9800GTX+ launched !

[Valset]

So wait, what exactly is the difference between this and my 8800gts 512mb? (aside from the 55nm die, that is)

Probably not worth upgrading, right?

depending on what your running it might be, but not at the current price. if you use AA its not nearly as good as the 4850. Leaving ATI out of it with the 260 sell for well under 300, I've seen it at 260 something AR, there is just no point what so ever in this. in fact this really is just stupid.

 

[Varmint]

Power consumption goes DOWN with a die shrink.

You're thinking of conductors. If you make a conductor thinner, it increases the resistance (losses) and decreases the speed with which it can charge transistors. And yes, unfortunately, wires must shrink as feature sizes shrink.

How they get around this is clever: they build the wires upwards, so while the wires are extremely thin in length and width, they are incredibly tall. This prevents losses from thinner wires, although they make semiconductor manufacturing difficult.

http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/516/curra3.gif

Transistors themselves require less power when shrunken, because you reduce the capacitance of each gate when you reduce the area. Less capacitance to charge means faster switch times, and less power consumed.

NOTE: the 9800GTX+ does not actually use less power, according to all the reviews I saw. This means that Nvidia is raising the voltage in order to clock the part higher, which really kills any power benefits.

See here:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=580&type=expert&pid=7

That was a nice, easy to understand explanation, thanks!

I just saw that Anandtech said 3% reduction in power consumption (vs a similarly clocked 9800 GTX). I wonder why it's so little?

Maybe the 55 nm process has some issues with leakage or something vs the mature 65 nm process.

 

[inotocracy]

This thing isn't that much faster than an 8800GT/GTS, right?

 

[Varmint]

This thing isn't that much faster than an 8800GT/GTS, right?

About 20% faster than 8800GT.

 

[Dan-515]

sooo 55 nm, Wouldn't it make more sense to be "9800 GTX-" since it got smaller?
j/k

GTX Lite

 

[Valset]

This thing isn't that much faster than an 8800GT/GTS, right?

its faster, just not that much, it would not be that big of an upgrade for someone that had one of those.

 

[Zero82z]

This thing isn't that much faster than an 8800GT/GTS, right?

Not enough to make it worth it.

 

[PRIME1]

I just saw that Anandtech said 3% reduction in power consumption (vs a similarly clocked 9800 GTX). I wonder why it's so little?

Because the GTX+ is clocked higher than a standard GTX. Hence the performance increase.

 

[DrStrangeBrew]

GTX Lite

"Lite" nice, good ring to it like Bud/Miller/Busch "Lite"

soon enough they'll be "GTX Zero, Classic, & 'Lead'-free" variants