra is still the fastest single GPU available, that should change next week with the 9800GTX.

As noted the 9600GT is easily the best bang of the buck.

Actually that isn't correct. King of the Hill is very subjective on what resolution, aa, af settings. The 9800GX2 is solid but it doesn't sweep the board. It also performs miserably in a few tests because of the problems with SLI and Nvidia drivers.

There is a test where it gest 9 frames per second in Crisis. It isn't worth the money and it isn't the winner in Every test, not even close. What is IS good at is running some select games at Super High resolutions that require very expensive monitors.

By the same token you couldn't call the 3870X2 King of the Hill when it was released as it wasn't even sweeping benchmarks across the board against *single* GPU competitors when compared to the likes of the 8800 Ultra.

But as others said, if you were willing to crown the 3870X2 as the best single card solution then that title undoubtedly belongs to the 9800GX2 now. Are there nearly as good alternatives for less? Sure, but they all have their shortcomings and asterisks compared to the GX2.

edit:
How much do the 8800 ultra's cost?

Actually, they don't really exist do they... can't buy them anymore?
I would compare the 3870 X2 to the 8800 GTX since they cost about the same. The 9800 GX2 I wouldn't even compare to the 3870 X2. I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is. Your still coming out with $200 in your pocket if you go with the 9600's. If you can afford a 9800 GX2, I'm sure you can afford or already have a SLI capable board.

You could buy them at the time, just as you can buy them now even if they're EOL. But price shouldn't have any bearing on what card holds the top spot; that title is based purely on performance. Still, going by price, you could find cheaper parts that performed similarly or better than the X2 with the GTX as you mentioned or even overclocked GTS 512MB variants. Simple point is if you're going to make exceptions and cry foul at least be consistent about it.

Editorial: Funniest thing is this part is about $100-150 MSRP away from being a "paper launch". If it were $450-500 instead of $600 it'd be impossible to find and you'd hear everyone bitching about a paper launch lol.

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: batmang
I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is.

I think it's more like two 8800GTSes, not two 9600GTs. 9600GT has a G94 gpu, whereas the 9800GX2 has two G92 gpus that are identical to the one used on the 8800GTS 512. HardOCP's tests show the 9800GX2 to perform almost exactly like 8800GTS SLI.

Ah, yes. I meant 8800GTS'.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: batmang
I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is.

I think it's more like two 8800GTSes, not two 9600GTs. 9600GT has a G94 gpu, whereas the 9800GX2 has two G92 gpus that are identical to the one used on the 8800GTS 512. HardOCP's tests show the 9800GX2 to perform almost exactly like 8800GTS SLI.

Ah, yes. I meant 8800GTS'.

Well, that has further implications for the rest of your post...

Your still coming out with $200 in your pocket if you go with the 9600's. If you can afford a 9800 GX2, I'm sure you can afford or already have a SLI capable board.

The lowest price for an 8800GTS 512 AMIR on newegg is $215, so the out of pocket cost is $245. So, you're looking at an out of pocket cost of ~$750 for a 780i board + 2x 8800GTS vs. $600 for a 9800GX2. Note that in most cases you can't get more than one rebate per household, so your second card would be $245.

 

[batmang]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: batmang

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: batmang
I would compare it to two 9600 GT's in SLi because thats basically what the 9800 GX2 is.

I think it's more like two 8800GTSes, not two 9600GTs. 9600GT has a G94 gpu, whereas the 9800GX2 has two G92 gpus that are identical to the one used on the 8800GTS 512. HardOCP's tests show the 9800GX2 to perform almost exactly like 8800GTS SLI.

Ah, yes. I meant 8800GTS'.

Well, that has further implications for the rest of your post...

Your still coming out with $200 in your pocket if you go with the 9600's. If you can afford a 9800 GX2, I'm sure you can afford or already have a SLI capable board.

The lowest price for an 8800GTS 512 AMIR on newegg is $215, so the out of pocket cost is $245. So, you're looking at an out of pocket cost of ~$750 for a 780i board + 2x 8800GTS vs. $600 for a 9800GX2. Note that in most cases you can't get more than one rebate per household, so your second card would be $245.

OK. I was thinking 9600 GT pricing, but referring to the 8800GTS'. Either or the 9800 GX2 is really damn expensive, and thats what I'm getting at.

 

[bfdd]

Heh I sold my 8800 GTX and my buddy kept telling me to wait for the 9800 GX2 glad I didn't, my second 9600 GT EVGA SSC is on the way mmm can't wait to SLI these two cards =) Selling my 8800 GTX made buying two of these cards only cost me bout 70 bucks outa pocket? rofl Much better than an extra 300 for a smidge better performance.