GTX 690 Or GTX 680 SLI

[TheEye87]

Title says it all. Which is the better buy and why? Thanks!

[centason]

You already know my response.

[Paid]

I dont know the first thing about intel GPU so ill have to pass on the vote. But I have heard and read at tomshardware the 680 is a better card and the 690

GTX 690 VS Gtx 680 SLI
The GTX 690 is massively expensive and insanely fast. This card takes the crown as the fastest single-slot GPU in the world.
Let's skip all the nonsense and look at the benchmarks. What is faster, two GTX 680's in SLI or one GTX 690 (source: TomsHardware).

Battlefield 3
1920x1080 (4xAA) - 2 GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 7.1 fps
2560x1600 (4xAA) - 2GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 4.68 fps
Crysis 2
1920x1080 DirectX 11 - Tie
2560x1600 DirextX 11 - 2 GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 3.5 fps
The Elder Scrols V: Skytim
1920x1080 Ultra/ FXAA - Two GTX 680's in SLE beat the GTX 690 by 5.08 fps
2560x1600 Ultra/FSAA - Two GTX 680's in SLE beat the GTX 690 by 3.36 fps
So, it looks like two GTX 680 in SLI barely beats the GTX 690 in every test.

Noise, Power, and Thermal Performance
The GTX 680 idles at a lower temperature than the GTX 690 (even in SLI) but the GTX 690 is virtually the same temperature at full load.
The GTX 690 is a tiny bit noisier at idle speeds but a little bit quieter at full load (41.7 dB(A) vs 42.3).
As for the power, the GTX 690 uses slightly more power than two GTX 680's in SLI.
The performance is so similar down the line that either solution is a good way to go. Getting one GTX 690 now will leave extra room in your system for future upgrades. If you can afford one, go for it. I can't imagine this card having trouble with any game coming out this year

[TheEye87]

I dont know the first thing about intel GPU so ill have to pass on the vote. But I have heard and read at tomshardware the 680 is a better card and the 690

GTX 690 VS Gtx 680 SLI
The GTX 690 is massively expensive and insanely fast. This card takes the crown as the fastest single-slot GPU in the world.
Let's skip all the nonsense and look at the benchmarks. What is faster, two GTX 680's in SLI or one GTX 690 (source: TomsHardware).

Battlefield 3
1920x1080 (4xAA) - 2 GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 7.1 fps
2560x1600 (4xAA) - 2GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 4.68 fps
Crysis 2
1920x1080 DirectX 11 - Tie
2560x1600 DirextX 11 - 2 GTX 680's in SLI beat the GTX 690 by 3.5 fps
The Elder Scrols V: Skytim
1920x1080 Ultra/ FXAA - Two GTX 680's in SLE beat the GTX 690 by 5.08 fps
2560x1600 Ultra/FSAA - Two GTX 680's in SLE beat the GTX 690 by 3.36 fps
So, it looks like two GTX 680 in SLI barely beats the GTX 690 in every test.

Noise, Power, and Thermal Performance
The GTX 680 idles at a lower temperature than the GTX 690 (even in SLI) but the GTX 690 is virtually the same temperature at full load.
The GTX 690 is a tiny bit noisier at idle speeds but a little bit quieter at full load (41.7 dB(A) vs 42.3).
As for the power, the GTX 690 uses slightly more power than two GTX 680's in SLI.
The performance is so similar down the line that either solution is a good way to go. Getting one GTX 690 now will leave extra room in your system for future upgrades. If you can afford one, go for it. I can't imagine this card having trouble with any game coming out this year

Woe woe woe. The 690 takes more power then 680 in SLI? I know for a fact that's just flat out wrong lol.

I did end up buying the 690. I still have my 680 SLI for now so I'll be able to directly compare the two together.

If anything I'll OC the 690 to run stock SLI.

[Galveston340]

.....what is this new number "GTX" 680/690?

.....does this mean that my GTX 280's ought to be replaced??

[TheEye87]

.....what is this new number "GTX" 680/690?

.....does this mean that my GTX 280's ought to be replaced??

Doubt you wouldn't know of the new cards. Let alone not even know about fermi :P

[killme1]

.....what is this new number "GTX" 680/690?

.....does this mean that my GTX 280's ought to be replaced??

Hay Galveston340, NO :mrgreen: your 280 are just find like fine Wine.. WoW I'm surprize that you maintain your 280, well if it last you till now then'll should last you many year to come.. If your really going to replace your gtx 280 then wait this same year when windows 8 come along ,Nvidia and ATI sometimes comes out with a new Card unannounced to the public , then you can compare the price of new and recent... Also I maybe wrong that if Nvidia or ATI just comes out with a driver update for DirectX 11.1 then the futrue card won't be need it... :drunken:

[Snuke]

The GTX 690 is obviously the better card. That is the one that I would go with.

Geforce GTX 680 vs Geforce GTX 690

Intro
The Geforce GTX 680 features core clock speeds of 1006 MHz on the GPU, and 1502 MHz on the 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 1536 SPUs as well as 128 TAUs and 32 ROPs.

Compare all that to the Geforce GTX 690, which has clock speeds of 915 MHz on the GPU, and 1502 MHz on the 2048 MB of GDDR5 memory. It features 1536 SPUs as well as 128 TAUs and 32 Rasterization Operator Units.
(No game benchmarks for this combination yet.)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks
Power Consumption (Max TDP)
Geforce GTX 680 195 Watts
Geforce GTX 690 300 Watts

Difference: 105 Watts (54%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically, the Geforce GTX 690 should perform a lot faster than the Geforce GTX 680 in general. (explain)

Geforce GTX 690 384512 MB/sec
Geforce GTX 680 192256 MB/sec

Difference: 192256 (100%)

Texel Rate
The Geforce GTX 690 should be quite a bit (about 82%) faster with regards to AF than the Geforce GTX 680. (explain)

Geforce GTX 690 234240 Mtexels/sec
Geforce GTX 680 128768 Mtexels/sec

Difference: 105472 (82%)

Pixel Rate
If running with a high screen resolution is important to you, then the Geforce GTX 690 is superior to the Geforce GTX 680, by a large margin. (explain)

Geforce GTX 690 58560 Mpixels/sec
Geforce GTX 680 32192 Mpixels/sec

Difference: 26368 (82%)


Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

One or more cards in this comparison are multi-core. This means that their bandwidth, texel and pixel rates are theoretically doubled - this does not mean the card will actually perform twice as fast, but only that it should in theory be able to. Actual game benchmarks will give a more accurate idea of what it's capable of.

[oneeagle1103]

.....what is this new number "GTX" 680/690?

.....does this mean that my GTX 280's ought to be replaced??

What about my GTX260????