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Power Efficient Gaming with GeForce 9800 GT Eco Cards

By Kenny Yeo - 15 Sep 2009

Conclusion

Green and Versatile

It's no secret that the GeForce 9800 GT has been around for a long time. First appearing as the GeForce 8800 GT almost two full years ago and later renamed to what it is today, the GeForce 9800 GT, it has enjoyed an illustrious time as one of the most popular SKUs for gamers and mainstream users alike. But with NVIDIA looking certain to release their new GT300 cards in the near future, the days of the GeForce 9800 GT must surely be numbered. Even so, you can expect these cards to linger around in retail for quite a while more and they could become star buys in time to come for light upgraders.

These power-efficient GeForce 9800 GT cards are a commendable effort at breathing new life into a SKU that can only be described as 'ancient'. The technology behind the cards work, as power consumption is down considerably, but that comes at a loss of performance, which we are happy to report, is very slight.

These two power-efficient variants of the GeForce 9800 GT are handy to have especially if you have a HTPC in mind. The lower power consumption of these cards could make all the difference, and with them in place, you could get some decent gaming going.

Despite the good news, there will be those who argue that these cards are not worth the power savings. Certainly, the power savings in monetary terms, even if you leave your PC on 24/7, will be really small, but the fact that it doesn't need an additional PCIe power connector does open up more possible configurations with the GeForce 9800 GT. This is especially true if you are building a HTPC and have only a low-wattage power supply to work with, or if you are trying to get an SLI setup going in a Shuttle PC or other equivalent SFF systems. Their lower power consumption and operating temperatures would go some way in making such a setup more viable too.

Cost-wise, at US$119, these two power-efficient cards cost no more or less than their standard counterparts, making them all the more attractive propositions. Therefore, at the end of the day, it really depends on what you need. Our take is that these power-efficient variants of the GeForce 9800 GT are more versatile and are certainly worth considering if you need a simple setup. The loss in performance can hardly be felt, and if performance is what you are really after, then you shouldn't even be considering these cards in the first place. Simply put, these are simple, affordable and dependable graphics cards for modest gaming needs to tackle current generation games.

Card Ratings
MSI N9800GT-MD1G
Zotac GeForce 9800 GT Eco 1GB GDDR3

 

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