NVIDIA usually pleases the enthusiast community with their product launches, and no launch has been more memorable lately than the GeForce 8800 series graphics card launch more than eighteen months ago. So when the GeForce 9800 GTX product came in April there was lot of commotion surrounding the new crown prince. With a successful debut of the GeForce 8800 GTX a long time ago, the level of enthusiast skepticism surrounding the new GeForce 9800 GTX was unquestionably high. First came the mid-level GeForce 9600 GT, and then the ultra-high GeForce 9800 GX2 which utilized two G92 cores. Yet the GeForce 9800 GTX remains the fastest single GPU graphics card. - Benchmark Reviews

Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX OverClock Board Review

Since several of these former heavyweight products are now threatened with replacement by the new GeForce 9800 GTX, there seems to be a lot of concern as to how well it performs against the older GeForce 8800 GTX and Ultra which it supersedes. Gamers want to know if the GX2 is worth the money, or if they should wait. Making this decision a little more difficult is yet another change to the upcoming graphics market. Powered by the NVIDIA G92 graphics processor originally introduced with the GeForce 8800 GT series, the Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX OC edition video card takes the GeForce family one step higher.

The newer PCI Express 2.0 interface increased the data rate throughput, which then uses the memory bus to feed the 512MB video frame buffer for smoother performance and realistic textures in games. The 2200MHz fast GDDR3 memory on the GTX communicates with the 685MHz clocked graphics processor through a 256-bit memory interface. And for an extra performance boost during intense gaming situations, NVIDIA has designed the GeForce 9800 GTX version to offer 128 stream processors operating at 1713MHz. The second generation PureVideo HD technology delivers the ultimate high definition video viewing experience.

Since the next architecture uses the GeForce GTX 200 GPU, you can expect that the GeForce 9800 GTX will remain in the second highest chipset in the current product roadmap for at least a short while longer. It really surprises us to see some of the older items still clinging to the list such as the GeForce 7300 GS, but every step in the ladder serves their purpose. This brings us back to comparing the GeForce 8800 GTX against the new GeForce 9800 GTX graphics card. So is the GeForce 9800 GTX worth your investment? Since the actual launch price starts around $299, the motivation isn't all that hard to muster up.

We feel that the Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX has a lot more to offer gamers and enthusiast than we might first expect. And for most video cards functionality is measured in video games. However, in rare cases the GeForce 9800 GTX can be suited for more than just one purpose. The Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX includes native HDMI video output and offers digital audio output. Collectively rated, the G92 graphics processor offers full HDMI audio and video output, with decent performance improvement in Crysis and World in Conflict over an overclocked GeForce 8800 GTX, excellent cooling improvements and 3-Way SLI functionality.

We won't dispute that the results we recorded in most benchmarks were right in line with those of the GeForce 8800 GTX when lower post processing effects were used, but then again we are just now seeing high-demand video games reach the market with newly developed core gaming engines. If you're a gamer on a very tight budget, than the GeForce 8800 GT may be the best solution for you. But if you're considering DirectX 10 game play or you plan to use some post processing effects like anti-aliasing, the Foxconn GeForce 9800 GTX is a great future ready solution.