The GeForce GTX 280 manages to eke a few more frames as compared to the GeForce 9800 GX2 in lower resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and 1920 x 1200.  However, at 2560 x 1600, the GeForce GTX 280 pulls out an eight-fold increase over the GeForce 9800 GX2. It was a real pain sitting through the benchmark on High quality with the GeForce 9800 GX2. 23.4fps single card performance could likely mean Crysis at 2560 x 1600 with a pair of GeForce GTX 280 in SLI mode is playable.

The frame rate increase over the GeForce 9800 GX2 is still nothing to shout about for lower resolutions. There is a substantial jump at 2560 x 1600, but things aren't playable still anyway.

 A game where the new GeForce GTX 280 shines is World in Conflict. We are getting about 50% increase across the board.

The difference is not that much on a Very High quality setting, but we do see marked improvement at 2560 x 1600.

 In Unreal Tournament 3, lower resolutions are still capped by processor performance. At ultra high resolution with AA/AF, the GeForce GTX 280 manages to almost double the performance of the GeForce 9800 GX2.