EVGA 512-P3-N973-TR GeForce 9800 GT 512 MB DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Comment: I got this video card as a replacement for my 8800GT, which crapped out after two years. So far, this card has done a good job as a replacement, and I got it on Amazon's back order, so it was cheaper than what Amazon usually sells it for. If you are a gamer that plays games which can put a lot of work on your video card, then I suggest you download the EVGA precision tuner so that you can manually set the video card's fan speed to keep it as cool as possible while gaming. Though if you have a very sufficient cooling system, this may not be necessary. But yeah, it's a good video card and it was for a good price as well. I've only had it for a month and a half, so I can't say if I'll run into any problems in the future. My old video card didn't show any signs of dying until it finally died.

Comment: Well this card is for use with photoshop, autocad 2010 and sketchup. Its work normal great product for a work machine. Very stable low temperatures.

Problems
1. Driver problem, in widows 7 and photoshop with aero the other windows... look slow and more bright
2. Its need 18amp from the power supply.

Comment: A friend recommended this videocard to me since the old geforce i had was obsolete. Before i installed the EVGA Geforce 9800GT i did a Benchmark for Final Fantasy XIV on my old card and the score i got was around 600 which is pretty bad because on their score sheet they say any PC under 1500 cannot play the game! unplayable ha!

After i installed these Evga my score jump pretty high, i got 1900 which is better than being under 1000 hah. I can now play Final Fantasy XIV on low settings just like everyone else because the game requires a very expensive gaming PC.. /sigh

Comment: I purchased the 9800GT because my previous 8800GT died after two years, and I simply wanted a similar/same replacement. The 9800GT is the exact same card, so I knew what to expect. It's a perfect replacement if you don't want to spend too much on a higher-end card, and even with two-year old specs it still plays current games beautifully.

My only complaint is that it seems to be a little louder than my 8800GT when playing games. My 8800GT was literally silent at all times, for the entire two years I had it. Even during graphics-intense games such as Oblivion, the noise level never rose above silence -- and trust me, I was expecting it to do so, so I listened carefully. However, when playing games, the 9800GT does get a little louder, but it's nothing more than a background hum that you will soon lose track of. In fact, I never even hear it anymore (after two months of use), so the "noise" that it makes is probably well within the acceptable levels of GPU noise -- I just happened to be used to an absolutely quiet experience and I noticed the difference during that first week of use.

Ultimately I recommend the card if you don't wish to spend any more money than this. It has excellent specs that are still fine for new games, and as a replacement it shines. If you're willing to wait for Nvidia's new line of cards to come out, then by all means do so. But given that I needed a replacement immediately, I couldn't be happier with this one.

Edit: I should add that the card, while easy to install, did come slightly malformed. The metal L-shaped bracket that lines up against the computer case slot (and in which you secure a screw) was slightly bent upward so that it wasn't really an "L" shape. The small tab (that holds the screw) which forms a 90 degree angle with the rest of the bracket was bent upward, such that it was more of a 45 degree angle. Placing the card into the PC did not allow this tab to line up flush with the case and I couldn't screw it down. I had to use some pliers to bend this piece down so that it formed the proper shape. Luckily this was an easy mechanical problem to fix and did not indicate a problem with the board itself.

Comment: This card is excellent for playing games at about 1280x1024, and runs quite smoothly, however once you get to resolutions like 1920x1080 performance really decreases. If you plan to play at such resolutions, make sure to get a more powerful card.