I've read NUMEROUS reviews, perused forums, and hunted down specs sheets on the 8800gtx and the new 9800gtx. I currently am running a 8800gtx and love it. It's relatively quiet, cool, etc. Hasn't let me down yet.

But I'm about a month out from building a gaming rig/media center pc and now that I've dove into researching the cards, I'm sort of confused.

The details on temperatures and noise are all over the place and conflicting. I've read that the 8800 is better for higher resolutions and could work best for an HDTV set up, but that the 9800 is cooler and in some places, quieter. Could anyone please post some links to credible reviews (other than Tom's) that would shed some light on my primary concerns?: heat and noise.

Thanks in advance

-Woody

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,1800.html

In general(but it varies from game to game) a 9800GTX is better, but at high rez with all the AA and AF and other eye candy on the 8800GTX(hell check out what the 8800ultra pulls off) tends to win due to its larger frame buffer. This win is minimal when you factor the price of both cards. The 9800GTX is the way to go just due to the price difference.

I still like my GTX and have NO plans to replace it until something beats it by a larger margin, but for a new pc i would go 9800GTX just for the price/performance ratio.

thanks for the thorough response... any thoughts on heat and noise issues specifically? The comp is going to be in a fairly confined space so these are my primary concerns. The review here claims that noise is sort of ridiculous on the 9800gtx. thanks again!

I've seen this too... http://www.sparkle.com.tw/News/SP8 [...] ve_EN.html

Anyone know of some VERY quiet 9800gtx models?

Since i don't have a 9800GTX i can only go by what the reviews say

Heat should be taken care of by the case, what case are you looking at.

The idle noise is louder then a 8800GTX. I am not sure how sensitive you are to noise, but up to about 70-75% of my 8800GTX's top fan speed is still quiet to me(6 hard drive tend to drown everything else out).

That being said this thing looks loud at load, How loud is your stereo? are you against after market cooling? those tend to be quiet, but your case needs good air flow since those do not tend to expel the hot air from the case like the stock cooler does(well it expels some and keeps some on the 8800GTX)

It looks like some manufacturers have the fan set slower/quieter.

According to hardwarecanucks.com (a very good site IMO)
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/for [...] ew-17.html

Case I'm looking at is: http://www.newegg.com/product/prod [...] 6811129030

I am a little concerned about breathing room for the case because it's compartamentalized design. My instinct would tell me that if the 9800 and 8800 are on par with each other and the 9800 is not only newer, but louder and hotter, that the 8800 might still be the way to go for this specific rig. I'm less concered about turning up anti-aliasing and more concerned about running at HD resolution (1080) while my comp stays cool and quiet.

I am not sure a 8800gtx or 9800gtx(i think they are close is size) will fit in that case. it seems to just old a 7900gtx. Even the side power connectors may interfere with closing the case.

They use a 7900 here and it just fits
http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/ [...] w/assembly

Here is a 7900 next to a 8800GTX

geez yeah. that is tight... hmm

i am almost sure the 8800GTX will run hotter then the 9800GTX due to the newer tech in the 9800. Also the loud 9800's run a good 10c cooler then the 8800GTX.

On a serious note, you may need to rethink your case choice. I have not found any reference to it fitting, but i did read the X1900 AIW just fits. I know that is shorter then the gtx cards(i had to remove my front sonata fan to fit it for testing.)

I'm looking for a media center case. Sorry for the necro bump here, but did you ever find a case that will hold the 9800GTX?

Direct comparison between 8800gts and 9800gtx, should put things in perspective.
http://en.expreview.com/2008/04/03 [...] ew.html/12