Tech Report: Nvidia, Asus put the clamps on GTX 590 voltage

[Edrick]

Ok, so a $699 card running @ ~350W can not be overclock/overvolted to match performance with 2 GTX 580's ($1000) @ ~ 500W.

Im shocked!!!!

 

[bryanW1995]

I wouldn't say "barely" either. NV pulled off a real coup imho by getting two cut-down gtx 580's together, they just should have spent a few $$ more making sure that the cards didn't blow up while reviewers were stress-testing them. Honestly, gtx 590 is close enough to 6990 to say that they are a draw performance-wise. Considering NV's alternative was to allow amd to claim the crown AGAIN, I don't see how they had a choice; they had to release this card, and it had to be close enough to 6990 that they could at least claim a draw.

 

[Skurge]

Ok, so a $699 card running @ ~350W can not be overclock/overvolted to match performance with 2 GTX 580's ($1000) @ ~ 500W.

Im shocked!!!!

I think my sarcasm meter is broken. Nvidia probably didn't want sales taken away from the 580.

 

[smakme7757]

I was considering a GTX590 before i got my 580. Even after reading all the positive comments on the 590 i'm 100% satisfied with my 580 and plan on adding a second. The 590 just wasn't the smash hit i was waiting for!

 

[pcm81]

I wonder if AMD CPU manufacturing expertise has something to do with the fact that they were able to fit two hungry GPU's on a same PCB and have great overclocking margins.

The GPUs Radeon uses are not as power hungry as the ones GTX uses, however GTX GPUs are faster per clock cycle on small work batches.

 

[nvidiaintelftw]

Id like to see what Asus or MSI do with non reference designs.

 

[pcm81]

Id like to see what Asus or MSI do with non reference designs.

Those will ship with a small nuclear power plant attached.

 

[MangoX]

I wouldn't say "barely" either. NV pulled off a real coup imho by getting two cut-down gtx 580's together, they just should have spent a few $$ more making sure that the cards didn't blow up while reviewers were stress-testing them. Honestly, gtx 590 is close enough to 6990 to say that they are a draw performance-wise. Considering NV's alternative was to allow amd to claim the crown AGAIN, I don't see how they had a choice; they had to release this card, and it had to be close enough to 6990 that they could at least claim a draw.

But they claimed otherwise, which was "Fastest card in the world" ... har har har.

 

[insurgent]

I think what was said was Nvidia can't put two 480 in a single card, not the 580 that they barely achieved.

 

[Will Robinson]

Here's a translated article detailing the VRM problem.
http://translate.google.com/transla...dia-geforce-gtx-590-studiu-de-overclocking/12

 

[Keysplayr]

But they claimed otherwise, which was "Fastest card in the world" ... har har har.

This guy just might have "the" fastest card in the world. On air anyway.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31500107&postcount=605

 

[AnandThenMan]

This guy just might have "the" fastest card in the world. On air anyway.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31500107&postcount=605

Any published scores to back that up?

 

[SlowSpyder]

Ok, so a $699 card running @ ~350W can not be overclock/overvolted to match performance with 2 GTX 580's ($1000) @ ~ 500W.

Im shocked!!!!

I don't think anyone claimed the goal is to reach GXT580 SLI speed. Being able to tweak your enthusiast card without it melting down would be nice, though. The fact is the competiton's $699 card can be overclocked and overvolted. My guess would be that near 1GHz and at highish resolutions that $699 AMD card will be nipping at the heels to two GTX580's SLI'd, if not faster than that setup.

Like I said earlier, I cannot find a reason to buy a GTX590 over a 6990 (of course I don't see a reason to buy either, I would have two 6950's if I wanted a multi-GPU setup and was buying today).

 

[dguy6789]

It can't cost $500, the performance doesn't merit it.

I hope you're not suggesting that the GTX 580's performance merits $500 while the 6970's does not. The GTX 580 is only $20 faster than the 6970 tops.

 

[Mezzanine]

The chatter from the Nvidia apologists is simply unbelievable. The GTX590 is a dud, get over it, it happens.

The spin is pretty damn amusing though.

 

[3DVagabond]

Is this how O/C'ing is supposed to work?

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/04/03/asus_geforce_gtx_590_overclocking_followup/1

 

[Morg.]

Is 6970 a dud because it cant beat a 580? The multi-GPU market is a niche.

Well, there are various point of views on this, but I'll just give you my own .
66% of the Watts eaten
66% of the price
80%+ of the performance @1920
97% of the perf @2560

OR if you really want to pay 500, why not 600 :
132% watts
132% price
160% performance 1920
194% performance 2560

Either way, I see the 6970 as > 580 for anyone who does not absolutely want to spend precisely 500 bucks or have the most powerful 4gpu setup on earth.

Now the 590 ?
more power, more money, less performance, no potential for OC. - lol ?

 

[Keysplayr]

Any published scores to back that up?

You're particberating in that thread. You already know what benches hes provided so far. Just vantage at the moment.

 

[insurgent]

You're particberating in that thread. You already know what benches hes provided so far. Just vantage at the moment.

particberating.. lol!

 

[SlowSpyder]

This guy just might have "the" fastest card in the world. On air anyway.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=31500107&postcount=605

He's running the card at 1.0v. I hope he never has to update his drivers.

 

[Silverforce11]

Tech Report should not have included their sledge against Swede, it's uncalled for and clearly uninformed. It should be updated to remove those statements. That aint news, thats propaganda and only brings TR down.

As for the 590, the reference model is pure fail.. or EPIC FAIL if you prefer that. The dual 580 GPUs deserve a better PCB. Looking forward to non-ref designs.

 

[Keysplayr]

Tech Report should not have included their sledge against Swede, it's uncalled for and clearly uninformed. It should be updated to remove those statements. That aint news, thats propaganda and only brings TR down.

As for the 590, the reference model is pure fail.. or EPIC FAIL if you prefer that. The dual 580 GPUs deserve a better PCB. Looking forward to non-ref designs.

I think TR hit the nail right on the head. That was in fact the second card to blow and they repeated their first overvolt with the second card and filmed it.
This is the most believable scenario when weighed against others. Like, "They just happened to be filming when the card blew." Nope. Don't think so.

And come over my house sometime and I'll show you how my Epically failed GTX590 plays 3D Surround. Then you can show me where you think it has failed. In reality, the 590 is a very powerful card. Because it cannot be overvolted after recent driver updates does NOT make it a failure product.
And just saying so doesn't make it so.

TY, I'll be here all week.

 

[Keysplayr]

He's running the card at 1.0v. I hope he never has to update his drivers.

Why? because then he won't be able to overvolt? For some reason, do you think the 590 isn't powerful enough at stock? It goes back and forth against 6990.
And besides, updated drivers usually offer gradual but wide range of performance improvements over time anyway.

 

[Silverforce11]

I think TR hit the nail right on the head. That was in fact the second card to blow and they repeated their first overvolt with the second card and filmed it.
This is the most believable scenario when weighed against others. Like, "They just happened to be filming when the card blew." Nope. Don't think so.

And come over my house sometime and I'll show you how my Epically failed GTX590 plays 3D Surround. Then you can show me where you think it has failed. In reality, the 590 is a very powerful card. Because it cannot be overvolted after recent driver updates does NOT make it a failure product.
And just saying so doesn't make it so.

TY, I'll be here all week.

It fails for a few simple reasons:
1. Price, same as the competitor 6990.
2. Slower at stock in high resolution. Which most users have agreed that its high resolution performance that matters on these pricy cards.
3. Cannot OC very well, and now with the cap on voltage tweaking in later drivers, it will be ~670mhz on the core at stock, even worse than release reviews.
4. Marketed as an enthusiast card. With poor PCB components and crap OCability. So even if enthusiasts water cool this card, it cannot be pushed in OC and vcore and stay safe.
5. A 6990 on water can be pushed further because its VRM can handle higher vcore without exploding.
6. Points #3-5 together makes this card pure fail for a $700 product aimed at enthusiasts. You have yours for free and you don't even want to up the vcore... spare a thought for the consumers who have to pay $700 for it.
7. It's cooler while not noisy at stock, when OC it has to be set to >80% speed for stability and thats noiser than the auto-profile of the 6990 OC in non-ASUM mode.

It has one redeeming quality:
1. Low noise level at stock. But even this is countered by the cooler design venting half the exhaust into your case causing nearby components to heat up.

Did i miss anything? When a non-reference 590 shows up, i will reevaluate my views.

 

[Keysplayr]

It fails for a few simple reasons:
1. Price, same as the competitor 6990. Similar performance, similar price. No?

2. Slower at stock in high resolution. Which most users have agreed that its high resolution performance that matters on these pricy cards. Depends on the game. I have seen plenty of reviews where 25x16 results favor GTX590 just as I have seen them favor 6990. It's a wash IMHO

3. Cannot OC very well, and now with the cap on voltage tweaking in later drivers, it will be ~670mhz on the core at stock, even worse than release reviews. You really don't need to o/c these cards (590 or 6990).

4. Marketed as an enthusiast card. With poor PCB components and crap OCability. So even if enthusiasts water cool this card, it cannot be pushed in OC and vcore and stay safe. As with all o/c'ing, ymmv.

5. A 6990 on water can be pushed further because its VRM can handle higher vcore without exploding.Different architectures. If the shader's cant even be compared directly, why would you think their voltage requirements be directly compared? You can't.

6. Points #3-5 together makes this card pure fail for a $700 product aimed at enthusiasts. Points 1-7 are bogus, let alone 3-5. IMHO


You have yours for free and you don't even want to up the vcore... spare a thought for the consumers who have to pay $700 for it.
Got one for free, not the second. So just count me as a single GTX590 owner if that makes you feel any better. Don't count the free one.

7. It's cooler while not noisy at stock, when OC it has to be set to >80% speed for stability and thats noiser than the auto-profile of the 6990 OC in non-ASUM mode. I wouldn't know, I don't own a 6990. Own a 590 by chance?

It has one redeeming quality:
1. Low noise level at stock. But even this is countered by the cooler design venting half the exhaust into your case causing nearby components to heat up.Yes, it is quiet. But (major sigh here) both the 590 and 6990 exhaust 1/2 of the fans output into the case and 1/2 out of the case on the other end.

Did i miss anything? When a non-reference 590 shows up, i will reevaluate my views.

Yes, you missed it all. IMHO your entire list here is one big reach. And that is ok, just don't expect not to be challenged on anything you put out there.