9800GTX Review thread

[SKYMTL]

Not too bad. I thought the card was voltage limited to around 845-855Mhz. Guess I was around 10Mhz off...

That wasn't on stock cooling, was it?

[malik22]

SKYMTL from your experience with these cards is the 3870X2 faster then the 9800gtx ingame ofcourse.

[Origin_Unknown]

i've taken the decision to skip this card and wait for the next offering i.e. the next nvidia or ati.

bought a club3d 8800gt for my spare pc

[bluehaze]

Not too bad. I thought the card was voltage limited to around 845-855Mhz. Guess I was around 10Mhz off...

That wasn't on stock cooling, was it?

No, that one was with HR-03 this one is stock cooling though:

[Linchpin]

Still a very good overclock especially for stock cooling. What fan speed was this at?

[Leeghoofd]

Really good OC there as I topped out on my 8800GTS 512 around 820Mhz, ram at 1150 and Shaders at 2000....

But so many websites have tried and couldn't get even 800mhz GPU... did they leave fan at auto settings ? I always cranck mine up to 90% when doing OC'ing...

Püzzled there...

[SKYMTL]

SKYMTL from your experience with these cards is the 3870X2 faster then the 9800gtx ingame ofcourse.

Some of the games I benched were in-game timedemos. One of the larger improvements I saw in playability was with the X2 in CoH: OF. In the next few weeks I will be TOTALLY redoing the methodology for CoH because that is one benchmark that really does not show the actual playability of the game itself.

In my initial testing for the new methodology using about 20 minutes of actual gameplay + FRAPS I get an AVERAGE of 52fps @ 1600x1200 4xAA in DX9 with the 8800GT 512MB. This compares to an average of about 103fps with the built-in benchmark. This is due to the fact that I have found that when you are zoomed out as far as the camera will go, you put MORE stress on your GPU then when the camera is zoomed in close (a la benchmark).

Anyways, the one game which I find the X2 to provide the most improvement in is actually World in Conflict. When I am gaming at 1600x1200 on my 20" monitor, it really improves the gameplay experience.

[SKYMTL]

But so many websites have tried and couldn't get even 800mhz GPU... did they leave fan at auto settings ? I always cranck mine up to 90% when doing OC'ing...

I got mine up to 807Mhz on stock cooling with the default fan speed profile. I just can't see how someone would get more than that without bumping up their fan speed...

[cole2109]

No, that one was with HR-03 this one is stock cooling though:

Run AtiTool artefacts scaner! I doubt that it is stable on 864/2268/1293 (no Vmod)!
I tested BFG, Club3D, Gigabyte and max stable shader was from 2000-2106 amd max stable mem 2200-2230!

[Leeghoofd]

Run AtiTool artefacts scaner! I doubt that it is stable on 864/2268/1293 (no Vmod)!
I tested BFG, Club3D, Gigabyte and max stable shader was from 2000-2106 amd max stable mem 2200-2230!

Don't think he wants stable just benchable...

[railmeat]

i've taken the decision to skip this card and wait for the next offering i.e. the next nvidia or ati.

bought a club3d 8800gt for my spare pc

agree on the hold for a lesser hardware spec card, im now waiting on 9900gtx series (512 ram bus\1gig gddr4) etc .but i am going to grab a second 8800gtx for $289 for my spare rig .or could even sli my main rig.im so glad the 9800gtx came out only to disappoint me spec wise but in turn lowed the 8800gtx alot!it was $420 last week,now under $300. love nvidia win\win always.


amazing review again man,thank you for taking the time.

[bluehaze]

Run AtiTool artefacts scaner! I doubt that it is stable on 864/2268/1293 (no Vmod)!
I tested BFG, Club3D, Gigabyte and max stable shader was from 2000-2106 amd max stable mem 2200-2230!

Not my card, that guy also posted 3dmark06 scores with it though they were in the 19 thousands so it is stable enough to bench with. I don't know about playing games.

I do have two of these on order though plan to overclock stock first and see what they can do and then vmod becuase I think maybe can get the core over 1ghz with a vmod! Will post some results when they get here.

[Leeghoofd]

Review of the Asus card having nice clocking potential :

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...n9800gtx/5.htm

Extract :

The Asus EN9800GTX went straight up to 852MHz on the GPU core, 1250MHz on the memory and the shader clock topped at 2106MHz. Regardless of the utility used (Smart Doctor, Riva Tuner 2.08, Ntune), I achieved the same result. All of these results are significant gains over the stock speeds. An increase of 177MHz on the core equates to a 21% increase in core clockspeed. A 20% increase in shader clockspeed (442MHz), as well as a 12%, or 150MHz, increase on the memory is nothing to shake your head at either. The performance potential is huge with the 9800GTX series of cards.

Rest of the review is so so, as the benchmarks seems doubtfull...

[SKYMTL]

Please note that the overclock stated above is pretty much what EVERYONE is getting from these cards...

[Exedy]

NOOB question...the PCB on 98GTX is the same of GTS G92? o_o

[ultimeus]

nope, I read somewhere 9800gtx pcb is 12 layers and 8800gts 10 layers, gtx is longer and have one more power phase than GTS.

[railmeat]

nope, I read somewhere 9800gtx pcb is 12 layers and 8800gts 10 layers, gtx is longer and have one more power phase than GTS.

if thats true "9800gtx pcb is 12 layers'' then why only 256 rambus and 512 ram on the card and not 512\1 gig card?call me lame but i was expecting the 9800gtx to be a complete hardware spec beast and not lesser then a 8800gtx\ultra?i mean it seems like a fancy 8800gt 512 card,nothing more? to think i waited so long for this card to upgrade from my 8800gtx..

[ultimeus]

if thats true "9800gtx pcb is 12 layers'' then why only 256 rambus and 512 ram on the card and not 512\1 gig card?call me lame but i was expecting the 9800gtx to be a complete hardware spec beast and not lesser then a 8800gtx\ultra?i mean it seems like a fancy 8800gt 512 card,nothing more? to think i waited so long for this card to upgrade from my 8800gtx..

There is no link between 12 layers pcb and performance, It's only for better thermal dissipation.

If you have a 8800GTX you have to wait for next gen (june) or sell it and buy a ultra or a gx2 if you want more.

[Lu(ky]

I read some of the reviews... I see the 9800GTX OC like mad.. I was planning on a eVGA 9800GX2 card $620.00 or get 2 9800GTX and OC them for a SLI setup.. I see many benchmarks but not much of the 9800GTX OCed high. Just wondering which way to go... I would keep my 8800GT (92) if I have too and wait tell July..

[ultimeus]

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...n9800gtx/5.htm

This is a review with stock and OC results.

[karateo]

http://www.overclockersclub.com/revi...n9800gtx/5.htm

This is a review with stock and OC results.

already posted

I am looking forward to more users' reviews. What is the average overclock from users with stock and aftermarket cooling.

Those site reviews are usually not very reliable. (there are some exceptions)

Also, with the average overclock on stock cooling what kind of improvements on fps should someone expect at 1600x1200 resolutions (an average one)?

[SKYMTL]

Those site reviews are usually not very reliable. (there are some exceptions)

Also, with the average overclock on stock cooling what kind of improvements on fps should someone expect at 1600x1200 resolutions (an average one)?

Well, while I would take exception to that I guess you are entitled to your opinion. Aside from being the writer for one of those sites you mention I am also a regular "user" as well and I can say that my overclocks are as follows:

807Mhz core on stock cooling on the default fan speed profile

851Mhz core with a Thermalright HR-03 GT

As for the improvement on stock cooling, it is about 10-15% in Crysis with and without AA turned on at 1600x1200 and that pretty much carries from game to game except WiC DX10 where I saw quite a bit less of an improvement for some reason.

[triple_A]

I can get a brand new club3d 9800gtx for 250euro's, think i'm going to get it..
or get another 9600 and run sli..

AAH can't make up my mind

[railmeat]

There is no link between 12 layers pcb and performance, It's only for better thermal dissipation.

If you have a 8800GTX you have to wait for next gen (june) or sell it and buy a ultra or a gx2 if you want more.

"There is no link between 12 layers pcb and performance, It's only for better thermal dissipation."

- i agree


'If you have a 8800GTX you have to wait for next gen (june) or sell it and buy a ultra or a gx2 if you want more.[/QUOTE]"

ultra is only a overclocked gtx..pointless buying a ultra for me

9800gtx is no way better clock for clock then a 8800gtx and we already know this.and at higher res a 8800gtx kills it in games,i read the numbers.

now the 9800gx2 is not going to happen for me when i can buy another 8800gtx for under $300 and sli em to crush a single 9800gx2 for $600..

[SKYMTL]

Did you try OC'ing in tri-sli? I had 3 GTX9800's on my bench and I couldn't get them to OC over 750/1200. They would lock up just about everytime.

Maybe one of these days I will have access to that kind of hardware without forking over a ridiculous amount of money. So to answer your question...no.

As for the overclocking, in my experience the cards will NOT go over 850 to 855Mhz without manually increasing the fan speed or adding an aftermarket cooler. But your issue with Tri SLI overclocking seems more due to a driver issue than a heat issue. Remember ATI's issues with overclocking the HD2900XT cards in Crossfire?