GeForce 9800S vs 7900 GX2
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Curie (2003−2013) | Tesla (2006−2010) |
| GPU code name | G71 | G94 |
| Market segment | Desktop | Laptop |
| Release date | 30 April 2006 (18 years ago) | 15 July 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | no data |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | no data | 64 |
| Core clock speed | 500 MHz | 600 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 278 million | 505 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 90 nm | 65 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | no data | 75 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 12.00 | 19.20 |
| Floating-point processing power | no data | 0.192 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 16 | 16 |
| TMUs | 24 | 32 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Interface | PCIe 1.0 x16 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
| Length | 312 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 6-pin | no data |
| SLI options | - | + |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR3 | GDDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 600 MHz | 800 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 38.4 GB/s | 51.2 GB/s |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video | VGAHDMISingle Link DVI |
| Multi monitor support | no data | + |
| HDMI | - | + |
| Maximum VGA resolution | no data | 2048x1536 |
| Audio input for HDMI | no data | S/PDIF + HDA |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0c (9_3) | 11.1 (10_0) |
| Shader Model | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| OpenGL | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| OpenCL | N/A | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | N/A | N/A |
| CUDA | - | + |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 30 April 2006 | 15 July 2008 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 90 nm | 65 nm |
GeForce 9800S has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 38.5% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between GeForce 7900 GX2 and GeForce 9800S. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that GeForce 7900 GX2 is a desktop card while GeForce 9800S is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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