Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 3 GB Review: Firing Back With 1024 CUDA Cores

[Reynod]

I think Bruce makes a really good point.

Lets wait a few days while the waterblock whizzkids get these cooled down and start cranking up the frequencies.

Both the 590 and 6990 are in dire need of some really decent cooling.

I'd really like to see a follow up article with these and aftermarket cooling if you have the time guys?

Cheers.

 

[cangelini]

I have two of each card for a while. They're not mine, so I can't get all crazy on the overvolting and kill them, but we can definitely do a follow-up.

 

[evga_fan]

-> Chris Angelini

Hi,

So, the GTX 590 is said to be quintessentially, 2x GF110 GTX 580 gpus on a single pcb but they are down-clocked. The benchmarks however (not only on this site) shows the 590 trading blows with the 6990 rather than 580SLi. In fact arguably loosing in most titles. With this in mind, 590 is performing more like 480/570SLi since the 6990 is roughly 6970CF (same tier as 480/570).
I guess the keyword here is "down-clocked". Does that really cripple the card in such a way that the card cannot be viewed as 580SLi? Secondly, is it possible to OC the card to run as fully fledged 580SLi?

Kind regards

 

[cangelini]

Correct--the clocks are low to the point where this is more like two 570s in SLI, coming nowhere close to 580-class performance.

Overclocking is possible, but don't expect 580-class performance. You can only really expect 10%ish out of the card. Overvolting using air cooling risks the blow-up videos that have been circulating online.

 

[Guest]

Maybe include triple-head 1680's, 1920's and dual 2560's as the top resolutions on all future graphics reviews? While it's true some cards would be underpowered for them to pump at full detail, some of us work from home and would like to know if we can use all of our screen realestate instead of the center monitor alone.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]FWCorey[/nom]Maybe include triple-head 1680's, 1920's and dual 2560's as the top resolutions on all future graphics reviews? While it's true some cards would be underpowered for them to pump at full detail, some of us work from home and would like to know if we can use all of our screen realestate instead of the center monitor alone.[/citation]

Can't imagine anyone gaming on dual 30" displays--a bezel running down the middle would make this a super-frustrating experience. Where it makes sense, I'll definitely include three-way configs though. Thanks for the feedback!

Chris

 

[Ten1220]

I didn't read the previous comments here, but why is the 6950 always underperforming the 5970? It doesn't seem to make any sense. I'm days away from building my system and this is disheartening.

 

[eugener]

If the only complaint about 6990 is the noise, doesn't it seems likely that some company will quickly release a 6990 with similarly quiet air cooling solution as the 590?

 

[mr_snelson]

From this article I feel that AMD has maintained their title as "Worlds Fastest Card". From my view point, the 6990 beat the 590 in frame rates and AA at 1600 res. Even in games that it lost to the 590, the margins where less then when the 590 lost to the 6990. I say this because power is power. Power isn't convenience.

Concerning convenience (noise factor), 590 wins. So to average it all out, do I want power and convenience, or power and more power! Power and convenience wins in my book. I like being able to think what my next move is without having an obnoxious sound in the back ground.

 

[silverblue]

There are a couple of games where AMD needs to step up to the plate as concerns drivers, HAWX 2 springs to mind, however the framerate is so high to begin with that you do wonder if there's a point. Regardless, for super-high resolution setups, you'll need all the performance you can get.

It's rumoured that AMD has introduced a whole swathe of performance increases in the 11.4 beta drivers including big gains for Civ5 but these will need to be properly tested. It's not clear whether this will benefit just the 6xxx series cards, however the stated increases in performance may be the result of addressing tesselation performance.

 

[ubercake]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]The system came from Maingear, so I called to ask why they used P67 instead of X58. They let me know that they had tried both, and the performance loss attributable to PCI Express is negligible. So, it turns out that the architecture of the processor is more of a win than the loss of PCIe connectivity is a loss. This is according to those folks; I still haven't run comparison numbers. But, you should be OK uber!Have a good weekend,Chris[/citation]
Hey! I have an idea for your next article... LGA1155 contender or pretender? Pit the 1155 vs. the 1366 with two 580s in SLI and see what shakes out? Have to include BFBC2, Rift, Medal of Honor, and Crysis 2 in the comparison.

 

[cburke82]

I didn't read the previous comments here, but why is the 6950 always underperforming the 5970? It doesn't seem to make any sense. I'm days away from building my system and this is disheartening.

Im new to PC gaming but as far as I know the 5970 is a dule GPU and the 6950 is single

 

[ubercake]

[citation][nom]cburke82[/nom]Im new to PC gaming but as far as I know the 5970 is a dule GPU and the 6950 is single[/citation]
Correct.

 

[youssef 2010]

Nice review and it was nice work from Nvidia to surpass AMD at every resolution except the target resolutions for this type of hardware. A friend of mine owns a 4870x2 and driver updates can be a real pain for him sometimes. I don't think I will be needing crossfire for my 17" monitor (don't laugh about the size, please)

And chris, the way you dealt with each variable in this comparison is impressive, to say the least.


For the guys who want to buy waterblocks. This is just like intel specifying a maximum case temperature for their extreme edition processors.Aftermarket coolers can't be a base to compare GPUs as the cards should be compared "as is" without any additions. because you can also buy a waterblock for 590s. This will come down to each one's preference.


I've said it before and I will say it again, I RESPECT AMD way more than Nvidia or Intel but, my personal feelings won't make me buy an inferior piece of hardware only because I "like" the manufacturer.

 

[silverblue]

Confusing... you have just said the 6990 was superior at the target resolutions but even though you respect AMD, you won't knowingly purchase inferior hardware.

 

[cburke82]

Nice review and it was nice work from Nvidia to surpass AMD at every resolution except the target resolutions for this type of hardware. A friend of mine owns a 4870x2 and driver updates can be a real pain for him sometimes. I don't think I will be needing crossfire for my 17" monitor (don't laugh about the size, please)

And chris, the way you dealt with each variable in this comparison is impressive, to say the least.


For the guys who want to buy waterblocks. This is just like intel specifying a maximum case temperature for their extreme edition processors.Aftermarket coolers can't be a base to compare GPUs as the cards should be compared "as is" without any additions. because you can also buy a waterblock for 590s. This will come down to each one's preference.


I've said it before and I will say it again, I RESPECT AMD way more than Nvidia or Intel but, my personal feelings won't make me buy an inferior piece of hardware only because I "like" the manufacturer.

So AMD wins in the most important section of the benchmarks and is somehow inferior to the Nvidia product?

Here is my final take here lol By 2 580/6970's (based on tests here 6970's would be the better value?) and if noise bothers you turn up the volume. If you cant do that throw on some headphones lol If you cant do that stop gaming at work LMAO. They are both good, also ium sure we will see a 6990 with a non reference 2 fan cooler that is much less distracting sooner or later.

 

[omega9850]

Both NVIDIA and AMD/ATI have been at it for years, but I think that these two cards really mark a turning point in GPU history. Both cards are EXTREMELY powerful, and have their 'ups' and 'downs', but it really matters in Raw Computing Performance, RCP you might say. I'd like to point out that the Radeon HD 6990 has 5.1TFLOPS, the GTX 590 has 2.49. Even a SLI system of GTX 590 couldn't compete to a 6990 in "RPC". I have long been an AMD/ATI fan, I guess I still am!

 

[Guest]

Lol - Nvidia wins based on it being the quieter card.. Chris i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you drive a Toyota Prius? With a silencer?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]SauberBeast[/nom]Lol - Nvidia wins based on it being the quieter card.. Chris i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you drive a Toyota Prius? With a silencer?[/citation]Imagine driving that Prius with the horn stuck on. Imagine how grateful you would be if someone came along and bumped the horn button, and the noise went away. If you can imagine that, you can imagine the relief he probably felt when switching from one card to the other.

In general, the people who are complaining about Chris' decision are the same people who made light of the GeForce FX 5800 for being so noisy. The same people who say they would buy the HD 6990 in spite of its noise are the ones who formerly said they'd never buy the FX 5800 because of its noise. And to those who argue "I wasn't around back then" I say it's all the same, only the names have changed.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]SauberBeast[/nom]Lol - Nvidia wins based on it being the quieter card.. Chris i'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you drive a Toyota Prius? With a silencer?[/citation]

Actually no, my car has a 6.2L V8 that makes 507 HP. I like my cars throaty and my computers quiet.

Thomas' analogy is dead-on.

Have a good weekend,
Chris

 

[cburke82]

Imagine driving that Prius with the horn stuck on. Imagine how grateful you would be if someone came along and bumped the horn button, and the noise went away. If you can imagine that, you can imagine the relief he probably felt when switching from one card to the other.

In general, the people who are complaining about Chris' decision are the same people who made light of the GeForce FX 5800 for being so noisy. The same people who say they would buy the HD 6990 in spite of its noise are the ones who formerly said they'd never buy the FX 5800 because of its noise. And to those who argue "I wasn't around back then" I say it's all the same, only the names have changed.

Do my eyes deceive me or did you just work a Bon Jovi reference into a forum response? lol

 

[Guest]

I shall buy the card that can first do PLP in gaming

 

[Corning]

Oh lets skip the copper and Silver heat sink and go to a multiwall Grapheme carbon nanotube, I only suggest that because a diamond heat sink would be silly.


Graphene has a thermo conductivity rate about 12 x that of copper

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

better value for money is the 590.

 

[cburke82]

better value for money is the 590.

better value for the money is 2X 6950 thats the truth