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    The PC (Personal Computer) is a highly configurable and upgradable gaming platform that, among home systems, sports the widest variety of control methods, largest library of games, and cutting edge graphics and sound capabilities.

    Does anyone have/use a GTX 690? Thoughts?

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    Samael2138

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    #1  Edited By Samael2138

    I'm getting a new rig next month. I've pretty much nailed down all my components(except for GPU and Monitors), but the GeForce GTX 690 has definitely piqued my interest. I've got the money to get one, and most of the reviews seem really positive. I was going to SLI a pair of 680s, but if I do that, I won't have room for a sound card. The 690 is cheaper( than 2 GTX 680s), and seems to be just as powerful. Here's a link if you wanna scope it.....

    http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-690

    I trust the community on Giantbomb more than most reviews. Anyone have any thoughts?

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    jacksmedulla

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    #2  Edited By jacksmedulla

    Why do you want a sound card?

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    Samael2138

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    #3  Edited By Samael2138

    @jacksmedulla said:

    Why do you want a sound card?

    I do all of my music recording and editing on my PC.

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    warxsnake

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    #4  Edited By warxsnake

    Whats your monitor / res setup?  If it's necessary because of screen real estate, sure. 
    I'd be careful buying a top tier card at the end of a console lifecycle, unless money is not an issue if you buy a GTX690 now and upgrade later on. 
    It's usually good to wait a few months to half a year after the major console release (8800GTX a few months after PS3), and especially when these consoles are in a major API transition (dx9ish to dx11)
    Especially now that the consoles will finally let developers go all out on DX11 pipelines, nothing has really pushed DX11 the way its meant to yet. So we don't know how 5xx and 6xx class cards will handle full DX11-lead developments. 

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    ApuZ

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    #5  Edited By ApuZ

    If you're willing to pay $1200... then yeah. It's top of the line. I have 1 GTX 680 right now and I can run BF3 on Ultra at 70fps (1920x1200). So, for now, I think the 690 is a little excessive.

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    jacksmedulla

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    #6  Edited By jacksmedulla

    @Samael2138: Well, that is definitely a good reason to get a sound card. I agree with warxsnake, there really is no reason to get a 690 unless you plan on playing on an incredibly high resolution.

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    Giantstalker

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    #7  Edited By Giantstalker

    I almost bought a GTX 690 about a month ago, but instead opted for a GTX 680. So far this thing has been fantastic and will max virtually every game out there, but the real test comes in about one to two years (where the 690 will likely still be melting faces in terms of performance). I imagine having such a powerful card is only really needed for high-resolution, multi-monitor setups.

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    Samael2138

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    #8  Edited By Samael2138

    @warxsnake: That's an excellent point. I hadn't really thought of that. Thanks for pointing that out.

    As for monitor/res, I'm still undecided. I finally came into some money from a car accident I was in, and have the cash for it now. I'm trying to go as top of the line as I can, within reason, of course. By the way, this will be the first PC I've bought almost specifically for gaming. I just made the switch from consoles a year or 2 ago. Any suggestions are welcome!

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    Samael2138

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    #9  Edited By Samael2138

    @Giantstalker said:

    I almost bought a GTX 690 about a month ago, but instead opted for a GTX 680. So far this thing has been fantastic and will max virtually every game out there, but the real test comes in about one to two years (where the 690 will likely still be melting faces in terms of performance). I imagine having such a powerful card is only really needed for high-resolution, multi-monitor setups.

    That's actually kinda what I wanted to hear, lol! I've got the $ now, and doubt I'll have it again any time soon. I'll mos def be running 2 monitors, as well. What size and what res, though, I haven't decided yet.

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    SeriouslyNow

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    #10  Edited By SeriouslyNow

    @Samael2138 said:

    @Giantstalker said:

    I almost bought a GTX 690 about a month ago, but instead opted for a GTX 680. So far this thing has been fantastic and will max virtually every game out there, but the real test comes in about one to two years (where the 690 will likely still be melting faces in terms of performance). I imagine having such a powerful card is only really needed for high-resolution, multi-monitor setups.

    That's actually kinda what I wanted to hear, lol! I've got the $ now, and doubt I'll have it again any time soon. I'll mos def be running 2 monitors, as well. What size and what res, though, I haven't decided yet.

    Simply put, if you're planning to game on triple 1080p monitor for Nvidia 3D surround or want to use a monitor greater than 1080p like the Dell 30" then you need a 690. The 680 won't cut it for resolutions beyond 1080p if you want everything maxed out including FSAA (FXAA doesn't count, it's a blur shader and doesn't actually add detail but takes it away) and 3D.

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    Cubical

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    #11  Edited By Cubical

    Use 2 geforce gtx 680 4gb if you do not care about space heat or power usage. the 690 is not a new card it is 2 standard model geforce 680 GTX on one card.

    This had been done many times by ATI and nvida.

    http://hothardware.com/News/Zotac-Launches-GeForce-GTX-680-AMP-Edition-and-GeForce-GTX-680-4GB-Graphics-Cards/

    use 2 690 if you want quad GPUs or 4 gtx 680s.

    http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/04/28/geforce_gtx_690_perfection_inside_out/

    and I dont care about those mine are fucking liquid cooled and i save the world by having fucking solar pannels on my house and my PC cause is a fucking wind tunnel.

    OH and buy the fucking sound card a Xi-fi model with EAX support and 64mb ram motherboard sound chips suck as much balls as the intergrated GPUs.

    Thought over.

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    Jack268

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    #12  Edited By Jack268

    I think the 690 is a waste of money unless you run like a 5000xSomething monitor setup. Like ApuZ said, the 680 (and the 7970 for AMD users) can max out BF3 1080p at above 60 FPS, and BF3 is generally considered one of the most demanding games. 
     
    You said you'd be going with two monitors, but will you be playing games simultaneously on both screens? Doing the eyefinity thing is terrible unless they're bezel-less since you'll have a huge gap right in the center of your view. Running one game on one monitor each... Well, I don't know why you'd want to do that unless you're some crazy EVE online farmer who plays 15 accounts at the same time. 
     
    If you're only going to have games on a single 1080p screen, a single 680 is already plenty and will save you a good wad of cash. If you go 2560x1440 or 2560x1600, I guess you should pick up the 690.

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    Jayzilla

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    #13  Edited By Jayzilla

    I play at 1680x1050, so a 690 is way too much overkill for me. You can get a card for way cheaper than that that will handle anything you throw at it for WAY less money and have a lot of money left over to buy more music gear with which is way more useful.

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    fisk0

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    #14  Edited By fisk0  Moderator

    @Cubical said:

    OH and buy the fucking sound card a Xi-fi model with EAX support motherboard sound chips suck as much balls as the intergrated GPUs.

    For music recording and editing he would probably use an ASIO card, few of them have EAX support.

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    Sackmanjones

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    #15  Edited By Sackmanjones

    God god. I'm building a pc and thought a 200 dollar card would do the trick. This thing though just looks ridiculous.

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    RIDEBIRD

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    #16  Edited By RIDEBIRD

    As jack268 said if you go for 2560 you could use a 690. Otherwise, no sir. You will be able to pick up a twice as powerful card when it's time to upgrade in a couple of years, and in the long run you'll have more performance and save a lot of money.

    About soundcards by the way, it's an investment I can recommend to anyone with somewhat decent headphones or speakers. The difference between anything (I recommend the Xonar DG or DX) and motherboard audio is massive.

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    Cubical

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    #17  Edited By Cubical

    Look man the 690 is like buying 2 GTX 680 cards in fact it is the Exact same thing here is a pic of the board there is 2 GTX 680 kelper GPUs on it it is also about the same price as 2 gtx 680 because it is. it is literally 2 of them duct taped together,.

    No Caption Provided

    http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8gbYS3-CyR8/T6PQFAwF6PI/AAAAAAAAP5Y/oufR9L0de00/s1600-h/Nvidia-GeForce-GTX-690%25255B2%25255D.jpg

    No Caption Provided

    if you want to put 2 of them togeather and have 4 GPUS that is what it is for Space saving in SLI and power savings it is not for anything else this is an SLI card if you install it it will run in SLI just like having 2 gtx 680s and you can even turn off the other GTX 680 chip if you want. its not a new card the gtx 680 and the 690 are the same thing.

    In fact I NEVER See anybody use a twin class GPU not in SLI or crossfire since there would be no point unless you have a small PC case you are putting it in or want power savings.

    AND the 690 is not that big it is the same width as 680gtx only it is longer this will not effect the PCI express slots. there are very few single slot GTX 680s. see these all gtx 680s all use 2 PCI slots because of the cooler the exact same as the gtx 690.

    No Caption Provided
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    Cathadan

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    #18  Edited By Cathadan

    @Samael2138: If you're going all out, it's pretty simple. Get a 690, grab a Dell UltraSharp U2711 (maybe throw second or a U2410 next to it). You'll be set for the next year or two.

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    Hunkulese

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    #19  Edited By Hunkulese
    @Giantstalker

    I almost bought a GTX 690 about a month ago, but instead opted for a GTX 680. So far this thing has been fantastic and will max virtually every game out there, but the real test comes in about one to two years (where the 690 will likely still be melting faces in terms of performance). I imagine having such a powerful card is only really needed for high-resolution, multi-monitor setups.

    Except in two years you'll be able to by a gpu that will give you the same or better performance for a fraction o the cost that will like use a lot less power and make a lot less noise.

    Unless you're looking for crazy resolutions top of the line gpus are always a waste of money. You're better off getting something a few steps down and replacing it when it starts to show its age.
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    Samael2138

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    #20  Edited By Samael2138

    @Cubical said:

    Look man the 690 is like buying 2 GTX 680 cards in fact it is the Exact same thing here is a pic of the board there is 2 GTX 680 kelper GPUs on it it is also about the same price as 2 gtx 680 because it is. it is literally 2 of them duct taped together,.

    No Caption Provided

    http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8gbYS3-CyR8/T6PQFAwF6PI/AAAAAAAAP5Y/oufR9L0de00/s1600-h/Nvidia-GeForce-GTX-690%25255B2%25255D.jpg

    No Caption Provided

    if you want to put 2 of them togeather and have 4 GPUS that is what it is for Space saving in SLI and power savings it is not for anything else this is an SLI card if you install it it will run in SLI just like having 2 gtx 680s and you can even turn off the other GTX 680 chip if you want. its not a new card the gtx 680 and the 690 are the same thing.

    In fact I NEVER See anybody use a twin class GPU not in SLI or crossfire since there would be no point unless you have a small PC case you are putting it in or want power savings.

    AND the 690 is not that big it is the same width as 680gtx only it is longer this will not effect the PCI express slots. there are very few single slot GTX 680s. see these all gtx 680s all use 2 PCI slots because of the cooler the exact same as the gtx 690.

    No Caption Provided

    As stated above, I was originally going with 2 680's SLI, but I have some space restraints. If I get 2 680's, I won't have room for a sound card, and seeing as how I do a lot of music recording and production, I kind of need a sound card. Since the 690 is literally 2 680's in half the space, I was hoping that I'd still get the performance of the 2 680s, but also be able to have a sound card.

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