The HD4870X2 killer the GTX295

[Goldkills]

well next month Nvidia is coming out with the newest card in the GTX200 line with the dual GPU GTX295. it will be a 240 shader unit per GPU giving a total of 480 so it better then 2 GTX260c16 in terms of shader units but not as good as the GTX280. but the clocks will be the same as a GTX260, it will also have 1792MB of GDDR 3 vram so the same amount as 2 GTX260s. the cards will use a improved cooler from the 9800GX2 the last dual GPU card from Nvidia so the heat problems should be fixed but this thing is a beast in terms of power use it uses about 650W of power to run.
Here is some benchmarks.
in Farcry 2
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-prev iew/7 (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/7)
it seems the the res of 1920x1200 is where this card pulls out on top but looses its power at 2560x1600 to the 4870x2 due to the lack of ram on the card

more benchmarks this time on COD5 WaW
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-prev iew/8 (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/8)

this time its a clear winner to the GTX295 even at the huge res of 2560x1600 this may be due to the better drivers of the GTX295 right now or to the game being better for Nvidia cards

now for Crysis warhead (but can it run crysis lol )
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-prev iew/10 (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/10)
here is one of the hardest games to get great FPS in even with the Power of the the GTX295 or the 4870x2 you can't get the greatest fps in the game on highest settings but you can see the butter zone of the GTX295 is 1920x1200 where is clearly beats the 4870x2

now on to Left 4 Dead what we wanted from the start
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-prev iew/13 (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/13)

well the 2 cards have no problem running this game at max settings even at 2560x1600 the GTX295 pulls a head b/c of the massive amount of shader units of the GTX295

now for Dead space
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-prev iew/12 (http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-295-preview/12)

this is a disgrace to ATI almost a full 100% gain over the 4870x2 at 2560x1600 this is due to the game being really well made for Nvidia cards but still ATI make some better drivers to use the damn power of the card lol.

final thoughts I think this card will be a great buy at 499.99 it can out power the 4870x2 at a res that most people can play at (1920x1200) but in the next week or two i would like to see some real temp data and quad SLI benchmarks but with this card i think Nvidia will have a hold over ATI in to the next year.

[dethklok]

HD4870X2 ftw

[pk7677]

That card design looks too sexy.

[Hit in the Head]

To be honest, it's just nice to see actual leap-frogging again. I am an nVidia fan, but until the 3800 series, I was seriously worried about ATI.

I love the competition, now.

[knowitall]

HD4870X2 ftw

Being a fanboy will just lead to having inferior computer parts.

OT though. I wish I had a job at the moment because these cards are going to be pretty awesome.

[lawlhat]

Now all I need is to pull that kind of money out of my ass.

[Goldkills]

lol but the price of 499.99 the GTX295 will be a good buy over some of the 4870x2 makers but i like how Nvidia is starting to recover after ATI raped then in the start of the year

[GoldRenamon]

To be quite honest, I don't think the GTX295 is a "4870X2 Killer" more like Nvidia screaming "Hey! Don't forget about us!" Of course, it's giving better benchmarks then the 4870X2 and even pummeling it in some cases. (Ahem.. Dead Space.) but in any case. They are JUST benchmarks. I'm sure as with any new card the 295GTX will have it's issues. I believe [H] Enthusiast said it best:


"NVIDIA has definitely made this a worthy competitor to the Radeon HD 4870 X2. But in no way is this a "4870 X2 killer." From our narrow look here today with what is likely to be an immature driver set, the GTX 295 is matching the 4870 X2 in gameplay. Maybe it will best it in a month, but I would not bet on it.

The GeForce GTX 295 is a nice evolution of the GTX 200 series, and offers up some new configuration possibilities, but will it really be a preferred gaming card when you can get two 216 Core GeForce GTX 260's (with higher clocks) for a combined price that is lower than a GTX 295? And SLI can now be had on Intel chipset motherboards? And it seems that the 4870 X2 is a bit better bet in terms of AA looking forward?"


If I was planning on buying an Nvidia card, I would rather purchase two GTX 260's...

Tl;dr: Great card, too early to tell if it will completely beat the 4870x2.