This might be a better deal than dual cards as cooling will be MUCH MUCH easier. If you have an AIO for the CPU as well you can keep it cool very easily.
That's the max DPM state, which the card stays in very easily and constantly due to water cooling removing temp-related throttling issues which 290/290X had. Main goal of this card is to be faster than the equivalent CF/SLI setup.
780ti SLI is still faster,
It was when you go above 2 cards, AMD's superior xdma runs away with the crown.
That looks really shady.
I can't think of a single dual-GPU card that's EVER been faster than a quality CF/SLI setup of contemporary cards :
Eg : Radeon 6990 was slower than CF 6970OC, GTX690 was slower than 2X 680OC cards, etc.
Dual-GPU cards honestly suck, unless you :
Have a SFF case or a single PCIe slot to work with
or
Have a need for quad-GPU and only two PCIe slots to work with
For everyone else, they're MUCH better off with separate cards. If anyone told you they'd rather than a 295 in comparison to a quality 290X aftermarket CF rig, they're trolling, or stupid, or both (unless they meet the exemption above).
It's also nice to have a spare card down the line in case you want to sell one, repurpose the other, one dies, whatever.
The first dual-GPU card I think I had was a weird SLI on a card Voodoo1 that I got from an Id employee in 96 or so. The next one was a Rage 128 something or other (or similar, it's been too long), and it was almost unusably terrible.
Looks like its faster than 780Ti SLI Link
Maybe faster VRAM and better CF drivers?
Ahem
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2584/4
If the card is clocked and cooled better than a pair of reference 290X cards. I don't see why it would not be faster.
Are you sure?
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014...tion_edition_crossfire_review/11#.UzxE_fldVNI
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/radeon_r9_290x_crossfire_vs_sli_review_benchmarks,1.html
I didn't take much time in google, but 290x crossfire seems to be substantially faster than 780ti SLi. With the added benefit of you being able to add a 3rd card for only a little more money than 780ti SLi if you catch the right prices. I'm not sure if the 780ti prices have come down so that could have changed. It's out of my price range so I haven't looked.
Rather than either 290x or 780ti, I would go 3 way crossfire 290's. That would absolutely scream.
That's one heck of a case. I hope they have put that much attention to the cooling!!
Yeah that's pretty goofy. Pair of WC+OC 290X will handily smoke everything on that list. Stock 290X cards throttle quite a bit. It's a shame because the 290/290X are utter beasts, but really held back by gimpy stock cooling. Some GPUs don't have much more to give even with extreme cooling, but the 290s really open up a LOT.
It'll always be single card > dual-GPU card > dual cards.
This card was also made with the performance target of beating 290X and matching an overclocked 290X (1050MHz core clock, to be specific). You're just kind of spouting the same rhetoric as people do about every dual card, except this time the card is actually fast enough to make all your points kind of moot.
Is that single RAD really enough to cool 2 of those GPUs?
Except price... You can get 2x 290X with aftermarket coolers that will sustain 1050MHz (apparently, I have no experience with them) for less than the price of the 295.
Well, if is included in the $1500 price two binned golden Hawaii chips, then the deal is good.
Who will use this product clocked at stock clocks!?
Mad props to Anandtech, for not posting a picture of a damn briefcase on their website.
NDA's suck.
Is that single RAD really enough to cool 2 of those GPUs?
It will most likely cool them enough so that it doesn't throttle down at the stock clock speed. However a single 120mm AIO even with dual fans won't have the capacity to remove the heat if you try OCing.
My 780 classified has an EVGA Hydro Copper water block and back plate with plenty of rad capacity for it and my 3930k OC'd to 4.5Ghz. I have the gpu OC'd to @1260 on the core (stock 993) and it NEVER exceeds 41C.
This promo has a quote from the CEO of Asetek about the cooling capacity of water. Trouble is I doubt the coolant in this system is distilled water rather some other liquid with less capacity.
If I was cooling 2 R9 290s or 290Xs I would want 2 120 rad spaces PER gpu to keep it cool. It's hard for me to believe a single 120 mm rad will move the temps down much.