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GTX690 or GTX 680 SLI?

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Graphics card Master

If the 690 is actually available to you at $1000, it's the better buy IMO.

If not, 680 SLI gives a tiny bit more performance but requires a second card in your case.

IMO neither one is worth it over 670 SLI, which is something like 2% slower than the 690 for 20% less money.

Neither right now with the issues they are having with the fabrication process. Wait until Nvidia gets that fixed and then order. 2 X 680 in SLI would be faster but would take up more space in your case.

I'd be getting the 690 for about $900. Price isn't really a concern for me. I'm wondering if you can OC a 690 to run as well as stock 680 SLI? I know the 670 is a great card. Best bang for buck. But unfortunately for me. That isn't an option :( 

I'm limited to 680 in SLI or just a 690.

Also, why would the 690 be a better buy?

Thank you for all your input thus far.
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In all sincerity, a 690 is a pair of 680s SLI'd in a single card. The 4 GB of video memory will be more beneficial if you're trying to run a game on multiple monitors (a la Battlefield 3 on 3 screens) but there seem to be more 680s with high clock speeds so it's a +/- scenario.

I personally would be more than happy with a single 680 because there isn't a single game out that it can't handle and add an additional card down the road when that changes. If you had to choose between a 690 and a pair of 680s, I would rather have a single 690 for double the RAM

ahnilated said:
Neither right now with the issues they are having with the fabrication process. Wait until Nvidia gets that fixed and then order. 2 X 680 in SLI would be faster but would take up more space in your case.



How much faster are we talking here? Anything noticeable? I wouldn't be over clocking the 680 SLI but I would try to OC the 690 to the 680 stock OC if possible.

game junky said:
In all sincerity, a 690 is a pair of 680s SLI'd in a single card. The 4 GB of video memory will be more beneficial if you're trying to run a game on multiple monitors (a la Battlefield 3 on 3 screens) but there seem to be more 680s with high clock speeds so it's a +/- scenario.

I personally would be more than happy with a single 680 because there isn't a single game out that it can't handle and add an additional card down the road when that changes. If you had to choose between a 690 and a pair of 680s, I would rather have a single 690 for double the RAM


I see. I know either set up is overkill. But I'm doing it now because I can afford it now lol. Plus I can get a decent deal and I do plan to play on 3 monitors. I personally feel as if the 690 is the better buy. But I'm not positive. As long as you can OC the 690 to run as well as stock 680 SLI. I'd actually be pretty happy with it.

JukeBox360 said:
How much faster are we talking here? Anything noticeable? I wouldn't be over clocking the 680 SLI but I would try to OC the 690 to the 680 stock OC if possible.


There are reviews out there for the 680's and 690's. I would say you would be lucky to see a 5% difference. Overclocking the 680's would be far less dangerous then the 690's as far as burning out the card.

lol, I know the 670 is a great card. But I can't pick that card due to it not being in stock from where I am getting it. That's why I have to pick between these two cards. :( 
Anonymous
Graphics card Master

oh, sorry . . if you look at the review i posted you will see it flip flops as to what gets better performance between 690/680sli. see if the benches help.

ahnilated said:
There are reviews out there for the 680's and 690's. I would say you would be lucky to see a 5% difference. Overclocking the 680's would be far less dangerous then the 690's as far as burning out the card.


I risk burning the GPU!? I thought one card would give less heat? I also was under the impression the 690 ran cooler then the 680? Should I not get a 690? I don't want anything breaking on me.

game junky said:
In all sincerity, a 690 is a pair of 680s SLI'd in a single card. The 4 GB of video memory will be more beneficial if you're trying to run a game on multiple monitors (a la Battlefield 3 on 3 screens) but there seem to be more 680s with high clock speeds so it's a +/- scenario.

I personally would be more than happy with a single 680 because there isn't a single game out that it can't handle and add an additional card down the road when that changes. If you had to choose between a 690 and a pair of 680s, I would rather have a single 690 for double the RAM



690 is not double the VRAM. The 4GB of VRAM is no different than having 680s SLI 2GB, as the vram is split and the gpus mirror each other. So higher resolutions won't matter between the 690 or 680sli in terms of VRAM. I would probably go with a 690 over 680 sli too, however, because it is much more power efficient than two cards.
Graphics card Authority

2 gtx 680s perform a bit better than gtx 690 which means in some games they are neck to neck, some games sli is better and in few games 690 has taken the lead, so getting 690 keeps you good because it would not eat too much space where as 2 680s block everything and will produce a heat also noise when you put max load on it. Take a look into the link.
www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/586?vs=585
Graphics card Master

You can OC a 690 to get to 680 SLI or better performance. If you can get one for $900, definitely do it.

And yeah ignore all the misinformed folks who say that the 690 has more vram... it doesn't (it has the same 2GB per GPU that 680 SLI has).

From what I have heard before. It was always better to get one GPU vs two. Is this no longer the case? I know lower power and lower heat is always a good thing. Can't imagine that ever being bad.

I just don't want to end up making the dumb choice.

BigMack70 said:
You can OC a 690 to get to 680 SLI or better performance. If you can get one for $900, definitely do it.

And yeah ignore all the misinformed folks who say that the 690 has more vram... it doesn't (it has the same 2GB per GPU that 680 SLI has).


It would cost me exactly $900 for the 690. Really stink s about the whole VRAM thing. But I'd imagine it's powerful enough that it isn't needed? I will be playing on 3 monitors. But I will mainly be playing on a 3d 1080P monitor. As 3 monitors on BF3 can cause me to get a little dizzy. :??: 

xtreme5 said:
mate, 690 is ultimate solution.


So I'm guessing by that this means that's what you'd do? May I ask why?

Also will doing a slight OC to make the card run as well as 680 SLI be that bad on it? I had imagine it wouldn't be a very high bump at all.
Graphics card Master

Right now, 2GB is plenty of vram for everything.

How long will that last? No way to know. If it were me gaming on 3 screens (can't tell from your post if you are playing on one or three), I wouldn't touch a setup with 2GB vram unless I were willing to upgrade within a couple years.

If you are gaming at triple screen resolutions, it may be worth waiting to see what the 7990 brings to the table, as it should do a bit better at the higher resolutions and it also has an extra GB of vram.

JukeBox360 said:
So I'm guessing by that this means that's what you'd do? May I ask why?

Also will doing a slight OC to make the card run as well as 680 SLI be that bad on it? I had imagine it wouldn't be a very high bump at all.


it shouldn't be that much of a bump to get it there.

JukeBox360 said:
I risk burning the GPU!? I thought one card would give less heat? I also was under the impression the 690 ran cooler then the 680? Should I not get a 690? I don't want anything breaking on me.


You can at any time risk burning out the GPU with normal use. If you overclock the risk increases.
Graphics card Authority

if you overclock the 690 it would cross the performance of 2 680s, or if you overclock the 2 680s it may become risky and need alot power so think about it.

JukeBox360 said:
I see. I know either set up is overkill. But I'm doing it now because I can afford it now lol. Plus I can get a decent deal and I do plan to play on 3 monitors. I personally feel as if the 690 is the better buy. But I'm not positive. As long as you can OC the 690 to run as well as stock 680 SLI. I'd actually be pretty happy with it.



I would agree with game junky that the 690 would be a better deal, but for different reasoning. First of all, the 4GB that the 690 has isn't actually 4GB. It is split between the gpus which mirror each other. You are really getting 2 680s with 2GB. Not one card with 4gb of VRAM. So essentially 680s sli 2GB vs 690 4GB is the same thing with 680s having a slight advantage with clock speed.

Even though the 680s have a higher frequency, and in turn, slightly better performance, I would not buy them. The reason for this is that a single 690 is much more power efficient than duel 680s.

If you really want the best performance on multi monitors and have the money, wait until new 680s are released with increased VRAM.
Anonymous
Graphics card Master

ahnilated said:
You can at any time risk burning out the GPU with normal use. If you overclock the risk increases.

thats why you watch the temps and increase the fan speed. you obviously haven't overclocked.

I've always used custom fan speeds. It's always been set to 10 higher then the temp. So If the card is at 50C the fan would be at 60%. 60c/70% and so on. I thought that would be a decent fan control. My case has a tons of ventilation.

3 monitor gaming isn't to important. As long as I can play everything and anything on a single 1080P 120Hz monitor I will be happy. As that is my main focus and use when gaming. It's rare for me to play on all 3. But I have done it. I like the idea of being able to play 3D. Although again. That's something I've rarely done.

A huge reason why I have considered the 690 was it's power load. As i'm only running a 750 PSU. That's the minimum needed for 680SLI. So I figured the 690 would run better on my system.

JukeBox360 said:
So I'm guessing by that this means that's what you'd do? May I ask why?

Also will doing a slight OC to make the card run as well as 680 SLI be that bad on it? I had imagine it wouldn't be a very high bump at all.



Your basically asking which is better a lamborghini or a ferrari, both are amazing cars and you really can't go wrong with either. Between the two choices are almost no differences, you can nit pick back and forth but I doubt you can pick wrong between a 690 and two 680's.

Anonymous said:
thats why you watch the temps and increase the fan speed. you obviously haven't overclocked.


You obviously haven't read my signature. Do some research before you spout off.

lol, this is true. But I figured people could shed some light about pros and cons of both. Power load. Heat. Reliability. Really scared on the idea of the card burning out. From what I've heard a dual GPU is known to burn out. That's the last thing I'd want to happen.
Anonymous
Graphics card Master

ahnilated said:
You obviously haven't read my signature. Do some research before you spout off.

:lol: 
and we all know if its in a sig, its the truth right?
Graphics card Expert

JukeBox360 said:
Also, did you not notice the price?


Well yes, seeing as I have just bought 2 670s, I did notice the price.

£240 cheaper than a 690 & £219 cheaper than 680 SLi.

Between a 690 and 680 SLi I would go for which ever is cheapest.

I was choosing between a 690, 680 SLi & 670 SLi and chose the 670s because they are much cheaper for pratically the same performance.

Anonymous
Graphics card Master

EVGA has great customer service and i believe better warranties. though never dealt with asus for a grfx card.
Graphics card Expert

JukeBox360 said:
Any difference between ASUS and EVGA with these cards? ( 690 ) I'm guessing no?


Nah, just a different coloured box :D 

All 690s use the same Nvidia reference design.

I'd go for EVGA though for their better warranty.

Best solution

Graphics card Master

This is another "price-performance is all that matters" discussion. Since the options, 680 SLI, 690, 670 SLI all perform reasonably about the same, you need to take into account some other variables.

I would go for the GTX 690 for several reasons, not least of which would be the very high quality components and materials. There is literally no plastic used in it's construction. They also use the highest binned chips which are more energy efficient and more overclockable. As a result, the GTX 690 is the most efficient video card ever made. On top of that, the GTX 690 will be quieter than the other two options, and use less power. The 690 really is the Ferrari of video cards.

The other consideration should be the make and model of the 670's/680's under consideration. Reference models, then I'd get the 690 hands down. But if you are considering some of the higher performing, yet quieter, custom models (and all the heat they blow around inside your case), then that may sway me towards the SLI option. A pair of Asus DirectCU II's in SLI would probably get my vote, provided you can fit a pair in your case.
Graphics card Expert

matto17secs said:
The other consideration should be the make and model of the 670's/680's under consideration. Reference models, then I'd get the 690 hands down. But if you are considering some of the higher performing, yet quieter, custom models (and all the heat they blow around inside your case), then that may sway me towards the SLI option. A pair of Asus DirectCU II's in SLI would probably get my vote, provided you can fit a pair in your case.


Non reference cards in SLi? Nah

matto17secs said:
This is another "price-performance is all that matters" discussion. Since the options, 680 SLI, 690, 670 SLI all perform reasonably about the same, you need to take into account some other variables.

I would go for the GTX 690 for several reasons, not least of which would be the very high quality components and materials. There is literally no plastic used in it's construction. They also use the highest binned chips which are more energy efficient and more overclockable. As a result, the GTX 690 is the most efficient video card ever made. On top of that, the GTX 690 will be quieter than the other two options, and use less power. The 690 really is the Ferrari of video cards.

The other consideration should be the make and model of the 670's/680's under consideration. Reference models, then I'd get the 690 hands down. But if you are considering some of the higher performing, yet quieter, custom models (and all the heat they blow around inside your case), then that may sway me towards the SLI option. A pair of Asus DirectCU II's in SLI would probably get my vote, provided you can fit a pair in your case.


As much as I'd love the DirectCU cards. Those would never fit in my case. All cards being considered would be reference models.


Gothams Finest said:
Nah, just a different coloured box :D 

All 690s use the same Nvidia reference design.

I'd go for EVGA though for their better warranty.


That's what I was told. I heard if you ever plan to sell your GPU that ASUS is better sue to it being transferable. Seems ASUS is my only option that's in stock :fou: 
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