Key Specs
GTX 200576MHz
1,792MB
PCIe 2.0 x16
2 DVI ports, HDMI
DVI-to-VGA
DirectX 10
In the back-and-forth competition for the title of fastest single graphics card, the GeForce GTX 295 puts Nvidia back on top, bouncing ATI's Radeon HD 4870 X2 down to second place. Like ATI's former champ, the GTX 295 actually packs the equivalent of two 3D cards into a single package, offering dual-GPU performance without the motherboard-compatibility and power-supply hassles of separate cards.
The GTX 295 bears a strong resemblance to Nvidia's previous dual-circuit-board monster, the GeForce 9800 GX2. Like that card, it is 10.5 inches long and double the width of a standard card, so it blocks an adjacent slot. The back of one circuit board is now exposed, and the new card has a slick flat-black finish that doesn't pick up fingerprints like its glossy predecessor did.
Each of the GTX 295's 55-nanometer (nm) GPUs has 896MB of memory as well as the same 240 the same processing cores and 80 texture-filtering units as the GTX 280, making for a total of 1,792MB of video RAM. The stock clock speeds are slightly slower than the GTX 280's GPU, with a 576MHz core clock, 1,242MHz shader clock, and 999MHz memory speed, compared to 602MHz, 1,296MHz, and 1,107MHz respectively on the GTX 280. As you'd expect, some OEMs will offer GTX 295 cards with higher-clocked parts, though we imagine cooling issues with the sandwiched parts will keep speeds below those of the fastest single-GPU cards. The fan, which sits between the two circuit boards, is quieter than the stock 4870 X2 cooler but noticeably more audible than the fan on the GTX 280.
Assuming your PC case has the clearance for a double-width card, you'll only need one PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot for the GTX 295. But it requires both an eight-pin and a six-pin power connector as well as at least a 680-watt supply that can support the board's 289-watt peak power demand. Used with a Scalable Link Interface (SLI)-capable motherboard (and an even larger power supply), you can install a second GTX 295 to enable four-GPU, Quad SLI support.
