NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295: Leading the Pack
by Derek Wilson on January 12, 2009 5:15 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
We'll start with NVIDIA vs. NVIDIA and move on from there. The GeForce GTX 295 performed pretty much where we expected: between the GTX 260 SLI and the GTX 280 SLI setups. In some games, the GTX 295 performed very nearly at GTX 260 performance, indicating a bottleneck somewhere in memory bandwidth or with the ROPs. Because the clock speeds and hardware widths are the same, on GTX 295 and 260 SLI games limited by memory performance or ROP performance will run fairly similarly. In cases where shader performance was more important we saw more separation, but the clock speed, memory bandwidth and ROP advantage of the GTX 280 SLI system consistently outpaced the GTX 295 by a good margin.
When it comes to how the GTX 295 stacks up against NVIDIA's current line up, it's closer to a single card GTX 260 SLI than anything else. Putting two GTX 260 core 216 cards in SLI will get a little closer, but since the 295 will still have an advantage in shader power we can't expect the gap to disappear. Those who already have a GTX 260 or two will not really be interested in the GTX 295 as an upgrade option, as GTX 260 SLI is very much close enough to GTX 295 performance.
Comparing NVIDIA to AMD, it's clear that NVIDIA has recaptured the halo product at least in the majority of tests we ran in this snapshot of performance. We are noticing a trend that has some games heavily favoring one architecture or another, which makes general recommendations harder than usual. But the advantage this time around is certainly with NVIDIA. The Radeon HD 4870 1GB still hangs on competitively, but SLI wins out over CrossFire.
Though we are using the 8.12 hotfix that improves game performance and (as far as we've noticed) stability on Intel Core i7 systems, we can't be sure when this hotfix will make it into a WHQL driver. We've spent a good deal of time being hard on AMD for their driver support lately. As we've said since the launch of the R700, the success or failure of AMD's new direction for their highest end parts depends entirely on the ability of their driver team to make sure the experience and performance are top notch on single-card dual-GPU platforms. This includes having support in at least beta driver as the launch of new games and having high quality support for all new hardware platforms released. It is also imperative that all fixes in any beta or hotfix driver make it into the very next WHQL driver.
NVIDIA has the advantage on the highest end single card product, but we don't see this as a boon for anyone but people running 30" displays at this point. There really is just no reason to drop the cash on a GTX 295 unless you're looking at 2560x1600 gaming. For smaller displays, cheaper parts will work great. It's still hard to recommend buying for longevity because of the way performance can fall heavily in favor of AMD or heavily in favor of NVIDIA depending on the game. We just can't know until we get there which solution will be better on future titles.
While NVIDIA has the halo, AMD's top of the line card is slightly cheaper than the GTX 295 and still outperforms it in some cases. Currently the Radeon HD 4870 X2 is a $450 card while the GeForce GTX 295 is a $500 part. This 11% price advantage (10% savings depending on how you look at it) might be incentive for some people. We don't consider it enough to recommend the Radeon HD 4870 X2 over the GTX 295 though. There are some opportunities with mail in rebates that could net you a 4870 X2 for closer to $400, but mail in rebates are always hit or miss, aren't permanent and not everyone likes them. If the 4870 X2 were being sold without a rebate for $400, the choice would be more difficult, but as it stands, the GTX 295 gets the nod even considering price from us. If you need a top of the line single card option that is.
The highest performing soluiton we tested is still the GeForce GTX 280 SLI setup. And when the GTX 285 makes its way out, GTX 285 SLI will very likely take that crown. We do have yet to test quad performance as we only have one card. We suspect scaling similar to past experience with quad (meaning between 2x and 3x performance rather than a linear increaes), but we will certainly bring you an update as soon as we are able.
Now what we really need are some midrange GT200 based parts.
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strikeback03 - Thursday, January 15, 2009 - link
Just check the first page of comments.From CyberHawk:
Been waiting for this one...
... but I find a response a bit cold.
It's the fastest card for God sake!
From formulav8:
Yeps, this is one of the worst reviews Anand himself has ever done. He continues to praise nVideo who just a month or 2 ago was charging $600 for their cards.
Give credit where credit is do. He even harps on a sideport feature that doesn't mean much now and AMD says it didn't provide no real benefit even when it was enabled.
I've been a member of this site since 2000 and am dissappointed how bad the reviews here are getting especially when they have a biased tone to them.
Those are just two examples from the first page of comments on an article you yourself pointed out. Just for kicks, here is one from another article (4830 launch):
From Butterbean:
I jumped to "Final Words" and boom - no info on 4830 but right into steering people to an Nvidia card. That's so Anandtech.
I still state that no matter whose hardware they review or what they say, someone will accuse them of bias.
SiliconDoc - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
AMEN. Good post.jmg873 - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
you stated in the article that the gtx260 sli beating out the 4870 x2 showed that sli was superior to crossfire. i don't have an opinion at this point on which is better but saying that sli beats crossfire based on that isn't accurate. the 4870 x2 isn't 2 4870's in crossfire, it's 2 of them basically "welded" together on 1 card. if you have two 4870's in crossfire that will probably yield a different result, maybe worse, maybe better.Jovec - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
My understanding is it is still Crossfire/SLI for dual gpu, single slot cards like the 295 and 4870x2. The advantage of such cards is that you don't need an CF/SLI mobo while also being a bit cheaper (than purchasing 2 of said cards). You could also go quad with these cards on a CF/SLI mobo.JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
Just because ATI disables the "CrossFire" tab with the 4870X2 doesn't mean it isn't CrossFire. Trust me: I bought one and I'm disappointed with the lack of performance in new games on a regular basis. I'm thinking I need to start playing games around four months after they launch, just so I can be relatively sure of getting working CF support - and that's only when a game is an A-list title. There are still plenty of games where CrossFire can negatively impact performance or cause other quirkiness (Penny Arcade Adventures comes to mind immediately).af530 - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
Die of aids you shitheadthevisitor - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
PLEASE LEARN !The first graph in this review should be dollar per frame
but you anand cannot show it, right!
because everyone can see then how nvidia sells total crap, AGAIN.
the price is the 99% buy condition, so you must consider it when writing something again !
Kroneborge - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
Different people care about different things when choosing a product. For some dollar per frame might be the most important thing, for others (especially at the high end) all they care about is having the most powerful product, and so they gladly pay a high premium for that last little extra bit.Neither is wrong, what's right for one person, can be wrong for another.
A reviewers job it to tell you about the performance, it's up to you to decide if you think that's worth the money. They can't make up your mind for you.
elerick - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
Graphics are in a transition phase right now. With the economy ditching high end, they are forced to compete for midrange. That is why the competition is much more severe in the 4850/GT260 camp.It's sad that anand's readers have to blog and flame everything that is written all the time. If you leave power consumption out of the *inital* launch review it is for good reason, perhaps they are forced to get the review out or it will become yesterdays news. The most important thing here is benchmarks. Power consumption and SLI will soon be following once they can get their hands on more video cards.
I'm tired of reading comments where everyone just bitches about everything, grow up.
I look forward to reading your next review, Cheers!
araczynski - Tuesday, January 13, 2009 - link
nvidia still sucking in price as usual.