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Power Usage

To measure power usage, we used a Kill A Watt P4400 power meter. Note that the above numbers represent the power drain for the entire benchmarking system, not just the video cards themselves. For the 'idle' readings we measured the power drain from the desktop, with no applications running; for the 'load' situation, we took readings during a demanding part of 3DMark06.)

It's almost frustrating how close these two cards are! Pretty much the same power usage here -- the N9800GT takes a little bit more juice when idling, but not a massive amount by any stretch.

For the N9800GT, a 400W PSU is recommended; for the HD 4830, a 450W PSU is officially recommend, but you should be fine with a 400W, unless your PSU is an el-cheap-o model.

Conclusion

This one is tough to call.

The HD 4830 fills out ATI's line-up nicely. They have a product at all the key points now: 0-$50, $50-$100, $100-$150, $150-$200 and all the other points above. At somewhere around $129, this card can get the gaming done. For anyone with who thinks they'll spend this winter playing a fair amount of PC games, I would recommend this card before the HD 4670. The HD 4670 offered fine bang for the buck, but the HD 4830 isn't all that much more and seems like it'll offer enough power to keep your gaming addiction satisfied for far longer.

The HD 4830 also impresses with its overclocking ability, and typically good HD 4800 series AA performance. I feel that the some of the toughest competition for the HD 4830 will be from the HD 4850 -- already it has dropped in price, and while it is too early to see at what cost the HD 4830 will stabilize at, the HD 4850 could potentially offer better value -- especially for those that do not want to bother with overclocking.

Then we have the N9800GT. Selling for as low as $100 US after mail-in rebate, the value of this card just can't be denied. The performance between both cards was quite close for most of the benchmarks; and hey, did we mention it is $100?

It might not seem fair to compare the N9800GT, which is factory overclocked, to the default clock'ed HD 4830. But when the N9800GT is  -- at least at this very moment -- selling for less than the HD 4830, well, the comparison seems fair enough.

The HD 4830 offers CrossFireX, which allows for up to four HD 4830's to be linked (or the HD 4830 with any other HD 3000 series or HD 4000 series card), but I can't imagine that many people would use more than two HD 4830's, so the N9800GT doesn't lose many points for 'only' being able to SLI with a single other 9800GT. One thing the N9800GT does win points for is the included bundle -- the MSI software actually works pretty well, and no other card for going for about $100 has had nearly as a complete selection of adapters and cables.

The HD 4830 also has the advantage of being able to support 7.1 sound through HDMI -- something the 9800GT isn't capable of. For those of you who need such functionality then the answer is clear: the HD 4830 is the winner here. The future of the HD 4830 also looks brighter when, as I fully expect will happen soon, the first wave of overclocked models come down the pipes.

When it comes down to the battle between the HD 4830 and the MSI N9800GT, really, there does not seem to be a clear winner. In this reviewer's mind, it all comes down to price -- if both of these cards are going for the same price, go for the HD 4830. But if you can get an overclocked 9800GT for $20 less (or more), such as the MSI N9800GT, then it can be aruged that the 9800GT represent a better deal.

ATI has been winning a long string of battles against NVIDIA recently -- but this contest, we are going to have to declare a draw.