AFAIK G92 was really fixed somewhere during GTS250 production. But i may be totally wrong.

There were also multiple improvements and not just single definitive fix, so may be some of slightly earlier chips were half way there. And high target temperatures for coolers probably played a significant role too...

Anyway i've been looking into playing around with SLI around GF8-GF9 series and it feels... hopeless. Plenty of this cards available, they are cheap, even high end ones like 9800GTX+, but half of them are dead, half of what's left - "untested" and everything else... i have my doubts, given a little heat can make it work briefly. It really feels like most of them are dead and what's written in the listing depends on how honest the seller is...

Perhaps GTS250 would ultimately be a wiser decision, given it is the same GPU...

65nm G92 - depends on time of production. G92b (55nm die shrink) is fixed. So 9800GTX+ should be relatively safe.

Just buy them very cheap with warranty. If it's cheap, seller will typically not bother to scam anyone by heating them. A bigger problem is sellers do not test them properly and you may end up returning it.

For a late 2008 PC I would get a GeForce GTX 260 or 275. You will have to re-paste it and fix fan profile. Once fixed, it should not run hotter than 60-65'C while gaming.

I have found 9800 GT underpowered for some Windows Vista era games. I see it more of a socket 939 GPU for Windows XP era only.

I usually grab my GTX 580 for 2007-2008 gaming. Why deal with less 🤣. It's so quiet and it has no problems keeping everything at 60fps.

I would only get a 48x0 if you are going to play games within a year or two of its release because AMD didn't support it very well and the Nvidia drivers have much better performance in some cases. These cards are also often not quiet. Many awful coolers in this timeframe.

Of course if you just want to have a 9800 or 4870 in your hands that is totally understandable.

Lifehack for GTX 480, you can install any reference PCB coolers from GTX 570/580 to GTX 480. This includes some MSI and Gigabyte custom coolers.

I would really like a Graphics Card from 2008, specifically one that matches a C2Q Q9650. An HD 4870 would be a good pair for a Q9650 right? Or would I be better off with buying a GTX 260 or 280?
I don't want to buy a GTS 250 because it's from 2009 and it wouldn't fit with the era of PC I'm trying to make.

Also if it matters (which it probably wont), I'm using a Cooler Master Centurion 5 case. (The gen 1 version I'm pretty sure), and I'm just wondering if it could handle the heat output of a card like a 280 or 9800GTX

SapphireJet wrote on 2025-08-02, 21:45:

Also if it matters (which it probably wont), I'm using a Cooler Master Centurion 5 case. (The gen 1 version I'm pretty sure), and I'm just wondering if it could handle the heat output of a card like a 280 or 9800GTX

If you're worried about the GPU getting too hot just cable tie a 120mm fan to the HDD bays so it's forcing air over it.

SapphireJet wrote on 2025-08-02, 21:45:

I would really like a Graphics Card from 2008, specifically one that matches a C2Q Q9650. An HD 4870 would be a good pair for a Q9650 right? Or would I be better off with buying a GTX 260 or 280?
I don't want to buy a GTS 250 because it's from 2009 and it wouldn't fit with the era of PC I'm trying to make.

Also if it matters (which it probably wont), I'm using a Cooler Master Centurion 5 case. (The gen 1 version I'm pretty sure), and I'm just wondering if it could handle the heat output of a card like a 280 or 9800GTX

Just my opinion...

If you are building a working system, not a museum piece, you have to be... a little flexible. While GTS250 was indeed "released" the next year - it is just a rebadged 9800GTX(+) with a GPU which is more likely to be fixed and better coolers. Practical usability/reliability may be worth having a "wrong" card name displayed, given it is the same card after all...

That said if people are saying G92b should be fixed you can try your luck with 9800GTX+ ("+" is important here). But just looking of how many of them are sold as dead or "untested" - expect it to fail and do not pay more than you are willing to throw away for it...

Also keep in mind that this cards are not really fast enough to run period-correct stuff, not by modern standards. And Q9650 can definitely handle more. That's part of the reason i wanted to fool around with SLI - in games where it works and accepting the downsides something like 2x9800GTX+ can be actually useful...

The case... it is mesh front, 120mm fan in the back, PSU on top, right? Should be fine with one card like that but do use a good PSU - it'll be getting warm because of such placement. Since it is mesh front you could also put a 140mm fan into 5.25 drive bay, that'd help with airflow a bit...

In general I avoid cases which do not have 2 fans at the top and a fan at the bottom next to PSU to push fresh air on GPU. Cases with good airflow are from 2010-2015 era when AMD FX was released.

I agree with Archer57 you could be more flexible. C2Q Q9650 looks like an incredible CPU, that should compare well to my 3.2Ghz AM2+ build Re: Any love for AM2? . If you put in a GeForce GTX 670/770 it will be a fantastic system. It will be super cheap and last you forever.