AMD Vesuvius R9 295 X2 Inbound

Boomstick777 · 2 Apr 2014 at 21:59

Silver and black shroud with illuminating logo on the side.. Hmm where have I seen a design like this before?

arc@css · 2 Apr 2014 at 22:31

Yes, you have.

humbug · 3 Apr 2014 at 00:10

stulid said:
Kaap needs like two of these.

I wrote on AMD Twitter page that they need to drop the fan grill

But only 24 hours ago

It looks a lot better.

Avenged7Fold · 3 Apr 2014 at 01:27

That bioshock infinite bench looks really bad, so i am guessing it is completely pulled out of thin air. Would have been more believable if they picked any other modern title but infinite seems to get really high fps compared to other titles which are considered as pretty.

That TDP... yeah right LOL!

No matter how cherry picked these 290's are, i dont believe for one second both of them pull less than 400w under load. Hell i am pretty sure my overclocked single 290x peaks above the 375w they quoted.

I am probably going to wait till i can spy a nice second hand one quite a way down the line to show off some watercooling but unless these come in cheap, i wont be getting one.

The AIO radiator looks like a standard thin high fpi (like 25-30) rad used by most AIO loops. In fact, the loop looks a lot like the AIO coolers which were on the PNY liquid cooled 580, which could come with either one or two blocks. Owned a PNY liquid 580 myself and tbh, it was a pretty good cooler...for a single 580, not for a R9-295. The temps were still too toasty to consider it a watercooling solution, core hitting 65 degrees and the loop was just for my GPU not the CPU + GPU. I dont like my 290x hitting 50 degrees

*Edit*

Looks like this but the radiator is actually as thin as the single block version. Could well be the same loop (but with the thinner radiator) from the look of the internals, as the GPU block does sport the same pump button.

The single block 580 showing the Asetek AIO pump/block combo and a very similar size and fpi radiator as the pictured 295:

The double block version for a CPU and the 580, with the slightly fatter radiator:

Silent_Scone · 3 Apr 2014 at 15:36

Call me a snob but the whole hybrid solution makes me feel a little sick inside lol.

Yaayuh! · 3 Apr 2014 at 15:53

MjFrosty said:
Call me a snob but the whole hybrid solution makes me feel a little sick inside lol.

R&D on a decent heatsink to cater for the output costs a lot of time and money, it'd be huge and quite expensive.
Waterblock only means that they're limiting their audience to watercoolers only.

Best case scenario is a hybrid system and allow waterblock manufacturers easy/early access to designs to cater for the watercooling scene IMO.

bru · 3 Apr 2014 at 16:00

One problem I can see is that people who are willing to use a small closed loop water cooling system will quite likely already have one for their CPU so where are they going to put this one, as a lot of cases only have one 120MM space on the back panel.

whyscotty · 3 Apr 2014 at 16:00

MjFrosty said:
Call me a snob but the whole hybrid solution makes me feel a little sick inside lol.

Ok then

YOU'RE A SNOB

Gregster · 3 Apr 2014 at 16:03

MjFrosty said:
Call me a snob.

Ok, you're a Snob

Kaapstad · 3 Apr 2014 at 16:32

I think AMD are opening the door to a lot of failed RMA cards with this hybrid cooler as there are going to be plenty of people who will overvolt overclock the nuts off them.

And the thought of people putting them in badly ventilated cases, need I say more.

Boomstick777 · 4 Apr 2014 at 11:18

Seen a euro price of 2000. About £1600+ GBP. Anybody else these high end GPU prices are just crazy?

Why would anyone bother with them when you can pick up two 290/290X or two 780/780Ti for less money?

Maybe that's the reason these cards exist.. To make us feel that the other high priced cards are actually good value.. Sneaky sneaky..

RetrogamerX · 4 Apr 2014 at 11:22

Boomstick777 said:
Seen a euro price of 2000. About £1600+ GBP. Anybody else these high end GPU prices are just crazy?

Why would anyone bother with them when you can pick up two 290/290X or two 780/780Ti for less money?

Maybe that's the reason these cards exist.. To make us feel that the other high priced cards are actually good value.. Sneaky sneaky..

Makes me want to get out of PC gaming altogether. I have thought about it. I might upgrade one more time then call it a day.

Five.Stars · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:02

Boomstick777 said:
Seen a euro price of 2000. About £1600+ GBP. Anybody else these high end GPU prices are just crazy?

Why would anyone bother with them when you can pick up two 290/290X or two 780/780Ti for less money?

Maybe that's the reason these cards exist.. To make us feel that the other high priced cards are actually good value.. Sneaky sneaky..

If that price is true, then it is mental. Can pick up 4 of these for that kind of money... http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-238-MS

Or alternatively, buy 2 of them, a couple of full cover blocks and the rest of what is required for a proper custom loop and have a cooler running and potentially better performing set-up, not to mention having the required water-cooling parts that you can recycle from system to system potentially. And still have change left over.

£1600??? So basically AMD are claiming that the hybrid cooling solution is worth ~£800? LOL

Boomstick777 · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:08

RetrogamerX said:
Makes me want to get out of PC gaming altogether. I have thought about it. I might upgrade one more time then call it a day.

I wouldn't go that far. The problem is the market is saturated. This seems like a grab for more money or to show lesser cards have great value in comparison. No sane person is really gonna drop $3000 on a GPU. This is for elitists.

We're at a point where low to mid end cards game at 1080P and offer similar performance to the latest 'next gen' consoles. This is AMD / Nvidia taking advantage of a saturated market and offering products for those with the deepest pockets. It could be argued that a mid to high end tier GPU (GTX 770 / R9 280X) is more than enough for most gamers. At least there are very capable cards at lower price points. I wouldn't want to call it a day bud. PC is just about to get great again, like in the past days when PC was miles ahead of consoles.

Consoles will be limited to 720P/1080P, while in just a couple of years 4K gaming will be standard mid-high end setup for PC gamers. All these new API's and game effects will be utilized in the latest engines. PC gaming will be stunning. It'll make the consoles look like a joke in comparison. I like the consoles we have most of em here lol. Great for casual gaming, but nothing comes close to the immersion and graphics that PC gaming has. Wouldn't want to give that up. Just don't let AMD / Nvidia's marketing trick you into thinking you need a dual GPU behemoth..

stulid · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:09

I cant see it being more than a grand.

RetrogamerX · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:14

Boomstick777 said:
I wouldn't go that far. The problem is the market is saturated. This seems like a grab for more money or to show lesser cards have great value in comparison. No sane person is really gonna drop $3000 on a GPU. This is for elitists.

We're at a point where low to mid end cards game at 1080P and offer similar performance to the latest 'next gen' consoles. This is AMD / Nvidia taking advantage of a saturated market and offering products for those with the deepest pockets. It could be argued that a mid to high end tier GPU (GTX 770 / R9 280X) is more than enough for most gamers. At least there are very capable cards at lower price points. I wouldn't want to call it a day bud. PC is just about to get great again, like in the past days when PC was miles ahead of consoles.

Consoles will be limited to 720P/1080P, while in just a couple of years 4K gaming will be standard mid-high end setup for PC gamers. All these new API's and game effects will be utilized in the latest engines. PC gaming will be stunning. It'll make the consoles look like a joke in comparison. I like the consoles we have most of em here lol. Great for casual gaming, but nothing comes close to the immersion and graphics that PC gaming has. Wouldn't want to give that up. Just don't let AMD / Nvidia's marketing trick you into thinking you need a dual GPU behemoth..

I understand mate, but pricing is getting out of control. I can't afford it every 3 years any more. If price comes down I might change my mind, but I doubt that'll happen any time soon. All they want is the money grab....

Five.Stars · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:17

stulid said:
I cant see it being more than a grand.

Tbf, the 6990 and 7990 both had a $999 launch price, which I think equated to give or take ~£800ish. Someone will correct me if I am wrong.

With that in mind, it would be utterly ridiculous for them to ask double for the new dual gpu card. I could understand, perhaps an additional £100-£200 at a push, due to the hybrid cooler, which should be better than air only (although nowhere near as good as custom water).

If it comes in at a £1k to possibly £1200, then I can see them shifting a reasonable amount of units. £1500+? Forget about it, move along, nothing to see here!

Boomstick777 · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:18

stulid said:
I cant see it being more than a grand.

Even a grand is to much imho. You can get single 290X's for around £400. It stands to reason that a dual GPU (Which actually uses less components, water cooler aside) should cost slightly less than two separate GPU's. If it came in at £800 that would be fair enough. £1000 is to much, but with the market saturated I guess it doesn't matter what they charge..

Imho these cards are just for elitists. Builders / Benchers.. Gamers will be better off with a 290 / 780. Anything beyond that for 1080P just isn't necessary. Sure go dual if you're on 1440P or above but than a pair of 290's or 780's would be just as effective as a single dual GPU and save a packet.

These cards will be nice but are just trophy cards.

Five.Stars · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:20

Boomstick777 said:
I wouldn't go that far. The problem is the market is saturated. This seems like a grab for more money or to show lesser cards have great value in comparison. No sane person is really gonna drop $3000 on a GPU. This is for elitists.

We're at a point where low to mid end cards game at 1080P and offer similar performance to the latest 'next gen' consoles. This is AMD / Nvidia taking advantage of a saturated market and offering products for those with the deepest pockets. It could be argued that a mid to high end tier GPU (GTX 770 / R9 280X) is more than enough for most gamers. At least there are very capable cards at lower price points. I wouldn't want to call it a day bud. PC is just about to get great again, like in the past days when PC was miles ahead of consoles.

Consoles will be limited to 720P/1080P, while in just a couple of years 4K gaming will be standard mid-high end setup for PC gamers. All these new API's and game effects will be utilized in the latest engines. PC gaming will be stunning. It'll make the consoles look like a joke in comparison. I like the consoles we have most of em here lol. Great for casual gaming, but nothing comes close to the immersion and graphics that PC gaming has. Wouldn't want to give that up. Just don't let AMD / Nvidia's marketing trick you into thinking you need a dual GPU behemoth..

I agree with this.

But I do see it from the other side as well. My spare time to game is getting more and more limited. With that in mind, do I really want to be spending thousands of my hard earned pounds every few years to try keep up? It is becoming harder and harder to justify, even to myself.

Boomstick777 · 4 Apr 2014 at 15:25

RetrogamerX said:
I understand mate, but pricing is getting out of control. I can't afford it every 3 years any more. If price comes down I might change my mind, but I doubt that'll happen any time soon. All they want is the money grab....

I agree it is getting expensive on the GPU side at the high end. The flip side of that is capable mid end cards that are very affordable, and good enough for most gamers.

If anything on the CPU side their the best value they have ever been. An budget 8 core FX chip for £100 from AMD. A power efficient gaming monster (4770K) from Intel for £220+. Mobo's the same, great prices on both sides..

Once we're over the hurdle of 28nm and also catering to the very old Xbox 360 / PS3 as the lowest common denominator. We'll see some proper next gen start to appear. Than PC gaming with those games with all the features turned on and higher resolutions will make it a far more attractive platform than consoles.

Competition will start up in 20nm and prices will come down again. In 5-6 years at the end of the PS4 /Xbone lifespan we may see a situation like we have now. Where PC is so far ahead the market becomes saturated again. This is the starting point where things are about to take a leap on the PC side and hopefully have a competitive industry again..