Not quite the fastest single-card, but definitely the fastest GPU On Tuesday we posted our previewof the GK110-based Geforce GTX Titan from Nvidia, and like all of yall we were eager to stuff the Titan into a test system to see what it could do in both single-card and dual-card configurations. Now that the dust has settled and our initial testing is complete, we have to say we think we misunderstood what Nvidia was said to us when we asked them how the Titan compares to the GeForce GTX 690. The Titan is one hellishly fast single GPU, but it's not the fastest single-card solution for gaming. That title still rests comfortably with the dual-GPU GTX 690. According to notes we took at the initial briefing, when we asked them how the Titan compares to the GTX 690, the rep answered by saying the two cards were "eye-to-eye." At the time we thought he was talking about performance, but now that we’ve tested the cards and learned the two cards share the same $999 price tag, we’re beginning to think he meant the two cards both basically compete for the same customer, not that their performance is the same. Looking at our notes he said there are times when the 690 is faster, and times when the Titan is faster, but that's not what our benchmarks show. Oh no, they show the the GTX 690 is still the fastest single-card GPU available. Double-trouble: Two Titans in SLI is total overkill for single-display gaming. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. On the one hand, this is a bit of a letdown since everyone (including us) always wants to see a new champion crowned. And with all the excitement over the Titan launch, a lot of people wanted to see the Titan arrive on a shiny horse and lay down the law in Benchmark-ville. And it certainly has for single-GPU comparisons, but as the benchmark chart clearly shows the GTX 690 is still faster in every test, as it should be since it has dual GPUs. The Titan is clearly the fastest single-GPU card available though, and with AMD announcing its HD 7000 series cards will remain "stable throughout 2013" it doesn't look like there will be a challenge from AMD to the Titan's supremacy any time soon, or at least not until Q3 at which time AMD has spoke of new products coming, but we have no idea if a replacement for the HD 7970 is one of them. That does not mean the Titan is worth more than double the cost of a Radeon HD 7970 though. So let's examine the numbers. First we tested the Titan against all of the other single-card flagships available, including the GTX 680 and 690, and the HD 7970 (non-GHz) and the malevolent HD 7990 from PowerColor. We began testing with an Asus Radeon HD 7970 TOP GHz card but it had some issues with a few benchmarks, so it was scrapped in favor of a non-overclocked card from Asus, which was unfortunate. We also added a few new tests this time around and removed several aging tests such as Stalker, Far Cry 2, and Just Cause 2. We used the latest "official" drivers for both Nvidia and AMD, and this gave a clear advantage to Nvidia as it had just released version 314.07 as we began testing, while AMD is still using its 13.1 drivers that were released in January. Nvidia made a Titan specific driver available to us for testing that was deemed "final" that was numbered 314.09. We should also mention that AMD pointed out that its Catalyst 13.2 Beta driver offered improvements in Far Cry 3, Crysis 3 and other titles, but we didn't use it due to its Beta status. We really wished AMD had made that driver final, as we would have loved having a new driver for our tests.  In single card tests the GTX 690 remains the card to beat, beating the Titan in every test by a decent margin. In some tests such as Far Cry 3 and Crysis it was relatively close, but the GTX 690 was always faster. It traded blows in testing with the dual HD 7970 card from PowerColor, which is about to go into the rig and hands of the winner of our Devil 13 Giveaway (stay tuned for the official announcement soon). So what we see here is a continuum of performance when it comes to Nvidia GPUs that starts at the GTX 680 and then goes up quite a bit to the GTX Titan. Anyone upgrading from the GTX 680 to the Titan will see a performance boost, but it's not quite the doubling of performance we expected from the Titan's almost doubling of specs from the GTX 680. Performance improves even more going up to the GTX 690, which is almost double the horsepower of a GTX 680 both literally and in terms of the benchmark performance. So the old guard remains — the GTX 690 is still the card to beat if you just need one card to get the job done. That said, the GTX 690 is too big and too expensive for most users. The same can also be said about the Titan, at least in terms of expense, but it's smallish 10.5-inch form factor will allow it to slide into most ATX cases and even some SFF cases with fewer issues than the GTX 690, making it a very compelling option for folks with smaller cases. There's also the SLI issue, as we all know that SLI or CrossFireX isn't always a walk in the park, as demonstrated in our testing. You have to wait for drivers to fully take advantage of it with the latest games and benchmarks, and that is highly annoying. At least with a single card none of that monkey business ever occurs.
GeForce GTX Titan: Single-card BenchmarksBest scores are bolded. Our test bed is a 3.33GHz Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition in an Asus P9X79 motherboard with 16GB of DDR3/1600 and a Thermaltake ToughPower 1,050w PSU. The OS is 64-bit Windows Ultimate. All games are run at 2560x1600 with 4XAA except for the 3DMark tests. *This score is indicative of only one GPU being recognized due to drivers not being compatible with this particular benchmark.
Now we move onto dual-card configurations, and it's here the Titans in SLI show their dominance, but not in every test. The Titans reigned supreme over GTX 680 SLI in a majority of the tests we ran, but a combination of virgin drivers and brand-new benchmarks did cause some wonky results. For example, the Radeon HD 7970 cards were unable to show any improvement in the new3DMark Fire Strike test and Catzilla, as the benchmark simply didn't see the other GPU. We expected the Titans to whoop all over the GTX 680s and the HD 7970s, but it was closer than we thought it would be, and the GTX 680s in SLI still beat out the newcomer in several tests including Batman, Crysis 3 and Heaven 4.0, proving it can still punch with the best of them. For most GTX 680 owners out there, the best upgrade path will be to get a second card and SLI them if their case and PSU allows it. Dual-card BenchmarksBest scores are bolded. Our test bed is a 3.33GHz Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition in an Asus P9X79 motherboard with 16GB of DDR3/1600 and a Thermaltake ToughPower 1,050w PSU. The OS is 64-bit Windows Ultimate. All games are run at 2560x1600 with 4XAA except for the 3DMark tests. *This score is indicative of only one GPU being recognized Titan Versus SLI and CrossFireXWhen it comes to pitting the Titan versus dual-card setups, the Titan loses every battle. This is particularly interesting considering a pair of GTX 680s will cost just a bit less than the $1,000 Titan (though are a bit noisier), and dual HD 7970 cards will only run you about $800 these days, which is a smokin' deal. The Titan holds its own though, but we were shocked to see it only manage 22fps in Crysis 3, though the 4XSMAA setting we ran really hits these cards in the family jewels. It did look amazing though. Best scores are bolded. Our test bed is a 3.33GHz Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition in an Asus P9X79 motherboard with 16GB of DDR3/1600 and a Thermaltake ToughPower 1,050w PSU. The OS is 64-bit Windows Ultimate. All games are run at 2560x1600 with 4XAA except for the 3DMark tests. *This score is indicative of only one GPU being recognized Closing ThoughtsIn the final analysis the Titan changes the game for a very specific sub-set of gamer - those who need maximum firepower in a small enclosure, and those who want to run multiple monitors. For the rest of the gamers with $1,000 burning a hole in their credit card's pocket, the GTX 690 remains the go-to card for maximum frame rates, just like before. It certainly sets a new high-water mark for single-GPU video cards though, and for that we give Nvidia copious kudos for pulling this off. As we wrote in our preview we never thought we'd see a GK110 GPU for gaming, and we weren't alone in that observation judging by the comments left on our site to the rumors of such a card existing. Nvidia claims it made this GPU just because it could as it already had the GK110 deployed in super computers, and it wants to support the enthusiast gaming crowd. Those all sound like good reasons to us, but Nvidia also mentioned that system builders were asking for a shorter card for SFF systems since the GTX 690, so for that scenario the Titan is as good as it gets both in terms of performance, acoustics and design, so Nvidia has done an excellent job on that front. We can see it kicking off an entirely new wave of custom builds coming from the usual boutique suspects. Overall, Titan is a breakthrough card for single-GPU performance, form factor and acoustic control. We certainly hope AMD picks up the gauntlet and returns fire soon, but all indications are that it's totally satisfied by the performance of its HD 7970 lineup for now, and that Tahiti will remain its flagship for most of 2013. It would argue the Titan is simply too expensive and rare for it to worry about at this time, which is valid. The Titan is expensive and out of reach for most consumers. That said, we still love an old fashioned GPU war like we had in the good old days, so maybe the Titan's arrival will cause AMD to shuffle its roadmap a bit.
|
发表于 2013-2-23 03:02:00
发表于 2013-2-23 10:52:30