The AMD Radeon R9 295x2: A Beastly Graphics Card for 4K Gaming

If you're looking to upgrade your gaming experience with 4K resolution, there's no denying that having two powerful graphics cards is the way to go. That's why AMD has released their new Radeon R9 295x2, a single card that features not one, but two fully-enabled Hawaii GPUs inside it. This setup essentially gives you two r9 290 Xs running simultaneously, which means you get the performance of four high-end graphics cards without having to build or buy multiple cards.

The R9 295x2 is aimed at 4K gaming, and for good reason. With a 32-inch sharp 4K mod that I was lucky enough to borrow, I put this card through its paces and found it to be more than capable of delivering smooth performance even with the most demanding games. Benchmarking it alongside an MSI R9 290x Lightning, which is a seriously impressive card in its own right, showed just how much the 295x2 can bring to the table. While the 290x was struggling to hit 30fps at ultra-high settings, the 295x2 was consistently delivering over 60fps.

But what really sets the R9 295x2 apart is its cooling system. Unlike many other dual GPU cards, which often struggle with overheating and throttling, the 295x2 runs smoothly thanks to its clever water cooling loop. This means that you can push the card to its limits without worrying about it shutting down or running too hot. Of course, this also comes at a cost - the R9 295x2 is a power-hungry card that requires a lot of juice to run.

Speaking of which, the R9 295x2 is a seriously expensive card, with an MSRP of $1,500. While it's true that you can build or buy two r9 290 Xs for around $1,400, there are a few things to consider when thinking about this card. Firstly, you do get the benefit of having all your GPU components in one place - no more having to deal with separate cards and power supplies. Secondly, the cooling system is top-notch and will keep you running smoothly even at high temperatures. Finally, as we've seen from my benchmarks, the R9 295x2 can deliver performance that's hard to match with other single GPUs.

In terms of specifics, the R9 295x2 comes with a massive 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and two full-enabled Hawaii GPUs running at speeds of up to 1.25 GHz. The card also features a power supply unit (PSU) that can deliver up to 850 watts of power, making it well-suited for even the most demanding games.

I recently had the chance to test out the R9 295x2 in real-world gaming scenarios, and I was impressed by its performance. Playing Fire Strike, I saw a massive jump in performance compared to my MSI R9 290x Lightning - 15,000 points of performance rather than just over 10,000, thanks to the extra GPU power. Similarly, Battlefield 4 ran smoothly at ultra-high settings with the R9 295x2, delivering nearly perfect scaling and leaving the 290x in its dust.

Another game that I had a chance to play was Metro: Last Light, which is notoriously demanding even on lower resolutions. However, when cranked up to 4K, the R9 295x2 proved to be more than capable of handling it - delivering a smooth 37fps at high settings and leaving the competition in its wake.

Finally, I took a closer look at the temperatures of the R9 295x2 during testing. With the card running at high temperatures (around 60 degrees Celsius), it's clear that AMD has taken steps to keep things under control - however, this also means that there is some limited overclocking headroom for those who want to push their card even further.

While the R9 295x2 may be a pricey option, it's hard to deny its value proposition. With its incredible performance, advanced cooling system, and sheer power at its disposal, this card is a beast of a GPU that will deliver on even the most demanding gaming experiences.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys this is Austin and today I'm here at the review of the fastest graphics card you can buy the new AMD Radeon r9 295x2 are you ready for 4k take one look at the new r9 295 and you'll see this thing is no joke measuring in at a full 12 inches or 30 centimeters it's a very big and very heavy dual slot card unlike previous AMD reference cards this has a new metal cooler that sets it apart from the more standard designs in the center you'll find a single fan that handles keeping the vrm cool which is important as the 295 requires a whopping 500 watts to keep all that power under control AMD opted for a 120 millimeter closed-loop water cooling setup from a stick at first for a reference graphics card not only does it keep the 295 from dumping an enormous amount of heat in your case but as you'll see a bit later on it also keeps things fairly cool and quiet for the GPUs take a look around back and you'll see four mini display ports each of which are 4k capable as well as a dual link DVI for power you'll need a pair of eight pin PCIe connectors and this is one place where you're going to make sure you have plenty of wattage available AMD recommends at least 28 amps per 12 volt rail meaning you'll need a power supply and the roughly 800 watt range to keep it fed inside the 295 you'll find two fully enabled Hawaii GPUs essentially giving you a pair of r9 290 X's inside a single card unlike most dual GPU cards you're really not losing anything versus going with a crossfire setup as both GPUs are actually running slightly faster than a typical Hawaii card thanks to the water cooling loop you don't run into the same throttling either keeping those BP GPUs fed is a massive eight gigabytes of gddr5 memory for a graphics card that's an almost absurd number to put things in perspective my entire test bench has 8 gigabytes of system memory you can see the full specs of the 295 for yourself here compared to the 290 X and 290 but the big thing to take away from it is that for all intents and purposes you're looking at two complete r9 290x GPUs built into a single card while working on this review Andy told me straight up that the 295x2 is really aimed at 4k gaming so they let me borrow a 32 inch sharp 4 K mod to test with gaming at 4k is really something as with four times as much resolution compared to HD you can get right up and close and still see lots and lots of detail to see how well the 295 stacks up I benchmarked it alongside the msi r9 290x lightning a seriously impressive card on its own that I'll be taking a closer look at a bit later so enough of me going on and on about tech specs how does the 295 actually handle gaming in 3d Mart fire strike both cards are seriously impressive with a 290x lightning pulling in just over 10,000 points and the 295x2 delivering 15,000 644 jump over to battlefield 4 which is running on ultra 4k and you'll see nearly perfect scaling as the 290x isn't able to hit 30fps whereas the 295 is approaching 60 Metro last light is another good example as on very high settings you're looking at 29 frames per second on the 290 X and 48 on the 295x2 Crysis 3 is an incredibly punishing game even at lower resolutions but crank it up to 4k and you'll still get a perfectly playable 37 fps thanks to the dual Hawaii GPUs while it might not quite match up for pure graphics grid 2 can still be demanding with all the knobs cranked up and here we're looking at a very impressive 95 fps on the 295 vs. 53 on the 290x lightning as you guys can see the performance of the 295 is beastly however one of the big issues with the 290 X was it was a very hot in a very loud card so you need to take two of those GPUs and you put on the same card you're just asking for trouble right in the noise Department I think the 295x2 is pretty decent but I'll let you guys listen for yourselves considering just how much power these cards consume the temperatures are very reasonable with a 295 topping out around 60 degrees Celsius and the 290x lightning at 68 degrees however unlike the 290x which topped out at 95 degrees the 295 limits to 275 degrees so while there is some overclocking Headroom it's not a ton overall while the titan black might come close for now the AMD radeon r9 295x2 is hands down the fastest single graphics card you can buy the downside though is that you're going to have to pay for that performance so the 295 comes out on April 21st for $1,500 considering a pair of 290x lightnings runs about $1400 right now I don't think it's an absurd price to pay for getting it in a water cool package but there's no way of getting around that this is one expensive card so what do you guys think is the 295 worth it let me know in the comments below also in case this is just a little outside your price range I recently posted a new budget gaming PC bill which you guys can find in the link in the description of this video anyway guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next onehey guys this is Austin and today I'm here at the review of the fastest graphics card you can buy the new AMD Radeon r9 295x2 are you ready for 4k take one look at the new r9 295 and you'll see this thing is no joke measuring in at a full 12 inches or 30 centimeters it's a very big and very heavy dual slot card unlike previous AMD reference cards this has a new metal cooler that sets it apart from the more standard designs in the center you'll find a single fan that handles keeping the vrm cool which is important as the 295 requires a whopping 500 watts to keep all that power under control AMD opted for a 120 millimeter closed-loop water cooling setup from a stick at first for a reference graphics card not only does it keep the 295 from dumping an enormous amount of heat in your case but as you'll see a bit later on it also keeps things fairly cool and quiet for the GPUs take a look around back and you'll see four mini display ports each of which are 4k capable as well as a dual link DVI for power you'll need a pair of eight pin PCIe connectors and this is one place where you're going to make sure you have plenty of wattage available AMD recommends at least 28 amps per 12 volt rail meaning you'll need a power supply and the roughly 800 watt range to keep it fed inside the 295 you'll find two fully enabled Hawaii GPUs essentially giving you a pair of r9 290 X's inside a single card unlike most dual GPU cards you're really not losing anything versus going with a crossfire setup as both GPUs are actually running slightly faster than a typical Hawaii card thanks to the water cooling loop you don't run into the same throttling either keeping those BP GPUs fed is a massive eight gigabytes of gddr5 memory for a graphics card that's an almost absurd number to put things in perspective my entire test bench has 8 gigabytes of system memory you can see the full specs of the 295 for yourself here compared to the 290 X and 290 but the big thing to take away from it is that for all intents and purposes you're looking at two complete r9 290x GPUs built into a single card while working on this review Andy told me straight up that the 295x2 is really aimed at 4k gaming so they let me borrow a 32 inch sharp 4 K mod to test with gaming at 4k is really something as with four times as much resolution compared to HD you can get right up and close and still see lots and lots of detail to see how well the 295 stacks up I benchmarked it alongside the msi r9 290x lightning a seriously impressive card on its own that I'll be taking a closer look at a bit later so enough of me going on and on about tech specs how does the 295 actually handle gaming in 3d Mart fire strike both cards are seriously impressive with a 290x lightning pulling in just over 10,000 points and the 295x2 delivering 15,000 644 jump over to battlefield 4 which is running on ultra 4k and you'll see nearly perfect scaling as the 290x isn't able to hit 30fps whereas the 295 is approaching 60 Metro last light is another good example as on very high settings you're looking at 29 frames per second on the 290 X and 48 on the 295x2 Crysis 3 is an incredibly punishing game even at lower resolutions but crank it up to 4k and you'll still get a perfectly playable 37 fps thanks to the dual Hawaii GPUs while it might not quite match up for pure graphics grid 2 can still be demanding with all the knobs cranked up and here we're looking at a very impressive 95 fps on the 295 vs. 53 on the 290x lightning as you guys can see the performance of the 295 is beastly however one of the big issues with the 290 X was it was a very hot in a very loud card so you need to take two of those GPUs and you put on the same card you're just asking for trouble right in the noise Department I think the 295x2 is pretty decent but I'll let you guys listen for yourselves considering just how much power these cards consume the temperatures are very reasonable with a 295 topping out around 60 degrees Celsius and the 290x lightning at 68 degrees however unlike the 290x which topped out at 95 degrees the 295 limits to 275 degrees so while there is some overclocking Headroom it's not a ton overall while the titan black might come close for now the AMD radeon r9 295x2 is hands down the fastest single graphics card you can buy the downside though is that you're going to have to pay for that performance so the 295 comes out on April 21st for $1,500 considering a pair of 290x lightnings runs about $1400 right now I don't think it's an absurd price to pay for getting it in a water cool package but there's no way of getting around that this is one expensive card so what do you guys think is the 295 worth it let me know in the comments below also in case this is just a little outside your price range I recently posted a new budget gaming PC bill which you guys can find in the link in the description of this video anyway guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one