The GeForce GTX 295 is based on two GPU's running at the same clock specs as the previous GeForce GTX 260, but having more processing cores. Zotac's model runs with the default clock speeds set by NVIDIA. On that aspect Zotac is no different than their competition as they have all followed the reference design with the settings as given by NVIDIA. And just recently Zotac did mention about as well releasing a water cooled version, or at least a version of the GeForce GTX 295 with a water cooling solution. From what we know this would be coming as the Infinity edition which as such might come with increased clocks. Let's see what kind performance you can expect from this beast. - Hardware Secrets

Zotac GeForce GTX 295 Dual-GPU Video Card Review

Before talking the technical details from GeForce GTX 295, let us take a look on Zotac's product. As you can see it is based on NVIDIA's reference design, which uses a black rubber cover. What is new on this design compared to the previous one used by GeForce GTX 280 and GTX 260 is the fan, which is now opened on both sides. At the top of the graphics board we can see that it requires two auxiliary power cables, being one with a 6-pin connector and one with a 8-pin connector. We really couldn't find this product from Zotac being sold, though a GeForce GTX 295 from other manufacturers can be found on the $500 range.

The main problem with the GeForce GTX 295 at this moment is its price, around $500. The most expensive video card based on an ATI chip, the Radeon HD 4870 X2, can be found between $425 and $545. Though in our tests the GeForce GTX 295 outperformed the Radeon HD 4870 X2 in some scenarios, and this can go even up to forty percent in certain games. On Crysis however, the GeForce GTX 295 achieved a performance lower than the GeForce GTX 285, most probably because Crysis couldn't recognize the two GPU's that make it special, even though we manually enabled SLI mode and the way of handling the load.

The GeForce GTX 295 is surely the fastest graphics card based on an NVIDIA solution if your game can improve its performance under SLI mode, but at $500 we simply can't recommend it for the average user, only rich high-end users can just afford it. The GeForce GTX 285, even though presenting a lower performance, comes with a far more accessible price, and we can buy one today for $350 and thus presenting a better cost to benefit ratio for users that want an NVIDIA based high-end video card to deliver stunning performance.