Yeah, I’ve been playing with the very latest video cards for weeks now, using the newest games and a screaming new test rig. Life’s rough, you know. But now I have just a few hours to write an entire review that’s destined to be packed with more GPU goodness than six regular ones. I’ve been mainlining caffeine ’til I can barely sit still to type, and each key-press seems to be registering ttthhrreeeeee tttiiimmmeesss. So let’s skip the pleasantries and get down to business. The primary subjects of our attention today are the GeForce GTX 285 and 295, two cards that are both based on the new 55nm version of NVIDIA’s GT200 graphics processor, the 1.4 billion-transistor monster behind the GeForce GTX lineup.

The move from a 65nm fab process to a 55nm one promises additional goodness from the B-step version of the GT200, affectionately known by some as the GT200b. The goodness comes mainly in the form of reduced power consumption and heat production, but in turn, those things can lead to increased performance headroom. That is, NVIDIA can turn up the clock speeds without resorting to quad-slot cooling or an external power supply. Good times, indeed.

Other than the die shrink, the GT200b is more or less unchanged from the GT200. That means it still has 240 gizzywhatchits and 512 hoozydoers or whatever, just like the old version. I dunno, man, go read my GeForce GTX 280 review if you want info on the GPU chiclets and stuff. It’s all in there. What has changed is clock speeds—in the case of the new single-GPU flagship, the GeForce GTX 285—and, thanks to better thermals, the ability to shoehorn two of these GPUs into a single card—that’s the GTX 295.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/16229