Gigabyte and Palit GeForce 9800 GT Face Off

by Marco Chiappetta — Thursday, October 02, 2008, 01:49 PM EDT

NVIDIA's current list of graphics products reads like a mathematician's crib sheet; there are no fewer than 10 active SKUs in their GTX 200- and 9000-series of graphics cards. It's generally understood that higher model numbers typically mean better peformance, but the subtleties behind the GSO / GT / GTX / GX2 monikers are enough to confuse even the most stalwart tech gurus. NVIDIA admits to creating some buyer confusion, and plans on making things easier from here on out with the model type coming first (GTX meaning high-end) and the part number corresponding to the performance level second, with higher numbers obviously equalling better performance (ie, a GTX 280 is faster than a GTX 260).

Adding to this confusion, however, are cards like the GeForce 9800 GT. Unlike the prevailing theory that higher numbers mean newer / better performing products, the 9800 GT is actually little more than a rebranded 8800 GT with support for HDMI audio output and HybridPower. HDMI audio output is achieved using a secondary audio cable, like the current cards in the GTX 200 series. And HybridPower is an interesting feature in which your video card is turned off when not needed in favor of a low-power IGP, but it requires a compatible motherboard and for now they only come AMD-flavored. Currently 9800 GT and 8800 GT cards share the same 65nm GPU, but rumor has it a 55nm version will be arriving soon. What that means in terms of clock frequencies and power consumption remains to be seen, but for now most 9800 GT and 8800 GT cards share similar GPU and memory clocks...

Gigabyte and Palit GeForce 9800 GT Face Off

Tags: GeForce, Gigabyte, 9800 GT, force, 980, GT, Palit, AC, and

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com