NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 Specifications Unveiled

We all knew that NVIDIA wasn't sitting idle since the initial release of AMD's popular ATI Radeon HD 4800 series of products. As today's information will show, it turns out NVIDIA was not only hard at work on a 55nm version of their GT200 GPU, but they have also designed a dual-GPU beast built around two of them. There is a bit more to the story though, as the specification will reveal.


Fabrication Process 55 nm
Core Clock (texture and ROP units) 576 MHz
Shader Clock (Stream Processors) 1242 MHz
Memory Clock (Clock rate / Data rate) 1000 MHz / 2000 MHz
Total Video Memory 1792 MB
Memory Interface 448-bit per GPU
Total Memory Bandwidth 224 GB/s
Processor Cores 480
ROP Units 28
Texture Filtering Units 160
Texture Filtering Rate 92.2 GigaTexels/sec
Connectors 2 x Dual-Link DVI-I 1 x HDMI
RAMDACs 400 MHz
Bus Technology PCI Express 2.0
Form Factor Dual Slot
Power Connectors 1 x 6-pin 1 x 8-pin
Max Board Power (TDP) 289 watts


As you can see, the GPU used on the GeForce GTX 295 is built using a 55nm manufacturing process and the reference specifications call for 576MHz core, 1.24GHz shader, and 2GHz (1GHz DDR) memory clock frequencies. What's more interesting is that each GPU on the GeForce GTX 295 is outfitted with 240 stream processor cores--for a total of 480--but the memory interface is 448-bits per GPU and it's got 28 ROP units, not 512-bits and 32 ROP units like the current GeForce GTX 280. The specifications reveal that the GPU used on the GeForce GTX 295 will be sort of a die-shrunk hybrid of the current GeForce GTX 260 and GTX 280. Max board power is rated for 289 watts, which is right on par with the Radeon HD 4870 X2 and, as such, the GTX 295 requires both 6-pin and 8-pin supplemental PCI Express power connectors.



The card itself is reminiscent of the dual-GPU powered GeForce 9800 GX2. There is a perforated shroud that surrounds the entire PCB, with an air inlet at one end near the barrel type fan. The fan pulls air into the interior of the card, where it is blown across heatsinks and then ultimately expelled from the system through vents in the card's case bracket. Outputs on the GeForce GTX 295 consist of a pair of dual-link DVI outputs and an HDMI output, but the pictures also reveal a couple of diagnostic LEDs. One of the LEDs indicates whether or not the board is receiving sufficient power and the other shows whether or not a monitor is properly connected and being detected.

Just in case you're wondering, yes, two of these cards can be run in tandem in a Quad-SLI configuration. And we should also note that a single card can even be configured to run with one of its GPUs dedicated to PhysX calculations while the other handles graphics. We're hoping to have cards in-house very soon and will be able to disclose more information in the not too distant future. For now, you'll just have to be content with some specifications and pictures. Performance, pricing, and technical details will be coming a bit later.