ZOTAC's GeForce 9800 GX2
NVIDIA reckons that housing two GPUs on two PCBs and then arranging them in a face-to-face manner is better, thermally, than having them situated on the same PCB - as per the Radeon HD 3870 X2, and that's why there's no outward sign of cooling.
The card is large, measuring in at 267mm x 111mm x 41mm (WxDxH), but,
like the GeForce 8800 GTS 512/GTX/Ultra cards, the size means that it
only takes up an extra slot than normal.
It needs to be well-screwed-in, however, as it weighs a whopping
1,150g, beating out the 1,037g Radeon HD 3870
X2 in the fatty stakes, which is almost identical in size, too.
ZOTAC's card, like practically everyone else's, is reference,
manufactured on behalf of NVIDIA and manufacturer-discernible via the
stick that's added to it. As such, it operates at 600/1,500/2,000MHz
for the core, shader and memories, respectively.
Designing one in-house would take time and considerable research
and development; a no-no if you want to be at market first. As it is, the card is slightly noisy when under 3D load, and doesn't
quite match the aural goodness from the Radeon HD 3870 X2's cooler.
Bundle
ZOTAC's bundle is basic, saved by the inclusion of the full-game version of LOST. Given that it's an early sample we expect the PSU adapter will be added immediately. On a similar note, the twin Molex connectors are far from ideal, knowing how certain PSUs are wired with respect to 12V rails, which the Molexes connect to.
Warranty
All ZOTAC cards are backed by a five-year
warranty that begins
of the
date of purchase. We like the fact that the warranty is transferable,
should the card be sold on. The original warranty period was for two
years, but the extension is available for owners who register with
ZOTAC within two weeks of purchase.
ZOTAC has a service centre in the UK. Customers have the option of
sending faulty hardware either to the dealer from which they purchased
the card from or, alternatively, back
to ZOTAC's centre, where the company quotes a 5-10 working day
turnaround, and will ship the product back to the customer for free.
