Here is my long overdue review of the ASUS GTX295. I was suppose to review the GTX285 but instead, they replaced it with the GTX295. Right now, this card is the King of the HILL, top of the heap, NUMERO UNO VGA card beating the previous video champ, ATI’s 4870x2. Actually, this was NVIDIA’s answer to the 4870x2 because it also has two cores, well not really exactly the same, as the GTX295 is running two cards in SLI on a single card whilst the 4870x2 is running two cores on a single PCB. Sounds familiar? Yes, this is sorta like the Big brother of the 9800GX2 that a lot of fans came to love. Now you maybe thinking, “This card has $$$ written all over it” Well, you would be surprise to see hardcore gamers buying this baby even when most people are on Crisis Mode (and I don’t mean the game.) This card roughly sells at around P25,000.00, at that price most you could already buy a basic PC package or even a portable laptop but let me tell you this, YOU DO GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. So without further adue, let’s get it on!
The BOX
Did I mention they sent us two? :-D Later on you will see of course, BENCHMARK RESULTS of the GTX295 in SLI. But before that, lets move on.
Just like the RAMPAGE II it also has the ASUS Flip cover. On the front of the box you will see a very cool image of a knight on a horse. This clearly shows this card is targeted, OF COURSE, towards gamers. What I have notices though is ASUS seems to like the KNIGHT theme as they have been having a similar theme for most of their new Gaming video cards similar also on the previously reviewed MATRIX EAH 4870. That being mentioned, for those of you who don’t know, the cool thing about ASUS is they don’t just deal with ATI or NVIDIA, they have both, and they make these cool products even COOLER with a touch of ASUS.
The FLIP
When you flip open the box you will see very imporant information about applications that came with this card.
The TOP Flip
With Smart Doctor, you will be able to monitor essentials like Power, Temperature, Fan Speed and it even gives you shader clock overclocking controls. This software mite not even be installed by ordinary gamers but is a definite must have for enthusiasts who plan on seeing this card do more that what it says on the box!
The Bottom Flip
Now here you can see a well deserved highlight of a well deserved addition to this ASUS Video Card. The Unique GAMER OSD(On screen Display). It give the owner of this card very useful functions.
1.) Overclocking on the FLY. This allows the owner to overclock the card through preset keys even while in the MIDDLE of the game. This way, on slower level scenes he can make his card rest while on faster and heavier scenes he can easily switch to HARDCORE mode. This feature also allows the user to track is overclocks and adjust some basic functions like brightness & Contrast also while playing the game.
2.) Video Capturing option allows you to record your game and then share it with friends after you play. The great thing is, you can even setup your PC to become a video server allowing your friends to see what you are actually playing realtime. This is an awesome feature and I am sure team practice games will never be the same.
3.) Screen capture, of course you can capture your favorite screen shot midgame and share it with friends or show it as proof for competitions. For others, the best Kill scene would be the best wallpaper to have.
The BACK
Now here on the back you will see a lot of user information about the card that will help almost any techy understand what this card can do. The minimum requirements that this card can run on and the type of connectors it needs. One of the most important information I found on the back was that a SINGLE GTX295 would at least need 680 watts PSU to run it. That is heavy, the heaviest power requirement I have ever seen in a video card. Getting a 1200 watt power supply wouldn't be a problem for those who can afford a card like this. It is important to really get more than the required because you will for sure have a lot of hardrives and other peripherals to run as well and who knows, maybe a second GTX295 :-D
The Box within
When we got this card, I was surprised at its weight. Now I can see why. When ASUS wants to package in style, they definitely know how to do it right. When you open the box, you will see a very elegant second box. Sort of like, the outer box was your wrapper, and after tearing through the wrapper, you now your present. You are greeted with a minimalist black box with the ASUS gold logo at the center.
It does not end there, when you open the box, you will two separate boxes still with the same elegant ASUS packaging. They really know how to tease you. At this point I was so excited to see what goodies I would get aside from the VC.
The Contents.
Inside these boxes you will find the setup & manual CD, DVI to VGA adapter, dual Molex to 6 pin connector, An Audio Cable, a two 6 pin PCI-E to one 8 pin PCI-E power adapter, A Coupon for 10% off for 5 games, Speed setup guide, and like on my old EAH 3870x2, a disk folder to keep and protect all your Asus disks and games that you will buy.
The CARD.
Well as most hard core gamers know, cards are getting bigger and bigger. Why? Well, they need more room for cooling but this card also has more reasons. You see, deep within the realms of this behemoth are actually TWO CARDS on SLI packed into one. Like I said at the start of this review, this was also done on the old 9800GX2. The funny thing is, I got into an argument with this guy from a local forum. I told him that if I ran this Card on SLI, it would be better than two 285s together. And he corrected me thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifat I should not say SLI, it should be QUAD SLI. Well frankly, we were both right. You see, this card maybe two actual cards in one, it is still being sold as one single card in the sense that it does connect to your motherboard via a single PCIExpress Slot. And nowhere in the box does it say QUAD SLI, although, Technically it is, I wouldn’t go running around telling people I would “QUAD SLI a GTX295” because non techies would definitely take is as putting 4 295’s in one board, hence, Saying I want to put two GTX295’s in SLI is still the correct and appropriate term for to use, its just that technical end result would be QUAD. And if you happen to really put GTX295’s in Quad SLI, you would be actually using 8 cores already.
Asus has made its way to improving cooling on the GTX295. Unlike the 4870x2 cards, the sticker only covers a portion of the card making room for more breathing holes on the card. The card is thick and will most likely eat up two PCI slots but no fret, we have tested putting these on the ASUS Rampage II and we managed to put them together fine on the first and second PCIe slots. Now how does the airflow work on this card: It will take cool air from the rear vents and front back part of the fan holes.
It will then push the cool air to both sides of the card forcing the heat out from the fins that you can clearly see here:
And direct it out to the front end of the card outside the case.
I have to say, ASUS and NVIDIA did an amazing job on the cooling design allowing one FAN to cool two PCB’s and getting it to work well.
At the bottom of the card you will see the Single SLI connector to be able to run this card on SLI to give you a QUAD solution.
THE Connectors:
This card sports an HDMI port and two DVI ports as well another advantage of having two PCB boards.
Watch out for the Second part of this review where we will be testing these cards on two systems, one running on Phenom2 x 4 and the other running Intel’s Core i-7. And we will also be comparing it with some 4870x2 CF results on both Systems. :
Special Thanks to ASUS Philippines for providing us with these cards and Motherboards. Special thanks also to Silverstone, Sunbeam, Tuniq, OCZ and www.fineupgrades.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment