MSI's N208GTX-T2D1G uses Nvidia's brand-new GeForce GTX 280 chip. It's the first new graphics processor from Nvidia for two years, and is the biggest ever. It contains a mind-boggling 1.4 billion transistors. By contrast Intel's flagship quad-core processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX9770, has just 820 million transistors.
An easier comparison is MSI's N9800GTX-T2D512. This has 128 stream processors running at 675MHz, plus 512MB of 2.2GHz RAM. We thought it was an excellent performer, but the N280GTX's specifications make it look underpowered. This new beast has 240 stream processors running at 620MHz and an amazing 1GB of 2.2GHz DDR3 RAM. The other big difference is the 512-bit memory interface, which alleviates the bottleneck between the speed of the memory and the graphics processor. The N9800GTX has a relatively limiting 256-bit interface.
Unfortunately, not only is this one of the most expensive graphics cards we've ever reviewed but it's also the most power-hungry. MSI recommends a 550W power supply that is capable of supplying 40A at 12V, and that's for a single card. With three-way SLI, you could install two more cards in one PC. You might have to upgrade your existing power supply even if it meets these requirements, since the card needs both six-pin and eight-pin PCI-Express power connectors to work.
Another problem is size. This is an enormous card, and you'll need a deep case to install it comfortably. Naturally, it will eat up two slots and the cooling fan, although quiet in Windows, becomes incredibly noisy when you load a game. During testing, we noticed that the card became unusually hot, and we also spotted some texture corruption in our Crysis benchmark. We'd advise installing both front and rear case fans to ensure good airflow.
Performance is the be-all and end-all of a top-end graphics card, and the N280GTX is certainly fast. However, at our standard test resolution of 1,280x1,024, performance was roughly equal to the N9800GTX's. Only Prey ran noticeably faster, at 140fps compared to 82.5fps. When you crank the resolution up to 1,600x1,200, the N280GTX barely notices and dropped only about 10fps in each game test. It's the only card we've ever seen that can handle Crysis at 1,280x1,024 using Very High settings, running at 30.7fps. If you switch to 1,600x1,200 and High settings, you'll get 41.4fps, which leaves headroom for demanding sequences.
At this price, the N280GTX-T2D1G is suitable only for those with deep pockets, a large, high-resolution monitor and a PC that can handle its size. The N20GTX has a smaller brother, based on the Nvidia GTX 260 graphics processor. This looks to be much better value than the N280GTX, and we'll bring you a full review next month.
System Specifications
Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 chipset, 620MHz core speed, 1GB DDR3 memory running at 2.2GHz, PCI Express x16 2.0 interface
Author: Jim Martin
Computer Shopper Online