Gadgetory

hey guys this is Dimitri with Haruka Knox and the card was all been waiting for these initially as Vesuvius along with a few questionable deliveries first there was a rather creepy a mirrored picture of yourself followed by dual Pringle cans green volcanic water hinting and what's about to come and finally with a very intriguing watch me DVD that I'm glad wasn't some inappropriate fan mail MD has finally tied the knot with a pretty badass delivery in a briefcase that totally deserves your undivided attention so this is the AMD r9 295x2 codenamed Hydra incorporating dual Hawaii XT course basically slapping dual r9 290x azan to a single PCB and of course being the latest dual GPU flagship from AMD retailing for fifteen hundred dollars is not surprising considering it's only a light premium over dual 290x cards so 295x2 is the first water-cooled reference design incorporating a 120 millimeter all-in-one cooler designed by acetic and this was absolutely needed to control the temperatures on the extremely hot course now on a single PCB the inclusion of this 120 million radiator should cause no alarm over installation as any modern case should easily accommodate for it and a 38 millimeters thick this means push-pull could serve as a cooling upgrade fan speed is linked up directly to coolant temperatures and the cable is routed along run the tubes and so there's no need for external power for the water cooler and since the fan connects to a three pin fan hub replacement is an option also tubing is quite long allowing placement flexibility within your case depending on the layout now one more thing to mention is the acetic water cooler is not modular so you cannot replace the rod with something bigger but as you'll see this is an absolute powerhouse as it is the water block encompasses the entire card so the 80 millimeter fan in the middle is in charge of cooling the VRMs with a full copper heat sink underneath this is needed as the card features eight gigabyte of gddr5 memory so four gigabytes per core on the dual 512 bit bus that tells you that the 295x2 is 4k gaming ready and to get the rest of the specs out of the way the base clock is actually higher than the 290x and 1018 megahertz that's because the main limitation when the heat has been addressed and the card can maintain a stable clock without throttling it measures at full 12 inches the compatibility with many met hours isn't the concern and the fact that this is only a 2 slot card meaning ITX potential which brings a whole new level of powerhouse in a small form factor the backplate is included as well and overall the card is stunning with aluminum shroud covering the water block and the Radeon illuminated logo up top to complement the red LED fan for connectivity we have four mini display ports all of which support 4k at 60 Hertz and a single dual link DVI you've probably guessed it already but the r9 295x2 requires a lot of power and named in his office for dual apron connections but giving the power draw for each GPU each eight pin cable must run at least 28 amps of current so power supplies you know within the 1000 watt range should be considered there is a dual BIOS which as well as was found on the 290 X but this one is left clean to be configured by the user so you know you can perhaps create your own uber mode and here is a 295 inside our office fool tower the rear exhaust train allows for the radiator to be installed just perfectly nothing unusual here but it's when we move into a completely different category such as Mini ITX things get interesting in most cases in this range have a 120mm fan slot so here's an extremely powerful gaming configuration inside the schooler Master Elite 130 that also happens to be one of the smallest cases we've ever reviewed here at Harbor Canucks so you no longer have to worry about internal heat as most of it is blown through the radiator as exhaust also micro ATX and mini ITX enthusiast builds becoming very popular so this type of configuration is not totally out of line to preserve on space without significant compromise on cooling and with all that said the most eager question is how does it perform for 4k gaming and most importantly how does it compare to 290 X and crossfire and 780ti in SLI and starting off with 2560 by 1440 resolution the 295x2 holds its own ground and shows neck-to-neck results with 290 X and crossfire with excellent scaling then depending on the game it's actually very close to 780ti in SLI as well of course it's 4k capabilities that matter and what we're seeing is seriously impressive results at the highest settings with pretty much every game aim these mantle is one of the key points and so far only two games supported and results are not surprising as mantle really shines with lower end systems but the API is still sort of in its early stages and we hope results will improve over time now one of the most amazing aspects of this card is the cooler with 75 degree threshold compared to 95 degrees Celsius on the 290 X and this is one cool card maintaining 65° under load meaning there's still more power to be squeezed out of the course before reaching the temperature threshold so overclocking results are proved successful although not significant boost in performance as the card caps at seventy-five degrees Celsius another Brown moment for the asset the cooler are the acoustics this is the quietest card in its class even at blows showcasing how efficient the only one solution is without breaking a sweat and of course it always comes down to power consumption with a high course and this is one power-hungry GPU which was expected needing more than 70 watts over 780 Ti in SLI and over 150 watt extra compared to 780 SLI but as AMD has made clear this card is not for everyone and we have a more in-depth coverage on temperature many more benchmarks and core frequencies over time and many other things in our full review on the website they'll be linked in the description if you're interested and to conclude amy has done exactly what we wanted to see from the Hawaii XT core as the asset tech all-in-one cooler allows for incredible stable temperatures under load quiet operation with automatic fan speed adjustment they didn't skimp on the reference design as the card is gorgeous and being a 2 slot card is also highly appreciated the 295x2 is made for 4k gaming and delivers to that expectation with stellar performance without throttling however does lag behind the price per watt and price to performance ratios as the 780ti in sli would be considered better value and even 290x and crossfire however the added benefits of improved cooling and reduced acoustics make this one damn good and damn innovative card but what do you guys think of the AMD r9 295x2 with regards to pricing and design leave your comments down below don't forget to subscribe and like if you enjoyed the video and three the full review on Haruka NOx calm the link will be in the description for a more in-depth analysis off the cart so thanks for watching we'll see you in next one wouldn't you agree the twos better than one hashtag - better than one come on