The video card is one of the most expensive parts of a computer. And, unfortunately, one of the fastest aging. New games coming out make even top-end cards work to the limit. But, nevertheless, buying the best video card at the moment will provide several years of comfortable gaming.
The best gaming graphics card must fulfill one "simple" requirement - to provide maximum performance in the most complex games at maximum graphics settings. This requires the following parameters: a graphics processor with a clock frequency of more than 1,000 MHz, a 512-bit GDDR5 memory bus with a frequency of 1,250 MHz, support for screen resolutions up to 2500x1600 pixels, and work in multi-monitor mode.
A modern gaming video card should support all the functions gamers need: DirectX 11, CUDA, SLI, PhysX, 3D Vision, 3D Vision Surround, TXAA and FXAA, adaptive vertical sync.
But buying a powerful top-end video card is justified only with an unlimited budget. The card can show all its capabilities only when it works in conjunction with the same powerful processor. Naturally, the power supply must support the power required for the video card to work.
The computer case must be spacious enough to accommodate all the components and have a powerful cooling system, since the normal functioning of the entire system depends on the efficiency of the cooling system.
AMD Radeon R9 295X2 Graphics
AMD representatives do not hesitate, albeit with some reservations, to call the Radeon R9 295X2 the best and "fastest card in the world." And they have every reason for this. The card is powered by dual Hawaii XT GPUs clocked at 1018 MHz and offers extreme performance.
The video card uses GDDR5 memory with a frequency of 1250 MHz and a memory bus of 2x512 bits. Power consumption at maximum load over 500 watts. MSRP $ 1,499
The Radeon R9 295X2 graphics card demonstrates excellent performance in tests and games. The performance gain, compared to the Radeon R9 290X and GeForce GTX 780 Ti, is up to 40% in medium modes and up to 70% in heavy modes. In games that support multi-chip systems, the gain is even more impressive - over 88%.
The hybrid graphics card cooling system works very efficiently. The temperature of processors under super-heavy loads does not exceed 64 degrees, the noise level is also quite low for such systems - no more than 50 dB.
This shows that the Radeon R9 295X2 is best used in harsh environments, ranging from WQHD and always paired with a powerful CPU.
Competitors and alternative
Among the single-chip cards, the Radeon R9 295X2 has no competitors. Alternatively, you can use paired Radeon R9 290X or GeForce GTX 780 Ti graphics cards. In both cases, it will be cheaper than a single Radeon R9 295X2.
The direct competitor is the GeForce GTX TITAN Z graphics card running on two GK 110 processors. It is slightly faster, but it costs 2 times more, which makes the Radeon R9 295X2 video card much more attractive in terms of price / performance.
