Forsa 9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3 Graphics Card Review

Today I introduce to you the 9800GTX+ that was used in the hit article nVidia GeForce GTS 250, just another 9800GTX+? that was published just a few days go.

The Appearance

I really liked this card when I first saw it, small in size and having a decent heatsink. As you can see Forsa uses a rather fierce fictional warrior character on their sticker – good! Way better than the green frog from Palit and the warrior babe from Asus.

The heatsink sports copper heatpipes.

The card comes with 2 DVI and 1 s-Video output.

The PCI-E connectors are placed facing the casing’s front. I didn’t quite like that position as I prefer the PCI-E connectors to be more easily accessible.

Back portion looks like any other graphic card.

The Bundle

– 1 x DVI to D-Sub adaptor
– 1 x S-video to Composite cable
– 1 x Power cable
– Driver CD

Card Details

Here’s a summarized detail of the card.

GPU	9800GTX+
GPU Code Name	G92
Memory Type	DDR3
Memory Bandwidth	256-bit
Memory Capacity	512MB
Core Clock	738Mhz
Memory Clock	1100Mhz (2.2Ghz DDR)
Shader Clock	1836Mhz

More details at the official product page

Test Setup

The computer setup used for this review.

Processor	Intel Coreâ„¢2 Duo E7200 @ 3.4ghz (8.5×400)
RAM	2x 2GB OCZ DDR2 PC2-8500 Reaper HPC Edition
Motherboard	Albatron PXP35
Cooler	Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer Heatsink
Monitor	20″ Dell Ultra-sharp Wide-screen LCD
Power Supply	Gigabyte Odin 550 GT
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Basic 32bit
Driver Version	Forceware 182.08

The Performance

All tests were done with 4xAA. Alternatively you could view the stats at nVidia GeForce GTS 250, just another 9800GTX+? article as well. I’ve updated the content with Forceware 182.08 driver results.

F.E.A.R.

Graphic Detail : Maximum at 1680×1050

Card	Average
9800GTX+	82
GTS 250	79
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	83

World In Conflict

Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050

Card	Average
9800GTX+	29
GTS 250	28
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	20

Company Of Heroes : Opposing Fronts

Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050

Card	Average
9800GTX+	40.8
GTS 250	40.3
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	48.1

Lost Planet : Extreme Condition

Graphic Detail : Maximum at 1680 x 946

Card	Snow (Average)	Cave (Average)
9800GTX+	45.1	58.1
GTS 250	42.3	56.5
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	49.6	59.6

Crysis

Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050

Card	Average
9800GTX+	10.77
GTS 250	11.85
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	14.11

Devil May Cry 4

Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050

Card	Scene 1	Scene 2	Scene 3	Scene 4
9800GTX+	107.86	75.35	128.76	79.34
GTS 250	104.05	71.24	123.40	76.62
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	N/A because I didn’t test with it.

Furmark

Graphic Detail : Maximum @ 1680×1050

Card	Average
Forsa 9800GTX+	7
GTS 250	7
ASUS EAH4850 TOP	25

Operating Temperature

Furmark was used for graphic card stressing.

	Idle (°C)	Load (°C)	Stress (°C)
Temperature	40	54	87

Pretty hot but one thing good was that it’s silent. Readings were taken when ambient temperature was around 25°C.

– Load, Furmark was run for 1 minute at 1680×1050 with 4xAA.
– Stress, Furmark was run under the Stress Test mode for 5 minutes.

Power Consumption

Please note that the numbers below indicate the wattage for the entire system, not the graphic card alone.

	Idle (w)	Load (w)
System Power Consumption	89	148

Conclusion

Nice looking, nice performance. I still find it damn hard to give call these cards RECOMMENDED. It’s still a G92 from the 8800 series. 🙁

Forsa, you have a good card here but seriously – I can’t place a RECOMMENDation for this card simply because there’s the GTS 250 around, blame nVidia for their nonsense rebadging.

*I’ll reveal the GTS 250’s identity later this evening. Do check back! Yes, it’s the first time I’m releasing 2 articles in a single day. Remember to come back!*