When Nvidia revealed the impressive Titan-Z, a powerhouse GPU priced at a whooping $3000, it was clear AMD wouldn’t be far behind with a similar release. And that day has arrived, as it seems AMD is ready to take the fight to Nvidia once again. Meet the AMD Radeon R9 295X2! That’s quite the mouthful, that’s for sure, so at least when it comes to names, Nvidia clearly won this round. That being said, AMD’s offering is impressive in many ways. First, it’s worth mentioning that the company obtained the R9 295X2 by combining two R9 290X GPU’s into one single GPU. 11.5 teraflops of power is the direct result.
Now, in terms of performance, it’s probably to early to give either of the two GPU’s a winning nod. In fact, it’s doubtful there are games that are capable of squeezing all the power hidden within these GPUs. However, AMD clearly wins one aspect, and that’s the financial one. While Nvidia’s Titan-Z costs $3000, the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 comes at half the price-tag, at around $1500. It’s nowhere near being cheap, but that’s half the cost compared to Nvidia’s offering, for pretty much the same performance levels.
The R9 295X2 brings a hybrid air and water cooling system, something that’s entirely new for a standard manufactured graphics card. Of course, overclockers often resort to water cooling (and other methods), but out of the box, this is the first GPU we’re getting to feature the technology, and it’s needed too, as the R9 295X2 heats up like a nuclear power-plant. You’ll need considerable amounts of energy to power this thing up though, and AMD recommends a PSU of at least 1000W. Then again, for anyone considering spending this much on a GPU, a solid PSU should come naturally. Both the Nvidia’s Titan-Z and AMD’s new R9 295X2 are aimed at the top of the gaming enthusiasts, and this is evident in all aspects. Over the top performances (that are frankly not necessary just yet) with matching prices are the name of the game.
The build quality on the R9 295X2 appears to be a huge improvement over previous AMD models too. The cooling system actually is an improvement too, keeping the GPU at around the 70 degree Celsius mark, which is impressive for such a graphics card. The card can handle 5 displays, although it lacks HDMI support. It is however a top-of-the-line product aimed for the best quality 4k gaming, and AMD seems to have delivered this time, based on all professional reviews and benchmarks. It’s a heft investment, but if you want the best of the best, it’s the obvious choice. Nvidia’s hefty and double price just makes us state that for now, AMD has the best GPU available on the market. Here are the complete specs:
- Process: 28nm
- Transistors: 12.4bn
- Engine Clock: up to 1.02GHz
- Stream Processors: 5632
- Texture Units: 352
- Texture Fill-Rate: Up to 358.3GT/s
- ROPS: 128
- Pixel Fill-Rate: Up to 130.3GP/s
- Z/Stencil: 512
- Memory Interface: 2×512-bit
- Memory Type: 8GB GDDR5
- Data Rate: Up to 5.0Gbps
- Memory Bandwidth: Up to 640.0GB/s
How do you feel about the R9 295X2. Do the specs justify the price? Would you spend this much on a GPU? Do let us know!