Good but not great
white Reviewed By: DHL on 11/16/2009
Rating + 4
Tech Level Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: Allows an SLI version for those with mbs that have only one PCI-E slot.
Very easy to overclock to 675 MHz GPU with Precision.
Runs pretty cool if you manually ramp fan speed. Not that noisey.
Cons: Minor improvement over GTX 285, and must be overclocked to see it. All those saying this card will run anything at max are full of it. Crysis still only runs at low 40s to mid 30s FPS. Crysis Warhead not that much faster. Nowhere near the 40% increase in FR predicted by some reviews over the GTX 285.
Also high cost compared to a 285. No way this will compare to 2x285 in SLI.
This card does exhaust hot air into your case. No way it cannot, just look at the heatsinks and how the fan is designed. So if you have a case with fans blowing air from front to back, this card will recycle hot air from the back of the card to its fan. You will need enough airfow to overcome the heat load input by this card. If you run your 295 fan at 70+%, then the temps will average out, but this card will raise the average air temps in the case.
My SuperMicro server case has directed airflow over the dual Xeon heatsinks in an enclosed channel, so they are not affected by the video card.
Other Thoughts: I bought this as an upgrade to a single 285 because I have only one PCIe slot on my SuperMicro MB. Was not impressed by FRs over what I was getting with the 285. That being said, FRs in the last missions in both Crysis (on the carrier) and Warhead (at the airport) although not higher, were smoother and less jerky. This provided smoother gameplay and what appears to be less lag, especially when you move quickly from place to place. Running at the stock GPU rate of 575 MHz I don't think this card surpasses the 285. You need to be OC'd to see an improvment. Good news is you can get to 675 MHz easily, whereas my 285 was unstable at small increases above the stock 648 MHz. In games like COD4, the 285 got 70+ FPS, so no need for the 295. I am getting 80-90 FPS with the 295, but see no real improvement in actual gameplay.
I bought a blue ray drive from newegg and i'm going to buy Star trek and Transformers 2 on Blue ray woot
