Radeon R9 295X2 8 GB Review: Project Hydra Gets Liquid Cooling

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mugato197ro

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Sep 17, 2013
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I'm really hoping they time a new driver to launch with this cards debut...we've been waiting forever for an updated driver...maybe something that optimizes the 7xxx series of cards with BF4 and Mantle?? Nvidia released thier new "wonder" driver (not that wonderful but any gain is appreciated), let's get on board here! I do like the card and understand it's market segment, good job listening to the enthusiasts, already too many companies are ignoring them. But like another poster said, your bread and butter are the mainstream cards (270x, 280x), spend some time on those too.
 
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Doug Lord

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Jan 8, 2014
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Chris and Igor

Can you please make another article using the data from this story regarding the importance of VRAM for next gen games. I've seen a lot of idiots out there saying VRam is a marketing gimmick and NOTHING bad happens when you run out. This article CLEARLY shows this is false.

This is a CRITICAL topic for next-gen GPUs playing next gen games at 4k.

In BF4 the 3GB 780ti SLI outperforms the 4GB per GPU 295x2 at 2560 by 5%. At 4k the 295x2 outperforms by 58% (min frame rate which is ALL that matters). We are talking a swing of >60%. The 6GB Titan SLI outperforms the 780ti by 25% at 4k after lagging by 16% at 2560.

This is MASSIVE!!!! An BF4 is not a next gen game with 4k texture packs. Wait till the next ES game with all of its mods.

People need to understand 4GB per GPU is the minimum for 4k gaming and 6-8GB is preferred. NVIDIA and AMD need to understand this for their next gen cards. People dropping $700, $1,000, $1,500 or God forbid $3,000 on GPUs to play games need to know this because they'll want to play 4k!

And yet I see people constantly claiming 1GB is good enough. For 2560 it might be (although Skrim with all Mods blows up my 5870 1GB x-fire @ 2560). For 3x1080p 2 GB is enough. For 4k you need FAR FAR more memory.

Please put an end to the lies!!!
 
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Isaiah4110

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Jan 12, 2012
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In the last chart on page 11, the Frame Time Variance over time of Tomb Raider at the QHD resolution, it looks like a couple of the lines got the wrong color assigned. The red line (which allegedly belongs to the 295X) looks like it should actually belong to the 7990 when compared to the Average Frame Time Variance bar graph...
 
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Isaiah4110

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Overall I have to say I completely agree with the final conclusion. This looks like a killer implementation and major deviation from past AMD high-end pre-launches.

IF this card actually launches at $1500 and is actually available at launch then I have a hard time seeing why anyone in the $1000+ for a GPU price range would want to buy anything else.


That said, I fall into the vast majority of people who can never see themselves actually owning such a high-end piece of equipment. This card will allegedly cost 50% ($500) more than all the parts and the OS I purchased for the build I just completed last weekend. I can still drool over such a card though and be extremely impressed with the pre-launch information and pricing of this card. It has been a long time since I can remember AMD actually having an offering that beat the comparable nVidia options in performance and price while actually keeping competitive in the aesthetic department as well.
 
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Haravikk

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I'm also hoping for a double-radiator version; a lot of newer cases have room for large radiators just about everywhere you could want one, allowing you mount your CPU radiator at the top, and your GPU radiator(s) at the bottom side, or the front. Actually, reversing the airflow so the typical exhaust fan at the back becomes an intake can be a good way to do things, with exhaust/radiators at the top and front, as these have the most room to spare anyway. It's definitely nice to see, and the double radiator might be able to push the noise down from 45dBA which IMO is still far too much for a liquid cooled card; I'd expect a card with a 140 x 280mm radiator to be almost silent.
 
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chaosmassive

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Nov 2, 2012
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sure insane performance for $ 1,500, but you gonna have a price to pay
what? electricity obviously. In long run, bills will outnumbered for lower power-hungry card but more expensive...
but anyway nice card, AMD..!
 
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ta152h

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Apr 1, 2009
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@gunfighter zeck

The term is Dreadnought. It described a ship that had many evolutionary changes, which combined made the ship revolutionary.

It was named because it was the first ship made with these changes, despite being designed after a more advanced design by the United States called South Carolina (which was more like the best battleship designs like Bismarck, Yamato, etc...).

Battleships were always afraid of something. When the Dreadnought and South Carolina were designed, torpedoes were greatly feared by all nations, and in fact had enormous influence on battles such as Jutland, despite their lack of use in that battle. The fear of them several times influenced British decision making, as they thought they were being lured over of a trap of U-Boats.

In WW II, aircraft became the biggest problems, and some Battleships (or really a Battlecruiser, but it was called a BB) like the Iowa class were designed primarily to escort aircraft carriers, and present an extremely effective air defense for them (as well as being able to deal with anything but 'real' battleships, like the Yamato and Musashi, which focuses on armament and armor, rather than speed). These ships were relatively lightly armored (for their size), and extremely fast (so they could keep up with the CVs they were protecting).
 
aberkae

aberkae

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Oct 30, 2009
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I can't believe my 2 year old gtx 690 is still a contender, I'll just wait until 20 nm gpus with 6 gig vram minimum with at least 50 % better performance to upgrade!
 
ingtar33

ingtar33

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Dec 17, 2012
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This is the first truelly elite gpu AMD has released ~ ever.

With the performance to prove it. Those power numbers are incredible... as are the noise and heat. Throw in all that horsepower in 4k... and this is easily the best card on the market (or will be on the market)

lets see what the green team has up it's sleeve cause this is a shot across the bow! 3000 for a titanZ? nvidia is out of it's mind.
 
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julianbautista87

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Jan 6, 2010
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It's a shame what is happening to AMD right now... gamers are not buying their cards right now because the price is too high because the freaking bitcoiners are buying them and AMD is not producing enough cards. And that's what will happen to this card as well. And when you buy an AMD second hand card of this generation it's going to be a card that has been used intensively (probably 20/7), and they're going to die faster.
 
Sakkura

Sakkura

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Aug 22, 2011
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Well the Titan Z is really targeting a different market, with its higher double-precision performance. They do need to come up with a really good GTX 790 (or whatever they'll call a 2xGK110 gaming card) if they want to compete with the R9 295X2 though.

AMD have done really well. Not just performance, but this time even the reference cooler is pretty damn good.
 
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