OK, I've been doing this since the last century, but I really have no idea how to frame this article. It might be a review of a new graphics card. Nvidia just recently introduced its GeForce 9800 GTX, and this is our first look at that card.

But we didn't really stop there. We threw together two and then three 9800 GTX cards in order to see how they perform in some incredibly powerful and borderline ridiculous configurations. Then we totally crossed in the line into crazy-land by doubling up on GeForce 9800 GX2 cards and testing the new generation of quad SLI, as well. What's more, we tested against the previous generation of three-way SLI—based on the GeForce 8800 Ultra—and against the competing CrossFire X scheme involving three and four Radeons.

Most of you probably care incrementally less about these configurations as the GPU count—and price tag—rises. But boy, do we ever have a hefty amount of info on the latest GPUs compiled in one place, and it's a pretty good snapshot of the current state of things. Keep reading if you're into that stuff.GT to the X
A new video card doesn't come along every day. Seriously. About three Sundays ago, not a single product announcement hit my inbox. Most days, however, it seems that at least one new variant of an already known quantity hits the streets with some kind of tweak in the clock speeds, cooling solutions, product bundles, or what have you.

Such is the case—despite the GeForce 9-series name—with the GeForce 9800 GTX. This card is, ostensibly, the replacement for the older GeForce 8800 GTX, but it's very, very similar to the GeForce 8800 GTS 512 released in December—same G92 GPU, same 128 stream processors, same 256-bit memory path, same PCI Express 2.0 interface, same 512MB of GDDR3 memory. Even the cooler has a similarly angled fan enclosure, as you can see by glancing at our trio of 9800 GTX cards pictured below.