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The GeForce GTX 680 was the fastest and most power efficient single GPU graphics card on the market and even while it rips though games at 1080p, there are still some gamers looking for an even smoother gaming experience at 5760x1080 or while using 3D Surround. These are exactly the type of gamers NVIDIA has designed the new GTX 690 for, as it is the biggest and baddest graphics card to ever be released in the consumer market thus far.
The GTX 690 is built on a foundation of the GK-104 GPU, which is able to perform roughly 10% better than AMD’s current flagship Tahiti XT GPU while being up to 30% more efficient. It is this power efficiency that allowed NVIDIA to build the GTX 690 without scaling down the architecture, or dramatically lowering the GPU Boost clock. By default the GTX 690 has a Boost clock speed of 1019MHz, which is just a hair under that of the GTX 680. Additionally, NVIDIA uses binned GK-104 graphics processors that each leverage the full potential of the core. However, since there are two cores on the GTX 690, everything is doubled, arming this card with a total of 3072 CUDA cores.
As the GTX 690 has the full GK-104 specifications and has only slightly scaled back clock speeds, it could very well run at nearly twice the performance of the GTX 680. On top of this, the GTX 690 has some advantages over its single GPU counterpart. The key advantages are that the GTX 690 consumes less power than running dual GTX 680 SLI, is quieter and only requires a single PCI Express slot.
Beyond just the performance, NVIDIA has also gone all-out with the design of the graphics card. The exterior of the card features a large, trivalent chromium-plated aluminum frame that provides best-in-class strength and durability. The card also features laser-etched LED lighting on the side, fan housing made from injection molded magnesium alloy and scratch resistant polycarbonate windows above the heatsinks. It is also the first graphics card from NVIDIA to have lettering laser-etched into the surface, ensuring precise design and the finest craftsmanship possible.
With everything the GTX 690 has going for it, the card isn’t going to be cheap and it effectively costs as much as two GTX 680s. Still, since it is built on a single PCB, not to mention more power efficient and quieter than dual GTX 680s, it should be worth the cost for anyone with a whopping grand to spend on a graphics card.
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Seems too good to be true TBH... I expect Nvidia to have put a catch in somewhere, such as a massive price. How it manages to stay that cool though, even on referecne design which means that when companies start to experiment with cooler layouts, the drop in temp will be even more impressive. Power requirements are too bad either. $1000 is £618, but since that is only about 150 more than what a 680 costs, that is where it seems to good to be true. With it being Britain I'd expect to see another £100-£200 to be added to that.
That LED, whilst having no added functionality to it, makes it look awesome.
EDIT:
As I expected. £809.99, puts it at $1300.
to be honest, id rather dual 680s. if the 690 is priced at 1000, then two 500 dollar 680s would be better.
and nvidia and their aa... gotta love em.
im excited to see txaa in person, since screenshots dont often do justice (fxaa looks good in zoomed-in pictures, but when you play the game itself w/ fxaa its all blurry