Dead GTX 295 - What to get now?

Mr. Wolf

Supreme [H]ardness
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My eVGA 295 is about to be RMA'd due to chronic overheating that led to the card dropping dead. I'm thinking of just getting a 285 FTW and then eBaying my 2nd 295 when it's sent. Will I still be able to run all of 2008-09 games at mid-to-high settings with the 285 and a 30" LCD? Does the 285 suffer from any overheating problems?
 
I feel your pain. I just had a GTX 260 Black Edition that pretty much did the same thing. A GTX 285 won't be quite as fast, no. The only real alternative to a GTX 295 is a 4870X2. And those are about as hot if not worse than the GTX 295.
 
get two gtx 280s. You can find em on the forums for 220$ shipped. Those will play any games @ 1920x1200 with everything turned up.
 
My 4870X2 has never once overheated.

Mr. Wolf, what resolution is your 30 inch LCD?
 
any chance they can send you one of the new single pcb gtx295 cards to see if it does any better? other than that only you can decide if the gtx285 is decent enough at 30inches. based on the dozens of reviews from tech sites which you can easily look at yourself the gtx285 will struggle compared to the gtx295 of course.
 
My 4870X2 has never once overheated.

Mr. Wolf, what resolution is your 30 inch LCD?
is there anything other than 2560x1600 for a 30inch monitor? plus it says Dell 3008WFP in his sig which is of course 2560x1600.
 
30 inch LCD TV@ 1280x720P.
yeah I guess but he would not have been crazy enough to use a gtx295 at that res. also he would have likely said tv not monitor. anyway we know its 2560x1600 because the dell is listed in his sig. ;)
 
any chance they can send you one of the new single pcb gtx295 cards to see if it does any better? other than that only you can decide if the gtx285 is decent enough at 30inches. based on the dozens of reviews from tech sites which you can easily look at yourself the gtx285 will struggle compared to the gtx295 of course.

are those even out? i haven't seen them for sale anywhere
 
eVGA issued the RMA today. I asked about Cannon's suggestion to swap my dead card for a co-op 295. The rep couldn't promise anything, but would "see what could be done." Probably nothing, but we'll see. If not, I might try to sell the replacement 295 and put the money toward a co-op. Interestingly, the standard 295 costs a bit more than the co-op; my guess is it's due to the co-op not having an HDMI port, which I don't use anyway.
 
Any idea what temps your dead card was getting up to? I'm just curious because mine about goes into meltdown on a few games where it's running about 90C-92C. And that's in a Antec 1200 case with no obstructions.
 
I was consistently above 95C even with the fan at 100%. The fan eventually gave out and the card fried itself.
 
I'm telling you now the GTX285 FTW is also has the heat issues on Default clock. I had to underclock the card to vanilla setup just so i can use it with my 30".. :( so i'm doing a step up to Co-op and see if that any better..
 
GTX 285s is my advice
this.
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I'm telling you now the GTX285 FTW is also has the heat issues on Default clock. I had to underclock the card to vanilla setup just so i can use it with my 30".. :( so i'm doing a step up to Co-op and see if that any better..


I wonder why even the 55nm GTX285 would have heat issues. my 65nm 192sp GTX260 has the same TDP and has been the quietest and coolest running card I have ever owned. low 40s at idle when it downclocks like it supposed to and and upper 60s to mid 70s during games. thats even overclocked with the fan left at default speeds and its never once had to ramp up.
 
I wonder why even the 55nm GTX285 would have heat issues. my 65nm 192sp GTX260 has the same TDP and has been the quietest and coolest running card I have ever owned. low 40s at idle when it downclocks like it supposed to and and upper 60s to mid 70s during games. thats even overclocked with the fan left at default speeds and its never once had to ramp up.

no idea.. even at vanilla clock on my FTW card when playing sims 3 on highest resolution and cranked up grpx option, except AA, the card will crash.. so disappointed right now, while my G92 works wonderful with no heat issues. I have 4 120mm fans on my case, so it's not my case temp.. :(
 
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I wonder why even the 55nm GTX285 would have heat issues. my 65nm 192sp GTX260 has the same TDP and has been the quietest and coolest running card I have ever owned. low 40s at idle when it downclocks like it supposed to and and upper 60s to mid 70s during games. thats even overclocked with the fan left at default speeds and its never once had to ramp up.

i bet a lot of the temp issues have to do with the huge 512bit bus memory controller on them.. and could also be half ass installing of the heatsinks.. but even though the 55nm are a smaller process then the 65nm cores.. they are pulling a lot more speed out of the smaller chips.. so its a catch 22.. smaller process more power = more heat.. then on top of that.. the heatsink designs really havent changed all that much and then having to deal with customers that want silence over cooling performance.. theres really not much they can do except please the majority even though the majority is completely wrong..
 
I would suggest 280s in SLI. See my sig. The only game that I am unable to run at maxxed settings on 2560x1600 is crysis warhead. If money is no object, then maybe 285s in SLI?
 
currently running an EVGA gtx 285 with my 3007wfp-hc

no problems with any games, crysis games are at medium settings, everything else is maxxed and gorgeous
 
Maybe you just got a bad card, or crappy airflow. I've never seen a GTX 295 run that hot. I know a couple people who have one.
 
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