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NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI vs NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX

NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI

The Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT is based on the G92 architecture and is essentially a reduced 9800M GTX chip with only 96 shaders instead of the usual 112 found on GTX chips. Like with the 8800M GTX, the chip is produced in a 65nm fabrication process and even share comparable specs. Since this is an SLI system, the amount of available shaders is doubled due to the use of two 9800M GT cards. Note, however, that the available memory is not doubled because the same content is stored onto each card.

Like all DirectX 10 graphic cards, the GeForce 9800M GT SLI contains "Unified Shader" cores, 2x96 stream processors to be exact. These cores take the place of dedicated pixel and vertex shaders and are even clocked higher than the core GPU itself.

 

Hybrid Power is a Windows Vista only option that allows switching between onboard graphics (with Nvidia chipset) and dedicated graphics cards, in this case the 9800M GT SLI. Therefore, the dedicated graphics card can be disabled at will for power-saving purposes. Future Nvidia cards are expected to allow automatic switching through drivers, now known as Optimus Technology. GeforceBoost does not work with the 9800M GT because the connection with the SLI chipset would not result in any increase in performance.

The performance increase of two 9800M GT cards in SLI mode is between 0% and 40% over a single 9800M GT, depending on the application. For current DirectX 10 games such as Crysis, World in Conflict, Bioshock or Age of Conan, the performance of dual 9800M GT cards should be sufficient for smooth play at high levels of detail.

The phenomenon known as micro stuttering can occur in all SLI systems, including this 9800M GT SLI setup. The user may experience stutterings despite average frame rates of around 30fps. See here for more information on micro stuttering.

A hardware feature of the GeForce 9000 series is the integrated PureVideo HD video decoder. This allows the GPU to aid the CPU in decoding H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- or WMV9 video files.

The high current consumption of up to 130 Watt (when including both the VRAM and MXM board) means that the 9800M GT SLI is reserved for large and heavy laptops with sufficient cooling only. Therefore, the 9800M SLI series can only be found in big and heavy laptops.

NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX

► remove from comparison NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX

The Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX is a graphics adapter for laptops based on the G92 core. In general, the GPU is similar to that of the 8800M GTX but with 112 unified shader cores instead of 96. The chip is manufactured in a 65nm process and because of the high shader count, the power consumption (75 Watt of the MXM board) can be quite high. As a result, the 9800M GTX is only found in larger laptops with relatively powerful cooling solutions.

The performance of the chip is noticeably better than both the 9800M GT and GTS because of the additional shader units (see benchmarks below). Therefore, DirectX 10 games of 2008 should all be playable in high details.

As with all cards with DirectX 10 capabilities, the GeForce 9800M GTX renders 3D images using "Unified Shaders". Dedicated pixel- and vertex shaders have been dropped in favor of stream processors, which have now taken up much of the rendering burden. Furthermore, the shader units are higher clocked than the core chip itself at 1250 MHz.

A feature found in the GeForce 9000 series is the integrated PureVideo HD video processor. The GPU is able to assist the CPU in the decoding of H.264-, VC-1-, MPEG2- and WMV9 video material.

In conjunction with the Nvidia 9100M G integrated graphics, the 9800M GTX supports Hybrid-SLI known as HybridPower. HybridPower is a technique available only in Windows Vista that allows users to choose between the integrated or dedicated graphics core for power-saving purposes. Eventually, graphics switching was seamlessly accomplished through drivers by Nvidia, a technology now known as Optimus. GeForceBoost is not supported with the 9800M GTX as there would be no performance gain when paired the integrated GPU.

Compared to desktop graphics cards, the 9800M GTX should be a bit slower than the GeForce 8800 GT, which has a higher memory clock rate.

The 9800M GTX was eventually succeeded by the GTX 260M. The latter is based off of the G92b core architecture and is produced in a 55nm fabrication process, leading to lower energy demands and heat dissipation.

NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLINVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
GeForce 9800M Series
GeForce 9800M GT SLI 192 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTS SLI compare 128 @ 0.6 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTX 112 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GT compare 96 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTS compare 64 @ 0.6 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GS compare 64 @ 0.53 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GT SLI 192 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTS SLI compare 128 @ 0.6 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTX 112 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GT compare 96 @ 0.5 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GTS compare 64 @ 0.6 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
GeForce 9800M GS compare 64 @ 0.53 GHz256 Bit @ 800 MHz
CodenameNB9E-GT2NB9E-GTX
ArchitectureG9xG9x
Pipelines192 - unified112 - unified
Core Speed500 MHz500 MHz
Shader Speed1250 MHz1250 MHz
Memory Speed800 MHz800 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR3GDDR3
Max. Amount of Memory512 MB1024 MB
Shared Memorynono
APIDirectX 10, Shader 4.0DirectX 10, Shader 4.0
Power Consumption130 Watt75 Watt
Transistors1.5 Billion754 Million
technology65 nm65 nm
Features

PureVideo HD, CUDA, PhysX-ready, SLI

HybridPower, PureVideo HD, CUDA, PhysX ready
Notebook Sizelargelarge
Date of Announcement15.07.2008 15.07.2008
Information2xMXM 3MXM 3
Link to Manufacturer Pagewww.nvidia.comwww.nvidia.com

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 6120     avg: 6271     median: 6271 (2%)     max: 6422 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. total + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
min: 4545     avg: 4743     median: 4825 (1%)     max: 4860 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
7591 Points (4%)
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
min: 4110     avg: 4123     median: 4123 (2%)     max: 4136 Points
3DMark 2001SE - 3DMark 2001 - Standard
min: 32624     avg: 37419     median: 35460 (37%)     max: 44174 Points
3DMark 03 - 3DMark 03 - Standard
min: 30864     avg: 31959     median: 31601 (17%)     max: 33411 Points
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
min: 13912     avg: 16638     median: 16720.5 (18%)     max: 19197 Points
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI
3DMark 06
min: 14000     avg: 14400     median: 14400 (19%)     max: 14800 Points
3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
min: 9952     avg: 10292     median: 10138 (13%)     max: 10833 Points
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
min: 3527     avg: 4657     median: 4491 (3%)     max: 5954 Points

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI → 100% n=3

Average Benchmarks NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX → 67% n=3

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Crysis Warhead

Crysis Warhead

2008
low 800x600
GeForce 9800M GTX:
77  fps
ultra 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
15  fps
Supreme Commander - FA Bench

Supreme Commander - FA Bench

2007
high 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
36  fps
Crysis - GPU Benchmark

Crysis - GPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
85.6 91 114.5 143 ~ 109 fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
55 58.2 64.2 92 ~ 67 fps
high 1024x768
100%
GeForce 9800M GT SLI:
51  fps
80%
GeForce 9800M GTX:
35.9 38.1 40.2 49.6 ~ 41 fps
Crysis - CPU Benchmark

Crysis - CPU Benchmark

2007
low 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
111.5 119 125.6 ~ 119 fps
med. 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
56.6 58.4 62.8 ~ 59 fps
high 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
35.8 37.4 37.6 ~ 37 fps
Call of Juarez Benchmark

Call of Juarez Benchmark

2006
high 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
24 28 ~ 26 fps
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion

2006
high 1280x800
GeForce 9800M GTX:
77  fps
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark

Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark

2005
high 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
210  fps
Doom 3

Doom 3

2004
low 640x480
GeForce 9800M GTX:
244.1  fps
med. 640x480
GeForce 9800M GTX:
240.6  fps
high 800x600
GeForce 9800M GTX:
249.4  fps
ultra 1024x768
GeForce 9800M GTX:
224.2  fps

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI → 100%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%

Average Gaming NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX → 80%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 80%

NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTXlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Crysis Warhead7715
Supreme Commander - FA Bench36
Crysis - GPU Benchmark1096741
Crysis - CPU Benchmark1195937
Call of Juarez Benchmark26
The Elder Scrolls IV - Oblivion77
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark210
Doom 3244.1240.6249.4224.2
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps


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NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLIlowmed.highultraQHD4K
Crysis - GPU Benchmark51
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps







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For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)