TitanX v 295X2 review @HardOCP

Kaapstad · 15 Apr 2015 at 08:44

With all the talk about comparing the two cards I thought I would put this review in a thread of it's own so people can debate (please be nice to each other) the subject.

I am not a great fan of HardOCP but the review does give the opportunity for debate.

I know which of the two cards I would choose for gaming and the answer might surprise some people.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015/04/14/nvidia_geforce_gtx_titan_x_video_card_review#.VS4Uqf5FD9Y

Watlinguk · 15 Apr 2015 at 08:56

I absolutely love my 295X2 but going to a single TitanX i have no micro stutter or any stuttering at all for that matter.
I have found the 295X2 has higher frame but noticed the TitanX has a better average frame and they don't seem to fluctuate as much, they stay relatively constant.

RanxZy · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:04

Kaapstad said:
I know which of the two cards I would choose for gaming and the answer might surprise some people.

Go on then, surprise me, which one would you choose for gaming

kedge · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:15

Imagine what a dual TITANX2 would do, i'm so tempted to go for one TitanX.

Kaapstad · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:33

RanxZy said:
Go on then, surprise me, which one would you choose for gaming

One card solution = 295X2

old gamer · 15 Apr 2015 at 10:02

I keep thinking about a titan x but the price of a 295x2 is so appealing, ive run xfire many times in the past and not had any problems, I think the only thing stopping me is the thought of waiting for the 390x or 980ti

TNA · 15 Apr 2015 at 10:10

Kaapstad said:
One card solution = 295X2

So when playing games that have crossfire profiles, is there little to no difference in smoothness in gameplay?

My issue and why I have never done sli/crossfire has been drivers.

Would have got a 295 but AMD need to a be a lot more on the ball regarding crossfire drivers for me to do that. Single GPU solutions just seem to be a safe bet.

ALXAndy · 15 Apr 2015 at 12:09

old gamer said:
I keep thinking about a titan x but the price of a 295x2 is so appealing, ive run xfire many times in the past and not had any problems, I think the only thing stopping me is the thought of waiting for the 390x or 980ti

The price of two 290s is even more appealing. £450 or so, exactly the same thing as the 295.

Ayahuasca · 15 Apr 2015 at 12:11

For the extra £50 or less I'd rather use the 295x2 than 2 separate cards.

295x2 has binned chips and the memory can also be pushed to the max, deals with CF slightly better with everything being on one board and as long as you have the correct space for the rad it runs cooler than 2 cards on air will.

Marine-RX179 · 15 Apr 2015 at 12:17

kedge said:
Imagine what a dual TITANX2 would do, i'm so tempted to go for one TitanX.

You mean a dual-Titan GPUs on the same PCB would not be a good idea...just refer to the Titan Z how they have to drop the clock speed substantially to kep the temp in check...unless they go down the same parth as AMD to use AIO cooler.

ALXAndy · 15 Apr 2015 at 12:23

Ayahuasca said:
For the extra £50 or less I'd rather use the 295x2 than 2 separate cards.

295x2 has binned chips and the memory can also be pushed to the max, deals with CF slightly better with everything being on one board and as long as you have the correct space for the rad it runs cooler than 2 cards on air will.

Yup that's true but with the 390x no more than a couple of months away and the fact that it should stand up there with the 295x2 I would spend the absolute minimum amount I could.

The only issue I have with the 295x2 is the price. It still costs more than it should. If two separate cards can be bought for less then something is amiss. I know it has a AIO on it but still, it should cost less given it has less parts.

By now we should be getting dual GPU cards in multiple flavours which cost less than the price of two separate cards. It's just a shame that we're not. There should be dual GPU cards of all types, entry level, mid range ETC.

AFAIK it's only really Asus that bothers with dual GPU mid range chips. Shame.

old gamer · 15 Apr 2015 at 12:27

ive also got a 290 tri x and and just seen two second hand for sale local for £150 each so I could just spend £150 for now and wait it out

Woodsta888 · 15 Apr 2015 at 13:06

ALXAndy said:
Yup that's true but with the 390x no more than a couple of months away and the fact that it should stand up there with the 295x2 I would spend the absolute minimum amount I could.

The only issue I have with the 295x2 is the price. It still costs more than it should. If two separate cards can be bought for less then something is amiss. I know it has a AIO on it but still, it should cost less given it has less parts.
QUOTE]

I think the 295 £ is about right. Especially as a one PCB solution many can fit it in small form factor cases and as small cases are fashoinable a dual GPU PCB can command the extra £ for the solution. Plus AIO cooler to boot negates the need for case airflow as it's taken to the rad for expulsion.

Two 290x's maybe cheaper but you'd never fit them in small form factor or keep them cool in a low end case. Many people struggle with is configuring a high end case properly for air cooling so blame the cards getting too hot when chnaging the case fan config can produce the correct airflow to keep most dual card set ups cool.

pugheaven · 15 Apr 2015 at 13:36

You get what you pay for, the Titan is the best single GPU solution, period and give or take is the performance of a 295x2. The simple fact for me and what I play, I can't justify the high price... Titan X is a rip off IMHO whether it's the fastest or not. I've got the cash to blow on them, it's the principle of paying that must. £499 for my 295x2 is still stupid amount to pay on a GPU (when compared to what you get on a PS4/Xbone) etc but I'll pay that...

Kaapstad · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:30

pugheaven said:
You get what you pay for, the Titan is the best single GPU solution, period and give or take is the performance of a 295x2. The simple fact for me and what I play, I can't justify the high price... Titan X is a rip off IMHO whether it's the fastest or not. I've got the cash to blow on them, it's the principle of paying that must. £499 for my 295x2 is still stupid amount to pay on a GPU (when compared to what you get on a PS4/Xbone) etc but I'll pay that...

With the TitanX you get a lot of card but you need more than one at high resolutions to get the most out of them.

The 295X2 as a single card solution is a bit of a compromise compared to the TX but is far better bang for buck than the NVidia card.

Even if crossfire does not work in a game it means you are comparing a 290X to a TX and the difference in performance is not that noticeable unless you get FRAPs running.

Ayahuasca · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:35

The performance is definitely noticeable imo, the Titan X is sometimes 30 frames higher. Not forgetting the much better minimums as well.

If people can't notice that then why bother upgrading at all :confused:

All these people hyped about the 390x who are currently using a 290x are only going to get around the same jump.

ALXAndy · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:38

Ayahuasca said:
The performance is definitely noticeable imo, the Titan X is sometimes 30 frames higher. Not forgetting the much better minimums as well.

If people can't notice that then why bother upgrading at all

All these people hyped about the 390x who are currently using a 290x are only going to get around the same jump.

Yeah but they won't have to pay over nine hundred quid for it.

Ayahuasca · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:39

Still forking out hundreds of quid for something that is apparently not that noticeable.

I have no issues with price being a concern, it's the fact that someone thinks 30 extra frames isn't noticeable.

In fact it's more like 40 frames higher going off the GTA V results.

chroniclard · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:40

Would rather have a Titan X all things considered.

humbug · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:57

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2015..._gtx_titan_x_video_card_review/5#.VS5s8ZM8SUk

Just like BF Hardline we are also running this game in DX11. Interestingly we see the reverse of what we experienced with Battlefield Hardline in BF4. The GeForce GTX 980 is still the slowest card, with the GeForce GTX TITAN X being faster. However, in this game the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 cannot keep up with the GeForce GTX TITAN X, and the TITAN X exceeds it in performance.

The only reason we can think of comes down to CrossFire profile. The latest driver, 15.4 Beta, contained a new updated CrossFire profile for BF Hardline with optimized performance. It did not include anything special for BF4, which must be using a much older profile.

Well that just confirms my suspicions that Brent Justice has no idea about what he's doing, its blatantly obvious those results are down to CPU bottlenecks.

Run that again in Mantle, Brent! :rolleyes:

These people call themselves professionals, they are no such thing.