Performance, Power, Passion and Money: Nvidia Launches GeForce GTX 690.

Nvidia Corp. has unveiled its most powerful graphics solution: the dual-chip GeForce GTX 690, which is powered by two Kepler-generation GK104 graphics processors made using 28nm process technology. With the help of 3072 stream processors, the device is set to establish new performance records. The only problem: $999 price tag amid limited quantities.
Being based on two GeForce GTX 680 graphics processors, the model GTX 690 essentially doubles their power with 3072 stream processors, 256 texture units, 64 raster operating units as well as two 256-bit memory buses. The chip is clocked at 915MHz, whereas 4GB of memory operate at whopping 6.008GHz. The novelty fully supports modern high-end technologies, such as DirectX 11.1, OpenGL 4.2, OpenCL 1.2, stereoscopic-3D, multi-monitor capability, PhysX, 4-way multi-GPU, PCI Express 3.0 and so on.
"The GTX 690 is truly a work of art - gorgeous on the outside with amazing performance on the inside. Gamers will love playing on multiple screens at high resolutions with all the eye candy turned on. And they will relish showing their friends how beautiful the cards look inside their systems," said Brian Kelleher, senior vice president of GPU engineering at Nvidia.
By releasing a graphics card that costs $1000, Nvidia opens up a number of new doors while closing several other. On the first place, a graphics card becomes a luxurious item now that it is priced at the low end of proper watches. But with $1000 price tag, it ceases to be a present or an impulse buy. All-in-all, Nvidia just opens up the market of extremely hardcore gamers. There are not lot of them, though...

Nvidia GeForce GTX uses an array of innovative technologies to make it look good while not compromising its functional sides, such as efficient cooling:

• An exterior frame made from trivalent chromium-plated aluminum, providing excellent strength and durability;
• A fan housing made from a thixomolded magnesium alloy, which offers improved heat dissipation and vibration dampening;
• High-efficiency power delivery with less resistance, lower power and less heat generated using a 10-phase, heavy-duty power supply with a 10-layer, two-ounce copper printed circuit board;
• Efficient cooling using dual vapor chambers, a nickel-plated finstack and center-mounted axial fan with optimized fin pitch and air entry angles;
• Low-profile components and ducted baseplate channels for unobstructed airflow, minimizing turbulence and improving acoustic quality.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 GPU will be available in limited quantities starting May 3, 2012, with wider availability by May 7, 2012 from Nvidia's add-in card partners, including Asus, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Inno3D, MSI, Palit and Zotac. Expected pricing is $999.