Preliminary Tests on GeForce GTX 295 Run, Leads Radeon HD 4870 X2

[Tatty_Two]

1) Never said the games can't be tested and reviewed -- just that the ones with Nvidia's badge need an added caveat. Perhaps these games could be tested on Nvidia's hardware, alone?

2) The average consumer isn't the slightest bit interested in video card reviews, either. The enthusiast is, however -- and if an enthusiast isn't concerned that some game benchmarks may be slanted towards a certain manufacturer, they should be.

OK, using your argument, no ATi card owner would get a review to show him how his card would perform on the newest games if the game said "TWIMTBP"........I doubt that would work and contrary to your beleif, i think the "average" consumer" has only a game or Gfx card review to go by before they select the once in a 2-3 year card, the guys down my street that game, not particularily hardcore have never been to a tech forum in their life, they either buy a PC mag or go to the PC Mag's online reviews to make sure their 8400GS they are considering buying will run Crysis at 1920 x 1200

 

[erocker]

I'm interested in seeing some GTX285 results. This 295 is going to be an excellent card for sure, though I want to stick with a single GPU.



That doesn't seem unbelievable to me.^^

 

[Selene]

Im not sure not reviewing games with either companys badge is a good thing, most ppl are not like us, we read the reviews and bench marks alot, this helps us decide on upgrades, so If i play game "A" and game "C" I find the info I need and then get the card that does the best.
If you only do games that dont have any support from either one, then it would make it harder to find wich card is best for that person.
Also 90% of ppl dont even know about sites like this so they are blind and only read whats on the box, and we all know NV and ATI are very missleading, the whole 2gig/1gig on the X2 cards is realy realy iffy, almost none of my gamer friends even new the SLI and CF did not combine the memery that way so some of them are ticked off at both sides.

 

[wolf]

all in all those benchmarks look fairly realistic, cant wait to see this card overclocked

 

[Melvis]

I was hopeing this card would be built the same as the 3870x2 and 4870x2 with two GPU's on the one board, but no, its the same old way with two cards stuck together =/ Dont they run like SLI when there done like this? unlike the X2's? or am i wrong. Ive heard back when the 7950GX2 was out you had to enable SLI for both cards to run, so i thought this would be the same?
I might of bought this card instead of the 4870x2 but idk now.

 

[wolf]

I was hopeing this card would be built the same as the 3870x2 and 4870x2 with two GPU's on the one board, but no, its the same old way with two cards stuck together =/

some people, like myself, think this design is actually better that the dual radeons, believe it or not.

if for no other reason (which there are) is because both GPU's are cooled at the same time, ie same temp.

 

[phanbuey]

haha... just as expected. people who have limited experience with SLI on current hardware knocked this card, but in reality these are the results, AT STOCK. this card will OC past 700, radeon 4780 X2 never had a chance. 448Bit bus for OCing heeeeaaaaveeennnn.

 

[erocker]

Dual gpu setups may be a thing of the past soon. There is speculation that the dual RV8xx series card is based on this I like the Nvidia design for thier dual cards, though it's obviously not as cost effective as ATi's design. Plus, if Nvidia were to try putting two massive GTX chips on one pcb, the card would have to be huge.

 

[phanbuey]

Dual gpu setups may be a thing of the past soon. There is speculation that the dual RV8xx series card is based on this I like the Nvidia design for thier dual cards, though it's obviously not as cost effective as ATi's design. Plus, if Nvidia were to try putting two massive GTX chips on one pcb, the card would have to be huge.

i remember reading about this during IBM's intercooled chip debut... cool stuff, but i bet we're still 4 or 5 years away... and even then... ATI 9780X2 3D INTERCOOLED EDITION!!!!

 

[WarEagleAU]

the GTX 280 is a monster of a card, but I dont see it winning in the power draw department (lets face it the number of transistors makes it impossible) and I dont see the advantages as that HUGE. I think it will do better but not in the margin they are showing it. Also, the 1GB 4870 makes up for the 512mb 4870 card against the GT 260 216.

 

[WarEagleAU]

as an aside, its interesting to note that since ATI places the 4870 in the realm of the 260 (and now 260 216) they are taking their top gpu or a blend, and using that to trounce the 4870x2.

 

[insider]

Price/performance anyone?

Unless it sells for very close to the 4870 x2 not many will care, not many bothered with the 4870 x2 to start with!

I'd rather they release something close/slightly slower/exceeds the 48070 X2 performance but cheaper, that is something more people will buy.

 

[a_ump]

hhhhmmmm interesting, i say some of those marks would be possible but the fact that SLI'd GTX 280's, which would technically be superior to the GTX 295, don't out score an HD 4870x2 i don't see how this card which is 2 GPU's in between 280 and 260 performance(GTX 270 i'd like to call em ) there isn't a way that these are accurate, though nvidia may have done some hardcore optimizing in drivers and whatnot but i still say sketchy. idc about this card it's nothing new, just the current put together, but i am looking forward to seeing the RV870 benchmarks.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Price/performance anyone?

Unless it sells for very close to the 4870 x2 not many will care, not many bothered with the 4870 x2 to start with!

I'd rather they release something close/slightly slower/exceeds the 48070 X2 performance but cheaper, that is something more people will buy.

Agreed, but these cards are only ever aimed to fill about 3-5% of all Graphics card sales, they are a flag waver for the rest (and more affordable) cards in the range.

So am I right in saying, the 295 is actually the equivilent of two souped up GTX280's (cause i thought it was 2 x 240 shaders) with higher clock speeds and 55nm?

 

[a_ump]

Agreed, but these cards are only ever aimed to fill about 3-5% of all Graphics card sales, they are a flag waver for the rest (and more affordable) cards in the range.

So am I right in saying, the 295 is actually the equivilent of two souped up GTX280's (cause i thought it was 2 x 240 shaders) with higher clock speeds and 55nm?

Yes and no, it's more like a souped up GTX 260, since it still has the 448-bit bus with 896mb for each chip, but has 240 shaders per chip, GTX 270 imo ^_^

 

[Tatty_Two]

Yes and no, it's more like a souped up GTX 260, since it still has the 448-bit bus with 896mb for each chip, but has 240 shaders per chip, GTX 270 imo ^_^

Naaaa the 448 bit bus and 896mb memory are more than enuff, that shouldnt hold them back at all.....maybe if your gaming on a 30+ inch above 1920 resolutions slightly....IDK.

 

[a_ump]

Naaaa the 448 bit bus and 896mb memory are more than enuff, that shouldnt hold them back at all.....maybe if your gaming on a 30+ inch above 1920 resolutions slightly....IDK.

i agree, i thk if the GTX 260 did have 240SPU's it would perform the same as the GTX 280 cept for 2560x1600.

 

[imperialreign]

funny how I never saw such posts when we covered prelim benches (the same as this story) for R700.

there were - but not as rampant - at least ATI-provided slides for their preliminary benches are setup to appear to be more . . . . possible. They try to not go overboard with what they're selling and typically are willing to say what CAT beta they're running . . . and they do have a track record for being *somewhat* more accurte than nVidia with preliminaries . . .

These slides are anything but . . .




Although, interesting to say the least - if this card does perform anywhere near that well (although I doubt so), it'll shift market focus back towards nVidia . . . I wonder what ATI has cooked up for their "trump" 2 weeks later

 

[Melvis]

some people, like myself, think this design is actually better that the dual radeons, believe it or not.

if for no other reason (which there are) is because both GPU's are cooled at the same time, ie same temp.

Thats fair enough if someone like the design of there card, but i personally don't like the way there done, i can see these cards getting very hot, with not much room between the cards to improve on cooling, or by putting a bigger cooler on it, you would have to stick with what it comes out with, or maybe later get water cooling. Where the ATi dual GPU cards can be changed, and gainward and Palit have done so, and there very nicely done to
Dont get me wrong i like Nvidia over ATI, but with the ATi X2's i really like there design. Personal choice.

No 1 has said if these cards or the older versions have to be turned on like SLI has to? as a m8 has a SLI rig, and its a total pain in the ass, nothing but trouble =/ and not alot of games support SLI still, but soon will be tho.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Thats fair enough if someone like the design of there card, but i personally don't like the way there done, i can see these cards getting very hot, with not much room between the cards to improve on cooling, or by putting a bigger cooler on it, you would have to stick with what it comes out with, or maybe later get water cooling. Where the ATi dual GPU cards can be changed, and gainward and Palit have done so, and there very nicely done to
Dont get me wrong i like Nvidia over ATI, but with the ATi X2's i really like there design. Personal choice.

No 1 has said if these cards or the older versions have to be turned on like SLI has to? as a m8 has a SLI rig, and its a total pain in the ass, nothing but trouble =/ and not alot of games support SLI still, but soon will be tho.

Theoretically you are right......in practice, the 9800GX2 ran cooler than the 3870x2 I beleive

 

[Valdez]

I think it will be slower than gtx280sli, but faster than gtx260/216sli. It's enough to beat the 4870x2 in most cases.

 

[Kursah]

All I can say is this harkons back to to what ATI was doing with 4870 X2 "preliminary" graphs such as this, also with higher performance in Far Cry 2 vs a GTX260 by A LOT(4870 vs 260 that is)...lol, unfortunately we all know how that turned out...I hate this prelim crap, both sides are guilty, IMO it's doing it's job and stirring up the enthusiasts, getting some hyped up about it, getting some pissed off about it, no matter how you look at it everyone who has posted here has been affected by the news in the OP of the prelim results or by someone elses post because of those very results.

I don't really care much for these results...I don't really think the performance increase will be THAT drastic...but I'm sure it will be one helluva card. The 9800GX2 is still a damn fine card for those that want a simpler SLI setup in a single card. I'm a single card, single gpu in my system kind of guy...when my card isn't good enough I'll upgrade. I'm curious to see how hot these run, and what the actual facts and actual results are.

 

[CDdude55]

Wonder how much the GTX 285 will be probably in the $450-$500 range.

 

[a_ump]

I think it will be slower than gtx280sli, but faster than gtx260/216sli. It's enough to beat the 4870x2 in most cases.

wow that's all the GTX285 is? well at least they did decent with sticking to their naming scheme, so basically an oc'd GTX 280 will perform the same as GTX285, i wonder when they're going to come out with the GTX265.

 

[DarkMatter]

wow that's all the GTX285 is? well at least they did decent with sticking to their naming scheme, so basically an oc'd GTX 280 will perform the same as GTX285, i wonder when they're going to come out with the GTX265.

That's what it was suposed to be from the start. But yeah, an overclocked GTX280 will perform the same, but at much higher power consumption and potentially higher temps. The GTX285 should overclock far better too.