Final Thoughts and Conclusion

It’s always difficult to critique the latest and greatest video cards. They are truly products for the moment, and what might be Editors’ Choice material when the review is published, will soon be usurped by new silicon in short order. When it comes down to it you have to look at this product as it is; in the moment. So let’s look at the particulars of the Foxconn 9800GTX-512N Extreme OC video card.

The performance of the 9800 GTX chipset is undeniably better than the previous generation of GPUs from nVidia. Though still unable to hand a crippling defeat to the almighty Crysis, the Foxconn 9800GTX-512N Extreme did more than handle its engine and make it quite playable. Other games were only further enhanced in their performance, allowing the addition of great features like Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering. The fact that the card is factory overclocked adds to this performance boost.

The physical design and implementation of the card are also strong points for Foxconn. The use of solid capacitors should provide stability in normal performance, and ensure that Foxconn’s factory overclock is stable. The cooler itself is setup to wick away heat from all the warm components, and not just the GPU. Even nifty little features like the LED next to the exhaust, though not immediately useful, are nice added touches.

The physical package Foxconn put together does provide you with everything you need, but it is rather basic. There aren’t any included games, demos, or extras if that’s your thing. Still all the connectors are included, and the software does add some value with features that may not be found in nVidia’s ForceWare driver pack.

Once we start accounting for price, the Foxconn 9800GTX-512N Extreme becomes a matter of choice. The factory overclock brings with it $30 – $50 price premium over a base 9800 GTX. The choice comes in whether you want your overclock covered under warranty or not, and whether or not you want a guaranteed functioning overclock. You can always take a gamble.

In the end, the Foxconn 9800GTX-512N Extreme is a great video card. It offers increased performance over the previous generation of nVidia performance, and a minor increase over other standard 9800 GTX based cards. The physical design is well thought out. Even the price tag is right, given the right situation. The only downside is the spartan retail package, but that’s nothing that hold back this card from an Editor’s Choice award.

Pros

• Well designed PCB, stable performance
• Performacne gains over previous generation and other 9800 GTX
• Factory overclock is covered under warranty

Cons

• Retail package a little sparse
• Price premium might be hard to swallow if not interested in overclocked card

Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

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