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If you have a weak heart you might want to skip this review, because it features an absolute monster, the stroke-inducing XFX GeForce 9800 GX2. This dual-PCB, dual-GPU behemoth is the second new release from NVIDIA's new ninth generation of video cards, following last month's introduction of the 9600 GT. The 9800 GX2 is unabashedly reaching for the performance crown, and is promised to outperform -- by a large margin -- even the 8800 Ultra. The only video card that might be able to stand up to the terrific tyranny of the 9800 GX2 is ATI's HD3870X2, which came out last month. In the end, which side will be able to say that they make the fastest video card on the planet? The hardcore of the hardcore gamers are very interested in finding this out.
While the 9600GT was a successful product, offering very good value for its power, some would complain that the unveiling of this first card to bear the 9xxx mark on the box could have been more exciting. Perhaps spoiled by the launch of the ground-breaking 8800 GTX, the 9600 GT's launch -- only in comparison -- was a bit lackluster. Their were no significant enhancements or architectural changes to the 9600GT, instead, it just seemed like the next logical step in the optimization of the GPU since the late October's release of the 8800GT. With today's 9800GX2, it is a bit of a similar case, albeit on a different scale: while no ground-breaking changes are being introduced with the 9800GX2, this card nonetheless has the potential to offer extreme levels of performance -- and for many of us, that is exciting enough.
You could consider the 9600GT and 9800GX2 brother cards in name only, as the 9600GT and 9800GX2 are targeted towards much different markets: the 9600GT was made for the gaming masses, while the roughly $600 9800GX2 was made for the gaming maniacs. But I do mean gaming maniacs in the positive sense of the word -- anyone interested in buying a 9800GX2 knows that they have to pay big bucks to get the best, but that the best, is... well, the best.
If you think you can handle it, let's take a gander at this new dual-GPU powerhouse from XFX.
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$600 is a bit much, for sure.
I'm guessing though that in as little as a month and half this card will be about $490 mark or so, making it slightly more enticing. I also think that this card will stack up well against the coming 9800 GT and GTX models. However: of course both the 9800 GT and GTX will almost certainly be much better deals, price-per-performance wise. This card is pretty much just for those people out there that have a bit of cash, and want to make a insano-gaming machine.
BTW, wish I could have thrown some SLI numbers in there for you guys. But due to untimely hardware failure, it was either going with a CrossFireX setup or a SLI setup, and I thought it'd be need to compare this card to 3 HD3870's.
For Crysis, you might want to look at this article I wrote which looks at CPU speeds and their affects on games:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Guides/cpu_bottlenecks/
Just a quick thing to add: going from 2 cores to 4 cores will really not improve your gaming experiences all that much. Hardly any games currently can make much use of 4 cores.
Most people would be very satisfied with their framerates in pretty much any game with any card that is around $200 bucks right now, such as a 8800 gt.