nVidia has quietly announced their first 55nm card - the 9800GTX+
They are using the die-shrink to increase the core clock (presumably giving rise to the "+" moniker) from 675 to 738MHz. My first thought is that underclocking one of these would give a decrease in thermal output with no loss in performance over the 65nm part. I suppose it depends on the price and how badly you want that level of performance. Here's hoping it has the same HSF mounting geometry and will take an Accelero S1, like the 65nm card.
nVidia to Release 55nm 9800GTX
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Not so great, and power consumption is still high.
They're comparing it to a "similarly-clocked" EVGA 9800GTX KO. I'd still like to see one underclocked and compared to a standard 9800GTX. You're right though - the difference in power consumption doesn't really look big enough to make a difference. Underclocking + undervolting ftw? If you could get that performance with a significantly reduced thermal output it might be worth it.florinp3 wrote:Not so great, and power consumption is still high.
Cheers for the link
... I always forget to keep an eye on Anandtech.I've always bought ATi. Although I'm no diehard fanboy, I was feeling guilty (!) about contemplating a switch to nVidia. Looks like now I might not have to...thejamppa wrote:Looks like Ati is winning this summers VGA battle...
Underclock won't really make much of a difference. It's quite possible undervolting could gain you quite a bit if you're willing to underclock, but is this possible with software only or do you need to mod the hardware?blackworx wrote: They're comparing it to a "similarly-clocked" EVGA 9800GTX KO. I'd still like to see one underclocked and compared to a standard 9800GTX. You're right though - the difference in power consumption doesn't really look big enough to make a difference. Underclocking + undervolting ftw? If you could get that performance with a significantly reduced thermal output it might be worth it.