Nvidia 9800 GX2 reviews here

[BFG10K]

Computerbase.

I think it's fair to compare this card to single-card solutions because it is, after all, a single card. It takes up 1 slot, works with any motherboard, regardless of SLI/XFire, and has none of the driver/dual monitor support issues of the dual-card setups.

Huh? This card is two PCBs slapped together that works exactly like regular SLI except it doesn't require two slots.

I asked about this early this morning .. didn't see it mentioned ...

--does it or doesn't it?

I don't believe so because if it did all SLI solutions would, and that would be a big enough deal for nVidia to mention it to reviewers.

 

[apoppin]

too bad

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
well , your better of getting 2x 8800GT 512 SLI than a 9800GX2. It needs loads of driver tweaking as it has problem with profile for 8xQAA and variable resolution. example :

I'll take a single card solution b/c you don't have to jack with a crappy nvidia chipset. Of course, why get a 9800gx2 OR a new mobo with 2x8800gt(s) when r700 and gt200 will be here within a few months? EVERYTHING in the high end since 8800gtx has been basically more of the same: 2 cards in sli/xfire or 2gpus on a single card solution.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

I don't believe so because if it did all SLI solutions would, and that would be a big enough deal for nVidia to mention it to reviewers.

NVIDIA is working on multi monitor support for SLi, no ETA as yet though.

 

[Sylvanas]

I am somewhat impressed with the GX2 although I am much more impressed by the 790i Ultra....although I think if I were to buy a totally new setup for gaming with fairly decent components, I would stick with 9600GT SLI (or 8800GT SLI for that matter...). On another note AT mentioned in the 790i Ultra article that 'Posted-Write Shortcut' and 'Broadcast' tech are employed when compatible video card's are 'in the PCI-E 2.0 slot' It wasn't clear to me if say these features would be employed in 9800GX2 SLI (Quad SLI) in which the cards themselves are 'in the PCI-E 2.0 slot' but they are effectively operating at PCI-E 1.1 via the bridge chip- perhaps you could clear this up for me Rollo/ Keys .

Apart from that hats off to Nv today.

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: nRollo

Originally posted by: wired247
Is there any word yet whether you need an SLI motherboard to get the most out of this card?

You do not need a SLi motherboard.

Forgive me for reading in between the lines.

By "do not need" do you mean that I can run it on an X38 chipset mobo in SLI mode all the same, and there would literally be no difference with an SLI motherboard?

Or do you mean that I will not be able to run it in SLI mode but it will still give good performance?

 

[Keysplayr]

You can run it on an X38 chipset mobo. You do not have to have an SLI chipset motherboard. SLI is taken care of with the onboard BR04 chip that resides on the GX2 main card.

 

[imported_wired247]

Thanks -- as long as there's no evidence to say that it will run better on an SLI mobo that's fine with me.

 

[BFG10K]

From Tom's review:

Though quiet when idle, like other high end cards, the fan of the 9800 GX2 accelerates significantly when you play 3D games. The noise is then quite noticeable and annoying because of the sound the air makes as it crosses the fins; more so than the 8800 Ultra, which peaks at an acceptable level.

On top of this, the 9800 GX2 is the only card that doesn't send air outside the case, which means it'll rapidly increase the temperature inside the case, thus accelerating the card's fan (as well as the processor's). Nvidia, you can do better!

:thumbsdown:

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
From Tom's review:

Though quiet when idle, like other high end cards, the fan of the 9800 GX2 accelerates significantly when you play 3D games. The noise is then quite noticeable and annoying because of the sound the air makes as it crosses the fins; more so than the 8800 Ultra, which peaks at an acceptable level.

On top of this, the 9800 GX2 is the only card that doesn't send air outside the case, which means it'll rapidly increase the temperature inside the case, thus accelerating the card's fan (as well as the processor's). Nvidia, you can do better!

:thumbsdown:

Optimum design would port the hot air directly out of the back of the card, but as long as someone has decent case ventilation, this isn't a show stopper. Someone with SLI'd 8800GT's/9600GT's would have the same temp increase in their case, for example. 2x 8800GTS's (320/640/512) would port most of their hot air out of the case and would be better if one had poor case ventilation.

Noise: I haven't heard one, so I can't really comment. But I can say that noise is subjective. We all know you can't stand a peep from your 'puter.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: BFG10K
From Tom's review:

Though quiet when idle, like other high end cards, the fan of the 9800 GX2 accelerates significantly when you play 3D games. The noise is then quite noticeable and annoying because of the sound the air makes as it crosses the fins; more so than the 8800 Ultra, which peaks at an acceptable level.

On top of this, the 9800 GX2 is the only card that doesn't send air outside the case, which means it'll rapidly increase the temperature inside the case, thus accelerating the card's fan (as well as the processor's). Nvidia, you can do better!

:thumbsdown:

Optimum design would port the hot air directly out of the back of the card, but as long as someone has decent case ventilation, this isn't a show stopper. Someone with SLI'd 8800GT's/9600GT's would have the same temp increase in their case, for example. 2x 8800GTS's (320/640/512) would port most of their hot air out of the case and would be better if one had poor case ventilation.

Noise: I haven't heard one, so I can't really comment. But I can say that noise is subjective. We all know you can't stand a peep from your 'puter.

How about just a sensible design that doesn't require extraordinary case ventilation? ... maybe like AMD cards?



i have 2 fire dragons in my case ... and it is cool

 

[Cheex]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Why did you post the Anandtech review, no one reads that site.

Yeah, it should be at the top of the list in bold.

 

[Wreckage]

TR review is up
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/14355

 

[NitroTurtle]

Wait, so if I step-up from my 8800gts to this card, I can't use dual monitors?

I was already trying to initiate the step-up, but it seems EVGA forgot to actually allow the 120-days because it was telling me I was past my 90-day cutoff. But, if I can't use dual monitors anyways, that's a deal-breaker for me.

 

[ddarko]

Originally posted by: Wreckage
TR review is up
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/14355

So is Extremetech: http://www.extremetech.com/art.../0,1697,2277190,00.asp

Both Tech Report and Extremetech point out problems with SLI cards that have 512mb of memory running at 2560x1600. Extremetech drills down a bit more than Tech Report by pointing out that AA/AF seems to be the third factor, along with 2600x1600 and 512mb of memory, that triggers this issue. Tech Report doesn't identify AA/AF as a factor but it is worth noting that the problem benchmark - Call of Duty 4 - was run with AA/AF turned on. And the problem seems to affect both single slot/dual GPU and dual card SLI configurations that have 512mg of memory per GPU.

Really, stuff like this adds to my impression that this is an architecture at the end of its shelf life. Unquestionably, it still offers the best overall performance now but it's been pushed to the limits and the very reasonable choices made to reduce the cost of the G80 are starting to have an impact. I think I will wait until a truly new architecture emerges from either AMD or Nvidia. For the games I play, the 8800GT is fine even on my 2560x1600 monitor.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: NitroTurtle
Wait, so if I step-up from my 8800gts to this card, I can't use dual monitors?

I was already trying to initiate the step-up, but it seems EVGA forgot to actually allow the 120-days because it was telling me I was past my 90-day cutoff. But, if I can't use dual monitors anyways, that's a deal-breaker for me.

You can use dual monitors, but you have to enable/disable dual-gpu in the driver settings. So you can game with 2 gpus, or drive 2 monitors, but not both. It's a simple switch in the nvid control panel, though they should implement an auto switch.

 

[imported_wired247]

It's beating out 8800 Ultras in SLi in some cases. That techreport review was awesome.

I don't understand why there are so many haters on this site. If you don't like the card don't buy it. It doesn't make you look cool to make posts saying how much it sucks.

I'm about 99% convinced that this card is for me. This card will be in my system soon.

(Not referring to any of the more recent posters in this thread, I'm referring to people who have posted negative posts about it in the past)

Yes, it's not the best performance/$ out there. But for someone like me, who only has 1 PCIe 2.0 slot open, it's the clear way to go if you want performance.

 

[hooflung]

I don't know about that wired 247, the Techreport clearly showed if you aren't running high, high res the 3870X2 can easily keep up with this card for the money spent especially in Crysis. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14355/8

If Crysis is THE game to judge the 9800GX2 series on, then I would think this card is 100% failure unless you are pushing 2560x1600. A 8800GTS 512 or an Ultra would be more suited in some cases as well.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Cheex

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Why did you post the Anandtech review, no one reads that site.

Yeah, it should be at the top of the list in bold.

WORD, :thumbsup:

 

[scottb75]

Originally posted by: hooflung
I don't know about that wired 247, the Techreport clearly showed if you aren't running high, high res the 3870X2 can easily keep up with this card for the money spent especially in Crysis. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14355/8

If Crysis is THE game to judge the 9800GX2 series on, then I would think this card is 100% failure unless you are pushing 2560x1600. A 8800GTS 512 or an Ultra would be more suited in some cases as well.

Doesn't that test also show the 3870X2 (never mind Quadfire) to be a failure as well? I mean in that test at 1680x1050 the 3870s in CF, 8800GT in SLI, and 9600GT in SLI beat it for less then the cost of one 3870X2. At 1920x1200 in that test the 3870X2 is matched by the 8800Ultra which anybody knows anything knows it is pretty much just an overclocked 8800GTX with a fancy cooler. I've seen 8800GTs go for under $200 as do the 3870s so two of each would cost about $400, two 9600GTs would cost about $370, and 1 8800GTX would cost about $400 now. So if we go by that test both the 3870X2 and 9800GX2 are failures at their prices.

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: hooflung
I don't know about that wired 247, the Techreport clearly showed if you aren't running high, high res the 3870X2 can easily keep up with this card for the money spent especially in Crysis. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14355/8

If Crysis is THE game to judge the 9800GX2 series on, then I would think this card is 100% failure unless you are pushing 2560x1600. A 8800GTS 512 or an Ultra would be more suited in some cases as well.

Well having played and tweaked crysis myself, I can safely say that it does not necessarily make sense to put all settings to "high" or "very high" to test the GPU. Since some of these settings will make the game somewhat CPU limited.

When you tweak it at home, you can get much better FPS and graphics with a better graphics card as long as you are not expecting to run everything on Very high.

Thanks for your input though.

IMO the benchmarks in general for the 9800gx2 are definitely not 100% fail. Like I said it's not the best performance/$ but that's fine with me, since the performance is definitely there.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: wired247

Originally posted by: hooflung
I don't know about that wired 247, the Techreport clearly showed if you aren't running high, high res the 3870X2 can easily keep up with this card for the money spent especially in Crysis. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14355/8

If Crysis is THE game to judge the 9800GX2 series on, then I would think this card is 100% failure unless you are pushing 2560x1600. A 8800GTS 512 or an Ultra would be more suited in some cases as well.

Well having played and tweaked crysis myself, I can safely say that it does not necessarily make sense to put all settings to "high" or "very high" to test the GPU. Since some of these settings will make the game somewhat CPU limited.

When you tweak it at home, you can get much better FPS and graphics with a better graphics card as long as you are not expecting to run everything on Very high.

Thanks for your input though.

IMO the benchmarks in general for the 9800gx2 are definitely not 100% fail. Like I said it's not the best performance/$ but that's fine with me, since the performance is definitely there.

CPU limited? Actually, the higher the game settings, the more stress is put on the GPU. Not the other way around.

 

[NitroTurtle]

Originally posted by: sirjonk

Originally posted by: NitroTurtle
Wait, so if I step-up from my 8800gts to this card, I can't use dual monitors?

I was already trying to initiate the step-up, but it seems EVGA forgot to actually allow the 120-days because it was telling me I was past my 90-day cutoff. But, if I can't use dual monitors anyways, that's a deal-breaker for me.

You can use dual monitors, but you have to enable/disable dual-gpu in the driver settings. So you can game with 2 gpus, or drive 2 monitors, but not both. It's a simple switch in the nvid control panel, though they should implement an auto switch.

I use dual monitors so I can game on one with a browser open on another. So with this card, in order to do this, I would actually have to run the game using only one gpu? So would the performance be pretty much the same as my 8800gts? Seems like a huge waste of money for someone with a setup like mine.

 

[imported_wired247]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: wired247

Originally posted by: hooflung
I don't know about that wired 247, the Techreport clearly showed if you aren't running high, high res the 3870X2 can easily keep up with this card for the money spent especially in Crysis. http://techreport.com/articles.x/14355/8

If Crysis is THE game to judge the 9800GX2 series on, then I would think this card is 100% failure unless you are pushing 2560x1600. A 8800GTS 512 or an Ultra would be more suited in some cases as well.

Well having played and tweaked crysis myself, I can safely say that it does not necessarily make sense to put all settings to "high" or "very high" to test the GPU. Since some of these settings will make the game somewhat CPU limited.

When you tweak it at home, you can get much better FPS and graphics with a better graphics card as long as you are not expecting to run everything on Very high.

Thanks for your input though.

IMO the benchmarks in general for the 9800gx2 are definitely not 100% fail. Like I said it's not the best performance/$ but that's fine with me, since the performance is definitely there.

CPU limited? Actually, the higher the game settings, the more stress is put on the GPU. Not the other way around.

Point being, using High or VH global settings is a straightforward way to test the video card for a review article but not really practical for home use. The results would be different if you optimized the game settings for each video card. So there are hidden benefits to getting a better video card such as the game looking MUCH better but running the same FPS as a lesser card, for example.

 

[JPB]

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp

Originally posted by: Cheex

Originally posted by: WaTaGuMp
Why did you post the Anandtech review, no one reads that site.

Yeah, it should be at the top of the list in bold.

WORD, :thumbsup:

Done. Never even crossed my mind. Its where it deserves to be now