Hardware XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 600M 1GB

too bad that nforce boards are rubbish compared to intel ones... i'll never understand how nivida can fail for such a long time to bring out a good chipset, i mean p35 has been around for ages and nvidia cant compete (and unlike amd there is no lack of money for r&d excuse for nvidia).

two 8800 GTS 512 are clearly the better deal if you just look at the cards performance and also its easier to fit aftermarket coolers on them and as a result easier to oc.

but, the 9800GX2 is overpriced, two 8800GTS 512 would require an nfarce mainboard, the performance of 3870x2 is inconsistant...

i'll just stick with the 8800 GTS 640 i've had in my main comp for a long time and the 8800 GT 512 i've got not too long ago for my second comp and wait until either nvidia or amd come out with something that is a) a clear upgrade and b) good bang for the buck and c) doesnt force me to change mainboard to one of a lesser quality.

 

Like a piece of cloth or gloves!?
Seriously though I don't see any reason to invest in a dual GPU graphics card or any sence in the whole idea for that matter.I mean doesn't anyone else think NVIdia is going to abbandone their product's support once the next latest and greatest card arrives.And that's just the case in a nutshell - unlike dual-core CPUs these kinds of cards require constant attention from the coders @ the [company name here].
Even after 4 years since the introduction of SLi there's no example of good implementation and proper scaling ,let alone 3-way-SLi.
Those are my thoughts anyway I guess the industry really is moving away from high end cards and onto value oriented mid-rangers which is a good thing for the consumer but doesn't drive tech foreward.

 

So then, given I could save for this and have it in about 2month is this going to be more powerful than the 9800GTX given I will only run a single GPU?

 

Spend the money on a single 8800GT, don't buy odd number GF's they have always been a letdown.

 

Cool. But I'm not sitting on a fat enough wallet for this to become a reality.

 

I'd rather save my money and update my system with a good mid-range card every 1.5 years or so. Many consumers go out and by a pc from companies like D*ll and G*teway expecting that they will have a machine that can play games. Sure, those machines will play the games, but only if you keep the graphics at lower settings. I personally bought an off the shelf computer, but I knew when I purchased it that I would need to spend some cash replacing the power supply and video card. I use the reviews on Bit-Tech to keep myself educated, but the as for the average uninformed consumer....

<RANT> It doesn't help that companies issue a 9000 series card and yet it under performs certain models in the 8000 series. The average consumer doesn't realize this. In general most people think a bigger number and newer release date implies a better product. You can't always go by the retail price tag either, the new card sometimes may be more expensive while the better card is comparable or cheaper.</RANT>

 

@ Lord

They went with the 9xxxx because the 8xxx series is cluttered. They should have changed with the 8800gt's and the GTS512's.

I like this card. It looks like beast (which is good in a mod) and I bet you'll be able to clock the hell out of it when it's watercooled. I'm looking at the OC results on this review which are pretty much kick ass. They are only going to be that much better under H2O and maybe a little bit of vmodding.

Unfortunately I am still pretty content with my 7900gtx and my biggest need is a Quad core to replace my aging 3200+. So Hopefully i can get a Q6600 and a 680i (I see no advantage with DDR3 or 7xx) soon enough to make this card useful.

If I were to ask the graphics manufacturers to do anything it would be to stop with multigpu. It's time for Multicore. Why don't our graphics cards have multiple cores? a quadcore GTX would stomp. I wouldn't even care that I needed a generator for it. It would rock. I think that all this crap about having to buy two or three cards is ridiculous. Even though I think that the new GX2 is cool, I'd rather have a single card solution. Also hardware decoding to support multi gpu's would be nice. It would be awesome to eliminate drivers (sorta) and be able to send game information directly to the gpu and have the gpu's split it up instead of relying on the game developers to code for multigpu. It would make things better by far.

 

i would rather a X2 + 3870 and run in crossfire X and beat it for less.

 

Quick Question. I bought one of these.
I'm having trouble powering it up. I have a OCZ 600w PSU. With two 6 pin power connectors. I get the red light on the 8 pin connector. Does that mean this thing won't work without an 8 pin connector, or my power supply isn't good enough?

 

I dedicated a whole page to this...

 

have you tested with Corsair Hx620w?? does the 6+2 PCIe wires fit? and will it be enough to power it?

 

u need 8 pin.

 

We tried the card out with an Enermax DXX 1000W unit, an Enermax Pro 82+ 625W (that we reviewed today), a Corsair TX750W, a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750W and a Thermaltake Toughpower 1500W unit. We haven't got an HX620 to hand unfortunately.

 

Great review.
well i have two personal conclusion. One bad and a good one.
The bad: Zero innovation in modeling this card, is disappointing the fact that when is great realese of the King of the 9 series is just for find out that the really big king of price/performance is the 9600 or even the 8800gt/gts of the past serie.
The good: Those who bought a 8800 a long time ago, still can proud of their purchase.

I really know that the G92 was a great thing, but stop!. There is no case put a new name or number when is the almost the same thing.
-------
I can get another good thing: may this year would be for AMD cards... waiting for rv700

 

was the Corsair unit's cable able to get into Gx2 socket?

 

With a bit of fiddling, yes

Oh, I forgot to mention the Tagan too... that was one of the few that didn't plug in (oversized PCIe connectors, heh)

 

I am a strong believer any SLI / Crossfire solution is totaly gimmick and totaly overkill useless waste of resources. It cost lots of money, takes up space on the motherboard, heats up te system, drains more power and needs more power, the benefits are minimalistic, the support is minimal, its only useful for games, and the game list that actualy uses SLI is 10% and the games that actualy need all the power is 1%. Its also useless on the long run because any overkill SLI / Crossfire will be surpassed by a more powerful less power demanding single card solution with the next gen dx XX functions anyway. And by the time games fully take advantage of the 'obsolete' hardware, there are new cards available with 60% more functions and power.

And then you have the insane situation that you want SLI on a new intel motherboard but you cant, because all of them are crossfire. Unless you take a 2 year old nvidia 'intel' motherboard that cant run new cpu's. Or have to wait till end 2008 the get a actualy new intel/sli board. You got all the sli power and you cant use it with the most powerfull cpu's.

The fact is that 'they' invent a desperade need for the consumers that isnt needed at all in the first place...