Just bought a 690 and thin I've made a mistake

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 10:38

Right, made a bit of a noob mistake.

I have a 670 and play BF3 (and BF4 when it comes out) at 2560x1440.

The 670 couldn't cope with 2560x1440 at ultra (no surprise there), I was considering buying a second 670 but the 2GB VRAM bothered me, so I decided to sell that and use it to fund something else.

Well, a B-Grade EVGA 4GB 690 came up on OCUK for £500 which I bought (and here comes the noob mistake), I thought each core would have 4GB of VRAM; alas it's 4GB split across the cores, so 2GB a core.

Now here's my dilemma. I really like the 690 and all my games perform wonderfully and even though it was B-Grade it looks new (think someone returned it).

But the VRAM issue bothers me. I was planning on using the 690 as the core to my gaming rig for a few years and chucking a second one in if and when I need to.

I want a single card solution for now with the option of adding a second in 12-18 months so I think that leaves me with either the 690 or 7990 (which is the same price).

I could return the 690 to OCUK and pickup the 7990 from them instead, I think I already know the answer but should I swap the 690 for the 7990 (or something else if someone can recommend me a card)?

Thanks in advance.

straxusii · 16 Oct 2013 at 10:43

You have indeed made a noob mistake

Personally I would not be buying a 2GB card now if I run at 1440p, I'd be wary even at 1080P buying now.

Gregster · 16 Oct 2013 at 10:49

Return and swap for the 7990. At 1080P, I would say keep it but at 1440P, the 7990 is the faster card out the box.

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 10:58

Thanks for confirming that I have indeed made a mistake guys!

Just so I don't make another mistake, are there any other single card solutions I should look at around the £500 maek - I think not but don't want to make the same mistake twice!

iTek · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:01

Yeah seems like 7990 is the only cure. How far is a Titan off 690 performance? and are they < £500 second hand?

Gregster · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:04

The 690 is a fine card and will cope with 1440P for a long while but we are seeing the 256Bit bus struggle at 1440P and above. The worry for me isn't the amount of VRAM but the size of the bus.

I would sooner have a 7990 over a 780 but I have never tried dual AMD cards before and only dual Nvidia cards and this caused me no issues.

The 290X will be released on "God knows when" and the 780 is released now. Neither will be faster than an overclocked 7990

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:06

Gregster said:
The 690 is a fine card and will cope with 1440P for a long while but we are seeing the 256Bit bus struggle at 1440P and above. The worry for me isn't the amount of VRAM but the size of the bus.

I would sooner have a 7990 over a 780 but I have never tried dual AMD cards before and only dual Nvidia cards and this caused me no issues.

The 290X will be released on "God knows when" and the 780 is released now. Neither will be faster than an overclocked 7990

Thanks for the quick and concise reply Greg, much appreciated!

I'll do a bit of googling before I pull the trigger but seems the best way to go at the moment.

Interested to hear other opinions however.

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:07

iTek said:
Yeah seems like 7990 is the only cure. How far is a Titan off 690 performance? and are they < £500 second hand?

I did think about getting a Titan, but I couldn't really justify the price.

snips86x · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:10

MrClark said:
I did think about getting a Titan, but I couldn't really justify the price.

I wouldn't bother considering the 780 is a good contender and the 280x is close to both also. With the 290x being released soon, this should shake it all up a bit.

spankingtexan · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:16

If I were you, I'd certainly be pulling the trigger on the 7990, while the new AMD line up is impressive they won't match a 7990 for shear horsepower.

Gregster · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:19

I think I am being a little harsh on the 690 in fairness. Check out these bench results (which are all for 1600P) and see for yourself what games you play and what card favors your preferences. The 690 wins in quite a few as well as the 7990 winning in a few of the others.

Remember that you get PhysX effects with a 690 and to some this is a nice addition.

By all means, let others have their say

Jono8 · 16 Oct 2013 at 11:23

I am sure Kappstad on here said he played the BF4 beta at 1600p with 4xAA on a 690 with zero issues.

I would probably keep it. By the time the vram and bus speed becomes a problem, you probably wont be getting wonderful framerates anyway

straxusii · 16 Oct 2013 at 12:01

Wait for the imminent R290X to arrive, along with Nvidia price cuts, then choose it or the 780, personally I wouldn't go dual GPU

Five.Stars · 16 Oct 2013 at 15:45

Return and get a 7990.

*Only do this if nVidia's proprietary tech (Physx, 3DVision etc.) is not something that you us or are intending to use in future.

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:10

Think I'm going to go with the 7990.

I fully acknowledge it was my mistake but I've asked OCUK in the RMA if they could maybe post the 7990 free of charge (I know, bit cheeky), looks like it's going to cost me £50 in postage back and forth otherwise - that will learn me!

Can anyone recommend a decent delivery company to send the card back? Royal mail are quoting 20 something quid!

Shaftydude · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:10

Are these dual cards dependent on SLI/Crossfire drivers with their performance?

chaparral · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:15

MrClark said:
(or something else if someone can recommend me a card)?

Thanks in advance.

I would go for a GTX 780 and then pickup a second one later for SLI when there cheaper....

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:29

chaparral said:
I would go for a GTX 780 and then pickup a second one later for SLI when there cheaper....

Too many options!! Hehe.

My thinking behind a single card solution is that in 2 years or so I could chuck a second one in and (hopefully) be able to max out games while still being able to play current games on max settings as well (1440p).

MrClark · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:31

Shaftydude said:
Are these dual cards dependent on SLI/Crossfire drivers with their performance?

From the reviews I've read, yes, very much so.

Some games scale some don't as displayed in Gregs earlier post.

You can see the 690 is better in some games and the 7990 in others, it's dependent on driver optimisation for a given game as far as I can tell.

chaparral · 16 Oct 2013 at 16:36

MrClark said:
Too many options!! Hehe.

My thinking behind a single card solution is that in 2 years or so I could chuck a second one in and (hopefully) be able to max out games while still being able to play current games on max settings as well (1440p).

But a 690 and 7990 are just two GPU cards joined together and
Adding an extra card for a tri crossfire/Tri SLI setup don't scale very well..