NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 vs ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

Comparative analysis of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 and ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 videocards for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Technical info, Video outputs and ports, Compatibility, dimensions and requirements, API support, Memory, Technologies. Benchmark videocards performance analysis: PassMark - G3D Mark, PassMark - G2D Mark, Geekbench - OpenCL, GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames), GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295

ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

Differences

Reasons to consider the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295

Videocard is newer: launch date 11 month(s) later
Around 51% higher core clock speed: 1242 MHz vs 825 MHz
Around 13% better floating-point performance: 2x 596.2 gflops vs 2x 528.0 gflops
Around 75% higher maximum memory size: 1792 MB vs 2x 512 MB
Around 70% better performance in PassMark - G3D Mark: 1206 vs 709

Specifications (specs)
Launch date	8 January 2009 vs 26 January 2008
Core clock speed	1242 MHz vs 825 MHz
Floating-point performance	2x 596.2 gflops vs 2x 528.0 gflops
Maximum memory size	1792 MB vs 2x 512 MB
Benchmarks
PassMark - G3D Mark	1206 vs 709

Reasons to consider the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

2.3x more texture fill rate: 2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec vs 92.2 billion / sec
Around 33% higher pipelines: 2x 320 vs 2x 240
Around 75% lower typical power consumption: 165 Watt vs 289 Watt
Around 80% higher memory clock speed: 1802 MHz vs 999 MHz
2.2x better performance in PassMark - G2D Mark: 224 vs 103
Around 7% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames): 3336 vs 3107
Around 7% better performance in GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps): 3336 vs 3107

Specifications (specs)
Texture fill rate	2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec vs 92.2 billion / sec
Pipelines	2x 320 vs 2x 240
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	165 Watt vs 289 Watt
Memory clock speed	1802 MHz vs 999 MHz
Benchmarks
PassMark - G2D Mark	224 vs 103
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3336 vs 3107
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3336 vs 3107

Compare benchmarks

GPU 1: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295
GPU 2: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2

PassMark - G3D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

1206

709

PassMark - G2D Mark

GPU 1

GPU 2

103

224

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3107

3336

GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)

GPU 1

GPU 2

3107

3336

Name	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295	ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
PassMark - G3D Mark	1206	709
PassMark - G2D Mark	103	224
Geekbench - OpenCL	21048
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Frames)	3443
GFXBench 4.0 - Manhattan (Fps)	3443
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Frames)	3107	3336
GFXBench 4.0 - T-Rex (Fps)	3107	3336

Compare specifications (specs)

	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295	ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
Essentials
Architecture	Tesla 2.0	TeraScale
Code name	GT200B	R680
Launch date	8 January 2009	26 January 2008
Launch price (MSRP)	$500	$449
Place in performance rating	933	934
Price now	$159.99
Type	Desktop	Desktop
Value for money (0-100)	8.53
Technical info
Core clock speed	1242 MHz	825 MHz
CUDA cores	480
CUDA cores per GPU	240
Floating-point performance	2x 596.2 gflops	2x 528.0 gflops
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	55 nm
Maximum GPU temperature	105 °C
Pipelines	2x 240	2x 320
Texture fill rate	92.2 billion / sec	2x 13.2 GTexel / s billion / sec
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	289 Watt	165 Watt
Transistor count	1,400 million	666 million
Video outputs and ports
Audio input for HDMI	S / PDIF
Display Connectors	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, Two Dual Link DVIHDMI	2x DVI, 1x S-Video
HDMI
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536
Multi monitor support
Compatibility, dimensions and requirements
Height	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Interface	PCIe 2.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	10.5" (267 mm) (26.7 cm)	267 mm
SLI options	Quad
Supplementary power connectors	6-pin & 8-pin	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
API support
DirectX	10.0	10.1
OpenGL	2.1	3.3
Memory
Maximum RAM amount	1792 MB	2x 512 MB
Memory bandwidth	223.8 GB / s	2x 57.7 GB / s
Memory bus width	896 Bit	2x 256 Bit
Memory clock speed	999 MHz	1802 MHz
Memory interface width per GPU	448 Bit
Memory type	GDDR3	GDDR3
Standard memory config per GPU	896 MB
Technologies
3D Vision
CUDA
High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDRR)	128bit
SLI