PNY XLR8 9800 GT 1GB - Video Card Review

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This is part 1 of a 2 part review of the PNY XLR8 9800 GT 1024MB Graphics Card released recently. It is a mainstream card that by looking at the specs alone suggest great performance possibilities for the exceptional price point compared to other higher end cards.

The 9800 GT series have been around for a year now, however this specific model has two main differences, it is using the 55nm die for its G92 GPU and also this specific model comes with 1024MB of DDR3 memory (most cards today have only 512 MB of DDR3 memory). This model is part of the Verto XLR8 servies of performance cards which is the mainstream card of choice these days for the average PC gamer. However like many 9800 GT cards there is always promise

A few things to note about the 9800 GT is that it is using similar architecure as its older brother the 8800 GT. The onboard PNY fan is located on the left side of the card instead of the right.

Watch part 1(below) of PCWizKid's video review for the PNY XLR8 9800 GT 1GB card.

Memory Specs:

Memory Clock (MHz) - 900 MHz

Standard Memory Config - 1024 MB

Memory Interface Width - 256-bit GDDR3

Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec) -57.6

Feature Support:

NVIDIA SLI®-ready - 2-Way
NVIDIA PureVideo® Technology*
NVIDIA PhysX™-ready* - Yes
NVIDIA CUDA™ Technology - Yes
HybridPower™ Technology* - Yes
Microsoft DirectX 10
OpenGL 2.1
Bus Support - PCI-E 2.0 x16
Certified for Windows Vista - Yes

Display Support:

Maximum Digital Resolution - 2560x1600

Maximum VGA Resolution - 2048x1536

Standard Display Connectors Dual Link DVI
Multi Monitor - Yes
HDCP - Yes

Standard Graphics Card Dimensions:

Height -4.4 inches

Length -9 inches

Width - Single-slot

Thermal and Power Specs:
Maximum GPU Tempurature (in C) - 100 C Aprox

Maximum Graphics Card Power (W) -105 W

Minimum System Power Requirement (W) - 450 W

Supplementary Power Connectors -6-pin

Comparison with nearest models and competitors

Conclusion
While the PNY XLR8 9800 GT 1024MB and previous 8800 GT models have similar clock speeds, PNY offers more memory to increase performance and and a smaller die which allows for lower power consumption. For the price point of the PNY XLR8 9800 GT 1024 which hovers currently at around $150 US you are getting more or less the same as the 8800 GT which does not bring much more to the table. If your looking for a solid mainstream card this will give you the value for the money.

Latest pricing for the PNY 9800 GT Hybrid Power VCG981024GXEB-FLB Video Card

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