With the recent GeForce 9 series NVIDIA has created quite a lot of confusion. Instead of a major update it seems that most GeForce 9 cards are merely updated versions of GeForce 8 cards, and unfortunately named so you cannot figure out which card is based on which. The GeForce 9800 GTX is a perfect example. While the name implies that it is an upgrade for the GeForce 8800 GTX, which it in a way is, it also is just a higher clocked GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB. You might wonder why NVIDIA didn't just use GeForce 9 series for all their G92 based cards but we may never know why. So it sounds logical that the GeForce 9800 GTX should be just as good, doesn't it? - Bjorn3D

Sparkle GeForce 9800 GTX Series Video Card Review

There isn't much that distinguishes this card from the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB from Sparkle. The card comes in the now familiar Sparkle box. It is a nice looking box but the more cards that Sparkle release which uses this box the harder it is to distinguish the cards from each other when on the store shelf. The card itself looks almost the same as the Sparkle GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB but a closer look reveals it seems to be a bit longer. It also has two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors while the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB only needed one. So we guess that some extra power is needed for the GeForce 9800 GTX version.

We were very impressed with the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB from Sparkle a while ago. As this in many ways is the same card we of course also are very impressed with this card. The performance you get at this price level is pretty impressive. There is nothing that makes this card stand out from the competition except for the price. Compared to other GeForce 9800 GTX cards the Sparkle version is one of the cheapest ones. On the other hand you do not get any HDMI adapter and there is not even the option to hook up sound to the card. The bundle is also non-existent, meaning the graphics card is all you are getting.

The question of course is what benefit this card actually has over a regular GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB. In our benchmarks we see both games where the extra clock speed is put to good use and games where you do not get any increase in performance at all. Bottom line is that if you can find the Sparkle GeForce 9800 GTX at the same price as the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB you definitely might as well go with the GeForce 9800 GTX. There is however little sense in paying a premium for the GeForce 9800 GTX unless 3-Way SLI support is really valuable for you.