NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Video Card Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Video Card Review - NVIDIA is launching a TITAN today, literally, the new GeForce GTX TITAN video card is here, and we have a lot to talk about. We test single-GPU and 2-way SLI today, with more to follow later. We will find out if this TITAN of a video card really is worth it, and just who this video card is designed for. Be prepared to face the fastest single-GPU video card.
 
While everyone is impressed with the performance of Titan....


It would of been nice to find a review somewhere that called nvidia out on Titan costing $1000, especially in the context of GTX 680/GK104 clearly being a mid-range card while Titan is more in line with flagship cards of the past. Such as GTX 580, 480, 285, 280.

Sure nvidia is trying to promote it as a 'boutique' card, but it's still a 500mm2 or so die, with a wide memory bus, lots of VRAM and taken off their compute line of GPUs, just like all their past gaming flagships until 28nm. Historically nvidia has delivered 80% more performance on their new node's flagship against the last node's. That is exactly what Titan does against GTX 580, whereas GTX 680 gave only 30-35%. Let them promote it as whatever they want, we all see it for what it is; the real GTX 680 with its price doubled.

It's a rip-off. Just like the GTX 680 was a rip-off. Nvidia has jacked prices twofold this generation and no one is calling them on it but the gamers who are having to pay these ripoff prices, or stay on 40nm. At least we have $400 7970GE that gives 80% the performance of a $1000 Titanic.
 
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Great power comes with a great price tag. Once again another solid review. If this card was in the $700-$800 price range I would say it would be a higher seller, I still predict a good chunk of people will still buy the cards.
 
Well its a major upgrade to my GTX 680 and would help pushing 1440p@120Hz on my overlord monitor. But $999 seems like a scam :/
 
ragecase said:
While everyone is impressed with the performance of Titan....


It would of been nice to find a review somewhere that called nvidia out on Titan costing $1000, especially in the context of GTX 680/GK104 clearly being a mid-range card while Titan is more in line with flagship cards of the past. Such as GTX 580, 480, 285, 280.

Sure nvidia is trying to promote it as a 'boutique' card, but it's still a 500mm2 or so die, with a wide memory bus, lots of VRAM and taken off their compute line of GPUs, just like all their past gaming flagships until 28nm. Let them promote it as whatever they want, we all see it for what it is; the real GTX 680 with its price doubled.

It's a rip-off.
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you have to keep in mind what else titan can do that wasnt covered in many off these articles.

hence the higher price tag.
 
Great review and next time I need to look at the AA setting before passing judgement on the charts.
 
I don't know why they keep boasting about how great this is for a SFF desktop. Not only do they have a very different opinion than I on what SFF is, but this card is only half an inch shorter than a GTX690 and this review gives the impression that it's half as long or something.

The $1000 price tag is in no way justified whatsoever, it's basically saying "pay an extra $550 for this card if you want somewhat better performance and really REALLY don't want SLI at all", I imagine if you wait a few months for the GTX 700 series you'll have this same performance at half the price.
 
Alphonze said:
I don't know why they keep boasting about how great this is for a SFF desktop. Not only do they have a very different opinion than I on what SFF is, but this card is only half an inch shorter than a GTX690 and this review gives the impression that it's half as long or something.

The $1000 price tag is in no way justified whatsoever, it's basically saying "pay an extra $550 for this card if you want somewhat better performance and really REALLY don't want SLI at all", I imagine if you wait a few months for the GTX 700 series you'll have this same performance at half the price.
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Doubt it. 700 series probably won't arrive until Q4 or later. The card is no doubt overpriced, maybe we can hope for prices to level off into the $800 range after the initial buzz wears off.
 
sirsad said:
Are you talking about double precision cuda cores or what?
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I have no idea as well. This is a gaming card. People concerned with compute go to workplaces where they pay $5000 for a Tesla card and the support and drivers that go with it.

Golly Gee!! Oak Ridge Supercomputer!! Marketing rubbish, this card is Geforce.
 
I've got enough tax money to blow on a pair of these just to do it for kicks, but I'm betting I would be sooooo CPU limited for the most part in trying to get the most out of them.

Granted, I doubt I'd need new video cards for a loooooong time.

Hmm, maybe if I snag an 3770k and OC the crap outta it.....

I'd love to see how well they handle video conversions in programs that use CUDA.

Must....resist.....
 
I was thinking of replacing my 4X 7970 Quad-Fire with 4X Titans to drive my 7680X1600 set-up, but not anymore...

Lackluster card for the price. My 4X 7970 set-up is working so well (despite what some reviewers are saying) with Radeon Pro and latest beta drivers... And with the upcoming AMD memory optimization in drivers, it will only get better.

All those ''secrets'', heavy viral marketing, and NDA push back, for that Nvidia? ORLY?

The hype machine was really strong in that one...

Probably will buy 2 Titans for my 2nd computer, since I'm using 2X 7970s with 3X 1200p monitors, but that's all.
 
I appreciate the review and do find it very thorough. I however disagree with your Gold award. Money means something and the price/performance just isn't there. Makes me sad that despite how appealing this card is, the price snaps me back to reality. I hope everyone who buys it really enjoys it and doesn't get screwed over when the next generation gets released.
 
ragecase said:
I have no idea as well. This is a gaming card. People concerned with compute go to workplaces where they pay $5000 for a Tesla card and the support and drivers that go with it.

Golly Gee!! Oak Ridge Supercomputer!! Marketing rubbish, this card is Geforce.
Click to expand...

I'm actually somewhat interested in the Titan for a workstation since it actually has a full complement of monitor connections whereas with the K20 you don't get even a single monitor plug. With a single K20 running about $3.5k, paying $1k for a card that has a fairly good amount of CUDA power AND the ability to power multiple monitors is a fairly strong selling point that fits in well for a mid to low power CUDA workstation in my workplace. I can see myself buying a few Titans for a couple machines I'll be setting up in the near future.

That being said it's a niche card for gaming and I understand that (and it seems that the review addresses that point fairly well also). I personally don't like SLI so I'd be tempted to get it if I actually played games that would fully utilize the power, but for now a single 680 will be enough. :)
 
I have to echo the price comments. It's too expensive. Given my 680GTX isn't hitting any performance issues on the games I have been playing and it's power/temp is very similar to the 680GTX, I can't see the value in spending $1000 on it. If the price were between $600 and $700 I'd be hesitant about the price, but I may buy one anyway, but there is no way at $1000.
 
I think the card is great. It fills spot for higher res gaming and 120hz gaming without the plethora of issues I've had when it comes to crossfire/sli. It definitely calls for a premium price. That said, $999 is silly. And I'm not saying this just because it's more than I'd like to spend. It's much more than it's worth. This is coming from someone who spent $720 (CAD) on a GeForce 2 Ultra on release day. If it were in the $700~ bracket, I could understand.


Of course, this card will be sold out hours. The world we live in.
 
I am quite perplexed by the TITAN. Compared to a GE 7970 is a mild 30% increase or so apples to apples and while that is huge the price gap is even larger. Its more than twice as expensive as the mean price for the 7970. Now I have to decide whether not having to deal with SLI/XFire is worth the not insubstantial price increase hmm.
 
Good gaming review on this card.

Performance numbers are good. I like the 6GB vram, but would have much preferred 6dp connectors in the back, or at least 3 to go with that.

This is a good refresh of the Kepler line, but really not something I'd consider buying at that price.
 
Thank you as always, jefe and Brent (get some sleep, man).

I'm suitably impressed by this thing on its merits as a single-GPU device, I am, but I realize I'm not in the target market for it; I'm not looking to spend $2k-ish for a dominating SLI solution (not judging, mind--y'all are out there) and one of the only two single-card solutions that can hang with it is already in my PC. That said, if I was still using a single 680 or lower and had the money...
 
Just out of curiosity - Is the Gold Award the first level of award, like the bronze at a track and field event.
If not, given the price tag and the price to performance ratio just about every card should be getting at least a Gold Award.
 
Great review.

Kyle's closing thoughts were interesting.

But $1000 priced me out of the game.
My 660s will do for now.
 
Cool product, but I don't have $2000 to upgrade to two of them, and a single one isn't worth replacing 2x 1300MHz GTX 680s. Maybe I'll pick up a 3rd 680 if I need more power.
 
pandora's box said:
With the 13.2 Beta drivers you shouldn't install the 12.11 caps btw...
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I highlighted this fact to [H] over a week ago with their GTX 660 GC review here.

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1039606601&highlight=#post1039606601

I hope this is a typo and the [H] reviewers didn't install the latest CAP (12.11 CAP2) which is NOT meant for use with the 13.2 beta drivers. Doing so invalidates the results of the HD 7970 testing in this review.

Not even a mention of AMD HD 7970 prices in the conclusion that make the Titan price/performance ratio look even more ridiculous. Almost every review of Titan so far seems eager to lump Titan into a "niche" of being an elite and expensive card. Almost like they are going out of their way to forgive Nvidia for being scammy bastards.

~30% faster than HD 7970 GE yet well over twice the price. Nah, let's just call it "niche" and praise it instead.:rolleyes:

Can you imagine the uproar if AMD released a similar card ~30% faster than the current highend single GPU and priced it at $1000?
 
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Just keep in mind everyone as you read, who this card is meant for now, system integrators. I would suggest people like us, gaming enthusiasts, where price versus value and performance is key, this video card doesn't fit well, so I understand your statements about price versus everything else out there and the performance you get out of it. With the GTX TITAN, you have to put it into context. The price has made that what it is.

However, if money is no object, there is no question this is the thing to get right now, you cannot beat its performance in single-GPU gaming performance, and you can't beat it's awesome performance in SLI either. It also has the tools that enthusiasts bleed for, to take their hardware to the bleeding edge. This is certainly the fastest and best video card for SFF gaming PCs, period.

I want two of these in my primary gaming system, who wouldn't really?
 
One of the best end-buyer oriented review conclusions I have seen is over at techpowerup

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_Titan/35.html


Super high-end cards like the GTX Titan sell typically relatively low volume, which means in terms of sales revenue GTX Titan is only minor for NVIDIA. However, having the single fastest GPU helps marketing even $200 mainstream products, but I somehow feel the $1000 price might hurt the brand more than help it. People could despise NVIDIA for pricing the card so prohibitively and obnoxiously high, even if the same people would still not buy it at say $700. Sure, the statement "NVIDIA has the fastest single GPU," holds true, but "NVIDIA has the most overpriced single-GPU card in 25 years of VGA history," is equally true.
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The whole notion is, why would I want this at this price point vs. performance? It's not worth it at all.
 
ragecase said:
I have no idea as well. This is a gaming card. People concerned with compute go to workplaces where they pay $5000 for a Tesla card and the support and drivers that go with it.

Golly Gee!! Oak Ridge Supercomputer!! Marketing rubbish, this card is Geforce.
Click to expand...

You are wrong. This card is not only a gaming card, but also positioned as an entry level CUDA Compute card. It isn't rubbish. There is a reason NVidia left all the server compute parts intact except the features that are only needed when running a huge number of these in several compute nodes.

NVidia is positioning this card as a entry level compute card as well as gaming. In that regard, the Titan doesn't seem expensive at all.


The Adobe people (on the Adobe forums) are salivating right now as I type this. (They're still using 480/580s.)
 
ragecase said:
While everyone is impressed with the performance of Titan....


It would of been nice to find a review somewhere that called nvidia out on Titan costing $1000, especially in the context of GTX 680/GK104 clearly being a mid-range card while Titan is more in line with flagship cards of the past. Such as GTX 580, 480, 285, 280.

Sure nvidia is trying to promote it as a 'boutique' card, but it's still a 500mm2 or so die, with a wide memory bus, lots of VRAM and taken off their compute line of GPUs, just like all their past gaming flagships until 28nm. Historically nvidia has delivered 80% more performance on their new node's flagship against the last node's. That is exactly what Titan does against GTX 580, whereas GTX 680 gave only 30-35%. Let them promote it as whatever they want, we all see it for what it is; the real GTX 680 with its price doubled.

It's a rip-off. Just like the GTX 680 was a rip-off. Nvidia has jacked prices twofold this generation and no one is calling them on it but the gamers who are having to pay these ripoff prices, or stay on 40nm. At least we have $400 7970GE that gives 80% the performance of a $1000 Titanic.
Click to expand...

Did you even bother to read Kyle's comments at the end of the article??

"The Titan is just too expensive to be considered by most as an actual option"

He even went as far as to say the card should never have even made it to market and how the card was practically thrown together out of fear that AMD was going to launch something that it had no answer for.

I am perfectly happy with my 680. I dont feel ripped off, and you cant expect the same % of improvement from generation to generation! Technology advancements are NOT linear, and GK110 a year ago was a rumor that had not advanced enough to come to fruition. Yes, the card is overpriced and thats simply supply and demand. When Nvidia realized that it put out this "stop gap" card to answer a non existing card that it THOUGHT AMD was going to release, they limited the run of them, leading to the high price.

Why So Serious?! Dont like it, dont buy it... plain and simple
 
JLangevin said:
Did you even bother to read Kyle's comments at the end of the article??

"The Titan is just too expensive to be considered by most as an actual option"

He even went as far as to say the card should never have even made it to market and how the card was practically thrown together out of fear that AMD was going to launch something that it had no answer for.
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Gold award says it all.
 
It's depressing how much Titan destroys my pair of SLI'd 680's. I want a pair, but 2k+ is sooooooo much money for just video cards. I needed a month to build up the courage and spend a grand on my 680's.
 
Brent_Justice said:
I want two of these in my primary gaming system, who wouldn't really?
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We will always want the fastest solution, but within reason.

Shaqiri1287 said:
It's depressing how much Titan destroys my pair of SLI'd 680's. I want a pair, but 2k+ is sooooooo much money for just video cards. I needed a month to build up the courage and spend a grand on my 680's.
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Yep. Even 1K for SLI I shy away from.
I'm willing to do $700 at the most for any setup, SLI/CF or a beast like the Titan.
 
Bordak said:
Gold award says it all.
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I guess we need to drop the few thousand words of text we painstakingly produce then going forward. Never knew a subjective award was all our content was about.. Thanks, you will save me a lot of money going forwards in regards to content production. :rolleyes:

That all said, I would suggest HardOCP content is not produced with a reader such as yourself in mind at all.
 
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