GeForce 9800 GTX and 3-way SLI: May the nForce Be With You
by Derek Wilson on April 1, 2008 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Scaling and Performance with 3-way SLI
As we’ve explained, we had a great number of issues in testing 3-way SLI and Quad SLI on our 790i board. We couldn’t even get 8800 Ultra Tri SLI to work, as it draws so much power in addition to being finicky in the first place. We were able to get some numbers run on Crysis and Oblivion.
Here is a look at performance scaling with both; we’ll look at comparative performance further below.
These numbers were run on the 790i system and we absolutely did leave VSYNC on its default setting. Performance differences between one, two, and three 9800 GTX cards were more compressed when we force VSYNC off in the control panel.
Here is how Crysis stacks up in a direct comparison with the major competition (except for the 8800 Ultra configuration which we could not run).
9800 GTX 3-way is absolutely playable at 1920x1200 with Crysis when using Very High settings. Clearly Quad SLI leads the way here, but for $300 less, that’s not a bad deal if what you want to do is play Crysis at 1920x1200.
The delta between Tri and Quad is lower here. In both cases, two 9800 GTX cards outperform a single 9800 GX2. While the 9800 GX2 can be plugged into any system, NVIDIA still wants to sell 790i platforms. If you’ve got or want an NVIDIA based platform, you get higher performance for the exact same price by going with two 9800 GTX cards over a single 9800 GX2.
With the hassle of huge power supplies, cooling, etc. associated with Tri and Quad SLI, our money for maintaining value with a high end solution would have to fall to the 9800GTX SLI set up. 3-way seems to have some problems at the moment as well, as we ran into one large issue in one of the only two games we tested. Oblivion has some graphical issues that we document here on YouTube.
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7Enigma - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
NM, the images now show up that include the 8800GT. Thanks! So it seems the 9800GTX in most situations is <20% faster than the 8800GT at 1280X1024 correct? Since I game on a 19" LCD I might be better off with an 8800GT for a year or so and then upgrading to the next round of cards.....decisions....decisions....For anyone that cares here's a direct comparison using the numbers from the table:
9800GTX compared to 8800GT at 1280X1024 resolution
Crysis.....19.5% faster
CoD4.......17.5-18.5% faster (depending on no/4X AA)
Oblivion...17.5-27% faster (depending on no/4X AA)
QuakeW.....10.5% faster
Stalker....13% faster
just4U - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
So it's roughly 2% faster then the GTS/512? :(7Enigma - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
Again I'm disappointed that this review completely fails to include the 8800GTS. I asked in the previous 9800GX2 review as did several others and there was no response to the questions. It definitely appears that they are purposely failing to include the most obvious competitor to the 9800GTX (and any future lower-end cards, GTS, GT, etc.).Looks like I'll be going to another site for a better comparison.
7Enigma - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
Hocp has a good comparison review (albeit with their odd way of benchmarking) of the 8800GTX/S against the 9800GTX. Pretty much shows what we thought, some slight improvements, but nothing to write home about. This quote from the conclusion sums up the release of the 9800GTX:"If you are a gamer and were hoping to upgrade, today is not the day if you already own pretty much any 8800 series card. Here’s hoping real next-gen technology will be seen in a “9900” series soon."
This pretty much solidifies my purchase of an 8800GT. I just can't see the advantage of shelling out closer to $300 for a slightly better card than a $200 8800GT, with the hopes that within a year SOMEONE comes to the rescue of actually releasing a next gen card that is better than the current/previous generation.
AggressorPrime - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
I'm pretty sure dual, tri, and quad Crossfire is not supposed to give the exact same results in Crysis. There must be something wrong with the chart.AggressorPrime - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
It looks like these tests are done with the 790i, yet there is no info on what RAM is used or motherboard for that matter in the chart.It is interesting that a 790i setup would beat Skulltrail in Crysis, but I guess fast RAM is more important.
Noya - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
...the best bang for the buck is a pair of 8800gt in SLI @ about $350.KingViper - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
Can we get a spell check in the house?jtleon - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
DittoDittoDittoIjusthateitwhenwebcontentisnotedited!!!!Regardsjtleon
JarredWalton - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
Fixed.