[W1zzard]

Introduction

Today NVIDIA launches their new GeForce 9800 GTX card. This is the third card in the GeForce 9 Series after the GeForce 9600 GT and the GeForce 9800 GX2.
The card is based on NVIDIA's G92 graphics processor which is also used on several GeForce 8 SKUs. Overall this card is very similar to the GeForce 8800 GTS, the only difference are the higher clocks, and the PCB/cooler of course.

Feature-wise there are no real surprises either. NVIDIA has added some Purevideo HD improvements, support for triple SLI and Hybrid Power to this card.

What is very refreshing is to see that this card is offered at a low price of $299 to $349. According to NVIDIA the 9800 GTX replaces the 8800 GTX which will probably go out of production soon. It will be interesting to see how well the card compares against the 8800 GTX in this NVIDIA 9800 GTX review.

	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
Price	$110	$170	$210	$169	$260 $350	$215	$289	$299	$439	$299	$650

Packaging & Contents

The package looks like any other Zotac package with detailed specs on the back and the side.



You will receive:

• Graphics card
• Instruction Manual + Quickstart Guide + Driver CD + Lost full game
• DVI Adapter, HDMI Adapter
• TV out cable
• 2x PCI-E power cable
• SPDIF audio cable

The Card

NVIDIA's recent cooler designs look really great and leave a better impression because the whole card is covered. The cooler has been chosen as a dual-slot design to be able to cope with all the heat generated by the card.


A sticky plastic foil protects the cooler design from scratches during production and shipping.


The card features two DVI outputs which can be used with digital flat panels for resolutions up to 2560x1600. In case you still have an old analog display you can use the included DVI adapter. HDMI+HDCP+Audio is also supported via included HDMI adapter. In order to transmit audio you also have to connect your motherboard's/sound card's SPDIF-out to the card using a cable which can also be found in the package.


Here are the front and the back of the card, high-res versions are also available (front, back). If you choose to use these images for voltmods etc, please include a link back to this site or let us post your article.

A Closer Look

The cooler uses the traditional NVIDIA heatsink design. As you can see the baseplate is made from copper.


This card is compatible with SLI and triple SLI, you can see the two connectors for it.


Two 6-pin power connectors are present on the NVIDIA 9800 GTX, both must be installed for operation. Also you should note that they have been moved to the long side of the card which gives you additional space to work on.


The Samsung GDDR3 memory chips are of the K4J52324QE-BJ08 variety. They are the fastest GDDR3 chips available with a latency of 0.8 ns (= 1200 MHz).


NVIDIA's G92 GPU is made in a 65nm process at TSMC using 754M transistors.

Test System

Test System
CPU:	Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.6 GHz (Wolfdale, 6144 KB Cache)
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P35C-DS3R Intel P35
Memory:	2x 1024MB A.DATA DDR2 1066+ CL4
Harddisk:	WD Raptor 740ADFD 74 GB
Power Supply:	OCZ GameXStream 700W
Software:	Windows XP SP2
Drivers:	NVIDIA: 169.21 GeForce 9600 GT/9800 GX2 tested with 174.53 GeForce 9800 GTX tested with 174.74 ATI: Catalyst 8.3

• All video card results were obtained on this exact system with the exact same configuration.
• All games were set to their highest quality setting

Each benchmark was tested at the following settings and resolution:

• 1024 x 768, No Anti-aliasing, No anisotropic filtering. This is a standard resolution without demanding display settings.
• 1280 x 1024, 2x Anti-aliasing, 8x anisotropic filtering. Common resolution for most gamer flatscreens today. A bit of eye candy turned on in the drivers.
• 1600 x 1200, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to a wide range of users. Very good looking driver graphics settings.
• 2048 x 1536, 4x Anti-aliasing, 16x anisotropic filter. Highest non-widescreen resolution available to any consumer video card. Very good looking driver graphics settings.

Please note the new CPU we are using now for our benchmarks. Also all cards were retested on this rig to have comparable scores.

Call of Duty 4

Call of Duty 4 is a first-person shooter that is built on the award winning Call of Duty Series. It is the first version to play in modern times. In a near-future conflict between the United States, Europe and Russia you get to play as a United States Marine and a British SAS operative. The engine is Infinity Ward's own creation and has true dynamic lighting, depth of field, dynamic shadows and HDR. Even though the game plot is scripted you will find yourself in intense battles, often working together with computer controlled team mates.

Company Of Heroes

The real-time strategy game Company of Heroes is set during World War II where you take two American companies through several fights all over France to liberate the country from German occupation. Company of Heroes is the first game to use Relic's next-generation engine "Essence Engine" which includes support for HDR lighting, Shader Model 3.0, normal mapping, dynamic lighting and shadows. You are able to zoom in from the tactical view of the battle field to see the individual units fighting. Often you catch yourself admiring the detailed animations of the soldiers while the fight around you is raging. We tested the DX9 version of the game at maximum details.

Crysis

After the tremendous success of Far Cry, the German game studio Crytek released their latest shooter Crysis in 2007. The game was by far the most hyped and anticipated game in 2007, the forums were full of "Can my system run Crysis?" threads because of the high hardware requirements of this game. Just like in Far Cry the plot evolves on a small island with a thick and richly detailed jungle world. A lot of attention has been given to small details like correct physics. For example when you fire on a tree trunk, it will shatter and the tree will fall over leaving a stump behind. Enemies in a car can be stopped by shooting the tire of the car. The game graphics are by far the best ever seen in a PC game so far, yet the game still runs well on most computers. We tested the DX9 version with graphics set to "High", which is the highest non-DX10 setting in the game.

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

The first-person shooter Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is set in the science-fiction universe of Quake and requires several classes to work together to achieve certain goals on a map. In the campaign mode you gain experience which you can use to buy upgrades for your class. The player gets to pick from five classes of either the Global Defense Force or the Strogg faction. As underlying game engine, the successful id Software Doom 3 engine has been licensed, but several features like MegaTextures have been added, giving the outdoor world a much more detailed appearance. We tested the DX9 version of the game at maximum details.

Far Cry

Far Cry was released in early 2004 by the new development studio Crytek. It quickly became a massive success because it was one of the first titles to take you in a beautiful 3D outdoor world. Far Cry was one of the most demanding games at its time. Even with today's video cards you can still see big differences in frame rates, especially at the higher resolutions.

FEAR

The first person shooter F.E.A.R, developed by Monolith Game Studios, was released in Fall 2005 and has a great 3D engine that uses a large number of shading and shadow effects to accurately model the game world. In addition to that it features a realistic physics engine that lets you interact with many objects in the game world. The game was voted game of the year by several publications.

Prey

Prey is based on a highly modified 3D engine made by id Software. This first person shooter brought a completely new way of gaming to the genre. In many levels you find yourself walking upside down or on the walls. This adds a completely new aspect to the gaming experience in this genre.

Quake 4

The Quake titles are among the most successful first person games. Developed by id Software, the famous game studio that brought you DOOM, you find yourself in a scifi world that is full of aliens and shocking effects. The main focus of the game is the single player story line. Quake 4 puts you on the home planet of the Strogg. In a number of missions you and your fellow marines will encounter all sorts of enemies, including some really huge aliens.

Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory

The Splinter Cell Series is endorsed by popular book author Tom Clancy. In the 2005 title Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory you play the NSA agent Sam Fisher who has to use stealth and finesse to make his way through a number of levels mainly set in eastern Asia. The game is based on a modified Unreal 2 engine with support for HDR, normal mapping, parallax mapping and soft shadows. A patch added Shader Model 2.0 support for ATI in addition to the Shader Model 3.0 support which was already part of the original shipping game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Before its release in 2007, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was one of the most hyped games of the last years. This RPG/FPS hybrid game is set a few years in the future, after a nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The release of radiation causes strange things like mutations in the nearby area. You take the role of a Stalker who seeks fame and riches in the contaminated area around Chernobyl. The game engine features all the latest buzzwords like HDR, bullet physics, skeletal animation, soft shadows and weather effects. Stalker's vast outside world is richly modeled, you can interact with a large number of objects in the game thanks to the physics engine.

Supreme Commander

If you hear people talk about a real-time strategy game with "massive numbers of units fighting" you can be sure they are talking about Supreme Commander. The unofficial successor to the Total Annihilation Series completely redefined some aspects of the RTS genre. In Supreme Commander you can zoom out so far that you can see the whole map on your screen and units are just little blips. This is much needed in fights when several hundred units go at each other. Supreme Commander is also one of the most demanding RTS games with support for up to four CPU cores - a dual-core system with high-end graphics is recommended for optimum game play.

Unreal Tournament 3

The fourth game in Epic's highly successful Unreal Tournament Series is simply called Unreal Tournament 3. It is based on the all-new Unreal 3 engine which is a major step forward from the previous engine. The game principle is centered about an arena style gameplay where several contestants try to reach a certain kill count or capture a flag for example. As you would expect from a new 2007 title, the graphics are top notch, with large and detailed textures. One major drawback of the way the engine is designed is that there is no support for Anti-Aliasing. While video card vendors like ATI have found ways to force this in their drivers we did all our testing with AA disabled in DX9 at maximum settings.

3DMark03

Futuremark Corporation is the number one player in the world of synthetic benchmarking. The 3DMark series is the most popular test suite for video card testing and is used by gamers, overclockers and manufacturers alike to determine how fast their hardware is. Even though it is a few years old, 3DMark03 can easily stress today's video cards.

3DMark05

Another benchmark from Futuremark is 3DMark05 which comes with four completely new game tests that make massive use of shaders and lighting effects. 3DMark05 is a great test for modern video card architectures - in some tests you are often close to the 30 fps mark, below which your games will feel sluggish.

3DMark06

Even though it's based on Futuremark's 3DMark05, the new 3DMark06 adds new tests for Shader Model 3.0 and HDR rendering. It is also the first 3DMark to incorporate a CPU score into the final 3DMark score. All tests have received an overhaul, for example in the Canyon Flight test you can now see beautiful sun glare effects with the help of High Dynamic Range rendering.

Power Consumption

Cooling modern video cards is becoming more and more difficult, especially when users are asking for quiet cooling solutions. That's why the engineers are now paying much more attention to power consumption of new video card designs.

Test System
CPU:	Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33 GHz (Conroe, 2x 2048 KB Cache)
Motherboard:	Gigabyte P35C-DS3R Intel P35
Memory:	2x 1024MB A.DATA DDR2 1066+ CL4
Harddisk:	WD Raptor 740ADFD 74 GB
Power Supply:	OCZ GameXStream 700W
Software:	Windows XP SP2

In order to characterize a video card's power consumption, the whole system's mains power draw was measured. This means that these numbers include CPU, Memory, HDD, Video card and PSU inefficiency.

The three result values are as following:

• Idle: Windows sitting at the desktop (1024x768 32-bit) all windows closed, drivers installed.
• Average: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Average of all readings (two per second) while the test was rendering (no title screen).
• Peak: 3DMark03 Nature at 1280x1024, 6xAA, 16xAF. This results in the highest power consumption. Highest single reading

Fan Noise

In the past years users would accept everything just to get more performance. Nowadays this has changed with people being more aware of the fan noise and power consumption of their graphic cards.
In order to properly test the fan noise a card emits we are using a Bruel & Kjaer 2236 sound level meter (~$4,000) which has the measurement range and accuracy we are looking for.


The tested graphics card is installed in a system that is completely passively cooled. That is passive PSU, passive CPU cooler, passive cooling on the motherboard and Solid-State HDD.
This setup allows us to eliminate secondary noise sources and test only the video card. To be more compliant with standards like DIN 45635 (we are not claiming to be fully DIN 45635 certified) the measurement is conducted at 100 cm distance and 160 cm over the floor. The ambient background noise level in the room is well below 20 dbA for all measurements. Please note that the dbA scale is not linear, it is logarithmic. 40 dbA is not twice as loud as 20 dbA. A 3 dbA increase results in double the sound pressure. The human hearing is a bit different and it is generally accepted that a 10 dbA increase doubles the perceived sound level.

While the NVIDIA 9800 GTX is really quiet in idle, the fan gets considerably louder under load. In my opinion the card is way too loud under load, it's even louder than the 2900 XT!
On the overclocking page you will see that the temperatures under load are very low for this class of card, so I assume the fan speed is just overoptimized. It should be no problem slowing down the fan using RivaTuner for a more quiet experience.

NVIDIA's reviewer documentation says "The board is cooled with an exceptionally quiet on-board fan; even when playing the most intensive 3D games, the GeForce 9800 GTX is whisper quiet.".

Performance Summary

To create this graph we took all performance results of all benchmarks and all resolutions, threw them together and calculated the relative performance of each card, compared to our review sample.

Performance per Watt

This graph was created by taking the relative performance numbers and putting them in contrast to the average power consumption results. To offset power consumption of the rest of the system we subtracted 50W from the average consumption.

Performance per Dollar

If you are looking for the best bang for the buck, then you will love this graph. We looked up the current USD price of each card on the online shop Newegg and used it and the relative performance numbers to calculate the Performance per Dollar Index.

Overclocking

To find the maximum overclock of our card we used a combination of Rivatuner, ATITool and our benchmarking suite.

Just like all other GeForce 9 cards, the 9800 GTX also uses the "core clock derived from PCIE clock" feature as described here.



The final overclocks of our card are 802 MHz Core (19 % overclock) and 1221 MHz Memory (11 % overclock). Those overclocks are amazing, but make me wonder why NVIDIA picked such low default clocks. Given the overall performance we saw, an extra 8% clock speed would certainly help the card's performance.

Temperatures

A temperature difference of 11°C between idle and load is extremely small. Even though the temperatures are nice they are unnecessarily low, it would be better to have the card run quieter with load temperatures of about 80°C.

Value and Conclusion

	The NVIDIA 9800 GTX reference cards are sold for around $299 $329 (according to NewEgg).
	Excellent overclocking potential Solid performance HDMI+HDCP+Audio PCI-Express 2.0 support "GeForce 9" bragging rights Hybrid Power supported Low temperatures Triple SLI support HDMI adapter and SPDIF cable included
	Slower than GeForce 8800 GTX Not really a new product Fan very noisy under load
8.4	When I first heard that NVIDIA will launch their GeForce 9800 GTX using the G92 core I was already sceptical. But after testing the card I am really disappointed. When comparing this card against the GeForce 8800 GTX, the "last generation product" is faster. Even though it's only two percent it's far from the performance improvement you would expect from a sucessor. Also I wonder why the clocks are so low, our overclocking tests showed a huge untapped overclocking potential that NVIDIA could have used to offset this card's performance from their other products. It also puzzles me why the card needs two power connectors when the GeForce 8800 GTS which is very similar uses only one? Maybe there is a psychological component to this. If the card had one power connector only, many people would think "is that a midrange card?". Another thing I have to put my finger on is the noisy fan under load. The GeForce 8800 GTS runs at 26.0 dbA under load, but the 9800 GTX needs 39.6 dbA to stay cool, while it's only 4% faster. However, the benefit of this noisy fan is that the GPU temperatures are really low. Let's talk about the positive things. The card offers a great performance/Watt ratio and is fairly priced at $299 a bit expensive with listings at $329 on e-Tailers, considering a small premium for "GTX". During all our testing it was completely stable, there were no issues at all. If you are an SLI fanatic, this card can also be used in triple SLI, which the GeForce 8 cards can't. A unique feature is the support for HybridPower which completely shuts off your graphics card and renders on the integrated NVIDIA graphics of your motherboard (if you have it). This helps to save a considerable amount of power. Zotac delivers a great package that includes all cables required for the power cabling and also to use the card in your media center PC with HDMI + HDCP + Audio. Overall I don't expect the NVIDIA 9800 GTX to reach a popularity like the previous 6800 Ultra, 7800 GTX and 8800 GTX cards achieved, there are just too many similar offerings in NVIDIA's product stack.