Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

Test Setup And Benchmarks

GeForce GTX 690 Review: Testing Nvidia's Sexiest Graphics Card
By
Test Hardware
Processors
Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E) 3.3 GHz at 4.2 GHz (42 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled
Motherboard
Gigabyte X79-UD5 (LGA 2011) X79 Express Chipset, BIOS F10
Memory
G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600, F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL @ 9-9-9-24 and 1.5 V
Hard Drive
Intel SSDSC2MH250A2 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4 GB

 2 x Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 2 GB

2 x AMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB

AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 GB

AMD Radeon HD 6990 4 GB

Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3 GB

Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 1.5 GB
Power Supply
Cooler Master UCP-1000 W
System Software And Drivers
Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
DirectX
DirectX 11
Graphics DriverNvidia GeForce Release 301.33 (For GTX 690)

Nvidia GeForce Release 300.99 and 301.10 (For GTX 680)

Nvidia GeForce Release 296.10 (For GTX 580 and 590)

AMD Catalyst 12.2 (For HD 7950 and HD 6990)

AMD Catalyst 12.4 (For HD 7970)


As a rule, we do our testing with the latest drivers each time we start a new story. This ensures that any fixes or performance improvements introduced by a software update get reflected in our coverage.

This time around, however, we don't have that luxury. So, the GeForce GTX 690 is tested using Nvidia's new 301.33 build. From there, we spot-checked the GeForce GTX 680 on its own and in SLI using the public 301.10 release. Then, we did the same thing with AMD's Radeon HD 7970 in one- and two-card configurations using Catalyst 12.4.

Games
Battlefield 3
Ultra Quality Settings, No AA / 16x AF, 4x MSAA / 16x AF, v-sync off, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, DirectX 11, Going Hunting, 90-second playback, Fraps
Crysis 2
DirectX 9 / DirectX 11, Ultra System Spec, v-sync off, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, No AA / No AF, Central Park, High-Resolution Textures: On
Metro 2033
High Quality Settings, AAA / 4x AF, 4x MSAA / 16x AF, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, Built-in Benchmark, Depth of Field filter Disabled, Steam version
DiRT 3
Ultra High Settings, No AA / No AF, 8x AA / No AF, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, Steam version, Built-In Benchmark Sequence, DX 11
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
High Quality (8x AA / 8x AF) / Ultra Quality (8x AA, 16x AF) Settings, FXAA enabled, vsync off, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, 25-second playback, Fraps
3DMark 11
Version 1.03, Extreme Preset
HAWX 2
Highest Quality Settings, 8x AA, 1920x1200, Retail Version, Built-in Benchmark, Tessellation on/off
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Ultra Quality Settings, No AA / 16x AF, 8x AA / 16x AF, From Crushblow to The Krazzworks, 1920x1080 / 2560x1600 / 5760x1080, Fraps, DirectX 11 Rendering, x64 Client
SiSoftware Sandra 2012
Sandra Tech Support (Engineer) 2012.SP4, GP Processing and GP Bandwidth Modules
LuxMark 2.0
64-bit Binary, Version 1.0, Room Scene
Ask a Category Expert

Create a new thread in the Reviews comments forum about this subject

Example: Notebook, Android, SSD hard drive

Display all 133 comments.
This thread is closed for comments
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?:( 
Display more comments