Product Reviews

MSI's latest graphics card aims to replace the older GeForce 8800 GTX cards, which originally cost over £400. Like other GeForce 9-series cards, the MSI's graphics processor is based on the same technology as the GeForce 8800GT and 8800GTS.

However, this N9800GTX-T2D512 has a whopping 128 stream processors running at 675MHz and 512MB of DD3 memory running at 2.2GHz. This is cooled by a huge heatsink and fan, which requires a lot of room inside your case, so make sure you have at least 280mm of clearance to ensure it doesn't foul any hard disks. The benefit of this heatsink is that the fan doesn't need to work so hard, and proved quiet during testing. Make

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sure your power supply is up to the job, as the card needs two six-pin PCI-E connectors.

The N9800GTX-T2D512 supports three-way SLI, allowing you to install three of them for even better performance, even if it is at a wallet-busting price A more useful feature is HybridPower which, like Hybrid CrossFire, means that the N9800GTX-T2D512 can work in tandem with a motherboard's integrated nVidia graphics processor for a slight performance boost. Alternatively, you can opt to revert to the onboard graphics when you're not playing games to cut power consumption.

In our game tests, this card didn't break a sweat. The figures show that it can play the latest games at high detail settings. In Crysis at 1,280x1,024 with high settings, it managed 38.3fps with no anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering. It also played Blu-ray movies smoothly.

In the box you get an adaptor cable for component video-out and a DVI-to-HDMI convertor for connecting the card to an HD TV. The 9800GTX is £40 cheaper than Sapphire's Radeon HD 3870X2, but it's also proportionally slower. Furthermore, you can buy a 512MB GeForce 8800GT-based card for £100 less. These cards aren't quite as fast, but will play the latest games, making this card look overpriced.