***Official Reviews Thread*** Nvidia Geforce GTX Titan - Launched Feb. 21, 2013

[Grooveriding]

It's pretty weak to cap this beast of a card at 265 watts. While I've gotten the feeling throughout this generation that nV was reacting to anecdotes (and youtube footage) of some last-generation cards burning up on over-voltage -- so they locked voltages and limited overclocking, and shipped pretty wimpy designs power-circuitry-wise which certainly help their profits along.

I can't believe that some aren't more angered by this 106% power-limit in a $1000 luxury card. I mean, have a look at the total beast which is the 7970 Matrix Platinum. If nV is going to go to the extent of preventing their partners from differing in any big way from their reference design, and have end-users agree to something before overvolting, they could at least deliver a lovingly overbuilt PCB with all the bells and whistles for voltage monitoring and extensive overclocking if they're going to go ahead and charge this much for their flagship.

All the more because they have devised a clever way to cap the clocks should a user want to use their Titan as a cheaper DP cruncher. IMHO they're giving gaming enthusiasts a bum deal by not at least building this thing to max out the PCI-E spec with a couple of 8 pin power connectors and a PCB worthy of the lofty price tag.

The whole 28nm generation from nvidia reeks of a culture of thrift being imposed on their design process to make money hand over fist on obscenely overpriced products. Right down to selling a PCB stripped as bare as possible to gain every last dime.

Then we see these ludicrous Kingpin overclocking results get posted just like we did at the release of GTX680. Some guy who gets out a soldering gun, heavy gauge wire, a nuclear substation for power and then slathers everything in liquid nitrogen to show obscene overclocks. Just reeks of marketing garbage to make enthusiasts think the card is actually a good clocker. It will be just like the GTX680, you get it in your computer and it's trash for overclocking.

No voltage control, this silly new notion of a 'power target' crippling the overclocking on the card and results that come nowhere near anything you saw getting hyped during the release marketing. Because we all buy $500 cards to be concerned about controlling the power they consume, or better yet, now a $1000 one ? ...

 

[DooKey]

The whole 28nm generation from nvidia reeks of a culture of thrift being imposed on their design process to make money hand over fist on obscenely overpriced products. Right down to selling a PCB stripped as bare as possible to gain every last dime.

Then we see these ludicrous Kingpin overclocking results get posted just like we did at the release of GTX680. Some guy who gets out a soldering gun, heavy gauge wire, a nuclear substation for power and then slathers everything in liquid nitrogen to show obscene overclocks. Just reeks of marketing garbage to make enthusiasts think the card is actually a good clocker. It will be just like the GTX680, you get it in your computer and it's trash for overclocking.

No voltage control, this silly new notion of a 'power target' crippling the overclocking on the card and results that come nowhere near anything you saw getting hyped during the release marketing. Because we all buy $500 cards to be concerned about controlling the power they consume, or better yet, now a $1000 one ? ...

I hear what your saying, but I think the real issue is the Nvidia purposely designed for low power usage and the GPUs are just not robust enough to handle excessive voltage. If you remember after Fermi the CEO came out and said power consumption was going to be a prime driver of the next generation.

 

[thilanliyan]

I can't believe that some aren't more angered by this 106% power-limit in a $1000 luxury card.

QFT...for that much money I expected it to be able to handle close to 300w. The OCing limits are disappointing on this level of card.

 

[lavaheadache]

Groove, For whatever reason performance per watt is all the rage right now. For 20+ years in this hobby I have never heard of such a thing and no all of a sudden that is all I hear.

Wait till this trickles into the car industry and we start hearing 'Vette and Viper guys arguing over who's car guzzles the most fuel/hp.

 

[notty22]

I suggest deep thinkers about strategy listen to the AMD marketers and go buy the Asus ARES II. Get what you want. Get a 1500 dollar , water cooled dual 7970x2. With criticism and gripes about marketing conspiracies? Jump to the competition, if you truly want a upgrade, or not, maybe are just complaining for the sake of complaining.

 

[Grooveriding]

Groove, For whatever reason performance per watt is all the rage right now. For 20+ years in this hobby I have never heard of such a thing and no all of a sudden that is all I hear.

Wait till this trickles into the car industry and we start hearing 'Vette and Viper guys arguing over who's car guzzles the most fuel/hp.

I think it's just the usual canny nvidia marketing. Take whatever weaknesses your product has and market it as a strength, or find the strength in its weaknesses I suppose.

I know the pro market cares about efficiency and it has real value to them, but ffs, when you sell a Geforce realize you are selling to a market that is not going to give a crap about all that. It's a hobby for us, not a job.

 

[BoFox]

Here are the reviews that I've studied so far:

(Single)
http://alienbabeltech.com/main/?p=33836
(^^ Probably breaking some records with 89 average FPS - no Min or Max or lower than 1080p - results per card!)
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6774/nvidias-geforce-gtx-titan-part-2-titans-performance-unveiled
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2144/1/
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...AN-Performance-Review-and-Frame-Rating-Update
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/887-1/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-big-kepler-debarque-enfin.html
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/nvidia_geforce_gtx_titan_gaming/
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/graphics/33327-nv-gtx-titan-review
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_titan_review,1.html
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2013/02/21/nvidia_geforce_gtx_titan_video_card_review#.USZWnVfVL64
http://techreport.com/review/24381/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-reviewed
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...geforce-gtx-titan-6gb-performance-review.html
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/51985-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan/
http://www.expreview.com/23878.html
(^^ COOL PICTURES!)

(Single and SLI)
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/grafikkarten/2013/test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan/
http://www.overclockers.com/nvidia-gtx-titan-video-card-review
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/nvidia_geforce_titan_–_benchmarks2013


(Single, SLI, and 3-way)
http://www.hardwareluxx.com/index.p.../21859-xxl-test-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan.html
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_titan_3_way_sli_review,1.html
http://www.pcgamer.com/review/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-review/#null
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-titan-performance-review,3442.html
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/GeForce-GTX-Titan-Performance-Yes-It-CAN-Play-Crysis-3/
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/NVIDIA/GeForce_GTX_Titan_SLI/
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Grafikkarten-Hardware-97980/Tests/Test-Geforce-GTX-Titan-1056659/
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2013/02/21/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-6gb-review/1
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/16541-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan

 

[Termie]

Here are the reviews that I've studied so far:

snip

Added to OP.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Wow, 51% faster at 1600p in BF3 vs the 7970, that's crazy!

 

[notty22]

Wow, 51% faster at 1600p in BF3 vs the 7970, that's crazy!

I actually read earlier in this thread, that now 1080P was more important.
Kyle and Brent seem to really like the card/S. I don't see much reference to their review.

 

[chimaxi83]

Wow, 51% faster at 1600p in BF3 vs the 7970, that's crazy!

Damn, 42% faster than 680 in BF3 at 2560x1600, as well as 46% faster overall! That's awesome! It's only 37% faster than 7970 overall.

 

[sontin]

Wow, 51% faster at 1600p in BF3 vs the 7970, that's crazy!

51%?
Pah, that's nothing.
54%: http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/16541-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan/8#pagehead

 

[notty22]

51%?
Pah, that's nothing.
54%: http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/16541-nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan/8#pagehead

Yeah, but were they using 13.2 beta 6 revision 2(nightly update)~with cap Alpha 1.7a revision 4? Yeah, I thought so! All these sites are bought and paid for, and always refuse to run the optimum AMD driver released the day before.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I laughed.

 

[Granseth]

Why does someone have to be brain dead to buy Titan? Titan is marketed for a specific demographic that likes the latest and greatest and has the means to buy it. It's really as simple as that. It's kind of like people who buy super high end audio equipment. They don't really need it because you can only tell the difference in the sound using test equipment, but they like the latest and greatest. I see this as the same kind of thing.

Don't compare to Hi-Fi. In Hi-Fi a part you buy today can still be a high-end part 15 years from now, not just 1-2 years as is for graphics.

I do get some of what you want to convey, but nVidia made a big error by not giving this part a have to have enthusiast value as it is very expensive, but being not great on PCB and very restrictive.

But if you want the best, this is what you get, and as long as its is small volume it will sell. But as soon as those customers are satisfied there will be a problem. Either nVidia can ignore the early adopters and reduce the price, or they can keep it exclusive until it is discontinued because a better part comes along.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

It's only restrictive for noobs, anyone who knows what they're doing will void their warranty and get far better control.

Nvidia doesn't want to pay for slider rookies who cook their cards.

 

[Granseth]

It's only restrictive for noobs, anyone who knows what they're doing will void their warranty and get far better control.

Nvidia doesn't want to pay for slider rookies who cook their cards.

Please tell me how?
And tell me how a 1000$ part should have a max 6% increase in TDP potential for us noobs when everything else has much more.

 

[l2ez4m]

Very comprehensive and real present status quo revealing review

 

[SirPauly]

Groove, For whatever reason performance per watt is all the rage right now. For 20+ years in this hobby I have never heard of such a thing and no all of a sudden that is all I hear.

Wait till this trickles into the car industry and we start hearing 'Vette and Viper guys arguing over who's car guzzles the most fuel/hp.

To be fair it is an extension of power usage that has been around, tested and evaluated for many, many generations by web-sites! How else could one gauge their power supplies?

 

[BoFox]

Very comprehensive and real present status quo revealing review

Thanks - I didn't get to that one yet!

 

[notty22]

At newegg it's gone from pre-order to auto-notify.

I had added one to cart, just to see how they were handling things.

ASUS GTXTITAN-6GD5 has been removed from shopping cart due to quantity limitation/insufficient stock. Some combo items might be affected by this

 

[BallaTheFeared]

Overpriced = sold out

This forum has way too many business school dropouts.

 

[Annisman*]

EVGA Titan in stock at newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130897

 

[chimaxi83]

Overpriced = sold out

This forum has way too many business school dropouts.

That's true, but they're far outnumbered by the wannabe financial analysts.

 

[BoFox]

1 more review, although "meh".. I'm surprised NV actually sent them a $1000 card (unless it's a popular site or magazine):
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...cards/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-1132780/review

and the worst one ever (like 1-page article with hard-to-find numbers):
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2415630,00.asp

BSN does Tri-SLI :awe: !
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/new...and-battlefield-3-vs-hd-7970-ghz-edition.aspx

And K|NGP|N'S own "LN2" review:
http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2200
:$