The R9 295 thread - Reviews are in - Quiet, cooler, fast, $1500

[blackened23]

I'm having a hard time seeing how neither noise or cooling would be somewhat compromised. Seems like something would have to give, either temps or noise. 120mm is really undercutting it for 500W TDP, even if there's a fan on the gpu block. I mean, on a real water loop - the real deal sort of thing - you would never, ever do 2X GPUs at 250W TDP per on a mere 120mm. Well, technically you could but you wouldn't really even get the full benefits of water cooling as the temps would not be nearly as good as they should be. 240mm is considered the bare minimum for two items in a loop with more being preferable. But then the GPU block itself also has a fan on it. *I don't know, don't see it*. I guess we could look at data concerning the asus poseiden GPU which uses a similar sort of deal, but is designed for a real custom water loop. Then again it is a 250W TDP GPU and not 500W. (is 500W confirmed?)

Guess we'll indeed be waiting on reviews. I'm having a hard time grasping if noise and cooling will be in line - seems like one or the other would have to give? Now I do think it will be below the throttle points easaily but I don't think it's reasonable to expect overclocking beyond that. Just speculating based on how real water loops are done. I can't think of anyone doing a 120mm for 2 GPUs at 250W TDP per or GPU + CPU. We'll see though. Can't really comment more than that because there's no real meaningful data yet. So I guess we're waiting for reviews on the 8th.

If I had to take a wild stab at it, I would say the temps would be rather high for water, with the focus being on low noise. Probably 70C-80C which would be below the throttle points, but I can't see AMD going too aggressive on the fan profile after all the press the 290X cards got for loud fans. It would be a delicate balance between noise and temps there I think. I'll just leave the speculation be until we get real data on the 8th.

 

[Cloudfire777]

Asus R9 295X2 8GB was listed on "Webhallen", Sweden biggest hardware retailer, before it was taken down earlier today.
Price? 17 990 SEK ($2789]

I crosschecked prices against NewEgg, and "Webhallen" is about 10-15% more expensive on R9 290X.


So expect around $2499 for the R9 295X2

Source: http://www.sweclockers.com/nyhet/18562-amd-radeon-r9-295x2-kostar-17-990-kronor

 

[Attic]

k, i'll take 2.

 

[chimaxi83]

Asus R9 295X2 8GB was listed on "Webhallen", Sweden biggest hardware retailer, before it was taken down earlier today.
Price? 17 990 SEK ($2789]

I crosschecked prices against NewEgg, and "Webhallen" is about 10-15% more expensive on R9 290X.


So expect around $2499 for the R9 295X2

Source: http://www.sweclockers.com/nyhet/18562-amd-radeon-r9-295x2-kostar-17-990-kronor

I'm fairly certain that everyone remembers how absurdly wrong you were with these stupid bs price leaks for 290X release

 

[RaulF]

Sorry if this has been asked.

Is the 8GB or vram, really just 4GB since is working like xfire/sli? Or does this GPU have access to all 8GB?

Thanks for the info.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

I think it's 4/4

 

[MegaWorks]

Sorry if this has been asked.

Is the 8GB or vram, really just 4GB since is working like xfire/sli? Or does this GPU have access to all 8GB?

Thanks for the info.

I was just thinking that same thing! :hmm:

 

[Attic]

"just 4gb" ? :hmm:


I'll love when we are there and the goosebumps have goosebumps on textures in game.

 

[ethebubbeth]

Sorry if this has been asked.

Is the 8GB or vram, really just 4GB since is working like xfire/sli? Or does this GPU have access to all 8GB?

Thanks for the info.

Like most dual cards that should be 8gb total, 4gb per GPU. That means it would work the same as a standard 4gb 290.

 

[RaulF]

I think it's 4/4

I was just thinking that same thing! :hmm:

"just 4gb" ? :hmm:


I'll love when we are there and the goosebumps have goosebumps on textures in game.

D:

I hate that they do this.

Why haven't figure out a way to make the memory from both GPU's usable.

Anyone care to chime in on hard that would be. I think that would be a great advancement on the multi gpu end.

 

[Hitman928]

D:

I hate that they do this.

Why haven't figure out a way to make the memory from both GPU's usable.

Anyone care to chime in on hard that would be. I think that would be a great advancement on the multi gpu end.

Supposedly this is possible through mantle, or rather, each gpu doesn't have to have the exact same data in it's RAM meaning (theoretically) you could have 1 gpu have 4GB of data and the other gpu have 4GB of different data, giving you 8GB of space. In a game where both gpu's are processing the same scene, not sure how much it would give you, maybe it will become more useful as more compute tasks are incorporated into games. Will be interesting to see if it ever happens.

 

[RaulF]

Supposedly this is possible through mantle, or rather, each gpu doesn't have to have the exact same data in it's RAM meaning (theoretically) you could have 1 gpu have 4GB of data and the other gpu have 4GB of different data, giving you 8GB of space. In a game where both gpu's are processing the same scene, not sure how much it would give you, maybe it will become more useful as more compute tasks are incorporated into games. Will be interesting to see if it ever happens.

Sweet.

Good to hear, hopefully DX12 will do something like that too.

 

[guskline]

With the "fervor" shown on this thread, I can't wait for a true review. Hopefully it will be done on a high end machine with a decent case and power supply.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Supposedly this is possible through mantle, or rather, each gpu doesn't have to have the exact same data in it's RAM meaning (theoretically) you could have 1 gpu have 4GB of data and the other gpu have 4GB of different data, giving you 8GB of space. In a game where both gpu's are processing the same scene, not sure how much it would give you, maybe it will become more useful as more compute tasks are incorporated into games. Will be interesting to see if it ever happens.

No, thats not how it works. And it got nothing to do with Mantle, DX12 etc. Its all to do with the AFR method.

So no, each card will still only have 4GB and not being shared.

 

[3DVagabond]

Actually what form of dual GPU rendering is that used with Mantle is up to the game dev. AFR will likely continue to be the standard, but it doesn't have to be.

 

[Skurge]

Yep, the dev decides how it's done. I'd like to know what dice has done to get the frame times so flat

 

[Cookie Monster]

http://videocardz.com/50151/closer-look-radeon-r9-295x2

Can a single rad keep two 250W GPUs cool??? Im guessing dual fans is mandatory. Looks nice though

 

[lehtv]

http://videocardz.com/50151/closer-look-radeon-r9-295x2

Can a single rad keep two 250W GPUs cool??? Im guessing dual fans is mandatory. Looks nice though

Why would the GPUs need to stay cool? The 290X runs just fine hot. It's designed to run hot. And it's also designed to adjust clock speed to maintain that optimal temperature, i.e. it will throttle as needed and boost as needed, up to a point.

That being said, I think having a centralized fan with a big ass heatsink exposed on all sides of the card, along with a 120mm radiator, is going to work very well.

 

[Saylick]

Why would the GPUs need to stay cool? The 290X runs just fine hot. It's designed to run hot. And it's also designed to adjust clock speed to maintain that optimal temperature, i.e. it will throttle as needed and boost as needed, up to a point.

That being said, I think having a centralized fan with a big ass heatsink exposed on all sides of the card, along with a 120mm radiator, is going to work very well.

We want them to stay under cool, i.e. under 94C, to prevent throttling so that the full performance of the card can be extracted. There's nothing wrong about lower temps from what I understand; I can't think of a case where lower temps aren't desirable.

As for the whole "designed to run hot", that sounds a whole lot like what people said about Fermi. Just because it can doesn't mean we want it to.

I really do hope that a single 120mm rad somehow, someway is able to handle 2 290X GPUs, but my gut feeling is that this solution will end up being more or less the same as what we got with the reference 290X: constantly hot, constantly throttling.

 

[DiogoDX]

http://videocardz.com/50151/closer-look-radeon-r9-295x2

Can a single rad keep two 250W GPUs cool??? Im guessing dual fans is mandatory. Looks nice though

Maybe they will run at 80c and keep the max boost. This and the possibility better scalind of the XDMA (internal PLX of the 7990 has 48 lanes) will give this card the upper hand against the reference 290X crossfire.

 

[lehtv]

We want them to stay under cool, i.e. under 94C, to prevent throttling so that the full performance of the card can be extracted. There's nothing wrong about lower temps from what I understand; I can't think of a case where lower temps aren't desirable.

I didn't mean there'd be anything wrong with lower temps. The point was there's no harm from higher temps apart from potential clock speed throttling, which is the way that the 290X GPU is designed to function.

As for the whole "designed to run hot", that sounds a whole lot like what people said about Fermi. Just because it can doesn't mean we want it to.

'Designed' has nothing to do with what customers want. What it means is it works the way it should. If the GPU stays at throttle temp and full clocks in the worst case scenario, then it works perfectly. There is no requirement for it to stay cool.

I really do hope that a single 120mm rad somehow, someway is able to handle 2 290X GPUs, but my gut feeling is that this solution will end up being more or less the same as what we got with the reference 290X: constantly hot, constantly throttling.

Probably. But then it'd be still working as intended.

 

[Gloomy]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/ARES_II/32.html

Ares 2, 50 degrees Celsius with just a 120mm rad. This dual Hawaii card will use at most 40-50 watts more. Will that take it up to 95 degrees and will it make it throttle? :hmm:

 

[Jacky60]

http://videocardz.com/amd/radeon-r200/radeon-r9-290x2
Seems the price will be $999 which is pretty much in line with where I'd expect it to be. That's historically where AMD's dual GPU cards have been and it makes me think this card may well be a worthy addition to my main rig. 290x trifire here I come!

 

[krumme]

http://videocardz.com/amd/radeon-r200/radeon-r9-290x2
Seems the price will be $999 which is pretty much in line with where I'd expect it to be. That's historically where AMD's dual GPU cards have been and it makes me think this card may well be a worthy addition to my main rig. 290x trifire here I come!

No way 999. Amd is and will until 20nm be 28nm capacity constrained. Prices of 290/280 supports that.

This card probably kills a dual nv solution because of better scaling and smootness and less microstutter. The cooling is far superior regardless of the size of the rad. Go read cooling capacity of rad this type compared to normal cooling solution. Its another world.

Its a surpricing solution. Why should amd price this at 999 when there is more profit in selling 2 290x?
If this is 1ghz class my take is 1499 retail. And if i was amd i would price this at at least 2000 nv have shown 3000 is possible. I would go for that +500 as this looks like a better product

 

[Silverforce11]

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/ARES_II/32.html

Ares 2, 50 degrees Celsius with just a 120mm rad. This dual Hawaii card will use at most 40-50 watts more. Will that take it up to 95 degrees and will it make it throttle? :hmm:

Hawaii when its not running at 94C uses very similar power to 7970 Ghz ed.

A small OC as well:
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Sapphire/R9_290X_Tri-X_OC/22.html

Temps are amazing on the ASUS ARES with just a 120mm rad. Water cooling is very effective when they are running a hotter loop, as delta T of the coolant increases above ambient, so too does the efficiency.