NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295

NVIDIA PhysX technology brings your games to life with massively destructible environments and ultra-realistic physical interaction in games such as Mirror's Edge

Quad NVIDIA SLI technology and 1792MB of dedicated graphics memory deliver breathtaking frame rates and total graphics bliss with game settings and resolution maxed out (2560x1600)

Experience ultimate graphics performance in the hottest DirectX 10 games such as Far Cry 2



Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Memory Installed: 1792MB DDR3
Interface: PCI Express x16 2.0
Performance
GPU:Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
Core Clock: 576MHz
Shader Clock: 1242MHz
Shader Model: 4.0
Texture Fill Rate: 92.2 Billion/sec. (Combined)
Processor Cores: 480 (Combined)
Memory:
Video Memory: 1792MB (Combined)
Memory Type: GDDR3
Memory Data Rate: 1998MHz
Memory Interface: 896-bit (Combined)
Memory Bandwidth: 223.8GB/sec. (Combined)
Connections
Bus Type: PCI Express 2.0 (Backward compatible with PCI Express)
Display Connectors: 2 Dual-Link DVI-I, HDMI Out
RAMDACs: Dual 400MHz
Multiple Monitor Support: Yes
HDCP Capable: Yes, Dual link (Requires other compatible components which are HDCP capable. Designed to meet the output protection management (HDCP) and security specifications of the Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD formats, allowing the playback of encrypted movie content on PCs when connected to HDCP-compliant displays)
HDMI Capable: Yes
NVIDIA SLI Support: Yes, Quad
Included In Box
BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 1792MB graphics card
Quick install guide
DVI to VGA adapter
HDMI cable (6 ft.)
S/PDIF audio cable (1 ft.)
Dual 4-pin peripheral to single 6-pin PCI Express power adapter
Dual 6-pin PCI Express to single 8-pin PCI Express power adapter
Driver CD, which includes: NVIDIA ForceWare unified graphics drivers and Full Multiple Language Installation Manual.pdf
System Requirements
2GB of system memory
CD or DVD-ROM drive
100MB of available hard disk drive space for basic driver installation
Microsoft Windows Vista or XP operating system (Windows Vista required for Quad NVIDIA SLI)
PCI Express or PCI Express 2.0-compliant system motherboard with one vacant PCI Express x16 slot
One vacant add-in card slot below the PCI Express x16 slot. This graphics card physically occupies two slots
680W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 46A or more (Minimum system power requirement based on a PC configured with an Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition processor)
One 8-pin and one 6-pin PCI Express supplementary power connector -or- Two 6-pin PCI Express and two 4-pin peripheral supplementary power connectors


There's been something of a trend in the computer component industry over the last few years with Intel and nVidia ruling the roost in terms of CPU and graphics card performance, respectively. Meanwhile AMD/ATI has gone through a bit of a rough patch but has recently come back strong with some competitively priced products that, while perhaps not the fastest, have proved to be worthwhile investments nonetheless.
The one exception to this rule, however, was the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics card that actually proved to be at least equal and generally faster than nVidia's then top-of-the-range card, the GTX 280. The obvious problem for ATI was that it had already needed to meld two graphics chips onto one board in order to get the performance needed to compete with the GTX 280's single chip, which begged the question, "If nVidia put two GTX 280 chips on one card, wouldn't that be faster?



There's no doubt that the 3D Graphic Card business is what you'd call a proverbial "tough gig". There was a time when discreet graphics card options were available from numerous GPU vendors, but over the years, the relentless pace of technology and fierce competition has homogenized the market down to virtually two primary suppliers. In mainstream 3D Graphics, there is but one mantra--keep pace or exceed, execute or die. It's a simple equation that keeps product refreshes ongoing and a natural progression of the graphics food chain that results in continuously improved product offerings, at both the hardware and software levels.

NVIDIA is obviously one of the few companies, along with AMD's ATI graphics division, that has executed amazingly well over the years. The continuous strike / counter-strike battle that rages on between the two companies affords consumers increasingly more powerful products, as well as more realism in 3D games, as developers take advantage of each new technology update. In 2008, NVIDIA had the fastest single GPU solution on earth with the GeForce GTX 280, while AMD's ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 took the most powerful single card performance spot with its dual, 55nm RV770 GPU solution.

Each core on the 295 board runs at 576MHz. The memory's clocked at 999MHz.

Today, fresh out of the gate for 2009, NVIDIA returns AMD's volley with their own optimized, multi-GPU, single card solution that aims to trump their rivals once again. NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 295 is unleashed today. With a pair of 55nm GT200B GPUs under its hood in a pseudo-single card, dual slot height configuration, it's direct competition for the ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2. We'll step you through the technology behind NVIDIA's new single card SLI-enabled beast and then clock it around the benchmark track with some of the latest, most popular game titles on the market.


Thermal and Power Specs:
Maximum GPU Temperature (in C): 105
Maximum Graphics Card Power (W): 289
Power Connectors: 6-pin x1, 8-pin x1

Memory:
Memory Clock (MHz DDR): 1998 MHz
Total Memory Config: 1792 MB
Memory Interface Width: 448-bit per GPU
Total Memory Bandwidth: 223.8GB/s

Display Support:
Maximum Digital Resolution: 2560x1600
Maximum VGA Resolution: 2048x1536


The 285 is a single-GPU product that Nvidia claimed was 30 per cent faster than rival one-chip graphics cards. Boards based on the 295 design contain two GPUs. Both types of board are two-slot cards.

The 285 contains 240 unified shader processors, with the core as a whole running at 648MHz. Its 1GB of GDDR 3 is clocked at an effective 1242MHz. By comparison, Nvidia's existing GeForce 280, launched last summer, runs at 602MHz and 1107MHz, respectively.