Nvidia has long been the graphics card company to beat. Past Nvidia graphics cards have always pleased most reviewers (with just a few exceptions) and more great things are expected from this company. Today, Nvidia officially launched the GeoForce GTX 690. This graphics card has a lot going for it, but the first thing that will stick out in most consumer’s minds is the price tag: $999. Nvidia nearly doubled the price of its former card (the 680), but does this high price stand up to what the card actually offers?

Inside the GTX 690

The GTX 690 includes 4GB of GDDR5 RAM and two Kepler GK104 units. You’ll also find that this card is very quiet, doesn’t take a lot of power, and also happens to be blazing fast. As some reviewers have pointed out, the GTX 690 is comparable to two 680 cards combined, but the 690 has something that combining two 680 cards won’t provide: above excellent performance. When tested, this card blew the possible combining of two 680 cards out of the water.

But, again, that price tag is still something to consider. At $999, the GTX 690 is not a small purchase, even if it is faster and better than two 680 cards combined. So why has Nvidia decided to hike up the price of this card so much? Seemingly, the GK104 chip that is required to run this bad boy is not widely available (incidentally, this is the same reason why it’s currently tough to come across a Nvidia 680 card too).

Thus, the price of the GTX 690 is reflecting this unavailability. Of course, this also means that if you do have $1000 to spend on a graphics card, you might not be able to find a GTX 690 right away. In fact, only two companies in North America will be showcasing the new Nvidia card (Asus and EVGA).

Who Is This Card For?

While anyone can purchase Nvidia’s new offering, the GTX 690 will really showcase its talents when it comes to gaming. Even then, gaming on more than one monitor is really the purpose behind this amazingly fast card. With speeds like the one that this card is putting out, gaming will never be the same again. Those not looking to game probably won’t find much use for this graphics card, and that price is definitely too high to buy the card if you don’t have a direct purpose for it.

Availability

As mentioned, the Nvidia GTX 690 won’t be readily available across North America right away. The card did officially launch today, though Asus and EVGA are the only two companies that will feature the card at the moment. As soon as that GK104 chip becomes more widely available (if this happens), you will be able to hunt down Nvidia’s newest graphics cards with much better results. For now, most gamers will have to sit and wonder with awe what one, two, or more monitors might look like while running Nvidia’s latest graphics wonder.