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GeForce GTX 690 4 GB: Beauty Isn’t Always Practical

GeForce GTX 690 Review: Testing Nvidia's Sexiest Graphics Card
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Benchmarking Nvidia’s new GeForce GTX 690 almost wasn’t even necessary. The company gave us a great idea of what to expect when it told us that its new Death Star would be fully operational, featuring two uncut GK104s. A slightly lower base clock suggested average performance just a smidge below two GeForce GTX 680s—but certainly not enough to be noticeable while you’re gaming.

If you consider $500 for GeForce GTX 680 to be a fair price, then $1000 for GeForce GTX 690 is comparably reasonable. But is it any better? Or should you just stick to a pair of Nvidia’s fastest single-GPU cards?

That’s going to depend on your priorities.

Practically, two GeForce GTX 680s facilitate slightly better performance and they exhaust all of their heat out into the surrounding environment. They’re also scalable at a more granular level. That is to say, if you buy two GeForce GTX 680s today, you could add a third tomorrow and be out-of-pocket for $1500. For most enthusiasts with the right motherboard slot configuration, that’s the smarter play.

But a GeForce GTX 690 is quantifiably quieter than GTX 680s in SLI, even if you have two empty spaces between the cards for ventilation (such is the case with our Gigabyte X79-UD5 test bed). It’s the easiest way to achieve quad-SLI, too, though you’d better be prepared to tackle the thermals inside your chassis with all of the verve of a professional system builder. Overclocking a CPU gets a lot tougher in a bath of GK104 backwash.

And finally, GeForce GTX 690 has an X-factor that’s hard to measure. It’s a beefy mix of metal, polycarbonate, silicon, and lights—certainly sexier than GeForce GTX 680. But enough so to sway a big buying decision? For some folks, sure. Holding the thing in my hand imparts a sense of fine workmanship that just can’t be conveyed by words. The GeForce GTX 690 is a well-built board, and I simply must call out the attention given to acoustics especially.

If you count yourself a fan of hardware bling, GeForce GTX 690 is unquestionably the fanciest card to ever come from Nvidia, and you certainly can’t knock its visual appeal (nor can you knock its unmatched performance).

Now, let’s say you want to buy one (or two, for quad-SLI). Not surprisingly, given general unavailability of even the single-GPU GeForce GTX 680, you’re going to have a hard time getting your paws on a GTX 690. How bad will the situation be? Nvidia tells us that the cards will roll out in limited quantities, just like GeForce GTX 590. A few should be floating around by May 3rd, with greater numbers on May 7th. System builders just laugh when we ask how many they’re expecting. Consider our expectations curbed.

With Nvidia claiming availability on day one, we can’t preemptively call this a paper launch like we did when AMD previewed the Radeon HD 7970 three weeks before shipping it. But don’t be surprised if the closest you ever get to a GeForce GTX 690 is this story, regardless of whether you have a Grover Cleveland burning a hole in your back pocket.

And so we come full circle. Nvidia’s new flagship is a lot like an expensive sports car: attractive, exclusive, and not necessarily practical. But if you’re in line for one, there’s a fair chance you already know that and probably don’t care.

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Top Comments
  • 34 Hide
    chumly , May 3, 2012 2:08 PM
    It CAN play Crysis.
  • 28 Hide
    Luscious , May 3, 2012 2:07 PM
    Ah, the Bugatti Veyron of video cards... I'll take three, thanks!!!
  • 26 Hide
    araas , May 3, 2012 3:26 PM
    Again the used out dated drivers for the AMD Graphics card!!!! UPDATE TO 12.4 TOM'S!
Other Comments
  • 21 Hide
    robwright , May 3, 2012 1:50 PM
    I wonder, given the price of the 690, just how limited the quanitities will be. Which brings up another question, one that Nvidia (and AMD as well) would probably be reluctant to answer: are they making and shipping fewer of the top-shelf Halo cards today than they did 5 or six years ago?
  • 23 Hide
    milkshakez7z , May 3, 2012 1:59 PM
    Looks very nice. Pity I'll never own one.
  • 28 Hide
    Luscious , May 3, 2012 2:07 PM
    Ah, the Bugatti Veyron of video cards... I'll take three, thanks!!!
  • 34 Hide
    chumly , May 3, 2012 2:08 PM
    It CAN play Crysis.
  • -6 Hide
    rebel1280 , May 3, 2012 2:10 PM
    ....... Lamborghini’s Reventón ...... +infinity for mentioning that work of art T_T didn't even read the article until after I got my fix for the Lamborghini’s Reventón on the net haha. That car may be the only proof left to us of the old gods, in particular Mercury (god of transport) lol
  • 16 Hide
    lahawzel , May 3, 2012 2:13 PM
    680s are already nearly nonexistent, so I expect these 690s to be just as mythical and hard-to-find as the Radeon 6990.
  • 18 Hide
    phamhlam , May 3, 2012 2:19 PM
    LaHawzel680s are already nearly nonexistent, so I expect these 690s to be just as mythical and hard-to-find as the Radeon 6990.


    6990 aren't that hard to find. Back in January before the 7000 series came out, you could easily pick one or two up. I am pretty sure in 6 month, the 690 will be easy to grab.
  • 23 Hide
    Marcus52 , May 3, 2012 2:41 PM
    That pair of 690s with the matching bridge looks so sweet, I want 2!

    ;) 
  • 3 Hide
    frombehind , May 3, 2012 3:02 PM
    I wonder if someone will come out with a version that has a stock water-cooler built in? Then it really would the card to get ^^
  • 4 Hide
    monsta , May 3, 2012 3:06 PM
    That would have to be the sexiest looking graphics card
  • -7 Hide
    shin0bi272 , May 3, 2012 3:07 PM
    Imagine what this card could have been if they'd of used a 384bit bus per gpu...


    Also the design of this reminds me of my old leadtek 5900

    http://www.ixbt.com/video2/images/gffx-27/leadtek-5900lx-front.jpg
  • 21 Hide
    outlw6669 , May 3, 2012 3:23 PM
    WTF!?!

    GTX 590 launch...

    GTX 580 launch price: $500
    GTX 590 launch price: $700
    Difference: 140%

    Now today GTX 690 launch...

    GTX 680 launch price: $500
    GTX 690 launch price: $1000
    Difference: 200%

    So, is it just me or is nVidia really gouging on the price here?
    Why the hell else would they be charging an additional 43% more than their last dual GPU launch while using less silicon?

    Come on AMD, we really need some more competition here.
  • 26 Hide
    araas , May 3, 2012 3:26 PM
    Again the used out dated drivers for the AMD Graphics card!!!! UPDATE TO 12.4 TOM'S!
  • 6 Hide
    rglaredo , May 3, 2012 3:33 PM
    Very nice card ...is there an mmog game that will use that much power ?? LOL ...
  • 10 Hide
    jjrambo , May 3, 2012 3:33 PM
    Yeah..why were the 7 series using 12.4 drivers when the 6 series is using 12.2? In 12.4 they said UP TO 80% increase using MSAA. Which shows in these MSAA enabled charts the difference between them!
  • -8 Hide
    zanny , May 3, 2012 3:41 PM
    outlw6669WTF!?!GTX 590 launch...GTX 580 launch price: $500GTX 590 launch price: $700Difference: 140%Now today GTX 690 launch...GTX 680 launch price: $500GTX 690 launch price: $1000Difference: 200%So, is it just me or is nVidia really gouging on the price here?Why the hell else would they be charging an additional 43% more than their last dual GPU launch while using less silicon?Come on AMD, we really need some more competition here.


    The only use case for that much graphics hardware is excessively high multi monitor resolutions like 6k x 2k in 3d. AMD doesn't need to invest in new PCB designs to make a dual cpu GCN chip yet because the demand is so low.
  • 14 Hide
    ern88 , May 3, 2012 3:55 PM
    you'll have a better chance finding a 4 leaf clover in you back yard, then finding a 690 at a store!!!
  • 11 Hide
    pacioli , May 3, 2012 4:03 PM
    Too sexy for my wallet
  • 10 Hide
    hellfire24 , May 3, 2012 4:05 PM
    is it bad if i desperately want one?:( 
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