Yep, just saw the review a few minutes ago, very nice. I want one. :)

 twos good

I'm impressed.  The top of the line single slot performance has arrived.  And unlike the 3870X2 which sometimes fell behind 8800GTS-512 or 8800GTX performance, the 9800GX2 is top of the line virtually everytime.  For those with SLI motherboards already, going two 8800GTS-512 might be cheaper, but for Quad-Sli boards or people with only 1 slot, this is the way to go.  If you wanna spend $600, that is.  I wonder how it will perform against the 'real' single GPU 9700/9800/9900 or whatever cards that have yet to launch.

780 chipset updated with ddr3 support..Yea, go 790I!...no..=P...lol

Nvidia chipsets have always been buggy on the intel side. The fact that these boards are going to be expensive...Nvidia is just going to be laughing there way to the bank with this. Nvidia may make fantastic cards...But their intel chipsets are far from complete..

I so want that Asus MB but $469. The new features with this chipset are amazing though. I'll wait and see some results from the first batch of users to see if they're are many bugs.

600 mhz for the core clock seems a bit slow for a 512 mb card that is supposed to blow my mind (even though there are two gpus in one container)... i wonder what the overclocking capabilities of this card are... if it can be pushed to really get some juice pumped out... from the reviews i've been reading, it seems like the gx2 is simply 2 x 8800 gts g92 chips slammed together... benchmarks show 2 x 8800 gts 512mb cards > 9800 gx2!?!? its cheaper to buy two 8800 gts cards and sli em at this point =\

willardcw4:

its cheaper to buy two 8800 gts cards and sli em at this point =\

True.  But do remember that this is a single slot card.  If you already have a motherboard you are happy with and it's single slot, then this is the best upgrade available.  Although I suspect that anyone who is willing to spend $599 on a card probably has an SLI or X-Fire motherboard, you never know.  Plus you can get Quad-Sli with only two cards here.  It's only for a limitted market I think.  How many people have 8800GTX's or Ultra's?  High end cards don't sell that well anyway.  They just have a big profit per card sold.

I do agree that having the 9800 gx2 as a single slot card is rather advantageous for quad sli, or for getting that much performance in one slot... but then I'd like to see a benchmark of quad 9800 vs tri-8800 gts in sli :)

 I just don't like something being sold for $599 + shipping that can be outperformed by a "older" architecture (which obviously isn't the case) for a cheaper price... However, I do have a feeling prices will drop fairly quick... ClubIT.com is already selling PNY 9800GX2s for $540 + shipping :)

The bottom line IMO is that the GX2 is an impressive card and barely gets beats by 2 x GTS!

$600 isn't really that bad either since this beast is king of the single slot right now and should easily carry a person through 18-24 months of gaming!!!

I agree the price is a bit steep but it's typical for a flagship card. Look at the history of the 7000,8000 and now the 9000 series. All the flagship cards in those series fit the profile. It was either get 2 mid range cards for the same price with comparable benchmarks or get the high end card. The only difference I see though is that this is a dual gpu card. With that being said you would think they could come out with a single gpu card that could produce these results like other flagship cards have in the past.

 As I was reading the review, something struck me as odd.  Not about the 9800 GX2, but about the 8800 GTS vs the 8800 GTX.  The 8800 GTS was outperforming the 8800GTX.  Doesn't the GTX have 768 MB ram and 384 bit processing?  How does the GTS with only 512 BM ram and 256 bit processing beat it? 

 I readily admit that I haven't kept up to date like I should have, but I'd appreciate any help in understanding this.

wow  seems impressive

but im getting a system with 3 8800 ultras with an option for getting the 3 ultras or 2 9800GX2 cards

so what do you think i should go for? as its not costing me anything extra either way

nhwynter:

 As I was reading the review, something struck me as odd.  Not about the 9800 GX2, but about the 8800 GTS vs the 8800 GTX.  The 8800 GTS was outperforming the 8800GTX.  Doesn't the GTX have 768 MB ram and 384 bit processing?  How does the GTS with only 512 BM ram and 256 bit processing beat it? 

 I readily admit that I haven't kept up to date like I should have, but I'd appreciate any help in understanding this.

The new 8800 GTS 512mb is based on the G92 core.  It's often more efficient and thus can outperform the GTX in some games.  More often than not the GTX wins due to the sheer power of 384-bit and it's high clock, but some games like the G92 more. 

. 

The extra memory is actually irrelevant.  Virtually no game uses more than 512mb of memory, Crysis included I believe.  It was good for advertising, but doesn't matter right now.  And future games that do use more than 512mb may nor may not be so stressful that the GTX might not even take advantage of all that memory.  But that's speculation and only time will tell.  At least with 768mb you know the ram will never limit you in a game for a looong time.

 Sweet, much better choice.

Now you will have room for a sound card!