Which score looks better?

cr500/math690/writing510(6) vs cr490/math690/writing620(9)

Second one, no doubt.

For colleges that consider all 3 sections, the second one. For colleges that only consider CR + M, the first one but the difference is so small that it wouldn’t have much effect.

The second one is definitely better overall, and if the college superscore a 1800 is not a bad total. Yeah, the CR section could be better, but you’ve got a very good Math score and assuming you’re not going to be an English major - it won’t really matter.

The only real issue may come up if a college uses only CR and Math to determine admission, but even so with a 10 point difference in CR it’s no big deal.

Choose #2 if you have to send only one set of scores. Send both if superscoring is part of the deal.