Shane Baxtor01 September 2008, 12:17 PM
ASUS has expanded its TOP line-up of cards with the addition of the 9800GTX+, which sports some pretty nice clocks.
The 9800GTX released earlier this year clearly became a fan favourite. Unlike the 8800GT or 9600GT, it gave people who wanted a bit more power and were happy to spend the extra money a very good-value product. With the move to the new GTX200 naming scheme, we thought we'd seen the end of high-end 9000 series products, but we were wrong. NVIDIA has just recently decided to update the 9800GTX with the 9800GTX+.
As far as specifications go, the differences between the standard 9800GTX (which has been discontinued now) and the new plus (+) model really are minimal. Stream processors on both cards are 128 and both offer 512MB of GDDR3 memory on a 256-bit interface, clocked at 2200MHz. What is different is the core, which has been bumped from 675 MHz to 738 MHz, along with the shader clock moving from 1675 MHz to 1836MHz. In essence, the new + variant is nothing more than an overclocked 9800GTX. Considering we’ve also seen companies like ASUS, BFG and XFX offer cores in excess of 700MHz, the clocks aren’t a huge bump.
It’s clear ASUS knew this, though, so they decided to bring the card under their TOP naming scheme and really ramp up the clocks. The core now comes in at 775MHz, the shader clock at 1950MHz and the 512MB of GDDR3 memory goes all the way up to 2360MHz DDR, making it considerably higher than the original 9800GTX.
The only other change to the card is the cooler, which has become a bit curvier to help more cool air pass over the card when running an SLI or Tri-SLI setup. As far as connections go, all the same ones are present with two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors at one end of the card and two SLI connectors at the other. We also have the standard TV-Out port and two Dual-Link DVI connectors. Being a higher-end card there is, of course, a dual-slot cooler used.
Looking at the package, there isn’t a whole lot going on. ASUS hasn’t included a game, though all the standard connectors are present: molex convertors, component-out dongle, DVI to VGA adapter, driver CD, manual CD and speed setup guide. The only added extra in the package that we’re not used to seeing is a leather mouse pad.
Performance compared to the stock 9800GTX is way up, with some good gains being seen across the board. Synthetic tests, including 3DMark06 and Vantage, are way up while games such as UT3, World in Conflict and Crysis also see good gains. Having said that, we wouldn’t turn around and upgrade from a 9800GTX to a 9800GTX+. If you’re looking at upgrading to something better, your money would be better spent on one of the new GTX200 series cards.
The idea behind the 9800GTX+ was to draw attention away from the new HD4000 series from AMD, but unfortunately, due to the long lead time of getting the card to the market, the plan didn’t really work. While the card does perform well, cards like the HD4850, HD4870, GTX260 and GTX280 are now available and are based on the newest technology, so your money would be better spent on one of these.
ASUS has done a good job with the card, but unfortunately the company behind the chip, NVIDIA, didn’t give them a whole lot to work with, making the card again feel like one of the many pointless NVIDIA releases we’ve seen over the past few months. At the end of the day it’s a good card, but a bad model.