![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Sunday , September 14, 2008
- Author:
- Matthew Krysiak
- Editor:
- Brent Justice
- Google +1
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+
The GeForce 9800 GTX+ is supposed to offer better performance than a GeForce 9800 GTX to compete with the Radeon HD 4870. We see how the GeForce 9800 GTX+ stacks up against GeForce 9800 GTX and the ATI Radeon HD 4870 in Crysis, Age of Conan, Call of Duty 4, and Race Driver: Grid.
Introduction
XFX is a well-known manufacturer to most PC gamers. A subsidiary of PINE Technology, XFX specializes in PC video cards and motherboards featuring NVIDIA GeForce GPUs and nForce core logic. The XFX website states:
XFX dares to go where the competition would like to, but can’t. That’s because, at XFX, we don’t just create great digital video components—we build all-out, mind-blowing, performance-crushing, competition-obliterating video cards and motherboards. And, not only are they amazing, you don’t have to live on dry noodles and peanut butter to afford them.
XFX is known for their transferrable lifetime warranties, even if the cooling device is modified or replaced. Please be advised, though, that in order to receive this protection, the video card must be registered on the XFX website within 30 days of the original purchase, or the warranty defaults to just 1 year of coverage.
Today we are going to be focusing on XFX’s referenced clock GeForce 9800 GTX+: the XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ PV-T98W-YDFH .
The GeForce 9800 GTX+
The GeForce 9800 GTX+ was quietly announced on June 19th to fill a void in NVIDIA’s video card lineup. This void was created when NVIDIA released there GeForce GTX 200 series that provided a sizable gameplay improvement over their predecessor the GeForce 9800 GTX. With the release of the ATI’s Radeon HD 4800 series, this void stood out even more thanks to the ATI Radeon HD 4870. The 4870 was cheaper than the GeForce GTX 260 but didn’t quite match it in performance. The 4870 was also more expensive the GeForce 9800 GTX but made up for it in performance.
As the name implies the GeForce 9800 GTX+ is a refresh of the GeForce 9800 GTX. So what did NVIDIA decide to do with this refresh? Basically NVIDIA has shrunk the GPU from 65nm to 55nm. Shrinking the manufacturing process has the potential to lead to better energy efficiency, lower temperatures, and higher GPU clock speeds. The GPU reference frequency of the 9800 GTX+ is an underwhelming 63MHz higher than a 9800 GTX. Yes, the 9800 GTX+ is clocked at 738MHz. We have seen manufacturers overclocked 9800 GTXs that have a higher GPU frequency than that. They did not decide to increase the memory bus or memory capacity or even change the memory frequency. The memory frequency is still 2.2GHz.
XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+
The XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+ PV-T98W-YDFH is a reference card through and through. Its GPU is clocked at the reference speed of 738MHz and its stream processors are at 1836MHz. Its 512MB of GDDR3 memory is running at 2.2GHz. It is the perfect card to see just how well the GeForce 9800 GTX+ will stack up against the original 9800 GTX and Radeon HD 4870.
The front of the box has what looks to be an engine if the headers, air filter, and exhaust are any indications. It also has a few useful pieces of information on it including the core frequency, the memory size and that it is PCI Express 2.0 card. The back of the box continues the graphical theme and lists some key features: DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0, PureVideo HD, Hybrid Power, etc.
On the front of the video card, we once again see the engine graphical theme. The rest of the heatsink shroud and the PCI cover are black. The 9800 GTX+ also uses the same reference double slot heatsink as a 9800 GTX. This is fine by us since it has proven itself to work well.
Underneath the hot air outlet in the PCI cover are the two standard DVI ports and one S-video port. Around to the back of the card are two six-pin auxiliary power connectors. On the side of the card are the SLI and audio connectors.
On the back of the card we can see a number of chips and other electronic components along with the fourteen screws that hold the heatsink in place. Included with the card is a quick install guide, a “Do Not Disturb” door-hanger, a driver CD, a tips and techniques guide for managing your wiring, a DVI to D-sub adapter, a two four-pin to six-pin power adaptor, an internal audio cable, a eight-pin to six-pin power adaptor, and a HDTV cable.
The Competition
To test out the XFX GeForce 9800 GTX+, which is currently $169 after mail-in-rebate, we will be using a reference GeForce 9800 GTX that can be found for only $142 after mail-in-rebate. This should show just how much better gameplay experience the 9800 GTX+ can provide. We have also added a ATI Radeon HD 4870 to this test.