GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) vs GeForce 9800 GTX

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce 9800 GTX, which features a core clock frequency of 675 MHz and a GDDR3 memory frequency of 1100 MHz. It also makes use of a 256-bit bus, and uses a 65 nm design. It features 128 SPUs, 64 Texture Address Units, and 16 Raster Operation Units.

F.E.A.R. 2

Settings:	Maximum Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Unknown (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		44 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		42 FPS
	Difference: 2 FPS (5%)

Fallout 3

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		37 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		36 FPS
	Difference: 1 FPS (3%)

Fallout 3

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1680x1050
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		62 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		59 FPS
	Difference: 3 FPS (5%)

Left4Dead

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	8x
AF:	16x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		41 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		40 FPS
	Difference: 1 FPS (3%)

Left4Dead

Settings:	Very High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		52 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		51 FPS
	Difference: 1 FPS (2%)

Tom Clancy's Endwar

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1920x1200
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Test Machine (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		18 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		17 FPS
	Difference: 1 FPS (6%)

Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X

Settings:	High Quality
AA:	4x
AF:	8x
Resolution:	1680x1050
Test Machine:	Tom's Hardware Charts Test Rig (Source)

GeForce 9800 GTX		36 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		35 FPS
	Difference: 1 FPS (3%)

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GeForce 9800 GTX wins

(Based entirely on the benchmarks listed above)

When combining all game benchmark scores on this page together, the GeForce 9800 GTX wins overall, by 10 FPS. Please note that we do not have the results of every benchmark ever done for these cards, so the results may differ wildly in different games.

GeForce 9800 GTX		290 FPS
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		280 FPS
	Difference: 10 FPS (4%)

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		135 Watts
GeForce 9800 GTX		140 Watts
	Difference: 5 Watts (4%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce 9800 GTX is 13% faster than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92) overall, because of its higher bandwidth. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX		70400 MB/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		62080 MB/sec
	Difference: 8320 (13%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce 9800 GTX should be a small bit (approximately 4%) faster with regards to texture filtering than the GeForce 8800 GTS (G92). (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX		43200 Mtexels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		41600 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 1600 (4%)

Pixel Rate

If using a high resolution is important to you, then the GeForce 9800 GTX is a better choice, but only just. (explain)

GeForce 9800 GTX		10800 Mpixels/sec
GeForce 8800 GTS (G92)		10400 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 400 (4%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the largest amount of data (counted in MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in one second. It is worked out by multiplying the card's interface width by the speed of its memory. If the card has DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The better the bandwidth is, the faster the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum texture map elements (texels) that can be applied in one second. This figure is calculated by multiplying the total amount of texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the most pixels that the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in one second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the number of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel rate also depends on many other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the maximum fill rate.