In March 2011 Nvidia released a brand new high-end dual-GPU graphics card in the form of the GTX 590. At the time, Nvidia claimed it to be the “most powerful DirectX 11 graphics card ever built” incorporating two GTX 580 GPUs in a single enclosure. Given that the GTX 580 is the world’s fastest single GPU consumer graphics card, we were hoping that two of them bundled together would deliver on Nvidia’s promise.
However, it’s not quite as clear cut as one might expect. For starters, both GTX 580 GPUs have been down clocked to 607MHz, with the shader clocks set to 1.2GHz and the memory to 3.4GHz. Furthermore, when combining dual GPUs, various architectural features will impact just how well the two GPU’s work together.
The GTX 590 uses a small NF200 chip which functions as a PCI Express bridge, which effectively means you’re running an SLI setup on one card.
The GTX 590 competes directly with AMD’s HD 6990, which incorporates two HD 6970 GPUs in a single enclosure. The HD 6990 starts at around R6,500, and the GTX 590 at around R7,500. Today we will look at whether the extra R1,000 is justifiable.
Local hardware retailer Evetech was kind enough to loan us the Gainward GTX 590 for review purposes. I might add that their Gainward GTX 590 is the cheapest we have been able to find in SA, retailing for R7,499.
As expected, installing the GTX 590 is a straight forward process for anyone with any experience in this sort of thing. The card will need two 8-pin power connectors, and a fairly hefty power supply to run comfortably (700Watt minimum on an average gaming rig). Once the card is seated and the external power connectors are in place, it is as simple as pluging in the monitor and booting to Windows, where you will be able to install the drivers and reboot once more.
The first thing I noticed once the GTX 590 was up and running was how quietly it runs for a dual-GPU graphics solution. Nvidia has promised it to be the quietest dual-GPU graphics card ever built, and our experience does nothing to refute this claim. When idling it is basically not audible, and when under load it becomes slightly more noticeable. The card runs very cool at idle, maintaining a sub 40 degree Celsius temperature. When under load, this increased to around 80 degree Celcius, which is totally acceptable.
Of course, the most important thing to consider when looking at a card like the GTX 590 is performance. Specifically, just how powerful is the card in comparison to other high-end cards, and what sort of value for money are we getting in terms of performance.
Benchmarks
All benchmarks were run on the same PC, with the only changing variable being the graphics card. CCleaner along with Driver Sweeper were used to make sure there were no left over files clogging up the registry. Each of the benchmarks were run three times to ensure consistent results. All benchmarks were run at 1920×1200, with all settings set as high as possible, including anti-aliasing settings in order to push the cards as hard as possible. The scores in the graphs below indicate the average frames per second achieved in each benchmark.
Benchmark rig
AMD Phenom II [email protected], 8GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard, Windows 7 64-bit
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Bad Company 2 is undoubtedly one of the most popular current generation first person shooters, and it is also one of the most visually impressive. The GTX 590 handled the game very well, maintaining an average of over 120 FPS which is double what most monitors are even able to process.
Dirt 2
Our favourite game to benchmark; Dirt 2 is gorgeous, and seeing it running at blistering frame rates is pure eye candy. The GTX 590 is the only game that has been able to maintain a FPS average of over 100 frames per second.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Unreal Engine 3.5 used in Arkham Asylum as well as many other games is great at delivering fantastic visuals while maintaining very high frame rates. The GTX 590 did very well with Arkham Asylum, managing to outclass the HD 6990 quite convincingly.
STALKER Call of Pripyat
The Pripyat benchmark is the most demanding benchmark we currently run, and once again the GTX 590 came out tops.
Performance overview
Although in our own benchmarks, the GTX 590 came out tops across the board, more extensive benchmarks from numerous dedicated hardware sites around the world suggest that in fact the HD 6990 beats it more often than not.
Check out these for more benchmarks:
Anandtech
HardOCP
Tech Report
PC Perspective
Guru 3D
X-bit labs
Hot Hardware
techPowerUp!
Techspot
Conclusion
No matter how you slice it, the GTX 590 is a powerful graphics card that is capable of running current generation games at high resolutions with settings maxed out. It is also a remarkably quiet card considering what’s under the bonnet. However, its biggest problem is pricing. R7,500 is massive amount of money to pay for a single component, and it doesn’t really offer anything to suggest it’s really worth the premium. At R1,000 less, the HD 6990 may be a better solution for those looking for a monster graphics card.
Pros
– Huge performance
– Will run pretty much anything maxed out at 1920×1200 and up.
– Runs surprisingly quietly
– Reasonable thermal footprint
Cons
– The massive price is a little difficult to justify
Discuss the GTX 590 in the forums
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