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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Death666Angel - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Hey guys!Thanks for the article, I enjoyed the read (although I am not in the market for dual GPU configurations after trying the HD3870X2 and 2*8800GTS, happy with one 7970 OC'ed to the max.). But you seem to be missing the numbers for noise from the HD7970 in a CF configuration. I hope you can post them! :D
-DA
Ryan Smith - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
This was mentioned on the Test page, but we don't have a matching pair of 7970 cards; what we have is a reference card and an XFX 7970 BEDD. Power and temperature are the same regardless, but it would be improper to list noise because of the completely different acoustic properties of the BEDD.Mygaffer - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
How does that stack up, especially price/performance? Why didn't your conclusion address that question at all? Totally limits the usefulness of the review in my opinion.rs2 - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
As per the data in your article, the GTX690 is clocked 10% below the GTX680, and has a 5% lower boost clock. This may be a small compromise, but it is a compromise nonetheless.More accuracy and less hyperbole, please.
pixelstuff - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
Seems to me they should be saving money in the construction when compared to two 680 in SLI. Half the fans, half the connectors, have the circuit boards. They should have at least cut $50 off the suggested retail price.Also when will be see 3 of these running in SLI form?
Holler - Thursday, May 3, 2012 - link
you won't only one SLI connector.
not that impressed, i'll be holding on to my overclocked 1.5 GB TRI-SLI GTX 480 hydro coppers for the forseeable future, this card should atleast double the RAM it has now...
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
Half the magnesium, half the aluminum, half the PLX chips, half the R&D, half the vapor chambers, half the chip binning, half the power circuits, half the copper pcb's.... oh no wait, all those are added expenses, not reductions...+
I guess they should be charging $200 over the 2x$499 dollar usual price.
See how actually using the facts, instead of sourpuss emotion delivers a different picture ?
will54 - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
These cards are sold out on Newegg for $1200 per. talk about taking advantage on a 20% markup over the msrp,hopefully AMD knocks the prices way down when they bring out there 7990, $800 sounds about right.faster - Friday, May 4, 2012 - link
Now I need a new keyboard because I was drooling into mine as I read this review. I have a GTX 680, but I don;t like to run SLI setups - I had a bad experience with my dual 560ti's. This looks like a truly awesome card that would hold its value for resale later. Nevertheless, there is no way I'm spending a grand on a video card.Origin32 - Saturday, May 5, 2012 - link
I predict that the 790 will, finally, be able to run Crysis. Next year an era will end. Enjoy it while it lasts, folks.