Every now and then manufacturers come up with graphics cards featuring two separate GPU's. The last attempt by NVIDIA on this sector was the GeForce 7950 GX2 that indeed was the fastest graphics card on the markets for a while, but was soon overtaken by a single chipped GeForce 8800 GTX. Some card manufacturers have also tried their wings on making graphics cards with multiple GPU's, but those attempts have never really hit the mainstream markets. Now NVIDIA has once again taken the pole position with their new card. The GeForce 9800 GX2 has two G92 GPU's working in SLI mode and taking only a one PCI Express slot without needing an SLI ready mainboard. - MetkuMods

Gainward BLISS 9800 GX2 1GB Edition Board Review

The card comes in a box almost identical to the one seen with the Gainward BLISS 8800 GT graphics card. Indeed it's the same down to the 1024MB sticker and speech. There are no images showing the actual card inside, but one may expect the buyer to know what they are getting when getting top of the range hardware. Even though the GeForce 9800 GX2 is one of the largest graphics cards on the markets today, the box still seems to have room for three of these cards. The bundle of the BLISS 9800 GX2 is very minimal and doesn't include a power adapter which is a pitty as it required an 8-pin power connection.

The top side of the huge card features a large Gainward sticker and some ventilation holes through which the crossflow fan sucks its air. The GeForce 9800 GX2 is entirely wrapped in a housing that both enhances the looks and also protects the circuit boards from any possible damage. Also the bottom side is entirely hidden under the housing. In normal cases this side of the case points at the floor, so Gainward hasn't added their stickers to this side of the housing. On the top side of the card, near the rear panel, there's a small hatch that hides the single SLI connector so one extra card can be added for a Quad SLI system.

As a conclusion of the GeForce 9800 GX2 edition we have to say that it's a truely impressive piece of kit. We had our doubts about dual-GPU systems, but in our tests the SLI worked nicely and gave a significant performance boost over single card setups. The cooler leaves a bit to be improved and the lack of support for multiple monitors in SLI mode is a somehow set back compared to ATI's multi-GPU systems. The Gainward's take on the GeForce 9800 GX2 follows very closely the NVIDIA reference design and comes with a very limited bundle. The right amount of bundle is always a matter of opinions.

As we saw in the power consumption measurements, the GeForce 9800 GX2 doesn't really draw huge amounts of power and most decent power supplies from a few years back should be able to cope with the load. The adapters can't really be bought separately so for everyone who plans on buying a GeForce 9800 GX2 make sure your power supply has the right connector or you get a card that comes with an adapter. The connector issue aside, the Gainward BLISS 9800 GX2 graphics card is the fastest card on the markets today and doesn't really have any set backs.