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| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Video Cards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 03 May 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Page 11 of 13
VGA Power ConsumptionIn this section, PCI-Express graphics cards are isolated for idle and loaded electrical power consumption. In our power consumption tests, Benchmark Reviews utilizes an 80-PLUS GOLD certified OCZ Z-Series Gold 850W PSU, model OCZZ850. This power supply unit has been tested to provide over 90% typical efficiency by Chroma System Solutions. To measure isolated video card power consumption, Benchmark Reviews uses the Kill-A-Watt EZ (model P4460) power meter made by P3 International. In this particular test, all power consumption results were verified with a second power meter for accuracy. The power consumption statistics discussed in this section are absolute maximum values, and may not represent real-world power consumption created by video games or graphics applications. A baseline measurement is taken without any video card installed on our test computer system, which is allowed to boot into Windows 7 and rest idle at the login screen before power consumption is recorded. Once the baseline reading has been taken, the graphics card is installed and the system is again booted into Windows and left idle at the login screen before taking the idle reading. Our final loaded power consumption reading is taken with the video card running a stress test using graphics test #4 on 3DMark11. Below is a chart with the isolated video card power consumption (system without video card subtracted from measured combined total) displayed in Watts for each specified test product:
* Results are accurate to within +/- 5W.
The GeForce GTX 690 accepts two 8-pin PCI-E power connections for normal operation, and will not activate the display unless proper power has been supplied. NVIDIA recommends a 650W power supply unit for stable operation with GTX 690, which should include both required 8-pin PCI-E connections without the use of adapters. If you're familiar with how electronics function, it will come as no surprise that less power consumption equals less heat output, evidenced by our results below... GeForce GTX 690 TemperaturesThis section reports our temperature results with the GeForce GTX 690 under idle and maximum load conditions. During each test a 20°C ambient room temperature is maintained from start to finish, as measured by digital temperature sensors located outside the computer system. GPU-Z is used to measure the temperature at idle as reported by the GPU, and also under load. Using a modified version of FurMark's "Torture Test" to generate maximum thermal load, peak GPU temperature is recorded in high-power 3D mode. FurMark does two things extremely well: drives the thermal output of any graphics processor much higher than any video games realistically could, and it does so with consistency every time. Furmark works great for testing the stability of a GPU as the temperature rises to the highest possible output. The temperatures illustrated below are absolute maximum values, and do not represent real-world temperatures created by video games or graphics applications:
As we've already mentioned on the pages leading up to this section, NVIDIA's Kepler architecture yields a much more efficient operating GPU compared to previous designs. This becomes evident by the extremely low idle temperature, and the modest loaded temperature. What's even more impressive than these results is how quiet GeForce GTX 690 operates, barely changing levels from silent to almost silent as it reaches full load. Even with an open computer case exposing the video card, it's difficult to hear the cooling fan make any noise at all. While NVIDIA should be proud of updating their product line with the fastest graphics card on the planet, I'm happy they also made it one of the most quiet-running flagship video cards ever tested.
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Comments
GTX 680s in SLI completely destroy a single 690.
saves you space on you motherboard.
price of 2x gtx 680 is same as 1x gtx 690.
gtx 680 2x power consumption.
SLi/crossfire, 2x gpu setup delays because they need to communicate between each other first before making computations
everyone knows that SLi or crossfiring 2 gpu doesnt give you 2 times performance. some games doesnt fully support SLi usually you have to wait for game updates. You also need to wait gpu driver updates to make sli/crossfire work efficiently on new games especially on new release gpu cards
which by the way an sli of gtx680 needs to be plugged in two pcie which in many cases causes bottleneck because some mobo has diffrent pcie gen2, gen3 and sometimes even if on 2x pcie gen3 sli some mobo will run it as gen2 which is the bottle.. tooo much hassle..
a single gtx690 = on a single pcie running at gen3
I'll buy a 690, and in less than a year I'll buy one to SLI for half the price. They've already stated that it'll clock over 1,100 on stock cooling, so as far as you being "really sure", i'm not sure what you're smoking.
I had the 7950 gx2 back in the day and it ran as well as the 8800, and it was cheaper, minus dx10. A couple months later I bought another for half the price because i HAD ROOM. It lasted another 3-4 years, and still kicked ass.
If you're going to buy anything and they're the same price, why would you buy 2 that have less performance, instead of one at the same price using the same chips and more room to expand?
I'm not sure of your reasoning on this, it makes no sense.
And don't correct me on price, that is the price for two, actually useful 680's.
I´ve read an article about GeForce GTX 680 3-way SLI an that didnt impress me much... i think an 690 or an 2-way SLI of 680 is a gamers dream for the next time. Maybe NVIDIA has some driver work to do for more power with more cards, dunno....
But hey maybe they will benchmark an GTX 690 Quad SLI Pack here.... that would be more than great....
Would the cpu hold the GTX690 or the GTX680 back too much to be worth the investment, or will a GTX680 or GTX690 be able to deliver nevertheless?
You have somewhat put my worries to rest.
I have been thinking of upgrading since GTA V was announced. My GTX 295 can handle all current demanding games with surprising ease, but it is at its limits when I want to push the GTA IV graphics. I hope the GTA V engine is better optimized for PC.
I will try to hold back my eagerness to buy a new video card until I feel it is really necessary.
And I didn't see the power usage idle/load on power chart.
This isn't a motherboard review, so there's no point in testing PCI-E 2 vs 3. If someone has $1000 to burn on a video card, they're not using it on old hardware.
Seriously, good stuff, but did I miss the usual scoring in the conclusion section or is it just not present?
Sure, if you're running a multiple monitor setup, higher FPS is what you want, but STILL, dual 680s in SLI is way better than a single 690.
Also, I disagree that SLI 680s is better than one GTX 690. It's your money, so buy what you want, but there's no 'right' answer.
Do you know what the "p" in terms like "720p" actually stands for?
So I am afraid to buy Radeon now.
I have tried a few generations of Nvidia cards and all my driver problems have gone away.
So you can see why I would be hard pressed to ever go back to the video cards that gave me so much trouble.
I am not saying I will never ever try an AMD card again, But at the moment I decline.