NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Reviews

[SKYMTL]

Yeah, not much. Theirs was also running pretty warm at 80c. I found that my power draw raises quickly as the cards get over 80c due to leakage. With water cooling I took about 30-40watts off each card just from the much lower temps.

Since when can an undervolted HD 7970 hit 1GHz+?

[BababooeyHTJ]

Trying to prove "whose drivers are better" is a fools errand, because drivers are in a constant state of being improved. (and no one's are perfect)

It doesn't seem that way with GTX680. Here we are a month and a Fing half after release and quite a few common issues and there has yet to be a single driver update that addresses GTX680 in any way. Needless to say, I'm upset with Nvidia's driver support at the moment.

This is the polar opposite of the experience that I had with 6950 at launch. I will never buy another Nvidia product at launch again.

[AliG]

It doesn't seem that way with GTX680. Here we are a month and a Fing half after release and quite a few common issues and there has yet to be a single driver update that addresses GTX680 in any way. Needless to say, I'm upset with Nvidia's driver support at the moment.

This is the polar opposite of the experience that I had with 6950 at launch. I will never buy another Nvidia product at launch again.

That's certainly ironic. I know of tons of people who would pay extra/take the performance hit and buy the Nvidia option just because they offered more stable drivers than ATI. This is pretty much the first time since the 8800gtx that they've truly offered an all around better product and now they screw up the drivers lol

[BababooeyHTJ]

That's certainly ironic. I know of tons of people who would pay extra/take the performance hit and buy the Nvidia option just because they offered more stable drivers than ATI. This is pretty much the first time since the 8800gtx that they've truly offered an all around better product and now they screw up the drivers lol

Just now? You never used early Windows 7 drivers. Right after they added AO in the Nvidia control panel. They were a mess for months. There was a whole series, including a couple of WHQL drivers where AA didn't even work. The very next driver was the famous card killing driver with broken fan speed control. Look at GTX460, for two months the only available driver was a single beta. Thats with the dpc latency issues with X48/X38 motherboards.

Quite a few people have been having a pretty serious TDR issue for months now that the just seem to have resolved. Luckily I wasn't one of those people.

Nvidia's track record isn't blemish free but for some reason people love to rag on AMD.

[Roadhog]

Since when can an undervolted HD 7970 hit 1GHz+?

With a more mature manufacturing process? Also, two of mine will do 1100 on 1050mv...

[Manicdan]

That's certainly ironic. I know of tons of people who would pay extra/take the performance hit and buy the Nvidia option just because they offered more stable drivers than ATI. This is pretty much the first time since the 8800gtx that they've truly offered an all around better product and now they screw up the drivers lol

this is my first nvidia card and i found a major flaw. the hdmi out uses the signal to determine max audio channels and no way to override it. so im forced with 2 channels because i pass all hdmi through my tv into my receiver. my old ati card worked fine. but now im forced to use a separate optical cable to get around nvidias problem. and this problem is so old its been this way since hdmi was first used on their gpus

[kuroikenshi]

I also use HDMI for audio, hence sticking to AMD.

[Rollo]

With a more mature manufacturing process? Also, two of mine will do 1100 on 1050mv...

Even if this is true it doesn't necessarily matter. Your case/motherboard/ambient temps/psu/etc may be non typical and a "best case" scenario.

AMD has to produce cards that will run stably all over the world in all kinds of rigs at all sorts of temps - for ALL of their cards. Having half the cards come back won't work.

[DilTech]

Even if this is true it doesn't necessarily matter. Your case/motherboard/ambient temps/psu/etc may be non typical and a "best case" scenario.

AMD has to produce cards that will run stably all over the world in all kinds of rigs at all sorts of temps - for ALL of their cards. Having half the cards come back won't work.

To make it worse, it has to be able to do it in OEM systems like Dell's where the only case fan is on the cheaply made power supply...

this is my first nvidia card and i found a major flaw. the hdmi out uses the signal to determine max audio channels and no way to override it. so im forced with 2 channels because i pass all hdmi through my tv into my receiver. my old ati card worked fine. but now im forced to use a separate optical cable to get around nvidias problem. and this problem is so old its been this way since hdmi was first used on their gpus

I didn't even know about that one... Then again, everyone I know goes stereo to TV and not the other way around. I actually have no choice with my panasonic, since panny TV's will only out-put 2 channel via digital out, which is actually pretty common among TV designers.

Not to down-play your issue, but I can definitely understand how they missed that one.

I also use HDMI for audio, hence sticking to AMD.

NVidia hdmi works fine if you run it in the normal Stereo > TV path. It's the TV telling the video card that it can't accept more than 2 channels.

[Manicdan]

I didn't even know about that one... Then again, everyone I know goes stereo to TV and not the other way around. I actually have no choice with my panasonic, since panny TV's will only out-put 2 channel via digital out, which is actually pretty common among TV designers.

Not to down-play your issue, but I can definitely understand how they missed that one.

considering i read about it on nvidia forums with them saying they were working on it, i think they should have figured it out by now

i use to have my receiver receive everything until it decided to not like hdmi anymore and i got the same results by just sending it the sound through the tv

[tajoh111]

With a more mature manufacturing process? Also, two of mine will do 1100 on 1050mv...

Aren't yours cards under water as well?

Honestly who cares about the performance crown, for the effort and binning, AMD would be better off with 850mhz, 800 dollar 7990 which had good quantitiy.An 1100mhz 7990, would make binning a pain in the ass and it would make quantities just as bad as the gtx 690 if not worse. AMD is better off using pricing and quantity to fight off Nvidia. A truly faster 7990 would simply cause Nvidia to release a faster gtx 695. With the high end cooler on the gtx 680 and the low energy consumption, it would be easy for Nvidia make.However, Nvidia cant counter quantity at this point, so it makes sense for AMD to do this.

[highoctane]

this is my first nvidia card and i found a major flaw. the hdmi out uses the signal to determine max audio channels and no way to override it. so im forced with 2 channels because i pass all hdmi through my tv into my receiver. my old ati card worked fine. but now im forced to use a separate optical cable to get around nvidias problem. and this problem is so old its been this way since hdmi was first used on their gpus

Thats the exact issue I've lived with for years now with my family room htpc using a 4850 and samsung lcd tv but in my case it seems the TV gimps the signal down to 2 channel unless its a over the air dtv signal.

Might be worth checking your TV manual to see if you have any settings available for passthrough options that might make it work/compatible with your new video card. In my case the manual is how I found out my particular TV will only pass through 2 channel audio from a digital source. I was totally miffed when I read that but I'm not going to buy a new TV to fix it.

[Rollo]

Aren't yours cards under water as well?

Honestly who cares about the performance crown, for the effort and binning, AMD would be better off with 850mhz, 800 dollar 7990 which had good quantitiy.An 1100mhz 7990, would make binning a pain in the ass and it would make quantities just as bad as the gtx 690 if not worse. AMD is better off using pricing and quantity to fight off Nvidia. A truly faster 7990 would simply cause Nvidia to release a faster gtx 695. With the high end cooler on the gtx 680 and the low energy consumption, it would be easy for Nvidia make.However, Nvidia cant counter quantity at this point, so it makes sense for AMD to do this.

That "under water" aspect would invaildate the whole assertion.

What you say in the second part is what I think they'll do. The question will then be,"Do the buyers of $800 video cards care about spending another $200?".

[Andrew LB]

It doesn't seem that way with GTX680. Here we are a month and a Fing half after release and quite a few common issues and there has yet to be a single driver update that addresses GTX680 in any way. Needless to say, I'm upset with Nvidia's driver support at the moment.

What are you talking about?? nVidia has released a total of 7 driver revisions since the release of the GTX 680. Even though most of them are beta, many do directly address problems that have been submitted. Here's the list of official, beta, and non-official beta driver revisions.
300.09, 300.83, 301.10, 301.24, 301.25, 301.33, 301.32. 301.34

This is the polar opposite of the experience that I had with 6950 at launch. I will never buy another Nvidia product at launch again.

I think you're being a little over dramatic, and a wee bit dishonest. I ran a google search and it seemed your "perfect" 6950 had stuttering problems, some older games just were broke, etc. Most of your posts involving problems were over at rage3d.com

Btw... considering the 6950 was nothing more than a refresh of the hd5xxx cards, I would have expected a far smoother transition. New architecture always has issues... typically the user error variety.

For some reason, I have not had any issues with my gtx 680. perhaps the fresh install of windows helped.

[Andrew LB]

this is my first nvidia card and i found a major flaw. the hdmi out uses the signal to determine max audio channels and no way to override it. so im forced with 2 channels because i pass all hdmi through my tv into my receiver. my old ati card worked fine. but now im forced to use a separate optical cable to get around nvidias problem. and this problem is so old its been this way since hdmi was first used on their gpus

Thats odd.

Here.... lemme run an HDMI over to my Samsung 46" LED TV and see what happens. I currently run the HDMI through my receiver first. brb.

[tajoh111]

That "under water" aspect would invaildate the whole assertion.

What you say in the second part is what I think they'll do. The question will then be,"Do the buyers of $800 video cards care about spending another $200?".

They actually do I think. The 550 dollars 7970 didn't sell a lick after the gtx 680 at 499 came out, even with no stock. A $480-450 7970 starts to sell again even though it is the worse product because there is stock and the price to performance makes sense again. Personally, I would take a $800 850mz 7900 over 1200 dollar gtx 690(which is the current price with no stock available). The premium cooler is kind of a waste for these cards because they are dying to be water cooled, especially the AMD versions(which are dust busters for noise). And a 7990 under water could take this card no doubt.

The point is a lower price could get fence sitters to jump off the fence waiting for a gtx 690 to come down to msrp and/or become in stock and simply buy a 7990.

[Andrew LB]

And a 7990 under water could take this card no doubt.

Unfortunately there is absolutely no chance of AMD being able to put two full speed/featured 7970's on a single PCB to make the 7990. Too much heat, power consumption, etc.

The point is a lower price could get fence sitters to jump off the fence waiting for a gtx 690 to come down to msrp and/or become in stock and simply buy a 7990.

It typically takes more than that to get someone who is pretty set on buying a GTX 680 to change his purchase and go for "plan B".

[Manicdan]

Thats the exact issue I've lived with for years now with my family room htpc using a 4850 and samsung lcd tv but in my case it seems the TV gimps the signal down to 2 channel unless its a over the air dtv signal.

Might be worth checking your TV manual to see if you have any settings available for passthrough options that might make it work/compatible with your new video card. In my case the manual is how I found out my particular TV will only pass through 2 channel audio from a digital source. I was totally miffed when I read that but I'm not going to buy a new TV to fix it.

i dont think your having the same issue
i use to use my 4850 or a 4870 to watch video off my pc and plugged directly into the tv.
the tv is already set for passthrough, but the EDID (i think thats what its called) is still there and amd cards know how to ignore it and you should easily be able to force whatever number of channels you want through the hdmi of your video card.

simple way to find out, go to playback devices, click on the hdmi out for your gpu, and see max supported channels.

btw my tv is a 40" samsung lcd from about 4 years ago and is a basic model

[One_Hertz]

NCIX is saying they already got enough orders to cover the next 1-2 months of supply. There is basically zero availability on these cards.

[SKYMTL]

NCIX is saying they already got enough orders to cover the next 1-2 months of supply. There is basically zero availability on these cards.

Which was pretty much known from the start. It happened with the GTX 590, HD 6990 and it will happen with every other dual GPU card. Honestly, I think NVIDIA could have sold all of them had they produced 25,000....

[BababooeyHTJ]

What are you talking about?? nVidia has released a total of 7 driver revisions since the release of the GTX 680. Even though most of them are beta, many do directly address problems that have been submitted. Here's the list of official, beta, and non-official beta driver revisions.
300.09, 300.83, 301.10, 301.24, 301.25, 301.33, 301.32. 301.34

I think that you're the one being a little dishonest. 301.10 was released on launch day at Nvidia's website, the only other driver available on Nvidia's website is 301.24 which has no mention of GTX680 in the release notes. I don't care about developer drivers that stem from a different branch than the drivers that I'm currently using. If I can't see a change log then I'm not installing.

Most importantly, what improvements has Nvidia made for Kepler since GTX680 launched a month and a half ago and they released 301.10? They always list these things in the drivers release notes, btw.

I think you're being a little over dramatic, and a wee bit dishonest. I ran a google search and it seemed your "perfect" 6950 had stuttering problems, some older games just were broke, etc. Most of your posts involving problems were over at rage3d.com

I see that I offended you and that you really want to grab at straws to defend that 680 that you just bought.

What did I saw about the 6950s? That I saw a little microstutter in Crysis and Metro 2033 when running at settings that I can't even do with the 680? GTA4 ran like crap? At least there is a work around for that unlike with the 680. And Darkplaces didn't run all that well? I don't remember saying much else. Those issues are mild compared to what I see on the 680. I've said it before and I'll say it again I never ran into a gamebreaking issue with cayman. I can't say that about GTX680 right now.

Guess what? Those cards that you love aren't perfect and Nvida's driver support has been subpar so far.

Btw... considering the 6950 was nothing more than a refresh of the hd5xxx cards, I would have expected a far smoother transition. New architecture always has issues... typically the user error variety.

You might want to read about Cayman to see why you are wrong. Its a completely different architecture than Cypress. Its not like GTX480 and 580.

For some reason, I have not had any issues with my gtx 680. perhaps the fresh install of windows helped.

Yup, Battlefield 3 works so that means that all is well.

[iboomalot]

Hell Newegg hasn't had a 680 in stock for nearly 2 months since release on March 22nd

Here let me go look nope out of 7 manufactures listed for the 680 much less a 690 NONE IN STOCK

I was wishing on a 1100mhz 7990 since I would put it on water but a 1K 6990 should be doable. Make a bunch and undercut NV and rake in the cash.

7970 is faster than a 680 on Crysis engine which I mainly use anyways.

BUT where the hell is the 7990 ???????

[Kessian]

At least everybody else will get there cards before Aus. Then again, looking on pccasegear, they are there for the low low price of $1599...

[highoctane]

Hell Newegg hasn't had a 680 in stock for nearly 2 months since release on March 22nd

Thats throwing out a big assumption...

Autonotify, newegg gets stock of the 680's but if you are not on the autonotify listing or don't hit the site at just the right time they sell out soon after they are listed.

The most recent notify I got was on 5/9/2012 for the Asus 680 and it sold out not long after I got the notice.

[highoctane]

i dont think your having the same issue
i use to use my 4850 or a 4870 to watch video off my pc and plugged directly into the tv.
the tv is already set for passthrough, but the EDID (i think thats what its called) is still there and amd cards know how to ignore it and you should easily be able to force whatever number of channels you want through the hdmi of your video card.

simple way to find out, go to playback devices, click on the hdmi out for your gpu, and see max supported channels.

btw my tv is a 40" samsung lcd from about 4 years ago and is a basic model

I guess I worded it wrong, I was meaning more or less gimped to 2 channel audio with the pass through due to something seemingly retarded. It made better sense to me to use the tv for source switching and simply pass through the audio to the receiver when I wanted surround since I don't want to use my receiver for everything. My TV is the ln52a550 and is roughly the same age as yours but after struggling with it for a long while I gave up after what I read in the manual.