NVIDIA Releases 9800GTX+ Graphics Processor For The Mainstream

Santa Clara (CA) - With the new *en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_new GTX200 series out the gate, Nvidia is ready to transition its 9800 GPU family into more affordable price regions. Nvidia claims that the new card will beat its direct competitor, AMD’s upcoming Radeon HD 4850 in popular game and physics benchmarks.

*images.tomshardware.com/2008/06/19/nvidia_releases_9800gtx_graphics_processor_for_the_mainstream/nvidiagtx9800_200.jpg
All signs are pointing towards a price war in the mainstream segment around $200 between AMD/ATI and Nvidia. Following previous information that the Radeon HD 4850 will debut in the $200 - $230 price segment later this month, Nvidia today announced that it is dropping the recommended price for its 9800 GTX *en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex design to $199 and introduce a new 9800 GTX+ version with 512 MB of GDDR3 memory, also based on the G92 core, for $229.


The new GPU comes with a core clock of 1836 MHz and a memory clock of 738 MHz. Nvidia highlighted that physics support (based on Ageia’s original PhysX engine that has been integrated into CUDA *en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA ) is supported by both the 9800 GTX and GTX+ through the driver version 177.39. With PhysX enabled, Nvidia claims that the physics simulation in the 3D Mark Vantage benchmark gains about 7.5x in performance and provides more than six times the performance of AMD’s Radeon 4850.
The company also claims to have an advantage in overall gaming performance in Crysis *en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crysis , Call of Duty 4, world in Conflict, ET: Quake Wars, Oblivion, Lost Planet, Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Stalker.

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NVIDIA's Unexpected Response

At 1:25AM EST we received an email from NVIDIA PR, announcing a product we had no idea was coming: the GeForce 9800 GTX+.

*images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/4850/reviewersguide.jpg​

The 9800 GTX+ is a die-shrunk G92 based on TSMC's 55nm process, the same one used by AMD for the Radeon HD 4850. The GTX+ runs at 738MHz/1836MHz (core/SP) up from the stock clock speeds of 675MHz/1690MHz (core/SP). The moderate increase in clock speed (8 - 9%) is one thing, the price point is another: $229.
To make matters worse for AMD, the vanilla GeForce 9800 GTX is going to be priced at $199. Had AMD not introduced the Radeon HD 4850, the 9800 GTX would never have to drop in price, and thus we enjoy the benefits of an AMD that is once again competitive in the marketplace. The price drops on the 9800 GTX will begin to take effect next week (conveniently enough) and the GTX+ will be widely available starting July 16th.
NVIDIA's timing is suspicious, it had a full reviewer's guide ready so clearly it anticipated AMD being very competitive with the Radeon HD 4850, but the email came at an odd time of night.
It's a sneaky move by NVIDIA, had that email never been sent, AMD would have had its day of glory - its own 8800 GT if you will, a $199 part that reset all expectations and raised the bar. Instead, NVIDIA preempted any such move by pre-announcing a 9800 GTX price drop as well as a new, higher end 9800 GTX+ SKU. That's what competition is folks.

*images.anandtech.com/reviews/video/ATI/4850/GFlineup.jpg​

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