AMD has revealed the Radeon R9 295X2, the flagship card in its latest range of gamer-centric GPUs. The new card features a powerful dual-GPU setup that utilizes factory-fitted liquid cooling and boasts a full 8GB memory. The GPU is aimed to compete with NVIDIA's rival Titan cards.
Unlike console gaming, the benchmark for PC graphics performance is constantly being raised, with the top two manufacturers, AMD and NVIDIA, constantly vying for the top spot. AMD’s Radeon R9 295X2 represents the company’s latest attempt to grab that spot, and while it might not quite dethrone its rival, it does present a tantalizing prospect to deep-pocketed gaming enthusiasts.
In terms of raw specs, the card offers a dual-Hawaii 290X configuration with 8GB GDDR5 memory, providing 11.5 TFLOPs compute power and an impressive 5,632 stream processors. The new card’s GPUs take advantage of the company’s Mantle technology, which allows developers to create more efficient code that speaks more directly to the GPU while lowering CPU workload and reducing bottlenecking issues.
The company claims that the card can handle ultra game settings at full 4K resolution, or can be pushed even further, simultaneously running five high-definition displays for a total resolution featuring an additional two million pixels over 4K. Unlike many current GPUs, the flagship R9 card doesn't feature an HDMI port, but instead opts for a single dual-link DVI and four mini DisplayPorts.
The specs here are undoubtedly impressive, but the card’s powder coated aluminum design and factory-fitted Asetek-developed liquid cooling solution should also help it stand out among the competition. This tech should help the card run cool and quiet under heavy workloads.
The card retails for a substantial US$1,500. That’s a fair bit more than NVIDIA’s $1,100 Titan Black GPU, though the competing card features a less beefy 6GB memory and 2,880 stream processors. In contrast, NVIDIA’s recently announced Titan Z card, which features a full 12GB memory, retails for a massive $3,000.
Other than its high-end price tag, the only major downside of the R9 295X2 appears to be its power hungry nature. The card requires a hefty 500W of power, meaning that most consumers looking to pick up the card should probably start shopping for a beefier power supply as well.
The AMD Radeon R9 295X2 will be available worldwide from April 21.
Source: AMD