NVIDIA Releases New GeForce GTX 590 Graphics Card

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2007 called, they want their GPU prices back. NVIDIA introduced their (long rumored) GeForce GTX 590 today, and like their previous “halo cards”, it’s got two GPUs, has a ton of graphics power, and is disgustingly expensive. Like it’s top rival, the AMD Radeon HD 6990, it’s price breaks the dreaded $700 price barrier as the GTX 590 has a reference price of $700.

Let’s discuss more technical details before I complain more about the price. The card contains 1024 CUDA cores. It has a 1215 MHz processor clock with a 607Mhz graphics clock, and has 3GB of VRAM, or 1500MB per core. It will need dual 8-pin power connectors, and it will suck 365W of power. It can be put into quad-SLI and it is 11-inches long. On the back, it’s got three DVI ports and a Mini-DisplayPort.

Back to the price. AMD took the first blow when their halo card, the Radeon HD 6990 came out earlier this month at a list price of $699. Supply and demand has driven the price up, and you won’t find it selling anywhere online for a touch below $720. So, you can’t place the blame solely on NVIDIA’s shoulders for outpricing the GTX 590. However, in this blogger’s opinion, $700 graphics cards were an unfortunate era in the computer hardware community and it’s disheartening to see the industry go back there.

Back to the Radeon HD 6990 – like the GTX 590, it’s a Titanic-sized graphics card. Performance benchmarks from top reviews sites show no noticeable difference between the GTX 590 and Radeon HD 6990. They appear to be neck-and-neck as far as performance. It is extremely likely that AMD will cut the wholesale price of the ’6990 in order to encourage retailers to bring down the prices so it can compete more favorably with the GTX 590.

Anyway, the GTX 590. 1024 CUDA cores. $699. It’s in stock now. Are you planning on picking one up?

(Image Credit: PCPer.com)