PNY Geforce 9800GTX graphics card

PNY Geforce 9800GTX graphics card - Review

PNY Geforce 9800GTXA card with three-way SLI, a new cooler design, and more

Pros: Features offer some interesting future-proofing

Cons: Performance is a little disappointing

Bottomline: If you already own a 8800GTS 512MB, this card won’t give you a lot more, but if you are upgrading from a previous generation card it’s worth considering

Manufacturer: PNY

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After launching the Geforce 9800GT and then the high-end 9800GX2, Nvidia is back with the Geforce 9800GTX.

Based on the G92 core, the card replaces the 8800GTX, but in reality it’s just a slightly tweaked 8800GTS 512MB. There are, however, some interesting additions to the feature set.

The 9800GTX core, memory and shader clock speeds have all been improved, but not by a huge amount and the fact is that many of the 8800GTS cards on the market can be overclocked to the same speeds.

The core clock of the 9800GTX runs 25MHz faster than the GTS at 675MHz, while the 512MB of GDDR3 runs 130MHz faster at 1,100MHz (2,200MHz effective) to give the 9800GTX a maximum bandwidth of 70.4Gbytes/sec as opposed to the 62.1Gbytes/sec of the 512MB 8800GTS. The shader clock has also been given a slight boost and increases from 1,625MHz to 1,688MHz.

The more interesting aspects of the 9800GTX are the extra features. The card supports three-way SLI (Scalable Link Interface) and, for the power-conscious, Hybrid Power. A new cooler design provides a variable speed fan that increases spin speed with temperature. This works very well and does the job effectively – perhaps more importantly, it also does it quietly. There’s also a second SLI connector (for running three-way SLI) and a second PCI Express power connector.

PNY’s 9800GTX is based on the reference Nvidia design, using the same two-slot cooling and the clock speeds. The rear plate carries two dual-link DVI ports and an HDTV-out port that can output content up to 1080p.

For gamers, a copy of Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts is included. And a three-year warranty comes as standard with the Geforce 9800GTX graphics card.