NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Review: Ultra Expensive, Ultra Rare, Ultra Fast
by Ryan Smith on May 3, 2012 9:00 AM ESTCrysis: Warhead
Kicking things off as always is Crysis: Warhead. It’s no longer the toughest game in our benchmark suite, but it’s still a technically complex game that has proven to be a very consistent benchmark. Thus even four years since the release of the original Crysis, “but can it run Crysis?” is still an important question, and the answer when it comes to setups using a pair of high-end 28nm GPUs is “you better damn well believe it.”
Crysis was a game that Kepler didn’t improve upon by a great deal compared to the Fermi based GTX 580. NVIDIA sees some good SLI scaling here, but AMD’s performance lead with a single GPU translates into an equally impressive lead with multiple GPUs; in spite of all of its capabilities the GTX 690 trails the 7970CF by 18% here. So long as AMD gets good Crossfire scaling here, there’s just no opening for Kepler to win, allowing AMD to handily trounce the GTX 690 here.
As for the intra-NVIDIA comparisons, the GTX 690 does well for itself here. Performance relative to the GTX 680 SLI at 2560 is 98%, which represents a 77% lead over the GTX 680. Overall performance is quite solid; at 55.7fps we’re nearly to 60fps on Enthusiast quality at 2560 with 4x MSAA, which is the holy grail for a video card. Even 5760 is over 60fps, albeit at lower quality settings and without AA.
It’s taken nearly 4 years, but we’re almost there; Crysis at maximum on a single video card.
Our minimum framerates are much the same story for NVIDIA. The GTX 690 once again just trails the GTX 680 SLI, while interestingly enough the dual-GPU NVIDIA solutions manage to erode AMD’s lead at a single point: 2560. Here they only trail by 8%, versus 20%+ at 5760 and 1920. Though at 1920 we also see another interesting outcome: the GTX 580 SLI beats the GTX 680 SLI and GTX 690 in minimum framerates. This would further support our theory that the GTX 680 is memory bandwidth starved in Crysis, especially at the lowest performance points.
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paul878 - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Nvidia is getting very good at building Vaporware.paul878 - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Nvidia is getting very good and making Vaporware.krumme - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Is 6000 pcx. within the first month fx. a paper launch in your view?As selling numbers in that size, does nothing for the economy directly, what do you think is the strategic choices behind putting it on "sale" now?
How do you think marketing at NV thinks about how they can tailor perception from the reviewers on what is perciewed as a paper launch?
Do NV marketing present themselves as one of your kind, having the same background, understanding your dilemmas and problems?
mac2j - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Wonder what the 7990 will look like next month. AMD clearly waited on purpose to see how the 690 was going to perform. They easily could have released a dual 7970 card already or at the very least sent specs to card manufacturers but they haven't.We know they left a lot of headroom on the 7970 - some people have even suggested we'll get a 7980 at some point - wonder if now we'll get 2 x fully clocked 7970s on the same card ... will be interesting to see how they deal with that power consumption at load though.
CeriseCogburn - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
With 2x7970 @ STOCK they are already 175 watts over the 690's power draw.Good luck with that "headroom".
CeriseCogburn - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
amd is late to the race, they never showed up this time, and when they do, they will lose, think housefires.Beenthere - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Really? There are some sick people in this world. ;)Nfarce - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
No, unlike OWS protesters, there are some successful people in this world who get off their butts and work hard enough to be able to afford a $1,000 GPU (or in my case 2 GTX 680 $530 GPUs).anactoraaron - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
"Thus even four years since the release of the original Crysis, “but can it run Crysis?” is still an important question, and the answer when it comes to setups using a pair of high-end 28nm GPUs is “you better damn well believe it.”":D
CeriseCogburn - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
No they actually cannot. 1920X, even the cf 7970 or 690 need help with lowered settings, as in many of the games. Can't even keep up with the 1920X monitors resolution refresh rate, set at a low 60.Sorry, more fantasies another for you perhaps. :)