Asus EN9800GTX/HTDP/512M

At last Nvidia have produced the follow up to the GeForce 8800 GTX and it definitely does not have the impact the 8800 GTX had but it does fix many of it's shortcomings in regards to heat and power consumption. It is also one heck of a performer. What we're more interested in seeing though is the true next-gen follow up to the card from Nvidia what they might have been working on up their sleeve the past 1.5 years since the 8800 GTX's launch. As for the Asus EN9800 GTX card they've done a good job with it as usual for the company and you can't go wrong with picking it up and with this powerful a card it should last you some time. Currently it can be had for $310 after rebate from Newegg which is also a good price for this quality of a card. From Asus we look forward to seeing what they might do with the reference design and the only shortcoming we see is possibly the lack of a good software bundle.

Underneath the new naming scheme sits a familiar core architecture we call the G92, and it smells just as sweet now as it did in 8800 GTS trim. This time around, higher clockspeeds translate into higher performance across the board, giving Nvidia yet another capable GPU in what's fast becoming a dominant landscape for the company. And for you balls-to-the-wall performance buffs, you can slap three 9800 GTX videocards into a compatible motherboard for tri-SLI nirvana. Combined with the capable (and quiet) cooling solution, there's a lot to like here. Still, we can't help but feel somewhat disappointed with this latest release, no matter what Shakespeare wrote 400+ years ago. Don't get us wrong, we still adore the G92 architecture, but we had hoped for a little more out of a brand new series from Nvidia. We've already seen what the G92 can do, but what it can't do is process DirectX 10.1 instructions, nor can it leave AMD in the dust, or even its own previous cards based on the same core. Ultimately, the 9800 GTX serves as a stop-gap before Nvidia unveils its true next-gen GPU, the GT200.

In a direct head-to-head against the G80 8800GTX, it outperformed the previous generation card in 29 out of 32 benchmarks. The fact is that the 9800GTX is faster by a large margin in some games and marginally faster in others. Faster is still faster in my book, regardless of the FPS difference. When the 8800GTX cards were introduced, the price tag for the highest level of performance was a tough pill to swallow at $600+. On the other hand, the EN9800 GTX is a steal at $299. An introductory price half of its predecessors, better performance in most instances, better HD capabilities, Tri-SLI capability, Hybrid SLI capable, all wrapped up in a single solution. What else could you want?

I find it hard to outright recommend this card to most people, because the fact is, most 8800 GTS 512 cards can be had for $260 - $280, meaning it's at least $50 less expensive than most 9800 GTX cards. This would be a small issue if the 9800 GTX blew past the 8800 GTS 512 in our tests, but that wasn't the case. As we saw with ASUS' modestly overclocked EN8800GTS 512, even a small overclock can drive a 9800 GTX to shame. To save money but still acquire amazing performance, the 8800 GTS 512 is a good deal, since if taking the SLI route, you are saving almost $100 for similar performance. Overclock a bit... and you match or even surpass 9800 GTX performance. With that information, it confuses me even more as to why this is a "GTX" card. It would make much more sense as a "GTS".

The 9800 GTX looks good as always, but with word coming that NVIDIA are already talking about the 9900 series, you have to wonder how many people are going to jump on the bandwagon.