The GeForce GTX 295, where do we start? We have to say this is one card that we find ourselves getting quite excited about. And the main reason for that is because we know it's going to be the fastest graphics card on the market. How do we know this though? Well it's not actually because we know what the specifications of the card are or anything like that. The reason we know it's going to be the fastest graphics card on the market is because it literally has to be! No matter what, this board can't be slower than the Radeon HD 4870 X2, the other thing is it can't just be a bit faster than the Radeon HD 4870 X2 board either, considering how long ATI has held the performance crown for now. - TweakTown

Gainward GeForce GTX 295 Dual-GPU Edition Review

The first card we look at comes from Gainward and we've done a fair bit of testing with the card. As far as the box design goes, Gainward hasn't done too much different from previous cards we have looked at. Across the top we have the Gainward logo and below that we have a big picture that takes up most of the box along with some logos from NVIDIA and the mention of HDMI and HDCP compliancy. Across the bottom we have the model and below that the amount of memory on the card. To the right we have a number of little squares that tell us some of the main features the card offers dual GPU and more.

Turning the box over, we have a run down on some of the features the card offers. We also have a bit of talk about SLI along with what exactly is needed. We also again have the Gainward logo and their website along the bottom. With the package looked at, it's time to check out the card. Pulling it out of the box, there isn't a whole lot to see with the massive cover going over everything from top to bottom and left to right. To the left of the card we can see a sticker that has the Gainward logo and a similar picture to the one seen on the front of the box. To the right of the card we see half of the fan sitting between the two GT200b cores.

What you may also notice is that there are a number of holes in the cover, this helps keep the card cooler versus trapping all the heat inside. If we have a look around the card, the back shows us our power connectors. The GeForce GTX 295 consists of one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector. Closer to the front of the card we have a single SLI connector and what this means is that you can only SLI two cards together. This is due to the dual GPU design. Here we can also see bits of the copper heatpipe that help keep the card cool. We can see some vents that also help let the hot air escape out the back of your computer system.

The GeForce GTX 295 video card is based on two 55nm cores that share similar specifications to the new GeForce GTX 260. The core comes in at 576MHz while the shader comes in at 1242MHz and the 1792MB of GDDR3 memory comes in at 2000MHz effective. The other features on the board include a 448-bit memory interface, 240 processing cores and 80 texture filtering units on each core. The GeForce GTX 295 is certainly an impressive board and really has made those 30inch a feasible resolution for gamers with a fat wallet. What we see is the Radeon HD 4870 X2 just missing that thirty frames minimum we have set.

The GeForce GTX 295 on the other hand is able to pass it and keeps on going. It clearly is well deserved of the performance crown which has now been handed over from the Radeon HD 4870 X2. And as we mentioned though, there wasn't a doubt in our mind that the card would outperform the Radeon HD 4870 X2, if not for the fact that NVIDIA wanted to, but more so for the fact it needed too. Talking a bit more on the particular card we have on our hands today, Gainward hasn't done a whole lot with it, but we're sure the Gainward developers are locked up finding that perfect overclock for a Golden Sample version of the card.

At the moment the package is slim and the design is standard, but ultimately the performance of the board is what's important to so many of us. And in that department it simply owns! It's going to be a tough fight for ATI now. The Radoen HD 4870 X2 can't match this performance with driver updates which means that they have to be hard at work making a card that can outperform it. Will it, can they? Only time will tell and we look forward to seeing what they bring to the table. With everything said and done, should you buy one? Well the answer is simple, if you love high resolution gaming and you can afford it, hell yeah!