Asus EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT

Performance Summary:  In the addortment of benchmarks used in this review, the Asus EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT was dominant in only one test.  With FutureMark's 3DMark Vantage synthetic testing, the EN9800GT Matrix trailed the ATI Radeon 4850 by roughly 5.5% overall.  When we shifted to real world gaming tests, the results vacillated with each test, with Crysis: Warhead being the only one that the EN9800GT Matrix topped the ATI card in both resolutions.  Half-Life 2: Episode Two favored the Radeon 4850 while Unreal Tournament 3 had the two tied at 1280x1024, at 1600x1200, however, the EN9800GT Matrix slipped 11 FPS behind the Radeon 4850.  Lastly, our FarCry 2 results were all relatively close, but the EN8800GTX and Radeon 4850 were a closer competition than the Asus EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT.

While our test results may show evidence that the Radeon 4850 is the better performing card overall, it isn't that simple of a determination.  While 4850s can be found for $150, they are often stock models with no bells and whistles added.  If you seek out a factory overclocked model with a custom cooler, the price tends to move closer to the $170-$190 range.  In our opinion, the Asus EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT proved to be a decent choice for $150, offering ultra quiet performance, HDMI support, PhysX and CUDA support, and competitive performance in all of the tests we threw at it.

While we were pleased with the Asus EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT overall, there is a lot of competition in this area and the ATI Radeon 4850 proved to be a better performer in the majority of tests.  However, when you start looking at cards with HDMI ports, the Radeon 4850 tends to increase in price by $30-40.  We think you couldn't go wrong with either model at their respective price points, but if money is an issue, considering its features and performance, we currently think Asus has done a good job with the EN9800GT Matrix GeForce 9800GT.