NVidia GTX 690 is now official...

[DilTech]

http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-C...eForce-GTX-690

Same shader count, same ram speed, only SLIGHTLY cut down core speed. Looks like AMD have their work cut out for them.

[Lanek]

http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-C...eForce-GTX-690

Same shader count, same ram speed, only SLIGHTLY cut down core speed. Looks like AMD have their work cut out for them.

915mhz with turbo aimed at certainly 1000mhz .. no worry for AMD.... this explain maybe they release it before wait AMD have release his own dual 7970 ..

I really dont understand why they release it with lower clock speed, with the fixed TDP of the 680. they had a goo margin.

[zanzabar]

915mhz with turbo aimed at certainly 1000mhz .. no worry for AMD.... this explain maybe they release it before wait AMD have release his own dual 7970 ..

I really dont understand why they release it with lower clock speed, with the fixed TDP of the 680. they had a goo margin.

isnt 300W the max draw in the PCI-e spec, that would mean that they need to keep the reference under that but there is no reason that there will not be overclocked or liquid cooled cards.

[Mad Pistol]

isnt 300W the max draw in the PCI-e spec, that would mean that they need to keep the reference under that but there is no reason that there will not be overclocked or liquid cooled cards.

The GTX 590 and HD 6990 were both 375-watt max cards, and no one seemed to complain about it.

I think PCIe spec is just a theoretical target. The companies themselves can dictate what sort of power draw they want from their devices. The issue comes when a nice power supply isn't good enough for a decent card. That's when people start balking about power requirements. As it stands right now, a Corsair 750-watt or more is pretty standard fare for most enthusiasts, so even 375-watt power ceilings are well within reason.

[EniGmA1987]

isnt 300W the max draw in the PCI-e spec, that would mean that they need to keep the reference under that but there is no reason that there will not be overclocked or liquid cooled cards.

PCI-E 8-pin power gives 150w each, so two of those on a card plus the slot power = 375w max delivery

[icecpu]

damn card looks gorgeous

[SKYMTL]

A bit more info: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...0-preview.html


AMD won't be able to match this for the foreseeable future. But then again, New Zealand could become a lower priced alternative.

[Lanek]

A bit more info: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum...0-preview.html


AMD won't be able to match this for the foreseeable future. But then again, New Zealand could become a lower priced alternative.

Seriously i dont see why.... a 925mhz 7990 should be faster of it...

And if Nvidia annonce allready this is a limited edition... no matter it will be really hard to find.

Its a really nice card, really impressive, i dont like dual gpu for their limited overclockability, but this one look pretty good.

[Stevethegreat]

With that kind of price I don't see a reason why one should not buy two GTX 680s, it would perform/clock better and it's not as if SLI boards are a rarity anymore...

Great technological achievement but IMO -at that price- unneeded...

In a perfect world, gtx 680 would had been priced at $350-$400 (a bit how HD5870s were one moon earlier) and it's dual counterpart (the 690) at $700. It all went downhill when AMD decided to price their flagship card @ $550 instead of how they were doing business two generations ago...

In two words, great generation, bad pricing, at least from a consumer's point of view...

[Philip_J_Fry]

With that kind of price I don't see a reason why one should not buy two GTX 680s, it would perform/clock better and it's not as if SLI boards are a rarity anymore...

Great technological achievement but IMO -at that price- unneeded...

In a perfect world, gtx 680 would had been priced at $350-$400 (a bit how HD5870s were one moon earlier) and it's dual counterpart (the 690) at $700. It all went downhill when AMD decided to price their flagship card @ $550 instead of how they were doing business two generations ago...

In two words, great generation, bad pricing, at least from a consumer's point of view...

yeah seriously $999? wow, just wow. little to no game will use it @ 1080p or below anyway (unless u turn on like 32x CSAA with supersampling)

also like someone mentioned earlier, we are in a recession/ (arguably) depression in many parts of the world. what were they thinking?

[Manicdan]

yeah seriously $999? wow, just wow. little to no game will use it @ 1080p or below anyway (unless u turn on like 32x CSAA with supersampling)

also like someone mentioned earlier, we are in a recession/ (arguably) depression in many parts of the world. what were they thinking?

almost feels like nvidia is pulling an amd by releasing a really fast card, but charging more than they should, and maybe when the 7990 comes out for ~800$ they would drop their price down.

im not trying to say whose being the bad guy, i just would find it incredibly funny if the roles were opposite so quickly after we just saw it happen.

id also bet that most reviews show 1080p gaming is only up like 60% and not 100%, and that in half those reviews the framerate is 200fps and really meant nothing.

[highoctane]

This level of card is simply not by any means intended for the masses, as the price would loudly indicate. It's just a crown jewel for bragging, marketing & chest beating. It's sole purpose is to be the fastest single graphics card on the market not break sales records.

Even if it where introduced at say $799 it would still cater to a very small audience.

[crash5s]

With that kind of price I don't see a reason why one should not buy two GTX 680s, it would perform/clock better and it's not as if SLI boards are a rarity anymore...

Great technological achievement but IMO -at that price- unneeded...

In a perfect world, gtx 680 would had been priced at $350-$400 (a bit how HD5870s were one moon earlier) and it's dual counterpart (the 690) at $700. It all went downhill when AMD decided to price their flagship card @ $550 instead of how they were doing business two generations ago...

In two words, great generation, bad pricing, at least from a consumer's point of view...

More and more people seem to be using MATX boards or even ITX boards. Dual GPUs is either impossible or it will eat up all of your possible space so you can forget about using dual GPUs along with a proper NIC or soundcard. Creating a dual GPU card fixes this situation.

[LordEC911]

And if Nvidia annonce allready this is a limited edition... no matter it will be really hard to find.

Unless Nvidia is secretly hoarding cards until AMD's response the number of units point to a reviewer edition with a small number going to retailers.

[SKYMTL]

Seriously i dont see why.... a 925mhz 7990 should be faster of it...

The main issue with AMD's cards right now is the power they consume. IMO, there's just no way for AMD to release a HD 7990 with two fully enabled and clocked Tahiti XT cores without demolishing the 375W PCI-E certification ceiling. If anything, I think that AMD will either release the HD 7990 at a lower price point to act as a bridge product between the GTX 680 and GTX 690 or cancel New Zealand in order to focus upon their refresh parts.

Unless Nvidia is secretly hoarding cards until AMD's response the number of units point to a reviewer edition with a small number going to retailers.

Supposedly the reviewer pool for this one is quite limited with most of the cards going to retailers and board partners.

The main issue here is one of timing. This has been a seriously top secret product; so much so that NONE of the board partners were briefed on it full until Jen Hsun's speech. This means they have a strictly constrained timeframe between receiving the products and being able to ship them for launch. With launch less than four days away, don't expect to see these cards in the channel before next week at the earliest. BUT, some retailers will likely receive a few cards via Air shipments for May 3rd.

[zalbard]

The main issue with AMD's cards right now is the power they consume. IMO, there's just no way for AMD to release a HD 7990 with two fully enabled and clocked Tahiti XT cores without demolishing the 375W PCI-E certification ceiling. If anything, I think that AMD will either release the HD 7990 at a lower price point to act as a bridge product between the GTX 680 and GTX 690 or cancel New Zealand in order to focus upon their refresh parts.

Nvidia did it with Fermi. I am sure AMD will manage.

[Mad Pistol]

I have a feeling AMD is not going to be able to top NVidia this time. That card looks crazy good.

[UrbanSmooth]

We knew it.

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Time to retire my 570 SLI for a single 690 WC'd? I think so!

Oh, $999... I guess not, LOL!

[Utnorris]

Anyone need a kidney? Damn that is just AWESOME!!!

[iMacmatician]

What I find interesting is that they went back to 300 W instead of staying at 375 W. Given the 690's clocks, I would think a 375 W variant could be like the 3870 X2, a dual-card with even higher clocks than the corresponding single chip. Then AMD would really have their work cut out for them (at least performance-wise).

[Andrew LB]

Nice looking card. Can't wait to see how it performs when the full review comes out.

[Kemtech]

Posted this in the Nvidia section a little more info.

http://www.geforce.com./whats-new/ar...ticle-keynote/

[Russian]

I don't particularly like this decision for a whole host of reasons... It's a sweet card, but considering everything that went on with the GTX 680, lack of enough supply, still not enough cards for partners, and the fact that the 680 launched last month. Not to mention, NVIDIA stands to make their board partners happier by selling them 680s and letting them customize and sell them with higher profit margins, etc.

This sounds like a decision that was too soon and I think they're trying to preempt AMD with this rather than make good business decisions. That is, unless they didn't think they would be able to compete on price.

[boxleitnerb]

Improved Frame rate Metering

Kepler introduces hardware based frame rate metering, a technology that helps to minimize stuttering. In SLI mode, two GPUs share the workload by operating on successive frames; one GPU works on the current frame while the other GPU works on the next frame. But because the workload of each frame is different, the two GPUs will complete their frames at different times. Sending the frames to the monitor at varying intervals can result in perceived stuttering.

The GeForce GTX 690 features a metering mechanism (similar to a traffic meter for a freeway entrance) to regulate the flow of frames. By monitoring and smoothing out any disparities in how frames are issued to the monitor, frame rates feel smoother and more consistent.

Finally Nvidia openly acknoledges the stuttering (so far I have only seen them do it in one interview with Nvidia Germany). I was under the impression that Nvidia already employs some kind of frame metering technology (see the techreport article on this issue for example). Maybe it was software based before and is now improved and hardwarebased, utilizing double the bandwidth due to the PCIe 3.0 chip between the GPUs.

I hope all reviews will touch on this subject and will continue to do so in the future. It's high time that the methodology of looking at fps exclusively is thrown over board. Reviews should also focus on the quality of said fps.