The GTX690 is certainly the fastest single PCB card on the planet and this generation of NVIDIA’s dual GPU card shows great improvements from previous dual GPU cards, but at $1000 MSRP it is essentially the same price as a pair of GTX680s. [H]ard|OCP’s testing shows that the GTX690 performs at 95-98% of a pair of SLI’d GTX680s so there really is no noticeable performance difference. This begs the question as to why one might prefer the GTX690 to a pair of GTX680s; to which there are several answers. The most obvious is the size difference, with a GTX690 taking up one PCIe 16x slot and taking 2 slots on the back of the PC, where an SLI setup requires two PCIe 16x slots and takes up 4 slots on the back. Not only will the GTX690 leave you more room in your case it will provide better airflow as you will not have two cards sandwiched against each other as will be the case with many motherboards you would also have a much easier time setting up quad SLI. As well there is the power consumption to consider, in Ryan’s testing the GTX690 needed 30W less than the SLI rig and over 100W less than a pair of HD7970s. That also resulted in the GTX690 operating at a slightly cooler temperature as well as being quieter, which is almost as important as the performance. The GTX690 is a beast and if you can afford it … and find it for sale … it makes more sense that buying a pair of GTX680s.
"Is the GeForce GTX 690 the best dual-GPU video card ever built? We’ll compare performance to GeForce GTX 680 SLI and Radeon HD 7970 CFX to see where the new beast from NVIDIA stands. We overclock the dual GPUs and push these as far as we can. Surely this is the best performance ever experienced from a single video card."
Here are some more Graphics Card articles from around the web:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690: The Dual-GPU Beast Arrived! @ Bjorn3D
- NVIDIA GTX 690 Review @ OCC
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Launch Review @ Neoseeker
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Review: Ultra Expensive, Ultra Rare, Ultra Fast @ AnandTech
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Benchmark Performance @ Benchmark Reviews
- VIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Video Card Features @ Benchmark Reviews
- "All Inclusive": Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 2×2 GB @ X-bit Labs
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4 GB @ techPowerU
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Dual-GPU Graphics Card Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven
- NVIDIA Geforce GTX 690 DirectX 11 Video Card Review @Hi Tech Legion
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 @ Guru of 3D
- PowerColor PCS+ HD7970 vs Gainward GTX 680 Phantom Review @ HardwareHeaven
- Gainward GeForce GTX 680 Phantom @ Techspot
- 1 GHz with Passive Cooling: Arctic Accelero S1 PLUS and Turbo Module @ X-bit Labs
- Sapphire HD 7870 Review @ OCC
- MSI Radeon HD 7870 HAWK @ Guru of 3D
- HIS Radeon HD 7870 @ FunkyKit
- MSI Radeon HD 7870 HAWK 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- How Does Intel’s HD 4000 Compare on the IQ Scale? @ Kitguru
- DirectX 11.1 Specifications Released @ NGOHQ
Ture but also we got to keep
Ture but also we got to keep in mind this card is a full inch bigger than the GTX680. Most people who would worry about taking up 4 slots have small computer that might not even fit this card in there anyway. Also if the card breaks your out of of a computer.
For the Same price you get 2 video cards that will out perform the single and if one of them breaks you still have a working computer that will still be able to game.
Now if they price ranged it around $699 to $799 than I think it would be worth buying. but for a full grand your better of with 2 cards yeah your taking up more power but you have more power, and 2 video cards.
To me this whole 600 class is
To me this whole 600 class is a mirror image of what the 400 class was besides the whole 400’s heat issues…..I mean the fact they released the 680 and the 690 so close together and supply being so low tells u somethin right there….beta test….smart money buys a cheap 560ti till GK112(780) later this year, these 600 class products seem tainted in a tin foil hat kinda way
The main reason for going
The main reason for going GTX680 SLi now insted of GTX690 is that the secondhand market value when if you sell it later on will be much more valuable for 2 separate GTX680s then a single GTX690. In general selling an extream high end card like the 690 will be hard to get back full value on and you will probably lose a few hundred more compared to the two GTX680s deal.
This is ofcourse only true if you are high end card user and jump on all the new hot releases and want some cash back on your previous generation cards.
On the other hand if you are a patient buyer you might get a pretty good deal on the GTX690 on the secondhand market later on.
You would want to buy a GTX
You would want to buy a GTX 690 if you play mostly newer games and rarely need to turn off SLI. This card’s internal pci-e bridge splitter based on the new version of the NF chip from Nvidia includes enhancements designed to reduce microstutter (in SLI at least). These enhancements are part of the PCI-E 3.0 specification (thanks Nvidia for lobbying for this, where’s your initiative AMD?), so if you don’t yet have PCI-E 3.0, you might be better served with a 690 than 2x680s for SLI purposes. If you do have PCI-E 3.0, 2x680s will serve you better because they will overclock more, be better for resale later, and might have less issues playing older games that don’t support SLI very well.
Ok, so this performs as two
Ok, so this performs as two 680’s. Fine. That’s cool.
Why not put 4x 690’s in your computer. There are several Asus boards that can do that.
Oh, you say that there is an internal SLI between the two GPUs, and that no Windows computer will ever support more than 4 GPUs in SLI. No problem there. Use linux. 😉
There are a LOT of other things you can do with this card other than just games. Think… engineering Applications. Most of the good software for that runs on Linux, and linux doesn’t need SLI – or at least it’s not a limitation on Linux as it is windows.
But seriously, the 690 is a kickass card. Even more so if you Liquid Cool it. With 4 GB of GDDR5 per card (or maybe higher) there’s just so much more you can do with this card than just games.