TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

Test System Specs: Hardware
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.00GHz) LGA775
- x2 OCZ DDR2 PC2-6400 CL4 FlexXLC Edition Module(s)
- ASUS P5E3 Deluxe (Intel X38)
- OCZ GameXStream (700 watt)
- Seagate 500GB 7200RPM (Serial ATA II)
- ASUS GeForce 9800 GX2 (1GB) - Forceware 174.53 (WHQL)
- ASUS Radeon HD 3870 X2 (1GB) - Catalyst 8.4 (Beta)
- ASUS GeForce 9800 GTX (512MB) - Forceware 174.40 (Beta)
- ASUS GeForce 8800 GTS (512MB) - Forceware 169.25 (WHQL)
- ASUS GeForce 8800 GTX (768MB) - Forceware 169.25 (WHQL)
- ASUS GeForce 8800 GT (512MB) - Forceware 169.25 (WHQL)
- ASUS GeForce 9600 GT (512MB) - Forceware 174.53 (WHQL)
- ASUS Radeon HD 3870 (512MB) ATI Catalyst 8.1 (WHQL)
Software
- Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
- Intel System Driver 8.4.0.1016
- Nvidia Forceware 174.53
- Nvidia Forceware 174.40
- Nvidia Forceware 169.25
- ATI Catalyst 8.4
- ATI Catalyst 8.1

The GeForce 9800 GTX was found to be no faster than the old GeForce 8800 GTX in Unreal Tournament 3, and just a fraction faster than the GeForce 8800 GTS 512.

Comparatively, the GeForce 8800 GT was just 13% slower at 1920x1200, which worked out to be 14fps, while the GeForce 9600 GT was 30% slower than the new GeForce 9800 GTX. So far, the GeForce 9800 GTX does not look all that impressive when compared to the existing GeForce 8800 graphics cards.

Perhaps we were too spoiled last time with the GX2.