Sapphire Radeon R9 295X2 vs The WaterForce

[ElManCub]

We'd still opt for three GeForce GTX 980s instead of four GPUs housed inside two R9 295X2s, based on our testing, but AMD does win out when value is as important as sheer performance.

Unless I'm reading the figures wrong, I'd slightly disagree with that last bit. According to your benchmarks, the AMD solution (cheaper remember!) manages to beat the best of the Green team in Bioshock, Crysis and Grid benchmarks, and it's pretty close on the 3D Mark, with NVidia pulling ahead on Tomb Raider and Total War.

I'd come to the conclusion that - ignoring the noise and power draw - that the top end from NVidia and AMD are pretty evenly matched. Decision then becomes whether to take the purchase cost saving and put that against the increase power needed to run the beastie.

Not that this is likely to be an issue for me since I'm firmly stuck on the 1080p res gaming.

But it is 4 gpus versus 3 so I'd imagine red to win anyway but what if it had been 4 for the green team?

[crossy]

But it is 4 gpus versus 3 so I'd imagine red to win anyway but what if it had been 4 for the green team?

I know what you're getting at, but I'll politely suggest that the way that these top end cards deliver is pretty irrelevant. I mean the kind of "xtr3m3" gamer that's going to sink (a lot!) of money into these kind of products isn't going to much care whether than 60fps+ is delivered by a single GPU, dual, trio or quads. In addition, the NVidia fan boys (of whom I'm not one) have been saying that the 970/980's are "slam dunks" against naff AMD products. Hexus' benchmarks - as I said before - kind of put the lie to this assertion, and in fact the top end devices from each camp are actually pretty evenly matched.

[claylomax]

1200W?! That's like running a powerful microwave oven. Potentially for hours on end. Every day.

That'll make for an eye-watering electricity bill.

Are you sure? A 800W microwave uses around 2400W, a 1200W probably use more than 3000W. Always check the sticker at the back not the number on the door.

[jackjack]

Excellent review! Thank you!

[go4brendon]

I recently upgraded to a 295x2. Probably one of the finest gfx card I've ever owned. My only gripe is coil noise, couldn't imagine running 2 in SLi mode.