Need to replace GTX295 with equiv perf card from cur. prods. options?

[Astara]

I currently have a dual Nvidia GTX 295 setup with 1 cards that is failing. So I need to replace it and possibly by another new card so I can get an SLI config to match my old setup with two GTX295 cards. They don't have any more GTX295's in stock and want to give me a 480 or 580, but looking at the specs, I think I'd be taking a significant downgrade in performance.
[fixed]
Am I wrong: Here's the specs:
V-Spec-V_/_Card_->_______________295______480____________580
CudaCores________________________480______480____________512
Texture_Fill_Rate(Billion/sec)____92.2_____42.0_(46%)_____49.4__(54%)
Memory_____________(MB)_________1792_____1536___(86%)___1536____(86%)
Memory_Interface_Width___________896______384___(43%)____384____(43%)
Memory_Bandwidth_(GB/s)__________223.8____177.4_(79%)____192.4__(86%)
Power_consumption______(W)_______289______250___(87%)____244____(84%)
[/fixed]
-------------------------

It looks like I'm screwed when it comes to having a setup equivalent to my two 295 cards, it
would take at least 3, 580 cards to come close, 4 to meet or exceed @ nearly twice the power and twice the slots ( which I don't have).

But just to equal 1 295, card, it looks like they should comp me 2x580 cards -- considering that by giving me 2 of those cards, I will get better specs than 1 295 card, BUT I will lose the ability to add in my 2nd 295 card.

Any suggestions?

Any idea why Nividia took such a large step backwards in performance when coming out with this new generation?

Am I missing something?

Thanks!

-l

 

[HostileDonut]

I looked at the gtx 480 to gtx 295 performance and the gtx 480 either wins in performance or loses by a very small margin. I heard the gtx 580 is 10-20% faster than the gtx 480. Get the gtx 580.

 

[HostileDonut]

Get the GTX 580. It will be better than one gtx 295.

 

[Astara]

How does a single 480 or 580 outperform a 295 when the specs on the 295 are clearly superior by a large margin?

 

[17seconds]

The architecture is different than the older DX10 GTX295. You could wait until early 2011 for the GTX 595, if you have your heart set on a dual GPU card:

 

[HostileDonut]

For for the GTX 580 madness! IT IS SHEER POWER!

 

[JDFan]

Any idea why Nividia took such a large step backwards in performance when coming out with this new generation?

Am I missing something?
-l

The Reason is the excessive Power requirements of the FERMI chips -- the single fermi chip in the 480 or 580 are using almost the same amount of power as your dual GPU 295 -- which meant they could not release a dual GPU chip based on the FERMI as the power needed to run it would be over the SPEC limit for a single card so they do not have a dual GPU single card !

 

[4745454b]

There are several issues with your chart comparing the cards. The GTX295 is a dual GPU card, so some of those specs should be cut in half. For example the memory size. That's 1,792 / 2, so only 896MBs per GPU. The GTX 480 and 580 have much more memory per GPU, which can allow for higher settings at higher resolutions. (read reviews on the 2GB 5870 to see this in action.) The same issue exists with most of the other specs. You also didn't list clock speeds or the changes in the cores. If you look at the chart that CT provided there isn't that big of a gap between them.

I still believe that Nvidia will release a dual GPU card. Based either on an SLI GTX460 or an unseen so far GTX5xx card. A GTX460 with all clusters turned on would be great. There was a rumor when the GTX460 was launched that Nvidia turned one off not just to improve yields, but a full GTX460 was to close to the performance of the GTX470. I'd still like to see this card.

 

[Astara]

Best answer selected by Astara.

 

[cheesesubs]

I currently have a dual Nvidia GTX 295 setup with 1 cards that is failing. So I need to replace it and possibly by another new card so I can get an SLI config to match my old setup with two GTX295 cards. They don't have any more GTX295's in stock and want to give me a 480 or 580, but looking at the specs, I think I'd be taking a significant downgrade in performance.
[fixed]
Am I wrong: Here's the specs:
V-Spec-V_/_Card_->_______________295______480____________580
CudaCores________________________480______480____________512
Texture_Fill_Rate(Billion/sec)____92.2_____42.0_(46%)_____49.4__(54%)
Memory_____________(MB)_________1792_____1536___(86%)___1536____(86%)
Memory_Interface_Width___________896______384___(43%)____384____(43%)
Memory_Bandwidth_(GB/s)__________223.8____177.4_(79%)____192.4__(86%)
Power_consumption______(W)_______289______250___(87%)____244____(84%)
[/fixed]
-------------------------

It looks like I'm screwed when it comes to having a setup equivalent to my two 295 cards, it
would take at least 3, 580 cards to come close, 4 to meet or exceed @ nearly twice the power and twice the slots ( which I don't have).

But just to equal 1 295, card, it looks like they should comp me 2x580 cards -- considering that by giving me 2 of those cards, I will get better specs than 1 295 card, BUT I will lose the ability to add in my 2nd 295 card.

Any suggestions?

Any idea why Nividia took such a large step backwards in performance when coming out with this new generation?

Am I missing something?

Thanks!

-l

wait for gtx 590.....

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar