What do you call a company that manufacturers the same car under 50 different nameplates? Answer: General Motors. So, in that sense, what do you call a company that markets the same graphics card under two model numbers that indicate (supposed) separate generation of cards? Answer: NVIDIA. Jokes aside, no one can deny that there are truths to these claims -- with the General Motors one having a bit of exaggeration, of course. The ever-so-popular NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT was ever so popular amongst enthusiasts and general consumers alike for its excellent performance; and even more so considering the retail prices. That was approximately one year ago. Now, tides have changed and ATI/AMD is returning to the game in the graphics front with the performance-to-price leaders such as the 4850 and 4870. How about taking the G92 based 8800GT and calling it a new product? Well, here we are, with a 8800GT called a 9800GT. As most would know how the NVIDIA 9-series are basically are mostly derived off the 8-series and not a completely new generation (They are mostly G92's and G94's) -- the 9800GT made it into the 9-series with a few minor updates. But trust us, it's practically the same thing -- more info on the second page of this review. Therefore, in honor of NVIDIA's excellent branding job, we based this review off the Gigabyte 8800GT TurboForce review with a few minor changes (We made it as similar as possible, haha). Good thing Gigabyte made it a little more unique with a custom built unit and an aftermarket Zalman HS/F. Let's see how the 8800GT, er, 9800GT, performs. |