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Topic: Hardware

Nvidia unleashes $999 GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card

Summary: Nvidia had been teasing a new product release on its GeForce Facebook page, and as many guessed, it's a new dual-GPU beast -- with a beastly price.

Sean Portnoy

By for Laptops & Desktops |

Nvidia had been teasing a new product release on its GeForce Facebook page, and as many guessed, it's a new dual-GPU beast -- with a beastly price.

The GeForce GTX will be available starting on May 3, pairing two GK104 GPUs in a single package. That means 3,072 Nvidia Cuda cores running at 915MHz, with 2GB of 6GHz GDDR5 RAM for each GPU. As you can imagine, that demands an awful lot of power, but the GTX 690's 300W TDP is far more efficient than the previous dual-GPU GeForce GTX 590 (375W), despite housing more powerful GPUs.

To keep things cools, Nvidia has placed a single fan between two aluminum heatsinks that are connected to vapor chambers. According to Anandtech, the company has worked on reducing obstructions to fan ducting to help reduce the noise the GTX 690 generates.

All of this comes at a very steep price -- $999, or the same as a pretty capable desktop. While that's a staggering amount, you're getting almost all of the benefits of two GeForce GTX 680 in SLI configuration, but in a single card. Nonetheless, the GTX 690 will appeal to a very small segment of buyers. Are you one of them?

Topic: Hardware

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19 comments
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  • I'm guessing...

    I'm guessing... I have no actual hard data to back me up on this, and I may be going out on a limb here... after all, I've been wrong before... but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that this thing will probably run Crysis just fine.
    dsf3g
    Reply Vote

    • Finally!

      Finally a gfx card that can run Crysis well while still being green! It only took five years! ;)
      rvanscherpe
      Reply Vote

  • What demands this kind of power?

    And how many people actually need/want said at that price?

    Pagan jim
    James Quinn
    Reply Vote

    • Games, CAD, and Cuda

      Games: Today's games run at full resolution, possibly with multiple displays, or higher than HD resolution with all the settings maxed out. Also tomorrows games without having to upgrade in the future.

      CAD: Faster CAD performance at less expense than professional level Quadro cards.

      CUDA: Faster calculations for Cuda applications: A 1 day calculation may only take 1/2 day now! This is a limited market but if you do lots of 1 day calculations, it's worth the money.

      I do CAD and Games, and really welcome such a card.
      pkngresq34
      Reply Vote

      • Optimized CUDA applications are incredibly fast

        I can see someone working on a Beowulf-like supercomputer based on these and CUDA-optimized number-crunching software. I run SETI@home, which has a CUDA version that will run FFTs in a tiny fraction of the time of even a Core i7 processor. A 1-day CPU calculation, optimized to run on parallel GPUs, will only take minutes (seconds?) if you throw enough CUDA cores (3Ki, in this case) at the problem.

        (P.S. Gotta love 3 DVI outputs. Sure you could use it for CAD, but think of the driving simulators!)
        JJMach
        Reply Vote

  • They will sell a couple of thousand ...

    Yes, there really are crazy gamers who will buy the thing. And there might be some CUDA applications made possible, like fluid modeling. In fact I could build a nifty password cracker out of something like this. Heck, they might sell a couple of thousand just to the NSA ...
    terry flores
    Reply Vote

  • Too much is never enough

    This is like putting a Lamboughini engine in an American 4 door sedan, no matter how tricked the car. As far as I am concerned its for rich greedy kids who want those bragging rights. This won't make the computer better or faster and can't exceed the limitations of a game program's graphics. For the rest of us who have some common sense its probably a waste of $1K+tax. NVidia GEforce cards are, as far as I'm concerned, the best. This is just hardware silliness.
    Seaumas
    Reply Vote

    • Don't know what he doesn't know

      [ul][i]As far as I am concerned its for rich greedy kids[/i][/ul]That's because you have no idea what these sorts of tools are used for. There is no end to the uses of MATLAB in science and statistics, and MATLAB is only one of many things that the CUDA technology speeds up. It's also used in fluid dynamics, quantum mechanics, biochemistry, all sorts of financial rocket-science, and so on. In all those fields, time is money.
      Robert Hahn
      Reply Vote

    • Your needs, others needs.

      I agree with Robert Hahn, but then again there are some other people out there that buy this not just for bragging rights but because they like extreme gaming on mabe triple monitor full 1080p or even 2560x1600, in 3D. Some people are enthusiasts, some just want to buy a card that will last them a good few years playing every new game full settings. Some people have different needs with the insane amounts of cuda. You may not have the same needs as someone else. I wouldn't buy a 1000 dollar graphics card anytime soon or most likley ever but remember most people buy these cards because they need them.
      BassDemon420
      Reply Vote

  • Wait it out...

    Once the pent-up demand from the the ten kids standing in line outside the games store is satisfied, the price will drop. Of course, it will still be 'way overpowered for any available game, but since it draws less power that the GTX 590, you can say it's part of your "green" initiative! :)
    Biotechguy
    Reply Vote

  • It's "green", eh?

    Can USA customers claim some sort of tax credit on this, then? You know, like the tax credit you get for installing a high-efficiency furnace or insulation in your house?
    WozNotWoz
    Reply Vote

    • Doube tax credit, in fact...

      As this unit will double AS the furnace for your house as well, with the optional vent-to-duct accessory.
      It will keep your home toasty warm while cooling the card itself. Brilliant!
      rockinwiththekwest
      Reply Vote

  • Finally!

    Maybe now I'll be able to switch Minesweeper from "Monochrome" to "color!"
    GOOD TIMES GONNA COME
    jmwells21
    Reply Vote

  • It will still burn out though

    I had so many nvidia cards that today i could open up my museum as i had nearly every nv series gfx card out there. Look at the size of it's cooler and heatsink it's obvious that the new gddr system is still backfiring and once the cooler gets clogged with dust it will go over 90c degrees and gpu that is assembled by same bga technique will fail sooner or later. When video cards will not require any heatsinks what so ever than the mission to create fully functional burn proof gfx card will be achieved. I will not spent anything remotely close to 1k on a video card even if it's brand new. I remember when spent approx two and a half thousands on nvidia quad gfx card it a was a thing of the future approx 3 years back. It burned after a year and no wonder it was so loud it was over clocked and constantly stayed hot even when no 3d apps were running. I have better things to spend my money than on another gfx card that will cost four times cheaper in a year. Seriously you can buy a gaming laptop from dell or alienware for that cash (refurbished of course) but who cares it's either buy a whole laptop or pc or a car or vacation at florida or miami or this one card that you will also require a new mobo as well as you can't just stick a powerful card of 2012 in 2010 series mobo that is already considered weak and outdated. The choice is obvious kids will want this but thank goodness new generation is smarter and will wait for prices to drop.
    AppTester
    Reply Vote

    • If you have that much to spend on a discrete gpu card...

      Why not also put some money into a liquid cooling system? Then there's less chance of letting dust into the case.

      Obviously this beast isn't for everybody. But it if you can appreciate its capabilities, buy it, and don't skimp on cooling or the rest of the hardware platform. After you put a supercomputer on your desk, consider donating a few cycles to a worthwhile distributed computing project when not busy otherwise.
      djchandler
      Reply Vote

  • where

    what pisses me off is companys are preying on people ,they bring out a product,do not know what it WILL COST,and then no one HAS IT
    kcgoat26@...
    Reply Vote

  • great card !!!

    if money is not an object...everybody should buy one, even two, of these. Why not...they are perfect, and Im going to buy one now. Enjoy !
    Koko Bill
    Reply Vote

  • Same argument

    Heard this same argument too many times before. You don't need that much RAM! A Ghz CPU for what? A TB of storage space!? What do you need all those cores for? Sorry fellow enthusiasts but this or a form of this will become the norm. Maybe after it burns down a few houses. We'll all relate to when we were debating this and laughing about it. That and how they finally figured out the heat and fan noise issue. I agree with those that said to wait because it WILL drop. That's after the people who can't live or work without it buy enough of them to satisfy the R & D money. I almost forgot the ones who want just bragging rights as well.
    ghosko7772
    Reply Vote

  • Would anyone know what retailers?

    which retailers would have it available on may 3rd?
    JoeGarro
    Reply Vote
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