The GeForce 9900gtx and 9900gx2

[Phil]

What I expect from the 55nm.....performance thats worth $600

[skid]

Originally Posted by cottonvibes

the main problem with the 9800GX2 that you never even mentioned, is that it only has 512 mb per each core.

Don't think so. I think the bottleneck lies in the 256 bit memory interface of the 9800 series. The 8800GTX and Ultra have a 384 bit memory interface. The 9 series cards are simply not transferring data quick enough from system memory to video card memory.

I am currently running a temporary cheap card since last May, 7600GT. I am in dire need of an upgrade and the 9800 series was a real disappointment. Hoping that the 9900 series will provide at least a 50% improvement over the 8800's for a price between the current 9800GTX and the 9800GX2...

[dimentionalrift]

Point taken and accepted, however, it would've been nicer if the 9800gx2 was built from two 8800Ultras and not 2 over-twiked 8800GTs (G92, 256bit, 512MB GDDR3...rings a bell).

Thats just my opinion.

Originally Posted by skid

Don't think so. I think the bottleneck lies in the 256 bit memory interface of the 9800 series. The 8800GTX and Ultra have a 384 bit memory interface. The 9 series cards are simply not transferring data quick enough from system memory to video card memory.

I am currently running a temporary cheap card since last May, 7600GT. I am in dire need of an upgrade and the 9800 series was a real disappointment. Hoping that the 9900 series will provide at least a 50% improvement over the 8800's for a price between the current 9800GTX and the 9800GX2...

Not to be rude or anything but:
1) The 9800gx2 has a dual memory interface with 256bit per line=a total of 512bit.
2)The prices for the 9900gtx and/or 9900gx2 will not be near the 9800gtx and 9800gx2 because they are classified as ultra high-end cards (just like the 8800 ULTRA) and therefore will hover around the 700$ mark - just like the 8800 ULTRA a few months back.

If you are patient andgot some spare time on your hands, you might consider getting a part-time job for a while and wait for the 9900 cards to come out around november.

[Phil]

The ultra is more expensive to make. check ebay......the ultra is STILL going for $600-$700....but you can get a brand new 9800gx2 for $606....which is sad...because on some resolutions, the Ultra actually pulls ahead..

[fivefeet8]

Originally Posted by skid

Don't think so. I think the bottleneck lies in the 256 bit memory interface of the 9800 series. The 8800GTX and Ultra have a 384 bit memory interface. The 9 series cards are simply not transferring data quick enough from system memory to video card memory.

The memory interface on the Video card has little to do with the data transfers from system memory. That's a function of the system memory and the PCIe/PCi busses. Graphics memory deal with the transfer of data between the GPU and itself. Besides, system memory is so much slower than video memory, it'd be the system memory slowing down that type of direct transfer.

The G9x cards are a bit memory bandwidth limited, but they do use the bandwidth they have more efficiently than their G8x counterparts. But because they have less memory, they are more likely to run out of framebuffer space before their G8x counterparts(then they'd have to transfer data to system RAM which slows the rendering process down to a crawl).

[runawayprisoner]

Originally Posted by Phil

The ultra is more expensive to make. check ebay......the ultra is STILL going for $600-$700....but you can get a brand new 9800gx2 for $606....which is sad...because on some resolutions, the Ultra actually pulls ahead..

Actually, there's a place that's offering the 8800Ultra for $450. Anyone interested? (Gee! I OUGHT to stop acting like a seller on the net. I've sold... uhh... even my own computer now! )

[fivefeet8]

Originally Posted by runawayprisoner

Actually, there's a place that's offering the 8800Ultra for $450. Anyone interested?

You can also get a 8800GTX for $289 US (MIR) at newegg.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

For that money though, I'd still suggest the 8800GT/GTS.

[runawayprisoner]

Indeed. And by the way, $450 no MIR for 8800Ultra. Going once! :P

[John Aiton]

I'm holding out for the 9900gx2

not because I'm going to buy it, but because I predict ATI will release the 4870 to retalliate

[runawayprisoner]

New thread about new nVidia drivers, now! Situation is looking a lot better for nVidia with these new drivers, it seems. GeForce 9 finally unleashed.

[skid]

Originally Posted by fivefeet8

The memory interface on the Video card has little to do with the data transfers from system memory. That's a function of the system memory and the PCIe/PCi busses. Graphics memory deal with the transfer of data between the GPU and itself.

Thanks for the clarification.

Originally Posted by dimentionalrift

1) The 9800gx2 has a dual memory interface with 256bit per line=a total of 512bit.
2)The prices for the 9900gtx and/or 9900gx2 will not be near the 9800gtx and 9800gx2 because they are classified as ultra high-end cards (just like the 8800 ULTRA) and therefore will hover around the 700$ mark - just like the 8800 ULTRA a few months back.

If you are patient andgot some spare time on your hands, you might consider getting a part-time job for a while and wait for the 9900 cards to come out around november.

That's like saying putting two 32bit processors together gives you a 64bit processor (Jaguar?). Things just don't work that way. 256bit is still 256bit sent per clock. When the 8800GTX's are sending 384bits at any one time, it's going to be faster which shows in benchmarks. Disagree that the amount of graphics memory is the bottleneck. The GX2 does have 2x512 compared to the 768MB of the 8800's.

If the 9900's are $700+, I'll buy the 9800GTX in July when the 9900's are released, last I heard.

[John Aiton]

update: There shall be no 9900gx2 at the ball

GeForce 9800GX2 will be EOLed in three months - Expreview.com

and it also appears G200 sucks, g200 will be a tweak of the g80 core
(g92 is a die shrunk g80)

then shrunk to 55nm

so we'll STILL be on g80 architecture.........boo to nvidia

[dimentionalrift]

No matter how you look at it, a 55nm GPU is better than a 65nm GPU. The smaller you go, the more components you can stuff into each piece of silicon, the more juice you can squize out of it. Don't think its easy to create a revolutionary piece of hardware out of thin air just because you want to. I personally view the GeForce 9 series as a stepping stone to far more advanced type of hardware. Today GPU cores have the same specs like the pentium III proccessors (~600 MHz). Picture a GPU core with twice the massivity and speed as the G92, then add 1GB of GDDR5 memory (maybe even 2) with a 512bit bus...lovely isn't it...picture a dual-GPU card consisting of these two monstrousities in an SLI configuration. By that time Intel and AMD will release their octo-core (8 cores) CPUs and DDR4 RAM sticks (and DDR4 motherboards). Crysis will probably fly at over 120 fps with AA x16, or more at the highest resolutions possible. Just close your eyes and imagine. Although you'll pobably kill yourself when you'll see the electricity bill...hehehe.

[Thanakil]

And then the skies will part, the hand of God will come down toward you... And slap you around for day-dreaming and then you'll realize that we're still far away from that. Dreaming is still fun to do, but we gotta stay real =/ especially if using stuff like max resolution, AAx16, ect. THAT will still be a killer for a long time.

And the 9800/9900 are still far from being what we would expect from another generation + using the x900 name.

[dimentionalrift]

True, but GDDR3 has been around since 2004 and already you have cards by ATI with GDDR4 for nearly a year and a half now. Therefore my daydreaming is not that farfetched. Plus, octo-core CPUs are coming out in about 14-18 months (by then I'll be doing my army service ), and then all we have to do is wait for DDR4 memory and motherboards that will support it.

[John Aiton]

[cottonvibes]

wheres the PCI-e connector on that card!?


looks like you can't plug it in :P

[John Aiton]

Originally Posted by cottonvibes

wheres the PCI-e connector on that card!?


looks like you can't plug it in :P

that's not the card, just the heasink

which shows it isn't a dual pcb card like the fud says
and it also shows it's gonna be a hot card with one HUGE die in the centre

[cottonvibes]

all of the high-end cards have that dual-slot cooler design.

[John Aiton]

Originally Posted by cottonvibes

all of the high-end cards have that dual-slot cooler design.

well yeah they do sorta,

but it's what's under the front that shows how HUGE the die is