Introduction
NVIDIA, the company that brought you the Shield and the original Titan graphics card has now released the newest iteration in the Titan series; the Titan X. Going by facts, figures and a few leaked performance graphs; this mighty graphics card should prove to be the cream of the crop, the best of the bunch and whatever other analogies you can think of. As we’ve previously seen with the release of the Titan graphics cards, they have always smashed the opposition. However, all this performance comes at a price; this particular card is going to set you back around $999 or £899 if you live in Blighty.
So, the Titan X…What’s new? Well firstly it’s a typical reference NVIDIA cooler, but this time it’s all black with minimal silver finishing, it keeps the green “GeForce GTX” logo up the side and a light up “Titan” logo in the usual spot. So how about specifications? I’ll let the table explain:
So it’s bigger, better, faster and more expensive; just as you expected. Let’s see if the extras really warrant the extra price tag, especially compared to the AMD powerhouse, R9 295×2. I predict a knock for knock between the two cards, with the Titan X taking the lead in games like Metro Last Light and Hitman Absolution, where SLI/ Crossfire isn’t 100% optimised.
So onto the box, a very “nothing to see here” approach it seems. NVIDIA has designed this box to be as minimalistic as possible, not even a whiff of a specification list to what’s inside. The exterior is all black with minimal silver details. The entire box is finished in matt, where the TITAN X logo is in a glossy finish. Looking directly at the box in dull light, it would be hard to tell that there is any writing at all. Due to this being a NVIDIA released card, there are no extras hidden inside the box.
The cooling shroud is the same as the recent reference design NVIDIA cards, however, this is majority black not silver, which I really like.
Along the top of the card, very reference like, just the Green GeForce GTX logo, SLI bridge connectors and a set of 8 and 6 pin power connectors.
Around the back of the card, things get a little disappointing, with such a premium product, it would have made sense to use a backplate, even if it was basic, just something to cover the PCB. All those RAM chips on the back might get a little toasty too, maybe hot to touch.
As with the recent NVIDIA reference cards, a simple metal bracket with 3x DisplayPort, 1x HDMI and 1x Dual-Link DVI.
Good, quite balanced review. I’ve always been an AMD guy, but with the advent of DX12 I’m wondering if it’s time to move over to the green side.
For the time being I’m on 295X2 in Crossfire, which is like having a small nuclear core in a computer case so anything that can improve on that is great!
I’ve had nothing but issues from AMD with my current rig. She started life as a FX + R9 270 build. Replaced the mobo and processor for an I7 4790k, Just need to go green with the card and thats a wrap.
ITs not the cards themselves, Just the drivers are awful. Once i finish saving for my 970 i’m kicking AMD to the curb and walking away forever.
A very good review. As expected, the 295×2 outperforms, but is also $500.00 more, and dual-gpu setup. I currently have a Titan Black and plan on skipping this generation and waiting for the next, but it’s good to see the progress in performance and where it will be in the near future. As far as the VRAM goes, the more the better. SoM already recommends 6gb for max texture settings, so that number will likely only increase from this point forward.