nVidia GTX 590 Introduction - The Worlds Fastest GPU

We knew this day was coming, the day when nVidia would kick things into high gear and release a video card that could clearly blow your mind, introducing the GTX 590 the world's fastest video card. Due to sampling, costs, shipping, trolls, or some other such nonsense we don't have a physical card to test with. However, what we do have is a laundry list of card specifications and technical details and let's face it sometimes drooling over the numbers can be just as fun.

ok, maybe not

As we mentioned before the GTX 590 is the world's fastest GPU, but what makes it the fastest GPU?? Is it a mystery chip discovered in the basement graphics lab? Or is it an innovative product that leverages the best that nVidia has to offer in a compact package? Actually, it's a little of both.

The GTX 590 is designed for elite enthusiast gamers who crave even more performance than what the GTX 580 provides and combines the power of two GF110 GPUs on a single graphics card. These GPUs culminate to offer 1024 CUDA Cores with 3GB of GDDR5 memory to deliver the ultimate GeForce GTX gaming experience.



Two GPUs in a single system is not a new concept, in fact most gamers are doing that already with SLI technology. The problem is SLI can take up valuable space in your chassis and, depending on the GPU, can be extremely noisy.

- Cooling is the biggest issue with video cards and the GTX 590 comes with a special fan that can cool both GPUs and still be quieter than a 9800GX2 and only 2dB louder than a single GTX 580.
- A single GTX 580 cannot support triple displays, to add a third display you must add a second GPU. The GTX 590 can accommodate triple displays and NVIDIA Surround/3D Vision Surround technologies from a single card.
- PhysX has always been configurable and with two GF110 GPUs on a single card, the GTX 590 can dedicate one of its GPUs solely to PhysX processing.
- Two physical GTX 590s can be paired together to support Quad SLI. Supporting Quad SLI without the GTX 590 requires a special motherboard configuration and four physical graphics cards.



With the heatsinks removed you can see the two GTX 580 GPUs on opposite ends of the 12 layer PCB, in the middle you'll find the NF200 bridge chip that divides the available PCI Express lanes and provide equal bandwidth to each processor. There is a 10 phase PWM located between the GPUs.



As we mentioned before we do not have a physical card to test with but to give an idea as to the power gains you can get from the GTX 590 here is a chart from the nVidia test lab with the GTX 580 configured as the 1.0 baseline. On average the GTX 590 can offer 1.5 times the performance which is unheard of in typical SLI configurations.



Gamers and enthusiasts that will want this card will undoubtedly be curious about Quad SLI. In traditional four card SLI you need to have the following.

- 32 PCI Express lanes available which is currently found in the X58 line of motherboards.
- Two NF200 bridge chips to split those 32 PCI Express lanes into a 4x 16 configuration.
- A motherboard with at least 8 expansion slots. Given that most video cards supporting more than 2 card SLI come with dual slot coolers this is a no brainer.

The GTX 590 removes many of these dependencies from the motherboard and gives you the ability to run Quad SLI (2x GTX 590s) on a wider range of motherboards. Of course these boards need to be certified for Quad SLI operation which is not a difficult task. Heck there are some P55 motherboards on the list.

ASUS Maximus III Extreme
ASUS P6T7 WS Supercomputer
ASUS P8P67 Deluxe
ASUS P8P67 Pro
ASUS P8P67 WS Revolution
Asus Rampage III Extreme
ASUS Rampage III Formula
ASUS Sabertooth P67
DFI LanParty_DK_P55_T3EH9
EVGA P55 E658
EVGA X58 FTW3
Gigabyte GA EX58 Extreme
Gigabyte GA-P55-UD5
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD5
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD7
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7
Gigabyte GA-X58-UD9
MSI Big Bang – Trinergy
MSI P67A-GD65
MSI X58 PRO-E

It goes without saying you will still need a proper PSU that supports dual 8pin PCI Express power for each card you install.

Quad SLI Performance increases are almost identical to the jump from a single GTX 580 to the GTX 590 with an average of 1.5x performance gains across the board. Here is another nVidia chart showing the performance increases across their gaming suites.




Graphics Card GeForce GTX 590
Graphics Processing Clusters 8 (4 Per GPU)
Streaming Multiprocessors 32 (16 Per GPU)
CUDA Cores 1024 (512 Per GPU)
Texture Units 128 (64 Per GPU)
ROP Units 96 (48 Per GPU)

Graphics Clock (Fixed Function Units) 607 MHz
Processor Clock (CUDA Cores) 1215 MHz
Memory Clock (Data rate) 3414 MHz

L2 Cache Size 1536KB (768KB Per GPU)
Total Video Memory 3072MB GDDR5 (1536MB Per GPU)
Memory Interface 384-bit
Total Memory Bandwidth 327.7 GB/s (163.9 GB/s per GPU)

Texture Filtering Rate (Bilinear) 77.7 GigaTexels/sec
Fabrication Process 40 nm
Transistor Count 3 Billion
Connectors 3 x Dual-Link DVI-I 1 x Mini DisplayPort
Form Factor Dual Slot
Power Connectors 2 x 8-pin
Recommended Power Supply 700 Watts
Thermal Design Power (TDP) 365 Watts
Thermal Threshold 97° C

For maximum signal integrity, a 12-layer PCB is used. To help disperse heat more effectively across the PCB, two ounces of copper are used for each of the board's power and ground layers on the PCB. This also enhances the board's longevity.

Powering the twin GPUs is a 10-phase advanced digital power controller with over-voltaging capability, while two dual-phase controllers provide power for the board's GDDR5 memories.

For maximum cooling performance, the cooling subsystem of the GTX 590 consists of two self-contained GPU coolers, each utilizing a copper vapor chamber and dual-slot heatsink.

To help provide cooling for the PCB and its components, an aluminum baseplate is secured to the top of the board. In addition, two backplates are mounted on the bottom of the board to cool the graphics memory.

Raw horsepower isn't the GTX 590's only defining feature though. The GeForce GTX 590 is almost as silent as the GTX 580 graphics card, which is known for its quiet acoustics. In addition, the GTX 590 reference board design measures just 11 inches in length, allowing broader chassis compatibility compared to full length 12.2 inch cards.

Don't forget about the standard nVidia technologies that are included with any nVidia GPU

CUDA: CUDA is NVIDIA's parallel computing architecture that enables dramatic increases in computing performance by harnessing the power of the GeForce GPU.
PhysX: NVIDIA PhysX technology adds an element of realism never before seen in gaming. With PhysX technology game developers can harness the power of the GPU to deliver more realistic effects like cloth simulation, volumetric fog, fluid simulation, and more.
3D Vision: 3D Vision is the first solution that allows you to experience your games and movies – including support for Blu-ray 3D – in full HD 1080p stereoscopic 3D, and permitting 720p gaming on new 3D TVs.
3D Vision Surround: NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround technology expands your gaming real estate across three Full HD 1080p 3D monitors for a completely immersive gaming experience.
NVIDIA Surround: NVIDIA Surround technology provides gaming across three non-3D displays with resolutions up to 7680x1600 (three 2560x1600 LCDs). Surround supports landscape or portrait mode for ultimate display flexibility.

The price: $699
There are only a select few nVidia board partners offering the GTX 590 in the US, look for it from Asus and EVGA.