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GeForce GTX 690 is the fastest graphics card ever built! It is powered by two Kepler GPUs and uses hardware based frame metering!


Features of GTX 690:


Kepler GPU Architecture
NVIDIA's Kepler GPU architecture has been designed from the ground up not just for maximum performance in the latest DirectX 11 games, but optimal performance per watt. The new SMX streaming multiprocessor is twice as efficient as the prior generation and the new geometry engine draws triangles twice as fast. The result is world class performance and the highest image quality in an elegant and power efficient graphics card.

NVIDIA GPU Boost 
Up until now, GPUs have operated at a fixed clock speed when playing 3D games, even if they have the potential to run faster. GPU Boost intelligently monitors graphics work load and increases the clock speed whenever possible. The result is that the GPU always performs at its peak and you get the highest framerate possible.  

NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync
Nothing is more distracting than framerate stuttering and screen tearing. The first tends to occur when framerates are low, the second when framerates are high. Adaptive V-Sync is a smarter way to render frames. At high framerates, V-sync is enabled to eliminate tearing, at low frame rates, it's disabled to minimize stuttering. It gets rid of distractions so you can get on with gaming.

NVIDIA Surround with Up To Four Monitors1 
Nothing is as breathtaking as playing your favorite games across three monitors. At 5760 x 1080, the expanded field of view fully engages human peripheral vision and provides for the most immersive experience in racing and flight simulators. Add in a fourth display to keep tabs on chat, email or web while you are gaming.

Two New Anti-aliasing Modes: FXAA and TXAA
Anti-aliasing smoothes out jagged edges but can be demanding on framerates. FXAA is a new antialiasing technology that produces beautiful smooth lines with minimal performance impact. And with Kepler based GPUs, you'll be able to enable FXAA in hundreds of game titles through the NVIDIA Control Panel.

The second mode, TXAA, is an in-game option that combines MSAA, temporal filtering, and post processing for even higher visual fidelity.

NVIDIA 3D Vision® Ready2 
NVIDIA 3D Vision brings a fully immersive, stereoscopic 3D experience to the PC. A combination of high-tech wireless glasses and advanced software, 3D Vision transforms hundreds of PC games into full stereoscopic 3D. Get up to 2x monitor and keyboard brightness with NVIDIA 3D LightBoost technology4. In addition, you can enjoy 3D movies and 3D digital photographs from 3DVisionLive.com in eye popping, crystal-clear quality.

NVIDIA SLI® Technology3 
Used by the most demanding gamers worldwide, SLI lets you link up to three GeForce GTX 690s together for astounding performance. And with NVIDIA’s track record for fast and frequent software updates, you’ll not only get the best performance in existing games, but future games too.


NVIDIA PhysX® Technology 
Full support for NVIDIA PhysX technology, enabling a totally new class of physical gaming interaction for a more dynamic and realistic experience with GeForce.

Source: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-690

So you've watched movies like The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino and Donnie Brasco, and you think you're ready for life in the mob? There's a safe and perfectly legal way to find out: play Mafia 2. The long-awaited sequel to one of the finest games ever to grace the PC (Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven), Mafia 2 lets you live 'the life' as Vito Scaletta, experiencing all the highs and lows of being a gangster in mid-century America. With over 120 songs from the 1940s-60s, over 30 classic vehicles from that era, and a large and fully detailed city, Mafia 2 will have you hooked from the moment you step into Vito's shoes.

The game's official minimum requirements are shown below:

Processor: Pentium D 3Ghz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ (Dual core)
Memory: 1.5 GB
Hard Drive: At least 8 GB of free space
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 (or equivalent) or higher
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible
Peripherals: Keyboard & mouse or Windows compatible gamepad
OS: Windows XP SP2 / Vista / 7
This means that virtually any gaming PC can play Mafia 2. However the game has an added PC-exclusive feature in the form of NVIDIA PhysX enhancements. To utilize these enhanced features at playable framerates the following is recommended as a minimum:

Processor: 2.4 GHz Quad Core
Memory: 2 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
GPU driver: 197.13 or newer
NVIDIA PhysX driver: 9.10.0513 or newer
We'll take a more detailed look at the PhysX/APEX enhancements later in this guide.

What follows are full descriptions for all of Mafia 2's in-game settings, including screenshot comparisons to highlight the impact on image quality of changing the various settings. Performance information is also provided for every setting, although bear in mind that the precise impact on your particular system depends on your specific hardware combination and your other game and system-wide settings. The aim here is to give you enough information so that you can make an informed choice as to the settings you enable or disable to obtain the precise balance of visual quality and performance which is acceptable to you.

General System Optimization

Almost as important as any in-game setting is the way your Windows installation is configured. A great many problems and performance issues can be traced directly to sub-optimal settings in Windows and out-of-date or badly configured drivers. For this reason it is recommended that you download the relevant version of the TweakGuides Tweaking Companion (TGTC) and take the time to optimize your Windows installation correctly. At the very least make sure to update your graphics drivers to the latest available version.

Performance Measurement

To successfully conduct any tweaking in Mafia 2, you will need some way of objectively measuring your performance in Frames Per Second (FPS). Fortunately, Mafia 2 comes with a built-in benchmark which provides a consistent measure of performance across all systems. To access the benchmark, launch Mafia 2, click Extras on the main menu, then select the Benchmark option. The benchmark will run through a set sequence of events using your current game settings, arriving at an average FPS figure for your system. While the Mafia 2 benchmark is very useful for objective performance measurement, in practice it provides a worst-case scenario, in that during actual gameplay, even at the highest settings, your FPS will rarely be as low as those shown in the benchmark sequence. Importantly, you should also run the benchmark at least twice, because during the first run frequent loading pauses may reduce your FPS, whereas the second run should be relatively free of these pauses and will give you a more accurate result.

To observe your FPS at any point in the game, use the free FRAPS utility. Download, install and launch FRAPS before starting up Mafia 2 You will now see a yellow FPS counter displayed in the corner of your screen. Pay attention to the FPS figure, particularly during graphically intense scenes, such as during explosions and in crowded areas - if it dips into the low double or single digits for example, this is a good indication that you need to adjust various settings until your minimum FPS is consistently above 20-25.

Source: http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/mafia-2-tweak-guide/#1