• 3-way SLI
• Amazing scaling with 3-way
• 128 SPs@1.69GHz
• 1.1GHz memory
• 256-bit memory
• PCI Express 2.0
• 675 CORE
• 1698 SHADER
• 1100MHz memory
• Dual 6-pin power
• 512MB GDDR3
• 10.5" Dual slot
• 156W
• $299-349
• Two DVI-DL HDTV HDMI
• HybridPower
• Purevideo HD
• DirectX 10
• Pixel Shader 4.0
• Vertex Shader 4.0

Brand Name	EVGA
EVGA Part Number	512-P3-N871-AR
Graphics Chip	G92
Core clock	675MHz
Shader Clock	1688MHz
SPs	128
Fabrication Process	65 nm
Transistors	754 Million
Memory cloick	1100 MHz/ 2200 MHz
Memory Interface	256-bit
Memory bandwidth	70.4 GB/second
Memory Size	512MB
ROPs	16
Texture Filtering Units	64
Texture Filtering Rate	43.2 Gigatexels/second
HDCP Support	Yes
HDMI Support	Yes (using DVI-to HDMI adapter)
Connectors	2x Dual-Link DVI-I, 1 7-pin HDTV Out
RAMDACs	400MHz
Bus	PCI Express 2.0
Form Factor	Dual Slot
Power Connectors	2 x6-pin
Max Board Power	156 Watts
GPU Thermal Threshold	105 C

The feature set of the 9800GTX should look familiar because NVIDIA hasn't changed the 3D features to meet the DirectX 10.1 standard with their cards. NVIDIA is due for a feature update to their cards as they are the only manufacturer that is still on DirectX 10.0 for their cards. Most people, including myself feel SM 4.1 is mostly marketing fluff at the moment as games taking advantage of SM 4.0 have just begun hitting the market, but it's always nice to have a checkbox feature that's supported to brag about.

SLI was introduced by NVIDIA in 2004 as a way to improve performance in games by adding another video card to the system. Multiple graphics cards in a system are not very popular, except among the high-end enthusiasts, and NVIDIA's SLI technology is the number one used multi-GPU solution on the market today. NVIDIA has extended this concept to the 9800GX2 putting two of their G92 chips on one PCB.

One of the pushes with the 9800GTX is the ability of the card to do Tri-SLI with three 9800GTX cards. As a high-end enthusiast, it should be noted that the performance of three 9800GTXs may be less than two 9800GX2s in Quad SLI. Of course, with the 9800GX2 Quad-SLI setup there's four graphics chips instead of three and it may end up being the fastest solution period. There are several considerations with the utilization of Tri-SLI, PSU requirements and a motherboard that supports it.

The 9800GTX has 128 Stream Processors that run at 1.69GHz. I want to call attention to the numbers comparing it to the 8800GTX which this card replaces in the lineup. The 9800GTX has a 300+ Shader clock advantage over the 8800GTX and a little over a 100+ MHz Shader clock advantage over the 8800 Ultra. But comparing it to the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB which is still available shows a different story. The Core clock is 675 (9800GTX) versus 650 (8800GTS 512MB). Shader Clock is 1.69GHz versus 1.625GHz.

Here's a chart representing the information on NVIDIA's single GPU cards on the market today. Note that the 9800GTX has the same specifications as the 8800GTS 512MB with minor clock speed differences, in fact the 9800GTX has the same specifications in terms of features etc as the 9800GX2, 8800GT 512MB (with the exception of 128 SPs instead of the 112 on the 8800GT 512MB) and some compression technology which NVIDIA has not given detailed information on for G9x series and above.

The G92 (8800GT 512MB) introduced new features to NVIDIA's PureVideo CODEC. The new features include the ability to run two HD sources at the same time (playing the movie on one screen, and the director's commentary on the other screen for example), improved color and saturation correction. The 9800GTX also has this engine, allowing the next generation of High Definition content to be viewed with this card including Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.