GeForce 9800S vs 7950 GX2
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 1232 | 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 | Desktop |
| Release date | 5 June 2006 (18 years ago) | 15 July 2008 (16 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $599 | no data |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | no data | 64 |
| 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) | 110 Watt | 75 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 12.00 | 19.20 |
| Floating-point performance | no data | 0.192 gflops |
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 | 270 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | IGP |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x 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 | 1200 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 graphics 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 | 5 June 2006 | 15 July 2008 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 512 MB | 1 GB |
| Chip lithography | 90 nm | 65 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 110 Watt | 75 Watt |
GeForce 9800S has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 38.5% more advanced lithography process, and 46.7% lower power consumption.
We couldn't decide between GeForce 7950 GX2 and GeForce 9800S. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
