GeForce GTX Titan X Review: Can One GPU Handle 4K?

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i think its mostly the rich who want the best and dont care about price is where the titan x is going right now. i watched a build review on youtube by a guy who had already built four 5960x+titan x sli rigs that were going out to clients. these clients dont care about price, a $10,000 rig is a drop in the bucket for them and the rig will likely last them about 2 years before they upgrade.

the rest of us will wait patiently for gimped gm200 to drop to a reasonable price which it definitely will. i would assume by black friday 2015 you can get a gm200/bermuda chip for $500 which is far more reasonable to us 99 percenters.
 

Eggz

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One time, when I pooped and it hurt, I found a Titan X in the toilet!

The interwebz said water doesn't hurt Titan Xs when they're off.

I plugged it in.

It's fast, like a fast ball pitch.
 

anthony8989

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I don't care what the people who buy it are using it for, be it gaming, CUDA or as a tiny boat anchor - if NV is somehow theoretically able to produce 1 million of them per week and 52 million of them per year

That's a fairly asinine argument . You understand if you inflate something , anything , to unreasonable proportions with no control over its accessibility , you will effectively drive its value down through inflation . You do know that right ?
 

cub_fanatic

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And the opposite is actually happening with the Titan X. That is the point. The reason they are selling for like $1200 on ebay isn't because there are millions of people lining up with a wad of cash to get one or two of them, it is because NV is only making a small amount at a time so that they will never have even one unsold Titan X. It is a wise business plan since it both eliminates waste and allows the illusion of demand to keep the price high throughout its entire run. You are never going to see any Titan named cards on Newegg for $699 after a promo code and mail-in rebate because they will never have a bunch of them eating up valuable warehouse space. You do, however, see this happen with cards such as the 290x and 780ti and below because they are mass produced at much higher numbers than Titans are and sometimes more are made than they thought would sell. My point taken by itself is asinine but it was in response to someone who is under the impression that the Titan X is the most popular GPU out and should be priced even higher than $1200 USD because people will be willing to pay that much more for it and it will still sell out. Go find some figures of total Titan Xs made so far and total number sold. There aren't any. Like I said: the only info close to that come in little micro blogs on financial sites written by investors who are long NV talking about how the Titan X is selling like hotcakes and is never in stock anywhere.
 

anthony8989

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The reason they are selling for like $1200 on ebay isn't because there are millions of people lining up with a wad of cash to get one or two of them, it is because NV is only making a small amount at a time so that they will never have even one unsold Titan X.

I don't understand what you're trying to convey. The card is the price that it is because of CUDA. It's a cheaper alternative to a very expensive professional-grade card. Nvidia charges $1000 per card because, through their resources ( i.e, analysis of market fragmentation specifically in the 'prosumer' segment), they've determined that there are approximately X many customers that are willing to pay X dollars for product A.

It's selling for higher than its MSRP because the demand is higher than the supply. If Nvidia produced an infinite number of Titan's, the market would bare it's limits, and the price would drop to MSRP. If the price were to drop further, that would be an executive decision made by Nvidia - or an over-zealous retailer - to cut its losses on the product, and move it as quickly as possible.

Bullet points:
-Titan series sells out to wealthy enthusiast gamers and/or those who develop using CUDA
-Titan series quantities are reflective of market research, chip yields, and a host of other factors that aren't "they're doing it to make it seem better than it really is"
-The price to performance of the Titan series will always be comparatively low, because you're paying for CUDA power in addition to gaming power.

 

somebodyspecial

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Words that prove the point. The data in the reports doesn't lie. Selling 100K titans in days doesn't lie. They might actually be selling 1mil over the life of each rev now. They certainly improved sales overall probably by aiming the last two at totally different markets (one for dp other for sp). Thereby getting as many PRO users they can that can't/won't pay $5000 for the full fledged support/drivers/ecc etc.

Nobody said you have to read it. It's a free country,...for some of us... :( I see nothing wrong with a good post full of usable info vs. "so many wordz" :) I welcome posts with data.
 

Arabian Knight

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lol ,,, indeed so many words ... you need to learn how to summarize the info as much as you can ... the first look is very important.
 

TheSynergy

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I love how so many fanboys on both sides of the fence complain about this card and it's price. As photonboy stated, you don't complain because your Ferrari wasn't a good value.
You guys need to realize a couple of key things that really raise the value of this card. OK first off, it's the only single GPU capable of 4k gaming, especially on a 4k g-sync monitor, where 40 fps range might as well look like 60.
Secondly, this card will blow everything away when Direct X 12 and 12.1 games come out, as it's the only 12.1 featured card on the market, and that alone, will boost performance in future games, so future proofing your monster purchase to be able to still max DX12 games out when they come out.
Third, it has 12gb of memory, take a moment and let that sink in when you factor in future games with DX12, your 980 SLI's won't even compete. I have my Titan X OC'd with just 200 core and 500 mem, and it's on par and even beating some 980 SLI specs, BUT I have 12gb of memory, and they have 4gb.... That is only current games, wait until DX12 and 12.1.

To recap:
DX12.1 compatible (this will really let it shine)
12gb of memory (this will destroy 980's in the near future, even though an OC'd titan is basically 2x 980's)
Only single GPU capable of 4k gaming frame rates, and no other combination of hardware, 295x2's, quad 980's, none of that crap, can withstand the onslaught of 4 Titan X's in SLI, nothing. End of story.
 

cub_fanatic

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If you want to future proof your PC you had $1000 burning a hole in your back pocket, you could buy any high end GPU out now in the $300-400 range like a 290/290x or 780/970 and run it in 1080p or 1440p. Then, when a $400 14nm FF GPU comes out in 18-24 months that can do everything the Titan X can do in 4K and also have DX 12.1, then you can just get one of those. It would probably be faster, have at least 8 GB, run cooler and use less power. The only thing you are sacrificing is not playing in 4K with a single gpu. DX 12.0 isn't even out yet and the 4 cards I mentioned will support it. By the time DX 12.1 games start coming out, those $400 Titan X killers will be on sale from both AMD and NV although we will be reading articles about the 14nm FF Pascal Titan that will blow you away in 8K for $1,000 with 24 GB of HBM or GDDR6 or whatever the next standard is.
 

Eggz

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Look, the Titan X just advanced the current state of graphics processing. That's in no small part due to people paying a premium for their early development and marketing.

If you bought or will buy any newly-minted flagship component, thank you! If enough people do that, we'll all be able to buy the same tech for less money in the near future.

I'd gladly pay the premium if I had the funds. The way I look at it, it's similar to seeding a torrent. Sharing is caring :)
 
this happens with everything. a new iphone comes out, on ebay immediately selling for near $1000... the first 4k tvs sold out quickly, selling on ebay for $3000 over msrp... the first bumble bee camero back on 2010, $10,000 over msrp.... etc etc etc. its not a big deal. us end users will be able to get something very similar very soon for a reasonable price... if that price isn't reasonable to you, titan x performance will be had for under $300 in two years easy. quite complaining and either get a better job or wait patiently like a normal adult.
 

heydan

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SLI 2xTitan X + GSYNC.

If money was not an issue that's what I would do.

*And why do people whine about the COST of any of the Titan cards? NVidia isn't misleading anybody here; if you don't think it's worth the cost then don't buy it.

I don't complain because my FERRARI wasn't a good value.


The thing is that someone who buys a ferrari at least know that it will not be replace in a few months for a better and cheaper model (980ti), that´s why I still thinking the titans cards are shit, it is the way nvidia fool their fan boys to get more profits.
 

heydan

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People go on comparing a dual GPU 295x2 to a single-GPU TitanX. What about games where there is no Crossfire profile? It's effectively a TitanX vs 290X comparison.
Personally, I think a fair comparison would be the GTX Titan X vs the R9 390X. Although I heard NVIDIA's card will be slower then.
Alternatively, we could go for 295X2 vs TitanX SLI or 1080SLI(Assuming a 1080 is a Titan X with a few SMMs disabled, and half the VRAM, kind of like the Titan and 780).


You´re forgetting the comparison it is also a $1000 brand new card vs a $700 dollars old card, so it makes a more reasonable comparison, obviously there´s no comparison on games that doesnt support CF profile, but at least almost any new game handle it.
 

somebodyspecial

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I'm not trying to please the guy who doesn't value the information (he's just here to bash company X or the guy who gives a "Wall of text" with data he/she doesn't like, and probably not the person BUYING the product). If I'm considering spending $1000-5000, I want as many WELL informed opinions as possible, with data and explanations of why they arrived at conclusion X. I'd rather read a post that completely explains stuff, as opposed to one leaving way too much to argue about (causing a bunch of haters to nit pick). When you're done reading my post, you generally GET it. ;) If I was blogging or something for money, you might have a point. If someone doesn't value the data, explanations etc, they are free to ignore it.

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/82060-evga-gtx-970-ssc-sli-vs-titan-x-r9-295x2/?page=10
One more I read last night (apr 10th article).
"Where does this leave GTX 970 SLI? It's a good solution if you own a card already and want to indulge in 4K gaming without reducing image quality to a large degree. Such advice applies to today's titles alone; those from next year may expose the 4GB framebuffer available to each GPU.

The well-heeled enthusiast is steered towards the Titan X for the best combination of framerate/smoothness/futureproofness at a 4K resolution. Those with more modest budgets can achieve higher framerates with a little more variance by choosing either a Radeon R9 295X2 or two-board GTX 970 run in SLI."

As hardocp hit 7.7GB in both watch dogs and far cry 4, my next card will have 6GB+ period (hopefully a bunch of 8GB choices coming from both at 20nm/16nm). DX12/Vulkan games, unreal 4 engine, etc will kick up the gpu/mem load massively in the future (along with the 4K rush). I'd think 4GB people will be turning stuff down all day in many games as early as 2016/2017+. I'd be angry if that happened to a $650+ card (or pair) just a year or two after buying. That pretty much means I bought DOA tech.
 

Arabian Knight

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I still prefer 3 screens of FHD resolution over a single 4K screen you know ...

There is nothing to gain from 4K VS 3 Screens Experience ... so why waste more GPU power just for more pixels ? Wider view experience is better IMO .

My wish is a zero bezel Monitor ... and I dont know why no one is trying to make one. I dont want Curved ones , The dont look right.
 


I personally like the curved monitor experience, but you are right about them. I prefer traditional monitors.
 

Eggz

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Posts read and understood. Still too long, and still too many.

People do want good information with detail, but it's available in reviews with a more digestible format.

Who's going to dig to page 7 of Tom's thread for the purpose of learning about Titan X or whatever card?
 
It's not a good value ... except for adding to nVidia's bottom line.

Cost per frame is nearly twice that of the Radeons, and even 60% more than the GTX 980, -970 and -780ti cards.

And when folks figure out they can snag a G/Adaptive Sync monitor in a few months for $300-$400, pair it with a $200-$300 video card, and have a better gaming experience than folks who rationalize *More $$$ -- Gotta Be Better* play.

 

Eggz

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True, but the Titan-series isn't value oriented.

People overlook the concept of "price premium." It's paying more for that slight edge.

The same thing occurs outside of the computer context as well. Assume you want to buy stocks in a company whose shares are trading at $10, and you want to have a controlling vote (e.g. 51%). If you need 100 shares to get 51%, does it just cost $1,000 (i.e. 100 x $10)? No! You have to pay a premium for obtaining the control over the company, that edge over everyone else.

Going back to computers, though, think about InWin cases. They are extremely expensive, costing as much as ten-times what other computer cases cost. But they're showy! There's a premium for that. It doesn't get you any performance or tangible benefit, perhaps even worse airflow, but there's a premium for being fancy.

Plenty of other examples, but I think the point's clear. No one buys Titans because they are a bargain. They pay the premium for that extra bit. But what that extra bit actually is, in the case of Titan, poses an interesting question.

Performance is a small part of it, but the rest is actually just paying to drive the technology. New chips are more expensive to make because production isn't scaled up yet. People who buy bleeding-edge stuff are actually paying a premium that contributes to bringing that tech to the general population at a more affordable price. It's an altruistic effect, even if Titan owners don't intend it to be.

People who pay the early-adopter premium on the latest and greatest tech are really making it possible for more affordable options to hit the market. If you're not going to buy a Titan (or whatever bleeding edge thing it may be), that's fine. But don't discourage other people from doing it. It's not in your interest. Bleeding-edge enthusiast make it possible for you to buy the same tech at a lower price in the future. If they stopped buying, your wait for the "affordable option" would never end. Keep in mind what fuels the industry.
 

Arabian Knight

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you know , now that Samsung released Curved screens phones like the Note4 Edge and the S6 , I am waiting for a zero bezel Monitor , they can do it , they can do edge to edge LCD ...
 

Eggz

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That would be so siiiick!

VTKCwAbs7XNZg3m_MV8Tt5FcHO9WNMp52KhSKMAtGyj5AM2Sjs9_Y3Ua7Jhv8EgH3zQbIyMZVz6Wcwc=w1256-h510


Sorry for the slapdash job doctoring this guys photo, but a removable side bezel would be cool.
 

somebodyspecial

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The guy who asked the question I'd hope...LOL. Most people don't want to go read a dozen website reviews. My posts wouldn't be so long if I left out quotes and such, but most won't go to the links either, so the quote makes the desired point. I hate links without the point (quote) people are trying to make. It's like saying, "just go read this dozen or so pack of reviews and you'll get my point". That is a seriously deficient and lazy response to someone who is asking here to get the point of those dozen sites. If they wanted to go read them all themselves, why would anyone EVER ask a question? Again if you don't like the length or number of posts you are free to just leave (this is a discussion forum after all LOL). It's a free world on the internet correct? Why is there a need to comment at all if you're not adding to the discussion? Attack the content of the post (IF you can), not it's length, which is just wasting people's time (repeatedly I might add).
 

Eggz

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You give accurate answers, which is a valuable thing. I don't mean to say they're wrong, just that too many words makes it difficult for people to digest answers now and to find answers later.

To your point, though, I see what you mean about adequate coverage, but it goes a little far by implying that concise presentation and adequate coverage aren't compatible - they are!

And discussing presentation does add to the conversation. It keeps us thinking about how best to provide useful posts. People benefit from digestible and accurate information, which doesn't have to be long.

Compate the Titan X review on YouTube of OC3D TV (32:57) to that of LinusTechTips (09:43). The main difference is editing.
 

mapesdhs

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The Titan X is actually perfect for some pro tasks that don't need 64bit fp, like AE, but you're right that
it's not relevant to many other areas. However, even the original Titan missed it's mark because it lacks
too many features of the Tesla which are essential for certain types of pro work, such as ECC RAM
and a full speed PCIe return path. I expect NVIDIA's concluded they can sell more of them by focusing
on the top-end gamer crowd, rather than a pro market which was somewhat limited to begin with.

Ian.




 

cub_fanatic

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The pro market for high end compute GPUs probably is limited in the number of customers or institutions. But, if you look at some of the supercomputers that were made in the last few years which actually use Nvidia GPUs numbering in the thousands and sometimes in the tens of thousands. Just a few institutions building the next world beating supercomputers such as Oak Ridge Nat'l Lab. could actually outnumber every single gamer who buys just one maybe two of these. Not to mention all the research labs a step down from record breaking SCs who build clusters not as big as a Titan SC but still having GPUs numbering in the thousands. But, since the FP64 is crippled on this, someone like ORNL would opt for the more expensive Tesla - like they did on the Titan SC which consists of over 18,000 Tesla K20s simply for the power to power consumption ratio which is massively important on something on this scale. The extra $3000 or whatever for a Tesla is more than worth it. Imagine how much ORNL would have saved, though, if thethe Titan X had full FP64... Or, how much money Nvidia would have lost.
 
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