Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Power Consumption: Gaming

Radeon R9 295X2 8 GB Review: Project Hydra Gets Liquid Cooling
By , Igor Wallossek

It took quite a bit of experimentation to find a realistic and repeatable gaming workload that'd allow us to generate meaningful power readings. Fortunately, we found what we were looking for while running the benchmarks for our 2014 VGA Charts: Unigine Heaven. Once we switched over to a platform that wasn't processor-limited, we started seeing consistent GPU loads in the 95% range, giving us the power levels expected from most of our benchmarked games. These tests happen at 1920x1080 in full-screen mode, using the Ultra preset, normal tessellation, and 2x AA.

AMD's Radeon R9 295X2 draws less power than two Radeon R9 290X cards together, amazingly enough. We checked with AMD, which confirmed for us that the dual-GPU board's chips are specially-binned. Presumably, that means the processors are lower-leakage parts, though it's also possible that more effective cooling helps bring down consumption compared to the hot-running reference design. After all, we've seen the 290X's power use drop 30 W just from a better heat sink and fan.

The two-generation-old Radeon HD 6990 pulls way more power from the PCI Express slot, with peak values that exceed the PCI-SIG's 75 W specification.

AMD’s Radeon HD 7990 turns out to be more frugal than two single-GPU graphics cards, drawing less power from the motherboard’s PCI Express slot compared to the Radeon HD 6990. But it also tends to throttle back after reaching a certain thermal limit.

Zooming In For More Detail

A sampling rate of 1 μs is as precise as we're able to get. It's impossible to start each card's test at exactly the same time when we're zoomed in this far. Still, the charts are pretty definitive: the Radeon HD 7990 throttles slightly after hitting its temperature ceiling, demonstrating the most inconsistent curve progression, followed by the extremely hot Radeon HD 6990. Meanwhile, the Radeon R9 295X2 runs at a comparatively low temperature, giving us the most stable chart.

Ask a Category Expert

Create a new thread in the Reviews comments forum about this subject

Example: Notebook, Android, SSD hard drive

Display all 115 comments.
This thread is closed for comments
Top Comments
  • Editor's Pick
    18 Hide
    JoeArchitect , April 8, 2014 7:53 AM
    @marciocattini

    "Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval..."

    This is addressed in the conclusion of the article:

    "We have an estimated price and an estimated date for availability. The past several launches were peppered by misses on both fronts, and we’ve learned our lesson about recommending gear before you can buy it."

  • 17 Hide
    ekagori , April 8, 2014 8:16 AM
    I like what AMD has done, it's good to know they are making a better effort with high end parts. Hopefully all this goodness trickles down to the next generation 20nm consumer friendly products.
  • 17 Hide
    tristangl , April 8, 2014 7:48 AM
    ok that just prove that 4k gaming for the average joe is still not around the corner
Other Comments
  • 6 Hide
    SVMreborn , April 8, 2014 5:19 AM
    The pricing of this beast really impressed me.
  • 10 Hide
    Marsian Gustrianda , April 8, 2014 5:25 AM
    Many people doubt about Dual GPU Hawaii will be Blow Up. It seems AMD really do well job. Nice Looking Card
  • 9 Hide
    ohim , April 8, 2014 5:27 AM
    This card is like the Veyron of WV , show the world what you can do (R295x2) but you`ll still relay on the sales of your WV Golf for revenue (270x, 280x)
  • -2 Hide
    ferooxidan , April 8, 2014 5:40 AM
    Finally the review of this beast! Now continue reading
  • 13 Hide
    outlw6669 , April 8, 2014 5:47 AM
    Impressive performance, temperatures and fairly low noise!
    I would prefer a bit lower price, but this looks like a great card for the gamer that has everything!
  • 9 Hide
    getochkn , April 8, 2014 5:55 AM
    Surprised you didn't do a mining hashrate test on it to see what it can push out.
  • 0 Hide
    gunfighter zeck , April 8, 2014 6:01 AM
    the name Dreadnaught originated from Dread Nothing or, fear nothing.
    Boss ship.
  • 11 Hide
    Maxamus456 , April 8, 2014 6:14 AM
    Hope this price stays low and not get bloated from bit con miners like its predecessors.
  • 11 Hide
    blubbey , April 8, 2014 6:27 AM
    So let me get this straight. It runs pretty cool, quiet, performs well and (for the moment) is able to play a good selection of games at 4k admirably and is priced competitively. Plus if you are going to drop a bit more on watercooling your GPUs (which is a possibility if you're spending $1200+) that gives this card even greater value. Nice work AMD.
  • -2 Hide
    marciocattini , April 8, 2014 6:28 AM
    Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval? =( clearly this card diserves some love!
  • 7 Hide
    spp85 , April 8, 2014 6:31 AM
    Sheeeer muscle power
  • 0 Hide
    Plusthinking Iq , April 8, 2014 6:32 AM
    this is what i want for all my high end gaming, but i would rather like to see aio water cooling only and a 140mm version that could go silent if needed, full cover water block like the tundra series is some of the best. but single card is the best like a 780ti cooled with a 140mm aio at 500rpm and quiet pump. MAKE IT HAPPEN!
  • 0 Hide
    ferooxidan , April 8, 2014 6:54 AM
    After reading the article my conclusion is: we need a beefier GPU next year for a truly comfortable 4K gaming experience. OMG games this day really take tolls on our rig. Some games only hit around 40-ish and some even down to 30-ish fps on 4K. Imagine next year AAA titles, even this beast will be tamed.
  • 0 Hide
    Wisecracker , April 8, 2014 7:02 AM

    Vesuvius erupts !! ... nice job, Toms.

    Conspicuous by their absence are power, temp and noise numbers from the Green Team -- which likely means they got smoked (in a really good way) across the board by dual Hawaii.

  • 4 Hide
    AMD Radeon , April 8, 2014 7:34 AM
    good guy AMD
  • 17 Hide
    tristangl , April 8, 2014 7:48 AM
    ok that just prove that 4k gaming for the average joe is still not around the corner
  • 0 Hide
    chuckydb , April 8, 2014 7:50 AM
    I hope some OEM make the cooler with a double radiator. That card can be cooler and completely silent.
  • 18 Hide
    JoeArchitect , April 8, 2014 7:53 AM
    @marciocattini

    "Wheres Tom's Hardware seal of approval..."

    This is addressed in the conclusion of the article:

    "We have an estimated price and an estimated date for availability. The past several launches were peppered by misses on both fronts, and we’ve learned our lesson about recommending gear before you can buy it."

  • 2 Hide
    St0rm_KILL3r , April 8, 2014 8:04 AM
    Well, at 1440p r9 295x2 = gtx 780ti sli. But at 3840x2160 it totally dominates every gpu. Wondering if gtx 790 will be able to keep up with it.
  • 17 Hide
    ekagori , April 8, 2014 8:16 AM
    I like what AMD has done, it's good to know they are making a better effort with high end parts. Hopefully all this goodness trickles down to the next generation 20nm consumer friendly products.
Display more comments