If you're itching to sink the thick end of
$2,000 on a video card for your PC but aren't too keen on AMD's dual-GPU HD
7990, then Nvidia has got you covered with its brand new flagship GPU: the GeForce
GTX Titan.
Announced late February this year, the
specifications on this card are nothing short of jaw-dropping. Compared to
Nvidia's previously most-powerful GPU, the GTX 680, the Titan packs double the
transistors (just over 7 billion), 75% more stream processors (2,688), and 50%
more memory bandwidth (288GB/s), all with a single GPU.
Unfortunately the specs are not the only
thing that have received a buff, as the price tag has also been boosted to
another level. An American RRP of US$999 translates into roughly$1,799 off the
shelf here, making it more than twice as expensive as the older GTX 680.
An
American RRP of $999 translates into roughly$1,799 off the shelf here, making
it more than twice as expensive as the older GTX 680.
Even the GTX 780 a more recent, slightly
stripped-down version of the Titan which we didn't receive in time to test this
month seems almost affordable by comparison at $1,149.
Regardless, the Titan is here now and it
wears the 'most powerful single-GPU video card in the world' hat, on paper at
least.
Gigabyte kindly lent us its version of the
Titan for review, which is set to Nvidia's reference speeds of 836MHz for the
core (876MHz with boost) and 6GHz for the memory.
The unit itself exudes luxury with a
brushed aluminum casing giving the Titan suitable heftiness, with a windowed
shroud giving a glimpse at the vapor-chamber cooling underneath. The 80mm fan
pushes all the heated air out through the rear of the card which will avoid
heating your case up, unlike the AMD HD 7990.
Gigabyte
kindly lent us its version of the Titan for review, which is set to Nvidia's
reference speeds of 836MHz for the core (876MHz with boost) and 6GHz for the
memory.
You will need one 8-pin and one 6-pin power
connector to feed up to 250W in to the card, whilst the rear of the card
provides two dual-link DVI ports, one HDMI 1,4a, and one Display Port 1.2 port.
Support for 4K resolution is provided, along with the ability to drive up to
four screens at once from a single card.
There is a bright green 'GEFORCE GTX'
backlit sign running down the side of the Titan once it has been powered up
(this can be turned off thankfully). Gigabyte also throw in a mouse pad and a
copy of its proprietary GPU overclocking utility.
To test the Titan out we threw it through a
number of gaming benchmarks and in-game tests head to head with the AMD HD
7990, at both 1920 x 1080 and 5040 x 1050 (i.e. three 1680 x 1050 monitors in
surround- vision).
Unfortunately for Nvidia, the Titan fell
almost 15% short of the AMD card in the 1920 x 1080 tests and about 20% short
in the 5040 x 1050 tests.
Gigabyte
also throw in a mouse pad and a copy of its proprietary GPU overclocking
utility.
On the upside, the Titan consumed roughly
200Wless power whilst under load, and didn’t have any of the multi-GPU glitches
that the HD 7990 suffered from.
If you absolutely must have one of the best
video cards on the market but want to stay away from multi-GPU solutions, then
the single-GPU Gigabyte GTX Titan is the card to have.
Is it worth the massive price premium over
the likes of the GTX 680 and 780 though? Probably not.
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At a glance
·
Nvidia's highest spec single-GPU PCIE3.0 video
card
·
Relatively low power requirements
·
Outperformed by AMD HD 7990 at the same price
·
Poor value for money
Gigabyte Geforce GTX Titan
·
RRP incl GST: $1,799 (Retail)
·
Contact: glgabyte.com
·
3.5/5
·
A luxury video card in every respect; price,
build quality and performance. Like most luxury items however, it is poor
value for money.
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