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GTX 690 Or GTX 680 SLI

post #1 of 30
5/25/12 at 12:29pm
Thread Starter 
Hello AVS. I'm in a debate with myself. I can't make up my mind on what would be the best choice and why. Title says it all.

Is it better to own a GTX 690 or stick with 680 in SLI? I know the 690 is slightly lower then a pair of 680's. But I'd imagine you can OC the 690 to run just as good as a pair of 680's?

I'm not sure what to do. Any advice would be very helpful. Thank you


PS. People will not be able to see your vote. So there is no fear in voting
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post #2 of 30
5/25/12 at 2:32pm
yes and you can oc the 680's too remember. I choose the dual 680's. Unless you have some quad core brain bug.... but $1800 for 2 gpu's is a bit hard to swallow.
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post #3 of 30
5/26/12 at 9:13pm
670's in SLI will match the 690 for the most part, and be cheaper, and much more readily available.
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post #4 of 30
5/26/12 at 11:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 257Tony View Post

670's in SLI will match the 690 for the most part, and be cheaper, and much more readily available.

Both I can buy right away. The 690 can be OC to out do all set ups and be lower on power.

I'm just concerned about 1 card reliability vs two.
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post #5 of 30
5/26/12 at 11:26pm
If you have the slots and enuf PSU power, go SLI. If one card ever fails you still have a usable system. Unless you plan on going quad with two 690s.
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post #6 of 30
5/26/12 at 11:39pm
Stop and wonder why?

I had a GTX 560TI. It ran every single game I've ever tried at max settings without any slowdown on my 1080P TV with my 4.0ghz I7 processor. I wanted to try three monitors NV Surround gaming so I bought a GTX 670. I decided I don't want to do three screen gaming so I'm considering selling this GTX 670 and buying a $200 GTX 480 or another GTX 560TI because the GTX 670 is just wasted money in glorious overkill at this point. Though I'd likely be set for a couple years at least on graphics cards if I keep this GTX 670. No current games can even come near to stressing it. The GTX 690 or GTX 680 SLI --- even more so. Unless you are doing triple screen gaming at max settings on only a select 1 or 2 top of the line games - either option your are questioning is vast overkill. And this rebuttel coming from a hardware enthusiast who can't seem to get rid of the constant upgrade bug over the last 15 years. I've been through more video cards and computer hardware than anyone I know - but alas - it seems until the next gen consoles come out and advance the game engines again - - - some of the needs to upgrade have been diminished as of late. From the GTX 560 TI to the GTX 670 I notice NO difference in gameplay -- because my GTX 560 TI wasn't stressing on any games.

That said I prefer a single card over SLI. SLI and Crossfire makes extra heat and noise in your case. Neither desirable.
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post #7 of 30
5/27/12 at 6:35am
Thread Starter 
I don't mind the extra noise. As long as it doesn't burn anything out I'm happy. For some reason I'm really leaning towards 680 SLI vs 690. But I love the 690 design! :'(
Power saving and heat savings etc...
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post #8 of 30
5/27/12 at 8:24pm
You can't really go wrong either way, just pick your poison!
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post #9 of 30
5/27/12 at 8:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Archaea View Post

Stop and wonder why?

I had a GTX 560TI. It ran every single game I've ever tried at max settings without any slowdown on my 1080P TV with my 4.0ghz I7 processor. I wanted to try three monitors NV Surround gaming so I bought a GTX 670. I decided I don't want to do three screen gaming so I'm considering selling this GTX 670 and buying a $200 GTX 480 or another GTX 560TI because the GTX 670 is just wasted money in glorious overkill at this point. Though I'd likely be set for a couple years at least on graphics cards if I keep this GTX 670. No current games can even come near to stressing it. The GTX 690 or GTX 680 SLI --- even more so. Unless you are doing triple screen gaming at max settings on only a select 1 or 2 top of the line games - either option your are questioning is vast overkill. And this rebuttel coming from a hardware enthusiast who can't seem to get rid of the constant upgrade bug over the last 15 years. I've been through more video cards and computer hardware than anyone I know - but alas - it seems until the next gen consoles come out and advance the game engines again - - - some of the needs to upgrade have been diminished as of late. From the GTX 560 TI to the GTX 670 I notice NO difference in gameplay -- because my GTX 560 TI wasn't stressing on any games.

That said I prefer a single card over SLI. SLI and Crossfire makes extra heat and noise in your case. Neither desirable.

I don't think you are going to find many, if any guys on here that would sell a 670 to get back a 560 lol. 1080p is not hard to run for many cards. Unless you really need the money, seem kinda pointless to sell your card and get the 560 back, when you have a card that will be good for years at 1080p. You may not have noticed the difference in your game play but your fps have probably almost doubled.
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post #10 of 30
5/27/12 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Archaea View Post

Stop and wonder why?

I had a GTX 560TI. It ran every single game I've ever tried at max settings without any slowdown on my 1080P TV with my 4.0ghz I7 processor. I wanted to try three monitors NV Surround gaming so I bought a GTX 670. I decided I don't want to do three screen gaming so I'm considering selling this GTX 670 and buying a $200 GTX 480 or another GTX 560TI because the GTX 670 is just wasted money in glorious overkill at this point. Though I'd likely be set for a couple years at least on graphics cards if I keep this GTX 670. No current games can even come near to stressing it. The GTX 690 or GTX 680 SLI --- even more so. Unless you are doing triple screen gaming at max settings on only a select 1 or 2 top of the line games - either option your are questioning is vast overkill. And this rebuttel coming from a hardware enthusiast who can't seem to get rid of the constant upgrade bug over the last 15 years. I've been through more video cards and computer hardware than anyone I know - but alas - it seems until the next gen consoles come out and advance the game engines again - - - some of the needs to upgrade have been diminished as of late. From the GTX 560 TI to the GTX 670 I notice NO difference in gameplay -- because my GTX 560 TI wasn't stressing on any games.

That said I prefer a single card over SLI. SLI and Crossfire makes extra heat and noise in your case. Neither desirable.

Safe to assume under 60 FPS is ok with you. Defiantly not for me.
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post #11 of 30
5/27/12 at 9:01pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by N8DOGG View Post

You can't really go wrong either way, just pick your poison!

Oh I wouldn't say that! lol. Both have pros and cons. Problem is picking the right choice! I only have till Tuesday to make up my mind. As of now I've chosen the 680 SLI. But I'm not sure it's the right choice!

680 in SLI is more powerful then a 690. Yes. You can OC a 690 to be just as powerful as 680 SLI. But then again you could just OC the 680s and still be the stronger set up lol.

Also the 690 will exhaust hot air inside your case. A pair of 680s will not. It seems for every pro. There is a possible con.

If I kept the 680s they would run stock with custom fan curves.

690 would be OC to perform as well as 680 SLI. But I'm not sure how much heat this would add. Reliably. Etc...

Really makes me wonder what others would do.
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post #12 of 30
5/28/12 at 2:41pm
the 690 blowing hot air in your case would be reason enough alone to get the 680's sLI iMO. Thats gonna be a ton of hot air!
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post #13 of 30
5/28/12 at 3:05pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by N8DOGG View Post

the 690 blowing hot air in your case would be reason enough alone to get the 680's sLI iMO. Thats gonna be a ton of hot air!

Yeah. They say it isn't a lot. But they also say if you have a 690 that it's best to have a case with a ton of airflow. Can raise HDD temps by 10C.
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post #14 of 30
5/28/12 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
At least 680 blows all hot air out.
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post #15 of 30
5/28/12 at 3:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JukeBox360 View Post

Safe to assume under 60 FPS is ok with you. Defiantly not for me.

ha -- guess not...though I'm not sure what games weren't at least 60 fps with the 560TI except for perhaps Metro 2033. I never tried BF3 though I guess that might also do it.

The 670 is probably fine. I'm not a college kid anymore, so a couple hundred $ won't break my back.
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post #16 of 30
5/28/12 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Archaea View Post


ha -- guess not...though I'm not sure what games weren't at least 60 fps with the 560TI except for perhaps Metro 2033. I never tried BF3 though I guess that might also do it.

The 670 is probably fine. I'm not a college kid anymore, so a couple hundred $ won't break my back.

Every crysis. BF3. And metro 2033 just to name a few.
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post #17 of 30
5/29/12 at 1:54pm
Thread Starter 
I think I've come to a conclusion. Quad SLI get the 690. Just SLI. 680s. Maybe this will help someone in the future.
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post #18 of 30
1/13/13 at 7:07am
Ok here comes the answer to all the questions for "GTX 690 Or GTX 680 SLI".
I say go for GTX 690. Reason: sli in a pc is good but hot and stressfull. Im running on 560Ti Sli and on the wrong MoBo(Motherboard) those to cards can overheat very easy. Just think of it this way. Sli 680 and 690 has a 5% diffrance. Get a 690 now and one day wich would be in a few years or months maybe the 690 would be stressed and u can add a nother 690, as easy as that the 680sli would cost a fortune to be replaced. Get the GTX690 and one day if needed and or if you have the money just upgrade to 690 Sli and worrys gone!

Thank you Coenraad
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post #19 of 30
1/13/13 at 9:27am
Thread Starter 
I see what your saying. But I actually ended up keeping the 680 SLI set up. Main reason why was because of heat. The 690 dumps tons of heat inside your case. In this case it would be right on my hard drives and ram. We all know heat is an electronic killer. So I stuck with the 680s for that very reason. Even with optimal cooling my temps inside my case jumped up a decent amount. Sure. The 690 looks better and did run a little bit cooler. But unless you plan to water cool a 690. 680 SLI just seemed like the best way to go.
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post #20 of 30
1/13/13 at 10:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Archaea View Post

Stop and wonder why?


I had a GTX 560TI. It ran every single game I've ever tried at max settings without any slowdown on my 1080P TV with my 4.0ghz I7 processor. I wanted to try three monitors NV Surround gaming so I bought a GTX 670. I decided I don't want to do three screen gaming so I'm considering selling this GTX 670 and buying a $200 GTX 480 or another GTX 560TI because the GTX 670 is just wasted money in glorious overkill at this point. Though I'd likely be set for a couple years at least on graphics cards if I keep this GTX 670. No current games can even come near to stressing it. The GTX 690 or GTX 680 SLI --- even more so. Unless you are doing triple screen gaming at max settings on only a select 1 or 2 top of the line games - either option your are questioning is vast overkill. And this rebuttel coming from a hardware enthusiast who can't seem to get rid of the constant upgrade bug over the last 15 years. I've been through more video cards and computer hardware than anyone I know - but alas - it seems until the next gen consoles come out and advance the game engines again - - - some of the needs to upgrade have been diminished as of late. From the GTX 560 TI to the GTX 670 I notice NO difference in gameplay -- because my GTX 560 TI wasn't stressing on any games.


That said I prefer a single card over SLI. SLI and Crossfire makes extra heat and noise in your case. Neither desirable.

Please look at this benchmark for your 670 getting stomped at 1920x1080. I suggest not looking at the 5760x1080 results though they destroy everything.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/far-cry-3-performance-benchmark,3379-6.html
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post #21 of 30
1/13/13 at 11:22am
Thread Starter 
As for it being overkill. Anyone who played crysis 3 knows how impossible it is to run that game. 680 SLI and I could barely get 24fps.
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post #22 of 30
1/22/13 at 3:36pm
There is no such thing as "overkill" on a PC. Wait a year or two, your crap will require updating even if your resolutions stay the same......it is the way of things, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be wink.gif

If you shop smart, you get either a good life out of your videocard or you get a good return on your initial investment when you flip it once new stuff comes out.......but you usually can't have it both ways.

re: CRYSIS3.....sure you don't mean Far Cry 3? A single 670 overclocked in my rig can't do 60 in that game and maintain it with everything maxxed, you need both of my 670's humming to keep it over 60.
Not sure if that game scales well with GPU's or if its CPU bound at this point....
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post #23 of 30
1/22/13 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by HeadRusch View Post

There is no such thing as "overkill" on a PC. Wait a year or two, your crap will require updating even if your resolutions stay the same......it is the way of things, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be wink.gif

If you shop smart, you get either a good life out of your videocard or you get a good return on your initial investment when you flip it once new stuff comes out.......but you usually can't have it both ways.

re: CRYSIS3.....sure you don't mean Far Cry 3? A single 670 overclocked in my rig can't do 60 in that game and maintain it with everything maxxed, you need both of my 670's humming to keep it over 60.
Not sure if that game scales well with GPU's or if its CPU bound at this point....
Nope. I meant Crysis 3. 680 in SLI @1080P can barely hold 24FPS.
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post #24 of 30
1/22/13 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JukeBox360 View Post

Nope. I meant Crysis 3. 680 in SLI @1080P can barely hold 24FPS.

I think you will eventually need a pair of 690s to get over 60FPS, wait for the price drop
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post #25 of 30
1/22/13 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toolate0789 View Post

I think you will eventually need a pair of 690s to get over 60FPS, wait for the price drop
In that case ill wait for the next gen of GPUs to hit stores. So pissed my set up can't handle that game.
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post #26 of 30
1/22/13 at 7:23pm
it's a killer....
I learned a lesson from Crysis 2......XD
having the same feeling as u

then I waited half a year for price drop on GPUs....
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post #27 of 30
1/22/13 at 8:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toolate0789 View Post

it's a killer....
I learned a lesson from Crysis 2......XD
having the same feeling as u

then I waited half a year for price drop on GPUs....
Maybe I'll do that. Because I honestly don't feel like spending more money on GPUs. 1 GTX690 and 2 680SLI. Ended up keeping both because I couldn't make up my mind. And made YouTube vids trying em out. My 690 is basically a trophy. Love how it looks and has been in my case for maybe 6 hours. The heat was a big killer. Didn't like the idea of all that heat landing directly on my SSD drives.

So maybe ill keep it all for another year. Maybe two. Wait for prices to drop. I just have a huge problem with liking the best of the best.

IMO. Amd 7970 was the better GPU. I kinda of regret ever getting rid of em. Just didn't like how much power it took and how loud it was. Easily twice as loud as a reference 680.
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post #28 of 30
1/22/13 at 11:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JukeBox360 View Post

Maybe I'll do that. Because I honestly don't feel like spending more money on GPUs. 1 GTX690 and 2 680SLI. Ended up keeping both because I couldn't make up my mind. And made YouTube vids trying em out. My 690 is basically a trophy. Love how it looks and has been in my case for maybe 6 hours. The heat was a big killer. Didn't like the idea of all that heat landing directly on my SSD drives.

So maybe ill keep it all for another year. Maybe two. Wait for prices to drop. I just have a huge problem with liking the best of the best.

IMO. Amd 7970 was the better GPU. I kinda of regret ever getting rid of em. Just didn't like how much power it took and how loud it was. Easily twice as loud as a reference 680.

You don't modify VGA coolers don't you?
If it's single card setup for these high end cards, I always use other coolers than stock ones.
SLI is a bit tricky, might go water cooling...
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post #29 of 30
1/23/13 at 8:26am
Thread Starter 
Nope. I've never modified the coolers. I've thought about it but I wouldn't know what to buy. I have put some thought into water cooling them. But I imagine its going to cost a pretty penny.
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post #30 of 30
1/23/13 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JukeBox360 View Post

Nope. I've never modified the coolers. I've thought about it but I wouldn't know what to buy. I have put some thought into water cooling them. But I imagine its going to cost a pretty penny.

air cooler can handle single card easily, I use thermalright product mostly. around $100, fans not included
for water cooling, it's main cost is those blocks..... they are pricy and never go big discount. but it's easier to get high end card near room temp....and noise-wise too. Not to mention all the maintenance.
If go SLI you would better go water, air cooling will have size limitations.
my preference is to use 690 OC plus air cooler if you think the temp/noise in unbearable.
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