Description:
The EVGA GeForce® GTX 690 is NVIDIA's fastest graphics card... ever. It combines the groundbreaking new GeForce® architecture with raw dual-GPU power to deliver truly game-changing performance. Get superior paming innovation that is Meticulously designed - inside and out - for the fastest, smoothest, richest gaming experience, the EVGA GeForce® GTX 690.
Details:
Detail
Value
Binding
Personal Computers
Brand
EVGA
EAN
0843368020866
Feature
Nvidia SMX Engine, Nvidia GPU Boost, NVidia Adaptive Verticle Sync, Nvidia Surround, Support for 4 Concurrent Displays, Nvidia PhysX, Nvidia 3D Vision Ready, Nvidia SLI Ready, Nvidia CUDA Technology
Although I bought my GTX 690 OEM since the cards are all essentially the same the EVGA card will serve as the subject of my review. When I set about building my new rig in November my initial intention was to keep as many components as possible from the old rig including the GPU - an XFX Radeon 7950 - but one by one they disappeared! The 7950 was a great card and achieved 37 FPS on Unigine Heaven benchmark but about this time an OEM GTX 690 appeared on Ebay from a reputable seller for ?630 "Buy It Now". I knew that at that price it would quickly be sold if I hesitated so I did some money calculations, had a couple of stiff drinks and bought it. It came in a plain cardboard box and when I opened it - OMG - how beautiful is this thing? Nvidia spared no effort in making this card not only uber powerful but a piece of industrial art; there is virtually no plastic anywhere , just Trivalent Chrome plated metal.
As such it has a fair bit of weight to it and was supplied with an extender support bracket which I initially used but later removed, Bearing in mind that it is more powerful than the 7950 a nice feature is that it only obscures 2 PCI-E slots whereas the 7950 covered 3 slots.
It does get pretty toasty when running a benchmark such as Unigine Valley (80 degrees C!) or a game like Far Cry 3 but I have never had any instability issues.
Lastly I bought the EK Backplate which is advertised as "not a standalone unit" (ie it has to be used with an EK waterblock) but in fact it CAN be used without a waterblock - you need to buy six M2.5 X 7 screws though, as the supplied ones won't fit the native GTX 690 PCB.
I am pretty sure this GPU is a sound investment as in the 4 months I have had it, it has lost none of its value - I could sell it "used" for more than I paid for it new!
Precious few things have lived up to my expectations as well as the GeForce GTX690. I bought two to use in my Obsidian 550D build and have been exceptionally pleased with them.
I prefer a smaller case but I didn't want to hamstring myself when it came to graphics performance, so I selected the GTX 690 as it would allow me to fit a quad-SLI setup into a mid-tower case. Running on a single card will still easily drive almost any game at the highest settings. The only hiccup that I ran into was Crytek's Crysis 3, which occasionally chugged when utilizing the most intensive antialiasing (8x MSAA). Operation in the SLI configuration easily remedied this problem. SLI operation may not offer a significant performance increase over one card due to poor scaling.
The design of the card itself is elegant, featuring a two-tone black/grey theme. Clear windows on the bottom of the card showcase the dual vapor chambers, which EVGA claims lower load temperatures by up to 4 ?C. Green LED illumination of the GeForce GTX logo is a nice touch, but may not match with all color schemes.
All that performance does have a price. A brand new card just eeks into the four-figure range, while a used card will cost slightly more than half of that. Performance-wise, the thermal design power (TDP) for each card is rated at 300 W, so plan on using an 850 - 1,250 W power supply (depending on your configuration). I experienced stuttering, artifacts, and system crashes when operating under insufficient power. For air coolers, plan for a high airflow through your case as the card dumps a significant amount of heat under load. Water coolers should invest in a backplate to safeguard against PCB distortion as VGA blocks for this card typically weigh in the range of 0.5 - 1.0 kg.
Overall, if you're willing to dig into your piggy bank, the GTX 690 offers a fantastic value, especially for those seeking a small form factor.
Good review but 2 points- 1) In the UK at least the price of 690's on Ebay has crashed so a used one is about £410 and I saw a New Other one go for just £450.
2) You should consider watercooling which cuts the max temp from 80 degrees to just 45 in my rig.
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