{"video_id":"ynqNCcVBd0E","title":"GeForce GTX 690 vs 3-way SLI GTX 670 Performance & Value Comparison Linus Tech Tips","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2013-05-07T14:53:29Z","duration_s":444,"segments":[{"start_s":7.2,"end_s":16.32,"text":"Now, the purpose of this video is fairly simple. Because of its extremely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":12.719,"end_s":18.48,"text":"scarce availability, the GTX 690, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":16.32,"end_s":21.439,"text":"know, isn't as popular as people would like for it to be. There's lots of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":19.84,"end_s":26.8,"text":"people out there, I know this for a fact, who want to buy a GTX 690, who","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.32,"end_s":33.92,"text":"want the ultimate performance, but cannot find one in stock. anywhere. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.96,"end_s":39.6,"text":"I have one here today and I want to treat this video as sort of a um a what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":37.52,"end_s":43.76,"text":"can you do if you want ultimate performance and can't get a GTX 690 sort","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":41.92,"end_s":47.44,"text":"of video. So, it has come to my attention that depending on which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":45.12,"end_s":52.559,"text":"retailer you look at, NCIX not being the one that I'm referring to here, a GTX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.52,"end_s":56.8,"text":"690 can go for as much as $1,200, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":52.559,"end_s":58.879,"text":"is almost exactly the price of three GTX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":56.8,"end_s":66.479,"text":"670s. So, this is going to be a head-to-head comparison in my most","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.64,"end_s":70.0,"text":"recent um in my most recent","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":66.479,"end_s":74.56,"text":"suite of benchmarks between 3-way SLI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":70.0,"end_s":77.04,"text":"GTX 670s and a single GTX 690. I think","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.56,"end_s":80.72,"text":"we all probably know which one's likely to win at this point, but in case you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":78.799,"end_s":83.84,"text":"don't, that is the purpose of doing these kinds of tests. So, I don't know","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.0,"end_s":88.0,"text":"if you can see my Fraps meter in the corner there. Look at that. It's like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":85.439,"end_s":90.24,"text":"exactly where the light is making it so you can't see it. Whatever. I'll tell","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":89.04,"end_s":97.36,"text":"you what it says. So, this is Battlefield 3. All of the tests are going to be run at 1080p. Yes, I am","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":94.799,"end_s":101.28,"text":"aware that 1080p isn't necessarily I actually don't know which way I'm going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":98.56,"end_s":108.399,"text":"anymore. I am aware that 1080p is not necessarily the ideal resolution for,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.159,"end_s":113.68,"text":"you know, very high-end graphics card setups. However, I did notice that we do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":112.0,"end_s":117.68,"text":"see scaling in some of the games that I've tested already where we're seeing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":116.0,"end_s":123.04,"text":"more than double the performance in 3-way SLI as we're seeing with a single","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":120.88,"end_s":126.799,"text":"card. So, that is a very positive indicator. I'm using the brand new","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":124.799,"end_s":132.4,"text":"driver from NVIDIA released on May 22nd. So, this is their R300 driver. This is a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":129.039,"end_s":134.319,"text":"WLE driver that supports uh the GTX 670","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.4,"end_s":139.04,"text":"and the GTX 690. You can see I'm getting aboutund","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.16,"end_s":142.4,"text":"195 FPS in Battlefield 3. This is all on ultra settings, so I'm going to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":140.08,"end_s":148.239,"text":"maxing out every game, uh, The Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, The Elder Scrolls,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.12,"end_s":150.0,"text":"Skyrim, and Crisis 2, and bringing you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":148.239,"end_s":156.48,"text":"guys the numbers head-to-head between these two very ultimaty solutions. Now,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":153.68,"end_s":161.12,"text":"I had really wanted to test","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.56,"end_s":165.76,"text":"four-way SLI, but I actually didn't realize that the 670 does not support","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":163.2,"end_s":168.4,"text":"four-way SLI. So, one of these cards is not on the bench, and we're just going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":167.12,"end_s":173.519,"text":"with these three. So, I have my reference card, my Galaxy card, and my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":171.28,"end_s":178.8,"text":"other more different Galaxy card. The one that looks like this with the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.64,"end_s":181.2,"text":"glowing logo. Pretty sweet.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.8,"end_s":185.599,"text":"So, I'm finished my testing with the GTX 690. So, in case you guys were wondering","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.28,"end_s":191.28,"text":"what a GTX 690 looks like on the test bench, it's a little something like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":187.76,"end_s":192.64,"text":"that. Looks pretty cool. Let's turn off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":191.28,"end_s":198.319,"text":"the lights. You can see the glowing GeForce logo here, which glows very","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.0,"end_s":202.159,"text":"strongly and looks very cool as well. One's pretty toasty.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":200.56,"end_s":210.0,"text":"Little bit of coil wine. Not too bad. Not as bad as uh my 680 or uh or any of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.8,"end_s":211.68,"text":"my 670s, but not as good as 590, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":210.0,"end_s":218.0,"text":"had absolutely no coil wine. At least the one that uh that I have. Um","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":216.319,"end_s":222.72,"text":"overall, not that loud though. about pretty similar to GTX 590 in terms of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.959,"end_s":228.319,"text":"the actual fan speed. Still got a game running on it right now. Definitely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":225.12,"end_s":230.48,"text":"quieter than the 3-way GTX 670 solution","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":228.319,"end_s":237.439,"text":"and uh consumes less power, but remember it's two GPUs versus three GPUs. And I I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":235.36,"end_s":239.92,"text":"see that that's five video cards, but I was only running three of them at a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":238.64,"end_s":245.599,"text":"time. So, I'm just going to make up my little graphs and then we're good to go after I tell you the test bench, of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.12,"end_s":252.239,"text":"course. So, this is a Radeon radio and radon nothing. uh Core i7 3930K at 4.4","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.92,"end_s":258.56,"text":"GHz with 16 gigs of Kingston HyperX RAM at DDR3600","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":254.72,"end_s":260.32,"text":"megahertz. I also have a Mushkin Kronos","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.56,"end_s":264.0,"text":"Deluxe drive in there and I've got my Gigabyte","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":261.84,"end_s":270.639,"text":"uh what is this thing? It's a GA something or other X79","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.56,"end_s":272.639,"text":"UD7. So, this is up to a 4-way SLI","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.639,"end_s":280.0,"text":"Crossfire X capable motherboard, and it's all powered by an OCZ ZX series","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.16,"end_s":282.479,"text":"1250 watt power supply. Easily capable","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":280.0,"end_s":286.88,"text":"of powering those three GPUs. Actually, you know what? It's uh 2:00 in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.44,"end_s":292.32,"text":"morning and I'm actually really tired, so I'm not going to make graphs, you guys. You'll just have to bear with me.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.24,"end_s":298.16,"text":"So, here we go. Um, I actually have an upcoming video where I plan to do some","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.08,"end_s":299.84,"text":"GTX 670 versus Radeon 7970 scaling,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.16,"end_s":303.84,"text":"which will be really cool. So, 1, two, and three-way configurations for both,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.0,"end_s":308.96,"text":"seeing how they compare. But for this one, we're just looking at three times","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":305.44,"end_s":311.12,"text":"GTX 670s versus a single GTX 690. What","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":308.96,"end_s":316.24,"text":"is the better value proposition? So, you can see here in Crisis 2, the uh 3-way","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":314.24,"end_s":320.72,"text":"SLI configuration actually has a lower overall minimum, but a higher overall","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":319.199,"end_s":325.36,"text":"average, but not by much. We're talking a 5% performance advantage. In","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":323.199,"end_s":331.84,"text":"Battlefield 3, the 6 the 3x 670 solution just destroys","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":329.28,"end_s":335.84,"text":"the single 690. So, this is excellent scaling that we're seeing in this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":333.199,"end_s":341.759,"text":"particular game. Um, I mean, we've got an additional 25 to 30% performance,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.44,"end_s":346.72,"text":"probably about 25% performance from adding that additional GPU. So, that is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.919,"end_s":349.52,"text":"a pretty good example of of of excellent scaling there. And you can see the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.759,"end_s":356.24,"text":"minimum is even higher. That's more like 40%. Outstanding. Skyrim. Yeah, those","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":353.759,"end_s":360.4,"text":"look pretty similar to me within margin of error on this side. However, that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.16,"end_s":367.68,"text":"minimum frame rate is very different. So, the GTX 690 was uh actually well the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":365.12,"end_s":372.08,"text":"3-way SLI configuration was about 35% higher than the GTX 690 in terms of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":369.759,"end_s":378.16,"text":"minimum FPS. And I did notice that when I was actually using it. Uh, Witcher 2","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":374.56,"end_s":381.039,"text":"is another one that uh, scaled okay in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":378.16,"end_s":384.88,"text":"terms of averages with the 3 by GTX 670 configuration, but the minimum was a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":383.36,"end_s":389.52,"text":"little bit lower. Well, quite a bit lower. But something to bear in mind about these minimums is sometimes when","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":387.68,"end_s":396.08,"text":"you're benchmarking, your frame rates will dip for sort of no reproducible or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.36,"end_s":398.639,"text":"easily explainable reason. And uh, so there's a little bit of that to bear in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.28,"end_s":404.0,"text":"mind as well. Personally, I know minimums are important to a lot of people, but personally, I put more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":401.759,"end_s":408.639,"text":"weight into the averages, especially because of the way I'm collecting data","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.52,"end_s":410.72,"text":"with Fraps. Um, you can get a minimum","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":408.639,"end_s":414.08,"text":"that gets, you know, if both cards dip like this, you can get one of them that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":412.4,"end_s":418.24,"text":"records at the very bottom of the dip because it happens to fall on that split","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":416.4,"end_s":420.88,"text":"second and one of them that falls here, but that doesn't mean the dip didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":419.44,"end_s":426.08,"text":"happen. So, something to bear in mind about Fraps frame rate recording. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":423.199,"end_s":433.84,"text":"thank you for checking out my 3-way GTX 670 versus GTX 690 performance review. I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.039,"end_s":437.36,"text":"think that we can see that 38 by GTX 670 is a very viable option if you really do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":435.52,"end_s":441.68,"text":"want the ultimate performance and you can't get your hands on one of these bad","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":439.52,"end_s":444.72,"text":"boys. Don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Now, the purpose of this video is fairly simple. Because of its extremely scarce availability, the GTX 690, you know, isn't as popular as people would like for it to be. There's lots of people out there, I know this for a fact, who want to buy a GTX 690, who want the ultimate performance, but cannot find one in stock. anywhere. So, I have one here today and I want to treat this video as sort of a um a what can you do if you want ultimate performance and can't get a GTX 690 sort of video. So, it has come to my attention that depending on which retailer you look at, NCIX not being the one that I'm referring to here, a GTX 690 can go for as much as $1,200, which is almost exactly the price of three GTX 670s. So, this is going to be a head-to-head comparison in my most recent um in my most recent suite of benchmarks between 3-way SLI GTX 670s and a single GTX 690. I think we all probably know which one's likely to win at this point, but in case you don't, that is the purpose of doing these kinds of tests. So, I don't know if you can see my Fraps meter in the corner there. Look at that. It's like exactly where the light is making it so you can't see it. Whatever. I'll tell you what it says. So, this is Battlefield 3. All of the tests are going to be run at 1080p. Yes, I am aware that 1080p isn't necessarily I actually don't know which way I'm going anymore. I am aware that 1080p is not necessarily the ideal resolution for, you know, very high-end graphics card setups. However, I did notice that we do see scaling in some of the games that I've tested already where we're seeing more than double the performance in 3-way SLI as we're seeing with a single card. So, that is a very positive indicator. I'm using the brand new driver from NVIDIA released on May 22nd. So, this is their R300 driver. This is a WLE driver that supports uh the GTX 670 and the GTX 690. You can see I'm getting aboutund 195 FPS in Battlefield 3. This is all on ultra settings, so I'm going to be maxing out every game, uh, The Witcher 2, Battlefield 3, The Elder Scrolls, Skyrim, and Crisis 2, and bringing you guys the numbers head-to-head between these two very ultimaty solutions. Now, I had really wanted to test four-way SLI, but I actually didn't realize that the 670 does not support four-way SLI. So, one of these cards is not on the bench, and we're just going with these three. So, I have my reference card, my Galaxy card, and my other more different Galaxy card. The one that looks like this with the glowing logo. Pretty sweet. So, I'm finished my testing with the GTX 690. So, in case you guys were wondering what a GTX 690 looks like on the test bench, it's a little something like that. Looks pretty cool. Let's turn off the lights. You can see the glowing GeForce logo here, which glows very strongly and looks very cool as well. One's pretty toasty. Little bit of coil wine. Not too bad. Not as bad as uh my 680 or uh or any of my 670s, but not as good as 590, which had absolutely no coil wine. At least the one that uh that I have. Um overall, not that loud though. about pretty similar to GTX 590 in terms of the actual fan speed. Still got a game running on it right now. Definitely quieter than the 3-way GTX 670 solution and uh consumes less power, but remember it's two GPUs versus three GPUs. And I I see that that's five video cards, but I was only running three of them at a time. So, I'm just going to make up my little graphs and then we're good to go after I tell you the test bench, of course. So, this is a Radeon radio and radon nothing. uh Core i7 3930K at 4.4 GHz with 16 gigs of Kingston HyperX RAM at DDR3600 megahertz. I also have a Mushkin Kronos Deluxe drive in there and I've got my Gigabyte uh what is this thing? It's a GA something or other X79 UD7. So, this is up to a 4-way SLI Crossfire X capable motherboard, and it's all powered by an OCZ ZX series 1250 watt power supply. Easily capable of powering those three GPUs. Actually, you know what? It's uh 2:00 in the morning and I'm actually really tired, so I'm not going to make graphs, you guys. You'll just have to bear with me. So, here we go. Um, I actually have an upcoming video where I plan to do some GTX 670 versus Radeon 7970 scaling, which will be really cool. So, 1, two, and three-way configurations for both, seeing how they compare. But for this one, we're just looking at three times GTX 670s versus a single GTX 690. What is the better value proposition? So, you can see here in Crisis 2, the uh 3-way SLI configuration actually has a lower overall minimum, but a higher overall average, but not by much. We're talking a 5% performance advantage. In Battlefield 3, the 6 the 3x 670 solution just destroys the single 690. So, this is excellent scaling that we're seeing in this particular game. Um, I mean, we've got an additional 25 to 30% performance, probably about 25% performance from adding that additional GPU. So, that is a pretty good example of of of excellent scaling there. And you can see the minimum is even higher. That's more like 40%. Outstanding. Skyrim. Yeah, those look pretty similar to me within margin of error on this side. However, that minimum frame rate is very different. So, the GTX 690 was uh actually well the 3-way SLI configuration was about 35% higher than the GTX 690 in terms of minimum FPS. And I did notice that when I was actually using it. Uh, Witcher 2 is another one that uh, scaled okay in terms of averages with the 3 by GTX 670 configuration, but the minimum was a little bit lower. Well, quite a bit lower. But something to bear in mind about these minimums is sometimes when you're benchmarking, your frame rates will dip for sort of no reproducible or easily explainable reason. And uh, so there's a little bit of that to bear in mind as well. Personally, I know minimums are important to a lot of people, but personally, I put more weight into the averages, especially because of the way I'm collecting data with Fraps. Um, you can get a minimum that gets, you know, if both cards dip like this, you can get one of them that records at the very bottom of the dip because it happens to fall on that split second and one of them that falls here, but that doesn't mean the dip didn't happen. So, something to bear in mind about Fraps frame rate recording. So, thank you for checking out my 3-way GTX 670 versus GTX 690 performance review. I think that we can see that 38 by GTX 670 is a very viable option if you really do want the ultimate performance and you can't get your hands on one of these bad boys. Don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips."}