The NVIDIA high-end video card product range has once again been updated. Dubbed GeForce 9800 GTX, we were wondering what this new product has to offer us compared to the other video cards currently available on the market. Gainward offered us their BLISS 9800 GTX version, based on the reference specifications this is how NVIDIA originally introduced their card. Gainward is a world leading producer of high-quality, high-end 3D accelerators for the personal computer market. Gainward offers a full product line of value adding products targeting gaming enthusiasts as well as entry-level consumers. We just need to find out how cool and quiet this new high-end video card really is. - Madshrimps

Gainward BLISS 9800 GTX 512MB Video Card Review

The NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX card is the newest addition for high-end gaming market. Named the GTX, this card is in real life far from an update compared to the previous generation GeForce 8 high-end counterpart. The new GTX is based on the successful G92 GPU which was first introduced back in September 2007, with the launch of the GeForce 8800 GT. The same core came back when the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB was introduced and now it is again used as footprint for a new generation of video cards coming from the green camp. The GeForce 9800 GTX features 128 stream processors and uses GDDR3 memory chips.

Those who've had Gainward products before might recognize the box design. It's not really anything special compared to many other products out there. The GeForce 9800 GTX branded Gainward is just like the older GTX a card that comes with a large PCB and dual slot cooling. The heatsink is covered with plastic so that the air passes through the entire heatsink before leaving the computer housing. NVIDIA designed their card with high-end in mind, on this card you have dual 6-pin power connectors which will please the enthusiasts who are searching for extended stability overclocking their video card.

Unfortunately the Gainward BLISS 9800 GTX is pretty hard to find currently in the Benelux region, but considering it is clocked at reference specifications you may well find it priced somewhere in between $300 and $350. The GeForce 8800 GTS can be found at prices starting from $270 going up to $300. The mainstream GeForce 8800 GT can be found as low as $190 but also up to $250 for after market version with factory overclocking. In all our tests the Gainward BLISS 9800 GTX came out as fastest, sometimes performing over 10 percent faster then the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB although in some both were even.

Factory overclocked GeForce 8800 GTS's may perform on par, or sometimes even better and this at lower prices. On the other hand, while the GeForce 8800 GTS is still a mainstream product you can clearly see the GeForce 9800GTX is all high-end glory. The PCB has few tweaks and improvements, faster memory, better power distribution and probably the most important off all the 3-Way SLI support. All in all the GeForce 9800 GTX scores average in performance per dollar, worse than the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB and we must conclude that the new GTX is not worth its GTX label.

What questions us the most is why NVIDIA did not increase the reference clock frequencies further of the GeForce 9800 GTX. From our overclocking tests we noticed that the G92 yields are excellent and overall there was quite some headroom left for such a high-end product. NVIDIA could have easily added around seven percent more performance at launch date, something which would certainly be much appreciated by those looking for a replacement in the high-end market, but as it is right now we would say that the GeForce 9800 GTX is only interesting for using 3-Way SLI, which is an all other topic.