- Apr 7, 2012
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Do you think the new NVIDIA GeForce Titan is silly looking?
2.18.13
Mates,
As I've gotten interested in GPU computing recently, while looking into the Oak Ridge "Titan", that is now the NO 1. fastest supercomputer, I stumbled onto these details and photos of the NVIDIA GeForce Titan to be released today >
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-pictured-gk110-finally-arrives-consumers-blasting-6-gb-memory
Kepler GK 110 , 384-bit interface (K20 is 256)m 2688 CUDA cores, 6GB GDDR5. The 837 / 878 MHz boost clocks- which for now are locked- is higher than the 732 MHz of the Tesla K20 that is really the workstation version of this card. This is apparently set up for quad SLI. The Titan will sell for about $900. As the Titan's brother, the Tesla K20 costs $3,500, the Titan may be a bargain. BTW, the $97M Titan supercomputer uses 18,688 Tesla K20X GPU's (and 18,688 AMD Opteron 6274 8-core CPU's) to produce it's 17.59 PetaFLOPS - Peta = Quadrillion.
Performance estimates for the GeForce Titan are said to be higher, equal, and/or lower than the GTX 690, so we'll have to see what the tests say. No doubt, this card will perform really well and generate extreme interest.
The thing is, while the Titan is the current pinnacle of graphics technology, in terms of cosmetic design it looks to me a bit goofy, not very serious, like a kid's transformer toy. It has a lighted logo on the side, and slapped on diagonal and radial decorations. I think it's supposed to look tough and purposeful, but to me it looks a bit cheap and contrived- decorated by a committee. the fan enclosure screws are obvious and probably supposed to be evocative of tough-guy rivets or space hardware torq's fittings, but the just look cheap- today you don't see exposed screws on car interiors or even $40 toasters. I don't think the lighted logo will help service visibility in the case. Perhaps NVIDIA thinks buyers will believe the light can impress girls. "Hey baby, you want to come over to my parent's basement ? I've got a thousand dollar video card with a light on it ! And a Pizza!"
Of course, any consumer object has to appeal to the buyer visually, but since this is a graphics card makes images, is nearly $1,000 chuck of the most advanced technology, the Titan is adolescent looking and in my view even a bit marketing committee insulting.
Don't get me wrong- while the K20 has already introduced this technology, I think the Titan is an important release- GPU computing is going to be the Next Big Thing- and if the Titan can do what the Tesla K20 can do, the appearance alone wouldn't stop me from buying it- or two or three-and saving the difference between $900 and $3,500. Rendering, fluidic / structural simulation, animation, computational analysis, and video editing should fly! Of course, as we all know, NVIDIA tends to delete features and capabilities from the GeForce cards to "steer" workstation buyers towards the professional line, but the Titan's performance may transcend hobbling.
What do you think?
Cheers,
BambiBoom
2.18.13
Mates,
As I've gotten interested in GPU computing recently, while looking into the Oak Ridge "Titan", that is now the NO 1. fastest supercomputer, I stumbled onto these details and photos of the NVIDIA GeForce Titan to be released today >
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-titan-pictured-gk110-finally-arrives-consumers-blasting-6-gb-memory
Kepler GK 110 , 384-bit interface (K20 is 256)m 2688 CUDA cores, 6GB GDDR5. The 837 / 878 MHz boost clocks- which for now are locked- is higher than the 732 MHz of the Tesla K20 that is really the workstation version of this card. This is apparently set up for quad SLI. The Titan will sell for about $900. As the Titan's brother, the Tesla K20 costs $3,500, the Titan may be a bargain. BTW, the $97M Titan supercomputer uses 18,688 Tesla K20X GPU's (and 18,688 AMD Opteron 6274 8-core CPU's) to produce it's 17.59 PetaFLOPS - Peta = Quadrillion.
Performance estimates for the GeForce Titan are said to be higher, equal, and/or lower than the GTX 690, so we'll have to see what the tests say. No doubt, this card will perform really well and generate extreme interest.
The thing is, while the Titan is the current pinnacle of graphics technology, in terms of cosmetic design it looks to me a bit goofy, not very serious, like a kid's transformer toy. It has a lighted logo on the side, and slapped on diagonal and radial decorations. I think it's supposed to look tough and purposeful, but to me it looks a bit cheap and contrived- decorated by a committee. the fan enclosure screws are obvious and probably supposed to be evocative of tough-guy rivets or space hardware torq's fittings, but the just look cheap- today you don't see exposed screws on car interiors or even $40 toasters. I don't think the lighted logo will help service visibility in the case. Perhaps NVIDIA thinks buyers will believe the light can impress girls. "Hey baby, you want to come over to my parent's basement ? I've got a thousand dollar video card with a light on it ! And a Pizza!"
Of course, any consumer object has to appeal to the buyer visually, but since this is a graphics card makes images, is nearly $1,000 chuck of the most advanced technology, the Titan is adolescent looking and in my view even a bit marketing committee insulting.
Don't get me wrong- while the K20 has already introduced this technology, I think the Titan is an important release- GPU computing is going to be the Next Big Thing- and if the Titan can do what the Tesla K20 can do, the appearance alone wouldn't stop me from buying it- or two or three-and saving the difference between $900 and $3,500. Rendering, fluidic / structural simulation, animation, computational analysis, and video editing should fly! Of course, as we all know, NVIDIA tends to delete features and capabilities from the GeForce cards to "steer" workstation buyers towards the professional line, but the Titan's performance may transcend hobbling.
What do you think?
Cheers,
BambiBoom
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