Nvidia launches Geforce GTX 690 and announces Geforce Experience

At the Nvidia Geforce Festival (NGF) in Shanghai, it is none other than Nvidia’s founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and presents a new graphics card in the Geforce GTX 600 series, but not just any model.

Geforce GTX 690

Nvidia goes “all in” and announces the Geforce GTX 690 with dual graphics processors, which can probably be called the world’s fastest graphics card. The newcomer is based on the GK104 circuit, the same model used in the Geforce GTX 680, which provides a total of 3,072 CUDA cores, two 256-bit memory buses and a total of 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The new graphics card has a TDP value of 300 W and is connected to two 8-pin PCI Express connectors. Nvidia has been forced to lower the clock frequencies to 915 MHz GPU, but in Boost mode, the graphics card can still exceed the gigahertz limit to 1,019 MHz. To cope with the load, a 10-phase power supply and a circuit board with ten layers are used.

More details are connection to PCI Express 3.0, an internal PLX circuit (bridge) as well as three DVI outputs and a single Mini Displayport. Two Geforce GTX 690 can be connected in SLI for four graphics processors in one and the same computer system.

The top of the circuit board houses a solid cooler with several interesting news. The graphics card is covered by a shell of chrome-plated aluminum with polycarbonate plastic windows and on the top is an illuminated logo with the text “Geforce GTX”.

The radiator is based on a steam chamber with aluminum flanges. The centered fan, which spins at a maximum of 3,000 rpm, is mounted in a magnesium frame for improved stability and expels the hot air from both directions.

What could very well be the world’s fastest graphics card is not a cheap story. The Geforce GTX 690 will cost $ 999, equivalent to approximately SEK 8,400 including VAT. Nvidia is talking about a “limited sales start” on May 3 (Bingo!), But it will be until May 7 before the partner manufacturers get started and the new graphics card becomes a more common sight on store shelves.

Geforce Experience

There will also be news on the software front. Nvidia announces what’s called the Geforce Experience, a cloud-based service that automatically adjusts in-game graphics settings for “optimal” image quality and performance.

According to Nvidia, there are few computer players who spend time on the graphics settings, most simply want to get started and play. Geforce Experience compares the system configuration with millions of other computers in an online database, which incidentally took five years to compile. After that, the software takes care of the rest and optimizes the settings according to hardware components and game title.

Geforce Experience will be released on June 6 as a free download for all modern-cut Nvidia graphics cards.