Why is everyone hating on the 9800 GX2 ?

[smashhell]

Well, I just brought the 9800 GX2 yesterday to replace my 8800GT. I didn't read much about it before buying the card (silly me :rolleyes:), but I decided to check the forum today and saw many people calling this card a failure.

Why is that ?

I saw couple of 3dmark and many games benchmarking and it's at least a 30% improvement over the 8800 Ultra. And only about 5% weaker than the GTX 280. At $270 dollars it seems like a really good bargain to me.

Can anyone tell me if I got the wrong card ? I am not looking to buy an ATI card anytime soon. And I am just looking for some improvement over my old 8800GT. I don't bench, I pretty much just use it for gaming. So tell me, do I need to return it for something else ?

Thank you.

Benching (Everything in the highest possible setting):
http://metku.net/index.html?path=reviews/xfx-gtx280/index_eng5
http://metku.net/reviews/xfx-gtx280/3dmark06.png
http://metku.net/reviews/xfx-gtx280/cod4.png
http://metku.net/reviews/xfx-gtx280/crysis.png
http://metku.net/reviews/xfx-gtx280/dmc4_16x.png

[Riggs]

I just ordered mine too. :) Dont know why, i thought a 45 fps increase over GTX 260 is good on CoD4 at 1600x1200.

[Nasgul]

Well, I just brought the 9800 GX2 yesterday to replace my 8800GT. I didn't read much about it before buying the card (silly me :rolleyes:), but I decided to check the forum today and saw many people calling this card a failure.

Why is that ?

Easy. They just love to hate nVidia.

Just like when "they" just to love to hate Intel.

It's all about: "Oh!, I'll stick with the little dog" ideology crap.

nVidia cards are the absolute best and Intel has and has had a much better processor.......time and time again these two have proven that.

Quote me, because the truth ALWAYS hurt.

[systemviper]

I had one of those cards and i was able to get it over 20k in 3Dmark06 with a E8500.

you will find a lot of fans here too.

that card rocks, :up:

[YMAA]

...

The 9800GX2 is a great card...now. When it came out it wasn't really that great because of how high it was priced and how bad the drivers were for it initially. Now that the prices on it have dropped (plummeted, in fact) and drivers have improved, it's a pretty good buy. My friend is moving to one after he sells his 260.

Definitely a card to consider, no doubt about that.

[ExodusC]

nVidia cards are the absolute best and Intel has and has had a much better processor.......time and time again these two have proven that.
Yes, because Pentium 4 destroyed Athlon and the GTX 200 series crushes the 4800 series in price/performance (or if you want to go way back, the Radeon 9800 sure sucked)! :rolleyes:

[smashhell]

Fixed :up:

The 9800GX2 is a great card...now. When it came out it wasn't really that great because of how high it was priced and how bad the drivers were for it initially. Now that the prices on it have dropped (plummeted, in fact) and drivers have improved, it's a pretty good buy. My friend is moving to one after he sells his 260.

Definitely a card to consider, no doubt about that.

He sold his GTX 260 to get the 9800 GX2 ? So does that means GX2 > 260 ? :p:

[BenchZowner]

To be honest there's a good reason to hate the 9800GX2 if you're a gamer, and you're not just buying it to run benchmarks.
The reason is called Micro-stuttering.

[Riggs]

Never really had micro stuttering, or I never really noticed it, when playing alot of games that utilized multiple gpu's.

[BenchZowner]

Riggs;3335984']Never really had micro stuttering, or I never really noticed it, when playing alot of games that utilized multiple gpu's.

Some people can't see it.
Other can.
On the other side, in some games it's hard to notice, and in some games it's pretty darn obvious.

[sirheck]

Easy. They just love to hate nVidia.

Just like when "they" just to love to hate Intel.

It's all about: "Oh!, I'll stick with the little dog" ideology crap.

nVidia cards are the absolute best and Intel has and has had a much better processor.......time and time again these two have proven that.

Quote me, because the truth ALWAYS hurt.

Nvidia cards are good, but the absolute best?:shakes:

Intel has and has had the better processor?:shakes:

Uh WRONG!

OH BTW I AM QUOTING YOU.

[smashhell]

Riggs;3335984']Never really had micro stuttering, or I never really noticed it, when playing alot of games that utilized multiple gpu's.

Ahh, that is another question I would liked to ask.
What happen when you play games that don't support multiple gpu ?
Does one sides of the card just shuts off ? Or does it still maintain it's speed ?

Thanks for all the answers. ;)

[zanzabar]

wayd to make a thread with the original drives on the 280, the 290/260 both are faster in most things and unless u are doing 3dmark there is no point in dealing with sli to get that increase

u have to go into the drivers and dissable it in the game profile or it dose strange things, if thed game dosnt use multi gpu


and IMO single gpu > multi gpu if they are within 10%, unless u have multi monitor games

[ChinStrap]

i like my gx2. i moved from g92gts sli to a single 9800gx2 and set all new personal records in the benchmarks. plays cod4 great, for me it was win-win. i moved to a more SSF set up and i got the power i was looking for going from SLi to single card setup.

[korben43]

Yes, because Pentium 4 destroyed Athlon and the GTX 200 series crushes the 4800 series in price/performance (or if you want to go way back, the Radeon 9800 sure sucked)! :rolleyes:

Crush? Maybe not, but beat? I think so. Why? Because ATI cards overclock for crap with stock cooling. I can push a GTX 260 to over 750MHz on the gpu core and game with the shaders at 1500 and memory over 1200MHz(2400MHz effective). The 4870 can't touch an overclocked gtx 260.

I have an HD 4850 that won't go over 690MHz on the core and game.

Besides that, I like to play Crysis and Warhead at max detail settings. You can't do that on a 4850 or a 4870 with AA enabled or disabled. But I can on my GTX 260 or my GTX 280.

[BenchZowner]

Can we...not have any more of those fanboyish silly comments like the last quotes ?

Once again, THIS IS NOT an ATi vs nVIDIA THREAD

[Ashraf]

THIS IS NOT an ATi vs nVIDIA THREAD

Thank you. :up:

[korben43]

Can we...not have any more of those fanboyish silly comments like the last quotes ?

Once again, THIS IS NOT an ATi vs nVIDIA THREAD


Fan boy? Who the hell are you? I'm speaking from personal experience because I own all the cards I was talking about. I've played with each one and my experience shows that for single card solutions, minus the dual gpu offerings, nvidia plays better.

You'd better put your little troll card away and wake up and smell the roses.

I have also owned many GX2's and loved 'em for single card solutions. They tend to get a little warm, but MY HD 4850 can heat my whole room up by itself. Oh, and the GX2, since that's what were're talking about in this thread, is a killer overclocker. It's a nice feeling taking a GX2 from it's stock settings on the gpu's and pushing them both over 750MHz and still be able to bench. That's with stock air cooling, too. Of course, it has to run the fan at 100% and sounds like a jet turbine, but I have to say that the stock cooling fan on the 4850 is a tad louder at full boar.

[Ozzfest05]

Thats Funny someone was comparing Intel To AMD ...LAUGH... Lets see Core 2 Duo beats the best of AMD's dual tripple and quadcore processors hmmm E8400 170 bucks easily oced to 4.5 or phenom which can barely be oc'ed 400 mhz above stock clocks. Come on people I know their are fanboys but even if you are completely stupid you cant compare AMD to Intel AMD is a shinking ship far far far behind, ATI However is doing good in the graphics department dont get me wrong.

9800gx2 is a deace card I have 2 9800gtx's a little bit better performance than one 9800 but im going with 4870x2 in about 15 days it will be here

[jaredpace]

Fan boy? Who the hell are you? I'm speaking from personal experience because I own all the cards I was talking about. I've played with each one and my experience shows that for single card solutions, minus the dual gpu offerings, nvidia plays better.

You'd better put your little troll card away and wake up and smell the roses.

I have also owned many GX2's and loved 'em for single card solutions. They tend to get a little warm, but MY HD 4850 can heat my whole room up by itself. Oh, and the GX2, since that's what were're talking about in this thread, is a killer overclocker. It's a nice feeling taking a GX2 from it's stock settings on the gpu's and pushing them both over 750MHz and still be able to bench. That's with stock air cooling, too. Of course, it has to run the fan at 100% and sounds like a jet turbine, but I have to say that the stock cooling fan on the 4850 is a tad louder at full boar.

is the R700 faster than your gtx280?

[BenchZowner]

Fan boy?

No, thanks :down:

Who the hell are you?

I'm BenchZowner, the representative of the computer hell :rofl:

I'm speaking from personal experience because I own all the cards I was talking about.

I do too.

--

I wasn't referring to you only, and of course didn't mean to upset you or to make you feel insulted.

We're human and sometimes ( if not most of the time ) we're consciously or unconsciously favor a brand/model over another for no apparent reason.

But to speak the truth, the GTX 260 isn't superior to it's approx. price competitor, the AMD Radeon HD4870.
The AMD Radeon HD4850 is up and down with the GeForce 9800GTX+.
The GeForce GTX 280 is simply the best single-GPU solution out there.
The fastest card at the moment is the AMD Radeon HD4870X2.

Peace.

P.S. Yes I have some sort of :banana::banana::banana::banana:y ( in case you didn't get the word it's c**ky ) sense of humor and sometimes I might confuse you with the way I express things, if it's any help, I mean no offense most of the time ( if not all the time )

[zanzabar]

dont mess with bench he will put his hardware were his mouth is, like runing 45nm chips with 1.6VTT to prove a point

and with SLI u prerender 5 frames compared to 3 frames for single gpu so u have 5-10ms more delay, in multi player games that is vary bad

[jcool]

I wouldn't call the GX2 a single card ;)

People didn't like it for some reasons, most of which were already pointed out here:

- initially it was too expensive, drivers sucked
- produces lots of heat, especially in idle
- people felt the 512MB/256bit interface taken from the 8800GT just wasn't enough to supply the raw shader power of the card, which holds true in high resolutions of 1900x1200 and above and/or when using a lot of AA/AF

Basically it's a great card to buy now, if you don't want to game in 1900x1200 or above with lots of AA.
I once benched my G80 640MB GTS against an 8800GT 512 with Crysis in fullHD res, and the GT really broke down as soon as I was using AA because it ran out of Vram. The same problem holds true for the GX2, as soon as texture sizes exceed the 512MB each card has at its disposal, it starts to break down.

Oh yeah, here it is:


1900*1200 4x FSAA, Assault_Harbor um 9 Uhr, DX9 highspec, XP x64 (bench aber im 32bit mode) - AVG FPS

GT: 10,05 FPS (http://database.he-computer.de/Bilder/8800battle/GT/crysis_2.jpg) - GTS: 21,48 FPS (http://database.he-computer.de/Bilder/8800battle/GTS/GTS_Crysis_AA.jpg)


So basically, the GX2 is still a great card for gaming on a 22" or folding, but it might not be very future-proof.

[SoulsCollective]

As has been said, a lot of the "hate" (although I think this is a silly term to use, noone "hates" a VGA, they just think it's not a good buy) was due to very poor price/performance, performance/watt and drivers. A dual-PCB card is also an inelegant solution to the multi-chip issue.

Furthermore, one of the GPUs dying seems to be quite a common issue with these cards (just do a quick search). This means that the card will still work, but be no faster than a single 9800GT, as one of the circuit boards is sitting there doing nothing. All told, I would much rather get a 4870X2 as a dual-chip solution, which will fulfill your requirements of beating an 8800Ultra and is more than capable of playing Crysis or COD4 on max detail settings (hell, a single one of my 4870 512MBs could handle Crysis under DX10 mode with everything except post-processing (AA/AF) enabled at 1680x1050).

[korben43]

No, thanks :down:



I'm BenchZowner, the representative of the computer hell :rofl:



I do too.

--

I wasn't referring to you only, and of course didn't mean to upset you or to make you feel insulted.

We're human and sometimes ( if not most of the time ) we're consciously or unconsciously favor a brand/model over another for no apparent reason.

But to speak the truth, the GTX 260 isn't superior to it's approx. price competitor, the AMD Radeon HD4870.
The AMD Radeon HD4850 is up and down with the GeForce 9800GTX+.
The GeForce GTX 280 is simply the best single-GPU solution out there.
The fastest card at the moment is the AMD Radeon HD4870X2.

Peace.

P.S. Yes I have some sort of :banana::banana::banana::banana:y ( in case you didn't get the word it's c**ky ) sense of humor and sometimes I might confuse you with the way I express things, if it's any help, I mean no offense most of the time ( if not all the time )


I appreciate you making it a little clearer :) But I must disagree when talking about the price points of the GTX 260 and the HD 4870. You can get a 260 for around $240 and a 4870 as low as $270 (from the egg). Based on those prices, the GTX 260 is a better buy. The performance between the two cards if very similar, but the GTX 260 ends up being the better overclocker. (and in case anyone mentions it, I'm not talking about the 1GB 4870 or the 260 Core cards, they are in a higher price bracket closer to $300)

But, if we're talking about the GX2, one of those can be had for a similar price to both the GTX 260 and HD 4870. The GX2 is the better option because it is faster than both those cards.

We are, of course, talking single card solutions. But someone did mention the 4870X2. Now, off the egg, the lowest you can get an X2 is $550. You can have two GTX 260's for $480 or two 4870's for $540. Price per performance, the SLI option wins. Don't get me wrong, the 4870X2 is a beast of a card, and a wonderful space heater, too. I will have one, just as I will have a pair of 4870's, too. But the 4870X2 surely doesn't beat my 3-way SLI GTX 280's or my oc'd GTX 260's in SLI.

Of course, I'm not the one to go for price per perfomance because of the cards I own. However, if you buy a 4870X2, neither are you.

And benchzowner, I didn't mean to come off pissy, but you seem to understand where I was coming from, so I thank you for your hospitality.

[insurgent]

Everyone hates the 9800GX2? I didn't get the memo :O

[Fungus]

I love mine.

It works great at 1920*1200 for me. Even with Crysis, Warhead and STALKER.

I get some stuttering in STALKER, but I think that's because STALKER needs more patches, it's got other bugs which have nothing to do with the 9800GX2.

[Nanometer]

I love mine.

It works great at 1920*1200 for me. Even with Crysis, Warhead and STALKER.

I get some stuttering in STALKER, but I think that's because STALKER needs more patches, it's got other bugs which have nothing to do with the 9800GX2.


what setting do you run yours in crysis?

[Big Phil]

Interesting. I might get one of these. They have one brand new for $225 on Ebay.

[tajoh111]

I don't think the hate for the gx2 has anything to do with the performance or the price. It sad but I think it has to do with fanboy issues which is really sad.

[Big Phil]

Ive seen some test where the 9800 Gx2 even matches the GTX280 in some places. Not bad for nearly half the price

[smashhell]

As has been said, a lot of the "hate" (although I think this is a silly term to use, noone "hates" a VGA, they just think it's not a good buy) was due to very poor price/performance, performance/watt and drivers. A dual-PCB card is also an inelegant solution to the multi-chip issue.

Furthermore, one of the GPUs dying seems to be quite a common issue with these cards (just do a quick search). This means that the card will still work, but be no faster than a single 9800GT, as one of the circuit boards is sitting there doing nothing. All told, I would much rather get a 4870X2 as a dual-chip solution, which will fulfill your requirements of beating an 8800Ultra and is more than capable of playing Crysis or COD4 on max detail settings (hell, a single one of my 4870 512MBs could handle Crysis under DX10 mode with everything except post-processing (AA/AF) enabled at 1680x1050).

Yeah I know that the 4870X2 is better than mine 9800GX2. However, it also costs exactly twice as much .... I don't see that as a good buy. Also I am not looking to buy an ATI card anytime soon, didn't have good experience with them before. ;)

[YMAA]

We are, of course, talking single card solutions. But someone did mention the 4870X2. Now, off the egg, the lowest you can get an X2 is $550. You can have two GTX 260's for $480 or two 4870's for $540. Price per performance, the SLI option wins. Don't get me wrong, the 4870X2 is a beast of a card, and a wonderful space heater, too. I will have one, just as I will have a pair of 4870's, too. But the 4870X2 surely doesn't beat my 3-way SLI GTX 280's or my oc'd GTX 260's in SLI.

Not everyone is willing to deal with nVidia's chipsets though. When you can get a P5Q that will OC a Q6600 to 3.6GHz without breaking a sweat for $115 but a 780i that can do that costs well over $200 and runs about twice as hot there's a problem. I know you love them (for...some...reason :p), but for a lot of people an Intel board with a single nVidia card or >=1 ATI card is the preferred setup.

[Big Phil]

Well ATi theyre pretty good now. NVidia justs beats them in Crysis and OpenGL now.

And heat is the #1 reason i wont go nForce

[zanzabar]

Well ATi theyre pretty good now. NVidia justs beats them in Crysis and OpenGL now.

And heat is the #1 reason i wont go nForce

NV is slower in openGL by a wide margin look at any rendering tool, or UT3 based games

NV isnt even implementing openGL3 in any g9x chips, and hasnt guarantied it for gt200, and ati has all of the current commands out in the drivers


also the gx2 is $100 less than the 280 and a few weeks ago they were the same or vary close to the same price

[Big Phil]

Check ebay :)

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

NOTE TO ALL: I see a lot of you comparing the overclock on ATI to the overclock on NVidia on a 1:1 Hz:Hz basis. this is incorrect different architectures scale differently with a frequency increase. What you all are doing is like comparing a 3.6 ghz Pentium D to a 3.6 ghz Core2 duo.

that said i do not know the scalar but I would imagine that the 100 mhz increase on ATI does a bit more than the 100mhz increase on the Nvidia architecture

[YukonTrooper]

nVidia cards are the absolute best and Intel has and has had a much better processor.......time and time again these two have proven that.
Your credibility went from 0 to -20 in one post.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Your credibility went from 0 to -20 in one post.

I know I loled :p:

so..... AMD 64 never happened right? just like there are no gay people in Iran right? :ROTF:

[SoulsCollective]

Yeah I know that the 4870X2 is better than mine 9800GX2. However, it also costs exactly twice as much .... I don't see that as a good buy. Also I am not looking to buy an ATI card anytime soon, didn't have good experience with them before. ;)
Right. I'm a little confused as to why you're asking for others opinions on a card then, as you seem so ready to lump every single ATi card together on the basis of your one personal experience.

[Lloyd]

NOTE TO ALL: I see a lot of you comparing the overclock on ATI to the overclock on NVidia on a 1:1 Hz:Hz basis. this is incorrect different architectures scale differently with a frequency increase. What you all are doing is like comparing a 3.6 ghz Pentium D to a 3.6 ghz Core2 duo.

that said i do not know the scalar but I would imagine that the 100 mhz increase on ATI does a bit more than the 100mhz increase on the Nvidia architecture

Thanks, i wondered when someone was going to point that out :up:

[dinos22]

Can we...not have any more of those fanboyish silly comments like the last quotes ?

Once again, THIS IS NOT an ATi vs nVIDIA THREAD

notice how he strategically uses red colour hahahah :D

[tiro_uspsss]

Your credibility went from 0 to -20 in one post.

so very very true :yepp:

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

9800gx2 > gtx260 for a single slot folding solution. ;)

11000 ppd vs 6700ppd

I've heard good and bad things about microstutter, but I have never run an sli set up. Any videos showing microstutter? I'd consider a9800gx2 or 4 in the future. :up:

[Fungus]

what setting do you run yours in crysis?

I run it at max DX9 settings. =]

[smashhell]

Right. I'm a little confused as to why you're asking for others opinions on a card then, as you seem so ready to lump every single ATi card together on the basis of your one personal experience.

Why are you confused ?

This is a thread about a specific Nvidia card, not ATI cards.

To explain why I dislike ATI based on my own personal experience.
You know when you go to a restaurant and the food they served taste like sh*t; so you never go back ?
It's kinda like that. It's just common sense.

[SoulsCollective]

Why are you confused ?

This is a thread about a specific Nvidia card, not ATI cards.

To explain why I dislike ATI based on my own personal experience.
You know when you go to a restaurant and the food they served taste like sh*t; so you never go back ?
It's kinda like that. It's just common sense.
I'm confused because you obviously value the opinions of others and are attempting to come to an informed decision by asking their input before you make your decision, yet at the same time you're dismissing out of hand half of the potential candidates, offering nothing more than some crude and specious analogy. If you want people's opinions and guidance, it is counter-productive at the least to refuse to hear anything that goes against your own beliefs.

To be perfectly honest, however, and going by the thread title and your other remarks, it seems that what you're really after is vindication, not advice. If so, perhaps a better place to post this thread would be the nVidia forums.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

You know when you go to a restaurant and the food they served taste like sh*t; so you never go back ?
It's kinda like that. It's just common sense.

You know when you make rash generalizations that are completely irrelevant, and then no one ever takes you seriously again?
It's kinda like that. It's just common sense.

:down:


edit: well said souls :clap:

[Sparky]

NOTE TO ALL: I see a lot of you comparing the overclock on ATI to the overclock on NVidia on a 1:1 Hz:Hz basis. this is incorrect different architectures scale differently with a frequency increase. What you all are doing is like comparing a 3.6 ghz Pentium D to a 3.6 ghz Core2 duo.

that said i do not know the scalar but I would imagine that the 100 mhz increase on ATI does a bit more than the 100mhz increase on the Nvidia architecture
Very good point. I just saw this thread, was going to point that out but you already did so thank you.

Your credibility went from 0 to -20 in one post.
He lost credibility of 0 a long time ago. Down to like -1000 now :p:
People call me an AMD or ATI fanboy, and yeah I am, but at least I admit when the other side is doing better and I do own both.

[Slovnaft]

9800gx2 is a powerful card no doubt, on a single i can run Crysis at 1680x1050 at v.high getting 30-40fps.
My gamble with buying two is that the performance of multiple gpu solutions will begin to outpace the gains of monster gpus like 280 when games start to handle multithreading better, as they will be forced to with the developement of nehalem. Maybe that's why Larrabee has like a bajillion cores.
Or something like that.

OH a huge drawbakc though is the thermal issue. It get's HOT, like, 90C on crysis, even after I opened it up and MX2'd datass. I'm gonna flip the PCB's and order up some T-Rad2's.

Picture 4 T-Rad2's on 2 9800gx2's. mmmmm.

[smashhell]

I'm confused because you obviously value the opinions of others and are attempting to come to an informed decision by asking their input before you make your decision, yet at the same time you're dismissing out of hand half of the potential candidates, offering nothing more than some crude and specious analogy. If you want people's opinions and guidance, it is counter-productive at the least to refuse to hear anything that goes against your own beliefs.

To be perfectly honest, however, and going by the thread title and your other remarks, it seems that what you're really after is vindication, not advice. If so, perhaps a better place to post this thread would be the nVidia forums.

I think you took the question and this whole thread wrong. What this thread is after IS vindication. It's asking why a "specfiic" "nvidia" card is being called on and whats wrong with the card. No body said anything about advice on ATI in this thread. And why can't we discuss nvidia card on this forum ? Isn't nvidia graphic cards a part of Computer Hardware ? Or is it that you refuse to read about nvidia. In other words, you just dismissing the other half of the potential candidates as well. ;)

You know when you make rash generalizations that are completely irrelevant, and then no one ever takes you seriously again?
It's kinda like that. It's just common sense.

:down:


edit: well said souls :clap:

Yeah it's generalization, and it's irrelevant to the topic, but it also makes sense. It's called life lessons.

Also you know who no one takes seriously ? fanboys, I'm not saying you're one, but yeah ......

[smashhell]

9800gx2 is a powerful card no doubt, on a single i can run Crysis at 1680x1050 at v.high getting 30-40fps.
My gamble with buying two is that the performance of multiple gpu solutions will begin to outpace the gains of monster gpus like 280 when games start to handle multithreading better, as they will be forced to with the developement of nehalem. Maybe that's why Larrabee has like a bajillion cores.
Or something like that.

OH a huge drawbakc though is the thermal issue. It get's HOT, like, 90C on crysis, even after I opened it up and MX2'd datass. I'm gonna flip the PCB's and order up some T-Rad2's.

Picture 4 T-Rad2's on 2 9800gx2's. mmmmm.

Well, back to topic...

I am using my GX2 and it doesn't have the thermal issues you are encountering. When I play Crysis on the max setting, the card only goes up till 76C. It's much better than my previous card 8800GT that could get up to 100C when playing Crysis. I think you need better cooling ? ;)

[SoulsCollective]

I think you took the question and this whole thread wrong. Why this thread is after IS vindication. It's asking why a "specfiic" "nvidia" card is being called on and whats wrong with the card. No body said anything about advice on ATI in this thread. And why can't we discuss nvidia card on this forum ? Isn't nvidia graphic cards a part of Computer Hardware ? Or is it that you refuse to read about nvidia. In other words, you just dismissing the other half of the potential candidates as well. ;)In your OP, you asked if the card was a good buy, or whether you should return it. I quote -
Well, I just brought the 9800 GX2 yesterday to replace my 8800GT. I didn't read much about it before buying the card (silly me :rolleyes:), but I decided to check the forum today and saw many people calling this card a failure.

Why is that ?
...
Can anyone tell me if I got the wrong card ?...So tell me, do I need to return it for something else ?If you're asking whether a card was a good buy, you by the very nature of the question are comparing the card to any other available cards. You simply can't ask the question without doing so. Both ATi and nVidia make graphics cards. Both ATi and nVidia make and have made great cards and flops. It's sheer folly to ask such a question, but refuse to consider half the potential candidates.

Noone here is telling you not to get nVidia cards, least of all me. You asked why the card hasn't had such a great reception, others tell you. We couldn't very well do this if we were "ignoring nVidia", now could we? If nVidia had a dual-chip card based on a more advanced core, I'm sure you'd see recommendations to get that (provided it performed well). Because they don't, people will recommend a 4870X2, which is currently the only other dual-chip option, as well as probably the best performing card available.

Yeah it's generalization, and it's irrelevant to the topic, but it also makes sense. It's called life lessons.

Also you know who no one takes seriously ? fanboys, I'm not saying you're one, but yeah ......
Oh the irony. You lump all ATi products together, trot out some farcical analogy, say it's just "common sense" to not get ATi products, and you call others fanboys? :ROTF: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye

[Titan7171]

I appreciate you making it a little clearer :) But I must disagree when talking about the price points of the GTX 260 and the HD 4870. You can get a 260 for around $240 and a 4870 as low as $270 (from the egg). Based on those prices, the GTX 260 is a better buy. The performance between the two cards if very similar, but the GTX 260 ends up being the better overclocker. (and in case anyone mentions it, I'm not talking about the 1GB 4870 or the 260 Core cards, they are in a higher price bracket closer to $300)

But, if we're talking about the GX2, one of those can be had for a similar price to both the GTX 260 and HD 4870. The GX2 is the better option because it is faster than both those cards.

We are, of course, talking single card solutions. But someone did mention the 4870X2. Now, off the egg, the lowest you can get an X2 is $550. You can have two GTX 260's for $480 or two 4870's for $540. Price per performance, the SLI option wins. Don't get me wrong, the 4870X2 is a beast of a card, and a wonderful space heater, too. I will have one, just as I will have a pair of 4870's, too. But the 4870X2 surely doesn't beat my 3-way SLI GTX 280's or my oc'd GTX 260's in SLI.

Of course, I'm not the one to go for price per perfomance because of the cards I own. However, if you buy a 4870X2, neither are you.

And benchzowner, I didn't mean to come off pissy, but you seem to understand where I was coming from, so I thank you for your hospitality.

Id love to see a picture of your setups........ tri GTX 280's.....and 2 260's in sli :cool:

Also 3 GTX 280 is at cheapest on newegg $1257+ shipping

2x 4870x2 is $1058m +shipping

I wonder if 2x4870x2 is faster or slower than 3xgtx280??

Thas alot of money!

[sirheck]

I have seen his tri set-up but not his basic sli set-up.
Hey Korben! When are you gonna w/c those triple 280,s:p:

[smashhell]

Oh the irony. You lump all ATi products together, trot out some farcical analogy, say it's just "common sense" to not get ATi products, and you call others fanboys? :ROTF: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye

And I don't see whats wrong with that. That is my personal opinion and my view only. "Fool me once Shame on you Fool me twice Shame on me." If you called this farcical analogy, than maybe you should think about it again.

[insurgent]

Why was everyone hating on the 9800 GX2 ?
Because it wasn't $270 when everybody started "hating" it, and a lot of people, Nvidia fans included, don't like multi-gpu in one pci-e slot (microstuttering, game profiles, etc). It's ok now because it's older, hence cheaper.

[Slovnaft]

Id love to see a picture of your setups........ tri GTX 280's.....and 2 260's in sli :cool:

Also 3 GTX 280 is at cheapest on newegg $1257+ shipping

2x 4870x2 is $1058m +shipping

I wonder if 2x4870x2 is faster or slower than 3xgtx280??

Thas alot of money!

seems like 3 gtx280 is faster (at least in vantage on HWbot), though I don't know many people other than Vince who have acquired and religiously benched the tri-SLI monster.

[fps_dean]

Well the ATI 4870 at around $250 is still a far better buy than a gtx 260 or gtx 280.

The 9800gx2s aren't too bad. Most reviews still put them ahead of the gtx 280 at 1600x1200 or lower resolution.

[fps_dean]

Yes, because Pentium 4 destroyed Athlon and the GTX 200 series crushes the 4800 series in price/performance (or if you want to go way back, the Radeon 9800 sure sucked)! :rolleyes:

LOL! I remember once the Athlon 64s came out (forget about XPs they were trash), using a Pentium 4 became what the Pentium 2 was the day before - an antique!

Oh and let's not forget about the Geforce5 vs the ATI 9000s either, absolutely no competition from Nvidia there. For that matter, the X100 series was faster than the 6 series and X1000 series was faster than the 7 series, unless you're comparing SLI vs Crossfire because then Nvidia wins.

Personally I'm far more comfortable with ATI because then I do not have to wait 4 months for a driver update when I'm getting blue screens as a result of a bad driver.

[B.E.E.F.]

Just like when "they" just to love to hate Intel.
It's all about: "Oh!, I'll stick with the little dog" ideology crap.... etc.


Fanboy: Please stop ruining this nVidia thread you love so much.

[Titan7171]

I have seen his tri set-up but not his basic sli set-up.
Hey Korben! When are you gonna w/c those triple 280,s:p:

It must be a tight fit,.....watercooling prolly would be a nightmare:p:

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

It must be a tight fit,.....watercooling prolly would be a nightmare:p:

.,... not really....

[Gunnz Akimbo]

12400 in 3DMark Vantage with PhysX

on a 3.2 Q6600 + 400FSB, 8GB RAM.

[halo112358]

Nvidia cards are good, but the absolute best?:shakes:

Intel has and has had the better processor?:shakes:

Uh WRONG!

OH BTW I AM QUOTING YOU.

Don't feed the troll, having that discussion with anyone is basically a waste of time.

[sirheck]

Yes i agree.

[bhavv]

I dislike every single X2 card on the market because they wont fit in my case.

Is that a good enough reason?

I didnt buy Nvidia cards for the last few generations since my SLI 6800s because:

1) X1900 xtx was better then the 7800.

2) I dislike Nforce motherboards (My Asus A8R-MVP deluxe and MSI P45 and X48 were / are far better then Nvidia motherboards, my current X48c Platinum is the dogs bollocks and I love the all copper lollercoaster).

3) Nvidia dont have anything that competes with the 4850 for just £120 (I have even seen low profile ones for £100).

4) I love the Zerotherm GX810, and two ATI brands use them on their cards. I can run my 4850s at 700 mhz 24/7 on silent air cooling and they stay below 70 degrees under full strain.

5) To people who judge the 3850 / 4850 on their reference coolers....

Lol, ummm, why are you comparing a budget card against the Geforce 260 which costs over £100 more? And who exactly uses reference coolers nowadays anyway? I would never buy a reference cooled ATI card. That is what we have AIB partners for.

Thank you. I will gladly buy Nvidia again if they release something as cost effective as the 4850 in the future, and make motherboards that are clearly better then Intels.