Hardware Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 4GB Review

Note that the quote you are specifically responding to mentions "performs the same as two GTX680 cards" rather than "doubles 680 performance". The specific interpretation being that it performs the same as GTX 680 SLI rather than doubling the single cards peformance.

 

Well it is close. I mean 80%~ is a good metric for near doubling. Not to mention this is at less than double the TDW. Also food in California is expensive for a family of 7 and more. It's a matter of interpretation though as in all honesty they probably (and most likely) mean 2 GTX680s, which in reality isn't 100% faster than 1 GTX 680.

 

Late reviews are fine but why even do a late review if they are totally useless. There are no SLI/CF numbers here which makes it impossible to compare the GTX690 to its nearest competitors from either camp. Also on the power and thermals page the GTX690 isn't highlighted in the load temperature graphs.

It is also incredibly puzzling that the GPU test rig doesn't support SLI.

 

Yeah this review feels relatively incomplete. Although it's nice to have an extra opinion, BT seems to have dropped the ball here.

On the other hand. The motherboard doesn't have to support SLI, it's already integrated into the GTX690 board. Just like the 590 and the 295 before it. All of the magic goes on the GPU's PCB.

 

I'm sure Baz will correct me if I'm wrong, but CPC/Bit-tech has historically had a bit of an anti-SLI bent due to the potential driver issues and micro-stuttering, which is probably why SLI wasn't a consideration when putting the test rig together. However, times have moved on now, and SLI is a relatively trouble-free setup now, so I'm glad to hear that this will finally be addressed with the forthcoming test rig update.

 

Thanks for your comments.

Sourcing the board obvious isn't be the issue; retesting 20+ graphics cards on it for comparison results would be. It takes 2-3 hours to test a graphics card, so that's 60 hours (8 days) of solid work, before you factor in multi-GPU (so that's another 60hrs, just for 2 card setups). Our time isn't infinite, so we tend to leave hardware updates to once a year at most.

Over the last 4 years, bit-tech has specifically not tested multi-GPU setups due to scaling, driver and reliability problems, not to mention the additional time required to test the various GPU setups (GTX 680, 2x GTX 680, 3x GTX 680 and 4x GTX 680 is at least 12 hours of testing). I'm looking to change this soon if time allows.

In the end though, you're all consumers of our content and the "I don't care principle" comes into play; you dont care about my explanations or excuses, you want content. In this case, we simply were not able to get this review up sooner, and I'm sorry its lateness has upset you so much. In the end, would it have been better not to publish a review at all? I don't think so.

 

Yeah, I don't always fancy reading 30 odd comments XD

 

Understandable. There are time constraints. This isn't a bad review, just a brief one. Mind you I miss the old teardowns of GPUs. Those were awesome.

 

Can I have the one you used for the review?

 

This is the first dual GPU card that isn't comedy. Although frankly, I still think it is.

Make a mint on initial single core variant, then release a dual gpu one month or so down the line.

Most people worth their salt on pioneer buying will have bought at least two 680s. And the people that haven't will not be interested in the 690 price point. The advertisement of 4GB is also comedy. Most people in here will know that SLi does not take GPU memory into account. It's no better than lying when you think about it.

Massively niche market. I know there are people that will disagree but it's definitely not far from the truth IMO.

 

no overclocking test?

 

May as well wait for PCIe 4.0 and the next Gen of Cards that will be out in 2014-15, I'm sticking with my x3 factory oc 570's and 6 core AMD, which can run anything maxed out atm, spending cash now on cards that will be worthless in a year or so is pointless.

Best to wait until the new consoles are out and build a gaming PC with those in mind, seeing as 90% of games are going to be ported from them.

Only an idiot would throw cash away atm, if he or she has a good 400 or 500 series already.