EVGA e-GeForce 9800 GTX Graphics Card

The EVGA e-GeForce 9800 GTX represents nVidia's new high-end, single-GPU video card. Though it outperforms and replaces the GeForce 8800 GTX, the 9800 GTX comes in at a much lower price, around $350, leaving the dual-GPU GeForce 9800 GX2 to take over the $500 category. Though the 9800 GTX doesn't match the 9800 GX2's performance, it's less expensive and easier to use in a multiple-monitor setup, has lower power requirements, and outperforms all the other single-GPU cards out there.

The 9800 GTX is a 10.5-inch long card that blocks an adjacent slot to make room for its large cooler. If you have a window on the side of your PC, you'll be glad to know that this time, nVidia has paid extra attention to style—the cooler isn't a big box, but has a wave shape around the fan. EVGA brands the black cooler with a slick bright-green energy motif, classier than the soldiers or hot girls adorning some competitors' graphics cards. Even though it only needs to cool a single GPU, the fan is somewhat louder than that of the 9800 GX2, but it's still relatively quiet.

The 9800 GTX doesn't introduce any major new features, or even offer a staggering performance jump over earlier cards. It's essentially a souped-up version of the design used in the GeForce 8800 GT and the new GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB. But the main thing it brings to the table is increased speed, and it does that very well. In our tests, the 512MB 9800 GTX consistently beat every other single-GPU card we've tested. In fact, it even matched or outperformed the dual-GPU ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 card in our DirectX 10 (DX10) tests, though that card outpaced it in the DX9 3DMark06 and F.E.A.R. tests.

In our Company of Heroes DX10 tests at 1,920x1,280 resolution, the 9800 GTX turned in a smooth 40.5 frames per second (fps), compared to 26.9fps for the HD 3870 X2 and 20.4fps for the 512MB 8800 GTS. In the demanding World in Conflict DX10 test at the same resolution, the 9800 GTX clocked 23fps, compared to 19fps for the 8800 GTS and 12fps for the HD 3870 X2. In comparison, the 9800 GX2 managed 37fps, leaving the single-GPU cards in the dust. You can enhance 3D performance by adding more 9800 GTX cards to enable dual- or triple-card Scalable Link Interface (SLI) configurations on nForce-chipset motherboards; nVidia says, in fact, that the 9800 GTX may be faster in a 3-Way SLI configuration than a pair of 9800 GX2s in Quad SLI in some situations.

The e-GeForce 9800 GTX sports a pair of dual-link DVI outputs, as well as a component-video/S-Video connector. Like other GeForce 9000-series cards, the 9800 GTX supports HDMI output and can pass digital audio through an HDMI connection. The EVGA card doesn't include the necessary conversion dongle for HDMI output, however, so you'll need to purchase a certified DVI-to-HDMI adapter to connect to a TV or monitor via an HDMI cable.

The 9800 GTX uses two six-pin PCI Express power connectors and requires a 450-watt power supply. On upcoming motherboards supporting nVidia's HybridPower technology, the 9800 GTX card will be able to shut down entirely and transfer responsibility to the lower-power motherboard GPU when you're not using 3D applications.

The earlier 8800 GTX didn't have the extensive support for hardware video acceleration of the lower-end 8000-series cards. The 9800 GTX, on the other hand, has full PureVideo HD support, which lowers CPU load during DVD and Blu-ray playback, offering full hardware decoding of MPEG2 and H.264, and partial acceleration of VC-1 video. Like other 9000-series cards, it supports faster dual-stream decode acceleration, dynamic contrast enhancement, and automatic enhancement of green, blue, and skin-tone colors. Video playback was smooth with both standard-def and HD content, with excellent color reproduction and artifact-free playback on both a 30-inch LCD monitor and a 56-inch DLP TV.

Also, if you have an SLI-capable motherboard and a strong-enough power supply, you can pair two 9800 GX2 cards to get Quad SLI performance. Quad SLI for 9800 GX2 cards isn't yet available for testing, but nVidia promises improvements over the first generation of the technology, including better scaling performance when adding a second 9800 GX2. Of course, you'll likely need to crank every setting to maximum on a 30-inch monitor to truly benefit from Quad SLI. (Or play Crysis.)

While the 9800 GTX is eclipsed by the 9800 GX2 in the performance department, it has more reasonable power requirements, avoids the need to shut down additional monitors when gaming (unless you use it in an SLI configuration), and is much less expensive. It offers excellent performance in the most demanding games and accelerated video playback, all at a price about $200 less than the introductory price of nVidia's previous-generation GTX card.

EVGA backs the card with a limited lifetime warranty, as well as its 90-day Step Up program, which lets you upgrade to a faster card within 3 months for the difference in price between the cards.