The hyper video cards wars are about to heat up once more; these cards take the best and double it in order to occupy the very top of the heap in the world of video cards.

AMD is cranking its marketing machine up to speed in anticipation of their latest hyper video card, the R9 295X2 Vesuvius. Due to launch in April we should know more when the official details are announced during the March 26 live webcast being held by AMD.

Does AMD have a trick up its sleeve? The chip has been finished, cards are in manufacturing and AMD is preparing to launch their brand new hyper video card. But wait, there’s a problem Houston. The numbers just don’t add up! Has AMD altered the laws of physics?

AMD has this week started the teaser campaign for their new R9 295X2 super video card. Having sent out PR packs to a limited number of websites, along with invitations to join their live webcast on March 26, AMD seems very ready to release Vesuvius upon the world. The tag line for the March event, ‘2 is better than 1’.

Strangely throughout all of the marketing material and information released everyone is describing the new video card as having dual-core graphics, not dual-GPU’s as with all previous hyper video cards. What if AMD has a different plan this time around? What if they were going to take a leaf out of AMD’s CPU book and put two GPU cores in one chip package?

Many forum users around the world are discounting the ability of AMD to fit a pair of Hawaii GPU’s onto a single video card and stay within the 375watt envelope of our current systems (PCI-e limit). They have a good point when you consider a single R9 290X GPU can draw 375watts under peak load. Commentators rightly pointing out that 4 8pin power connectors would be required on such a dual GPU video card, not impossible but unlikely.

An info-graphic comparing 3 generations of super card has recently appeared, only adding fuel to the naysayer’s fire. The chart really only discloses a theoretical or desired specification for the new graphics card, what you would get if you put two R9 290X’s together, and it does look like a stretch. Unfortunately it has been interpreted by many as it it were the final specs, the note at the bottom of the graphic says it all ‘* Details mentioned are not indicative of the final product!”.

Here at Highpants we think it is about time AMD brought something new to the hyper video card world, putting two cores in the one chip package would be a terrific start. A design that would allow AMD to quickly and easily design a dual core GPU with lower power requirements and without breaking the laws of physics.

The only other issue remaining for a real Vesuvius hyper video card is heat. German website BouweenPC suggests that a similar hybrid cooling system to the ASUS ARES II video card will be used. Considering the power under the bonnet this is a very likely possibility, especially if the 1GHz turbo mode clock speed also mentioned by BPC is true.

After a short absence of hostilities the battle of the hyper video card is heating up once again. AMD’s clever use of technology may just squeeze one more generation of hyper video card into the current power envelope, a limit that will soon be lifted by the PCI-e 4.0 standard, allowing hostilities to once again begin.

Does AMD have a design trick up its sleeve or will the R9 295X2 just be more of the same? Will AMD take a substantial lead in the hyper  card battle or is this more marketing stunt than battle to be the best?

Reference: Hardware360
Reference: BouweenPC
Reference: TechSpot
Reference: AnandTech
Reference: VR-Zone

The previous generation PowerColour 7990 Dual GPU video card