NVIDIA to announce its GeForce GTX 295 graphics card at CESNVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Coming in JanuaryThe card packs two 55-nanometer GT200 GPUs
a staggering 1,792MB (1GB epx..) of video memory, a total of 480 stream processors,
And a not-too-ridiculous TDP rating of 289 watts.
Initial speculation was that the GeForce GTX 295 would consist of two (2) GT200s in a configuration that’d emulate a pair of GTX 260s. In all actuality, the card boasts a pair of full-strength GT200s with 240 processing cores each and a more GTX 260-like back-end/memory configuration.
iNFO:Nobody likes being second place, especially Nvidia. Back when the company launched its
GeForce GTX 260 and 280 boards, AMD was huffing fumes with its Radeon HD 3870. Not
surprisingly, the GT200-based gamer cards extended Nvidia’s lead. Nobody would have guessed that AMD would come back with its Radeon HD 4850 and 4870 boards—neither of which was actually faster than Nvidia’s flagship, by the way—and still steal the spotlight away from the massive, monolithic chip.
Nvidia isn’t ready to have the GTX 295’s power consumption plotted against AMD’s solution. However, the card as it sits, is less power-hungry at both idle and load than the Radeon HD 4870 X2. The chart below reflects total system consumption from the wall.
On paper, the GeForce GTX 295 uses up to 289 W TDP on its own. The 4870 X2 has a 286 W TDP. And yet, when we measured total system load at the socket, the GTX 295 idled 10 W lower than the AMD board. While looping the Far Cry 2 benchmark at 2560x1600 with AA and AF cranked up, the Nvidia board averaged a full 50 W lower.
Of course, we’ll have to wait until early January for final fan speeds and power figures. But early in the game, the shift to 55 nm is treating the GeForce GTX 295 well, despite the massive size of its GT200 GPU.
