DH Review: 9800 GX2 Quad and 8800 Ultra Three Way SLI + ESA

Zardon · Mar 24, 2008, 06:45 PM

Read The Review Here
__________________________

Last week we brought you coverage of the new nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset along with the 9800 GX2. Within that article we would have liked to include benchmarks of the GX2 in an SLI Quad configuration but due to a rather bizarre decision by Nvidia they asked all partners to withhold Quad performance until today. Anyway, today we can tell you how Quad SLI performs but we want to do more than that so we will be taking our first look at 3-Way SLI using three 8800 Ultras ...

Zardon · Mar 25, 2008, 01:56 PM

if you like this review, please diggit. thanks.

geraldmango · Mar 25, 2008, 02:33 PM

wow I wish I could afford 2 9800 GX2's. One is more than enough for me, got mine last week, very impressed.

3 x 8800 ultras....... that is a lot of money !

**kris23** · Mar 25, 2008, 04:28 PM

can i mess around with a GX2 from DH? ill promise to return it! .........in a few years

anyways, awesome review! pretty much gave playable frames all throughout Crysis! at 1680x1050!

how much would a system like that cost?

brutusmaximus · Mar 25, 2008, 04:33 PM

probably looking around the 3k mark for a system with Quad SLI. a lot of money but utterly useless unless you are gaming at 1920 or 2560.

Still at least nvidia are releasing high end hardware, shame there is no competition right now, I don't class the 3870s as anything more than a stop gap.

LukeK · Mar 25, 2008, 04:34 PM

sshessh.......... the frame rates in call of duty 4 are absolutely incredible. I cant even get a quarter of that.......... time for an upgrade I think

humonous · Mar 25, 2008, 04:35 PM

Nvidia are on fire lately, with all this amazing graphics hardware. I wish to god AMD had never bought ATI and ruined them

until we get competition these prices will remain sky high.....

Alex · Mar 25, 2008, 04:37 PM

lovely looking system that ESA thing coolermaster sent over. love the interface too. I gotta get me one of those.

As for three way ultra SLI. I can only see that as a viable option for upgrading a system, but if I had two ultras, id just flog em and get two GX2's with the mobo. wouldnt cost that much more.........

BlueMak · Mar 25, 2008, 04:55 PM

So no one else things that it is crazy to require SLI x2x3x4 to get acceptable frame rates, even with so powerful cards?

Alex · Mar 25, 2008, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

So no one else things that it is crazy to require SLI x2x3x4 to get acceptable frame rates, even with so powerful cards?

Not at all. its a little silly now, however if you want to game at 1920 or 2560 and want the maximum quality AA, AF, DX10 effects, etc etc....... I am not sure a single card can cut it anymore. I know even two cards don't power crysis right. Is that a problem of the hardware or just crysis and sloppy coding? I think the latter. yeah sure crysis has a ton of things going on, but I think they should have put more time into making the actual game code instead of making it a crap version of farcry with a ton of effects that can be almost identically copied in DX9 with the mods floating about the net.

A ploy to sell hardware? yeah maybe, but I think multiple GFX cards should be doing more than just running games. There is a lot of potential processing power there and it should be able to be accessed in rendering applications, folding etc. I don't see why its not possible that all those specialist calculations couldnt make it outside gaming environments.

humonous · Mar 25, 2008, 05:14 PM

I also know that some people don't like gaming with frame rates around 30, even though that is seen as a good level for most. I like to keep my frames around 60 in most games as I think it just looks "smoother". hard to explain and people will probably think im mad.

If you want to game at 60fps in leading titles, you seem to need more than one card, especially if you are talking about 1920x1200+. right?

Judas · Mar 25, 2008, 05:26 PM

while i do agree that it's unfortuneate that ati can't seem to get out a true highend card....

the hd3870/hd3850's i think are doing very well for thier price to performance ratio

CDsDontBurn · Mar 25, 2008, 05:29 PM

nice review. although, i find quite humerous that you can flash the case's firmware.

Alex · Mar 25, 2008, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Judas

while i do agree that it's unfortuneate that ati can't seem to get out a true highend card....

the hd3870/hd3850's i think are doing very well for thier price to performance ratio

Yeah no doubting that, decent card. But AMD are so far behind now its not even funny. its basically a mid range card, thats all they can deliver. It might not seem much to you, but its a major con to the way the public perserve them, constantly playing catchup, and not even managing that...

brutusmaximus · Mar 25, 2008, 06:34 PM

Crysis this, crysis that, im sick hearing about it tbh, its a really average game and im sure if they wanted they could have optimised it a hell of a lot better when it was released. the fact that four high end nvidia cores struggle to power it at high resolution when something as graphically impressive as COD4 runs brilliant (over 4 times the frame rate basically)........

I think a 8800 GTS system in SLI or even a 3870 X2 in CF (if you can deal with the crappy ATI drivers) should last some time at a fraction of the cost.

IEMC · Mar 25, 2008, 06:47 PM

If it takes that much to play Crysis, then Crytek obviously either fucked up, or made a thing of beauty.

Judas · Mar 25, 2008, 09:33 PM

imo.. crysis is not a thing of beauty compared to that of similare graphical titles out there that preform incredibly well.... even in some cases looking a bit better.....

alex..

completely agree... the flagship has a habit of dictating dominance and how the pawns behind it stack up.....

this is where ati is failing, while thier other cards do not to badly at all, for the price.... they don't have a flagship... so everyone kinda sits on the side that has a flagship that blows the doors off anything available.

But considering the "flagship" of the 2900xt (scrapped xtx)....... things are doing well at all atm.

SSXeon · Mar 26, 2008, 03:46 AM

Where are the 8xAA tests and the tests vs the HD3870x2/s???? I know the GX2 is more powerful then the X2, but jesus it would be nice to see them compared.

BlueMak · Mar 26, 2008, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEMC

If it takes that much to play Crysis, then Crytek obviously either fucked up, or made a thing of beauty.

Why do you think Crysis sold over 5 million games?

and by 5 million I think it means under 100k.

SSXeon · Mar 26, 2008, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

Why do you think Crysis sold over 5 million games?

and by 5 million I think it means under 100k.

It acually some how sold a million, yeah its true. MP is great, and they killed themselves because it isnt hardware friendly.

Zardon · Mar 26, 2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SSXeon

Where are the 8xAA tests and the tests vs the HD3870x2/s???? I know the GX2 is more powerful then the X2, but jesus it would be nice to see them compared.

Couldn't agree more, however one of our 3870's died during testing so it was impossible to arrange a replacement over Easter. As for Jesus, im not sure he could have helped either.

As for multiple graphs, we don't like flooding pages with about 10 graphs of various resolutions, with products such as 3x 8800 Ultra SLI and Quad SLI, people want the highest resolutions and the maximum eye candy possible - the selection of the highest AA was intentional to show the benefits of moving to this hardware with the ultimate image quality settings.

SSXeon · Mar 26, 2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Couldn't agree more, however one of our 3870's died during testing so it was impossible to arrange a replacement over Easter. As for Jesus, im not sure he could have helped either.

OMFG that made my morning ahahaha.

Quote:

As for multiple graphs, we don't like flooding pages with about 10 graphs of various resolutions, with products such as 3x 8800 Ultra SLI and Quad SLI, people want the highest resolutions and the maximum eye candy possible - the selection of the highest AA was intentional to show the benefits of moving to this hardware with the ultimate image quality settings.

Well said, it was a good review btw, im just a bit bitter because most all the reviews sucked ass, yours was good, but i would like to see a HD3870x2 in there.

slickric21 · Mar 28, 2008, 02:24 PM

Nice review again, and nice to see some different titles in there again, not just the same old same old like in every other review.

This review however has left me in a bit of a pickle. I'm was gonna put my 8800 Ultra on ebay and get a GX2, hopefully without having to spend too much to make up the difference.
However after seeing these benchmarks I may be best served getting a 2nd Ultra instead as SLI Ultra's handily beat the GX2. Also any games which don't like the dual core/sli will run better on 1 Ultra than on 1 core of a GX2.

Anybody like to comment and end my indecision ????????

Alex · Mar 28, 2008, 04:04 PM

get 2 x GX2's ? or wait on the 9800 GTX?

**kris23** · Mar 28, 2008, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueMak

Why do you think Crysis sold over 5 million games?

and by 5 million I think it means under 100k.

because they pushed a game to far beyond what hardware could play things at....

if you look at the average gamer, they probably only have something like the 2600XT or equivalent.

i played on a 2600XT..... at 1680x1050, everything had to be set on LOW settings..... looked horrible.

if you look at the mid-range to high end, eg. we who wield HD 3870s and 8800GTs we can play the game at medium to high settings at 1680x1050

then we go to the very high end to those who wield dual or quad graphics like the HD 3870X2 or dual 8800GTX's and dual 9800GX2s.

thats how much it takes to play crysis on very high settings.

oh yea, and a quad core or heavily OCed Dual-Core. how many people have those? not including DH people.....

SSXeon · Mar 29, 2008, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kris23

because they pushed a game to far beyond what hardware could play things at....

if you look at the average gamer, they probably only have something like the 2600XT or equivalent.

i played on a 2600XT..... at 1680x1050, everything had to be set on LOW settings..... looked horrible.

if you look at the mid-range to high end, eg. we who wield HD 3870s and 8800GTs we can play the game at medium to high settings at 1680x1050

then we go to the very high end to those who wield dual or quad graphics like the HD 3870X2 or dual 8800GTX's and dual 9800GX2s.

thats how much it takes to play crysis on very high settings.

oh yea, and a quad core or heavily OCed Dual-Core. how many people have those? not including DH people.....

Like i said at rage, we dont see the good reviews we have seen in the past and that makes me pissed. Who played HL2:E2 with 4xAA, i didnt with my 2900XT. 8xAA was super playable all the way through @ 1680. I know ati cards now lost this round because the AA is through software, but it would be nice to use it in some of my fav games, ie, gears, bioshock, and RB6V. I guess ill be waiting for a driver to fix that. NO disrespect to the driver team, they have dont amazing esp on stability, i have yet to have a problem with a driver in vista from my X1900XT, to my HD2900XT, to my HD3870. We just need better AA support before RV770 comes in Q3 so we can feel good about our investment.

**Mousey** · Mar 30, 2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Couldn't agree more, however one of our 3870's died during testing so it was impossible to arrange a replacement over Easter. As for Jesus, im not sure he could have helped either.

Ouch, tough break

Nice review Z, as for the performance... zomg

Meinder · May 27, 2008, 11:51 AM

Nice Review

I got a system almost like that.

1 XFX MB-N790-IUL9, nVidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI
2 XFX GeForce 9800GX2, 1024MB GDDR3
1 ASUS PhysX P1 128 MB GDDR3 SDRAM / 733 MHz
1 INTEL Core2Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz LGA775 12MB
4 Corsair - Twin3X 1x1024MB DDR3, PC44400 DDR1800
1 ThermalTake - ToughPower 1500 Watt, Cable Managemen
Tai Chi Thermaltake H2O
Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" widescreen LCD Flat Panel Monitor
2 x 320 gb s-ata 300 WD model 2500 16 mb cash 7200 Raid 0

Mar 24, 2008, 06:45 PM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	DH Review: 9800 GX2 Quad and 8800 Ultra Three Way SLI + ESA Read The Review Here __________________________ Last week we brought you coverage of the new nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset along with the 9800 GX2. Within that article we would have liked to include benchmarks of the GX2 in an SLI Quad configuration but due to a rather bizarre decision by Nvidia they asked all partners to withhold Quad performance until today. Anyway, today we can tell you how Quad SLI performs but we want to do more than that so we will be taking our first look at 3-Way SLI using three 8800 Ultras ... Attached Images

Mar 25, 2008, 04:28 PM	#4
kris23 Going Insane..... Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 6,010 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	can i mess around with a GX2 from DH? ill promise to return it! .........in a few years anyways, awesome review! pretty much gave playable frames all throughout Crysis! at 1680x1050! how much would a system like that cost? __________________ Hardwareheaven Super-Moderator Building a new computer system and not sure where to start? Click Here! last updated (5/18/11) Rosewill FUTURE case replaces CM 690 II with its greater interior length. Building a PC: Step by Step Guide Written by Kristopher Pedemonte and Nathan Marks-Forder Edited by Allan Campbell Questions or Comments? feel free to post them in the forums!

Mar 25, 2008, 04:33 PM	#5
brutusmaximus DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 520 Rep Power: 75	probably looking around the 3k mark for a system with Quad SLI. a lot of money but utterly useless unless you are gaming at 1920 or 2560. Still at least nvidia are releasing high end hardware, shame there is no competition right now, I don't class the 3870s as anything more than a stop gap. __________________

Mar 25, 2008, 04:55 PM	#9
BlueMak HH's Asteroids' Dominator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Hellas->Macedonia->Thessaloniki Posts: 13,432 Rep Power: 339 System Specs	So no one else things that it is crazy to require SLI x2x3x4 to get acceptable frame rates, even with so powerful cards? __________________ The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm *Sic semper tyrannis.*

Mar 25, 2008, 05:29 PM	#13
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,684 Rep Power: 225 System Specs	nice review. although, i find quite humerous that you can flash the case's firmware. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Mar 25, 2008, 01:56 PM	Thread Starter #2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	if you like this review, please diggit. thanks.

Mar 25, 2008, 02:33 PM	#3
geraldmango DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 85 Rep Power: 0	wow I wish I could afford 2 9800 GX2's. One is more than enough for me, got mine last week, very impressed. 3 x 8800 ultras....... that is a lot of money !

Mar 25, 2008, 04:34 PM	#6
LukeK DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Dec 2002 Posts: 158 Rep Power: 61	sshessh.......... the frame rates in call of duty 4 are absolutely incredible. I cant even get a quarter of that.......... time for an upgrade I think

Mar 25, 2008, 04:35 PM	#7
humonous DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 164 Rep Power: 0	Nvidia are on fire lately, with all this amazing graphics hardware. I wish to god AMD had never bought ATI and ruined them until we get competition these prices will remain sky high.....

Mar 25, 2008, 04:37 PM	#8
Alex Driverheaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 260 Rep Power: 45	lovely looking system that ESA thing coolermaster sent over. love the interface too. I gotta get me one of those. As for three way ultra SLI. I can only see that as a viable option for upgrading a system, but if I had two ultras, id just flog em and get two GX2's with the mobo. wouldnt cost that much more.........

Mar 25, 2008, 05:14 PM	#11
humonous DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 164 Rep Power: 0	I also know that some people don't like gaming with frame rates around 30, even though that is seen as a good level for most. I like to keep my frames around 60 in most games as I think it just looks "smoother". hard to explain and people will probably think im mad. If you want to game at 60fps in leading titles, you seem to need more than one card, especially if you are talking about 1920x1200+. right?

Mar 25, 2008, 06:34 PM	#15
brutusmaximus DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 520 Rep Power: 75	Crysis this, crysis that, im sick hearing about it tbh, its a really average game and im sure if they wanted they could have optimised it a hell of a lot better when it was released. the fact that four high end nvidia cores struggle to power it at high resolution when something as graphically impressive as COD4 runs brilliant (over 4 times the frame rate basically)........ I think a 8800 GTS system in SLI or even a 3870 X2 in CF (if you can deal with the crappy ATI drivers) should last some time at a fraction of the cost. __________________

Mar 25, 2008, 06:47 PM	#16
IEMC Neighborhood screw up. Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: MI, US Posts: 770 Rep Power: 54 System Specs	If it takes that much to play Crysis, then Crytek obviously either fucked up, or made a thing of beauty. __________________

Mar 26, 2008, 03:46 AM	#18
SSXeon ATi Freak!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Virginia, US Posts: 501 Rep Power: 0	Where are the 8xAA tests and the tests vs the HD3870x2/s???? I know the GX2 is more powerful then the X2, but jesus it would be nice to see them compared. __________________ XFX HD4890 1024MB @ 950/4400Mhz Have issues with your Catalyst driver? Please report it to ATi

Mar 28, 2008, 02:24 PM	#23
slickric21 HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Norwich, Uk Posts: 84 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Nice review again, and nice to see some different titles in there again, not just the same old same old like in every other review. This review however has left me in a bit of a pickle. I'm was gonna put my 8800 Ultra on ebay and get a GX2, hopefully without having to spend too much to make up the difference. However after seeing these benchmarks I may be best served getting a 2nd Ultra instead as SLI Ultra's handily beat the GX2. Also any games which don't like the dual core/sli will run better on 1 Ultra than on 1 core of a GX2. Anybody like to comment and end my indecision ???????? __________________

Mar 28, 2008, 04:04 PM	#24
Alex Driverheaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 260 Rep Power: 45	get 2 x GX2's ? or wait on the 9800 GTX?

May 27, 2008, 11:51 AM	#28
Meinder DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Nice Review I got a system almost like that. 1 XFX MB-N790-IUL9, nVidia nForce 790i Ultra SLI 2 XFX GeForce 9800GX2, 1024MB GDDR3 1 ASUS PhysX P1 128 MB GDDR3 SDRAM / 733 MHz 1 INTEL Core2Quad Q9650 3.0 GHz LGA775 12MB 4 Corsair - Twin3X 1x1024MB DDR3, PC44400 DDR1800 1 ThermalTake - ToughPower 1500 Watt, Cable Managemen Tai Chi Thermaltake H2O Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP 24" widescreen LCD Flat Panel Monitor 2 x 320 gb s-ata 300 WD model 2500 16 mb cash 7200 Raid 0