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

[KompuKare]

Wonder if they've done aggressive power gating for the DP stuff?
From the Hexus preview:

The $999 asking price appears to be prohibitive to the gamer but can also be construed as a Tesla K20X on the (relative) cheap. This fact is further substantiated by the knowledge that, just like Tesla K20X, TITAN can run double-precision compute at 1/3rd of single-precision speeds, leading to over 1TFLOPS DP throughput. However, being a gamer's card at heart, TITAN's DP rate is set to 1/24th of SP, just like GTX 680, as no games use double-precision calculations. The full 1/3rd ratio can be set via the control panel, yet doing so forces the GPU's clocks down. And no gamer wants that, right?

Because 250W is very good for such a monster die: this might explain at least part of how they managed that. See if someone does power consumption benches with and without 1/3 DP. Of course, games don't use DP* so with the Titan you're still paying for die space which isn't 'useful'.

*or I'm fairly sure they don't but if the card control panel etc. can set the card to, say, 600MHz with and without 1/3 DP it should actually be able to directly compare whether any games uses DP.

 

[3DVagabond]

Anyone think GCN's compute capabilities might have helped pressure nVidia into including this "compute unlocking" feature on Titan?

 

[SolMiester]

It's hitting 80C, 5C hotter than the 690!!

This turd just keeps smelling worse.
The MSRP Price is even higher, runs Hot from the factory. How much OCing can you do if it's already hitting 80C?

Ummm, I understand the price is way out of many people's league, however, I don't understand why you call it a turd?...where did you get the 80c and is that stock clocks?...didn't Toms have this running at almost 1.2 ghz at 87c.....on air?

 

[SolMiester]

Anyone think GCN's compute capabilities might have helped pressure nVidia into including this "compute unlocking" feature on Titan?

Undoubtedly...that's been a big point from the AMD fans.

 

[psolord]

Jesus 1000 euros!

Ok good card, but 7950 CFX here I come, at half the price.

 

[dookulooku]

I'm not sure why people are complaining about the price/performance ratio of this card.

Does a $50,000+ BMW M3 outperform a V6 family sedan by 100%? Not even close. But apparently there are lots of people who buy one, or want one (but can't afford it).

What NVIDIA is doing is really smart -- they are creating a real luxury video card market. Just like luxury cars, luxury video cards are more than just about performance -- they have the style, and the intangibles that are drool worthy.

I actually WANT both AMD and NVIDIA to introduce $1,000+ video cards in the future. Makes things exciting, to have a luxury product segment for video cards.

 

[BFG10K]

The throttling of DP by default perfectly highlights the point of how much extra power all that non-gaming stuff can use. I still maintain the GTX680 is exactly what a true gamers’ card should be.

 

[KompuKare]

The throttling of DP by default perfectly highlights the point of how much extra power all that non-gaming stuff can use. I still maintain the GTX680 is exactly what a true gamers’ card should be.

Sure, and wasn't there some quote from AMD a while back along the lines that they've learnt from Pitcairn. Sort of implying that a few tweaks to Pitcairn would be a better approach than a Tahiti successor.

But even then power-gating the DP part is a good idea. In generally, while I think that both CPU and GPU have been somewhat stagnant recently (hey, there's a reason I'm still on my overclocked E5300), power-gating has been the most impressive new feature lately (even the powerhug FX8150 had rather impressive idle loads without even a new chipset); idle power is about the one feature which has almost tempted me to upgrade.

What I'd really like is a CPU and GPU combination where the GPU can totally power off when not gaming combined with a CPU and PSU which are totally fanless at low loads. Silence = bliss. (Would have to replace my monitor too: 75W for a 22" is not good.)

 

[dangerman1337]

The throttling of DP by default perfectly highlights the point of how much extra power all that non-gaming stuff can use. I still maintain the GTX680 is exactly what a true gamers’ card should be.

Though the problem is that the 680 seems to lack a bit of omph really in the memory-bit department, being the replacement to the 580 should've warranted a 384-bit bus IMO (though it would be highly disappointing again if Nvidia doesn't have say the GM104 to have a 384-bit bus) though then again that would've probably made Titan far less appealing.

 

[wand3r3r]

Ummm, I understand the price is way out of many people's league, however, I don't understand why you call it a turd?...where did you get the 80c and is that stock clocks?...didn't Toms have this running at almost 1.2 ghz at 87c.....on air?

The card itself is great.

The temperature came from the previews, read a few.
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/geforce_gtx_titan_preview_reference,10.html

Who knows how cherry picked the cards are or not too. The 690 is at it's limits as it was around 75C+ stock.

The turd aspect comes in strictly from the outrageous price increase, plus it's slotting next to cards that have been on the market for months (690) and not bringing anything forward as far as performance / cost goes, actually it's appearing to go far to the reverse in value. They can try fool stupid people or nvidiots all day long.

I'm not sure why people are complaining about the price/performance ratio of this card.

Does a $50,000+ BMW M3 outperform a V6 family sedan by 100%? Not even close. But apparently there are lots of people who buy one, or want one (but can't afford it).

What NVIDIA is doing is really smart -- they are creating a real luxury video card market. Just like luxury cars, luxury video cards are more than just about performance -- they have the style, and the intangibles that are drool worthy.

I actually WANT both AMD and NVIDIA to introduce $1,000+ video cards in the future. Makes things exciting, to have a luxury product segment for video cards.

Yeah, let's call the chevy camaro a chevy 911 (copy porsche's name) and double the price. Either you are an nvidiot or blind to the GPU world for more than this generation. I'm sure someone can sell you cards for 2x the previous generations prices if you really want them to double the prices.

 

[AdamK47]

The throttling of DP by default perfectly highlights the point of how much extra power all that non-gaming stuff can use. I still maintain the GTX680 is exactly what a true gamers’ card should be.

I must have accidently threw out my PC gaming builders rule book. I appear to be in violation of all sorts of rules.

 

[sontin]

The throttling of DP by default perfectly highlights the point of how much extra power all that non-gaming stuff can use. I still maintain the GTX680 is exactly what a true gamers’ card should be.

nVidia is using dedicated DP units. So it cost no extra power over the GTX60 as long as you dont' activate the DP units and using them for processing.

 

[Gikaseixas]

Love the hardware marvel side of it, what a sexy beast really.
But that price should have been $699 tops, or perhaps $999 for a special edition @ 1000 mhz factory oced

 

[Lonbjerg]

Video of Titan running:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGIb0tws_e4#t=683s

 

[Tweak155]

I'm not sure why people are complaining about the price/performance ratio of this card.

Does a $50,000+ BMW M3 outperform a V6 family sedan by 100%? Not even close. But apparently there are lots of people who buy one, or want one (but can't afford it).

What NVIDIA is doing is really smart -- they are creating a real luxury video card market. Just like luxury cars, luxury video cards are more than just about performance -- they have the style, and the intangibles that are drool worthy.

I actually WANT both AMD and NVIDIA to introduce $1,000+ video cards in the future. Makes things exciting, to have a luxury product segment for video cards.

Yeah sounds nice, but the main gripe is this is similar to what the 680 should have offered when the architecture changed. So you're effectively paying $1k for what should have been the $500 card, and you're paying $500 for what should have been a $350 card.

Unfortunately I have to agree - but if people are paying it, more power to NVidia. Why would I sell my used junk car for $100 if someone will buy it for $1000? I'd be stupid to take just the $100.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Yeah sounds nice, but the main gripe is this is similar to what the 680 should have offered when the architecture changed. So you're effectively paying $1k for what should have been the $500 card, and you're paying $500 for what should have been a $350 card.

Unfortunately I have to agree - but if people are paying it, more power to NVidia. Why would I sell my used junk car for $100 if someone will buy it for $1000? I'd be stupid to take just the $100.

I guess we shall see. Personally I think this card falls flat on it's face for 1k. I imagine it will be hard to buy at retail due to the Ebay resellers. But I see the resellers getting stuck with the cards and hopefully a 15% restocking fee as well. I imagine anyone with $1200 can find one easily. The $1000 cards will be sold within seconds to the resellers.

 

[sontin]

AMD increased the prices. It's not nVidia's fault that their architecture offering much more performance at the same size.

nVidia is a victim of their success. GK110 at a much lower price point will hurt the whole lineup. Now they can sell every SKU a step higher than in the last generation. So they will do everything to keep it that way.

 

[Keysplayr]

Definitely too rich for my blood. I might be interested in a GK114 if and when that arrives down the road.

 

[blackened23]

AMD increased the prices..

lol

 

[Eureka]

I'm not sure why people are complaining about the price/performance ratio of this card.

Does a $50,000+ BMW M3 outperform a V6 family sedan by 100%? Not even close. But apparently there are lots of people who buy one, or want one (but can't afford it).

What NVIDIA is doing is really smart -- they are creating a real luxury video card market. Just like luxury cars, luxury video cards are more than just about performance -- they have the style, and the intangibles that are drool worthy.

I actually WANT both AMD and NVIDIA to introduce $1,000+ video cards in the future. Makes things exciting, to have a luxury product segment for video cards.

Except there's nothing luxurious about a Titan. There's no intangibles. It processes just like any other card. With a BMW you actually get more, maybe not 100% more, but you do get things that a V6 sedan won't have. Better built engine, better suspension, better tuning, comfort, etc. But a Titan? It's just a processor, just like any other card, and a reference one at that.

You want a luxury segment, the Asus Ares II already covered that. But something like this should be another step, not a luxury item. Would you pay $1000 for an i7-4xx0 quad core processor, when the current i7 sits around $300?

 

[sontin]

lol

I know, i know. There was never a time a 7970 cost $549 and had crappy drivers, crappy performance and a 50% higher MSRP over the 6970.

:whiste:

 

[Black Octagon]

It didn't have crappy performance or drivers though. The fact that these two qualities have improved does not mean they were ever crappy

 

[JAG87]

If you wait another year or so, Maxwell will give you better performance at 1/3 of the price and 1/3 of the watts.

Spending $1000 on this is quite idiotic. It's a nice statement piece though.

 

[sontin]

It didn't have crappy performance or drivers though. The fact that these two qualities have improved does not mean they were ever crappy

You waited 10 months to get a >20% boost in Battlefield 3 because AMD had driver problems with the engine and GCN.

So at the time they fixed the problem the 7970 cost only $399, had 3 games and a 20% off coupon for MoH.

A 28% price cut and a game bundle worth nearly $80.

I don't know but i think crappy drivers and performance is a alright description.

 

[boxleitnerb]

It didn't have crappy performance or drivers though. The fact that these two qualities have improved does not mean they were ever crappy

Well, 20-35% depending on game and settings over the previous best card isn't exactly very good. From a new generation paired with a shrink I would expect 60-70%. That barely happened at the beginning.