NVIDIA TITAN X Review: The Pascal Beast Unleashed

Performance Summary: The new Pascal-based TITAN X is an absolute monster in terms of performance. In every game and application we tested, regardless of setting or resolution, it outpaced every other graphics card we have ever benchmarked. The TITAN X’s lead over a factory-overclocked GeForce GTX 1080 can vary from as small as about 14% to over 30%, though its lead over an NVIDIA GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition is even higher. Versus the previous-gen, Maxwell-based TITAN X, this latest version is simply in another league. The new TITAN X outpaced its previous-gen counterpart by huge margins -- in the neighborhood of 60% -- while also consuming less power.

Strictly considering its performance, the new TITAN X is impressive. To put it simply, the new TITAN X is the fastest GPU money can buy hands-down. Our testing showed strong framerates and some of the most consistent frametimes we have seen to date. Despite its excellent performance, however, if you factor in the total value, things aren’t quite as rosy. The TITAN X costs about twice as much as a GeForce GTX 1080, but only offers an approximate 40% performance uplift, give or take a few percentage points depending on the application and settings. To be fair though, this card isn’t targeted solely at gamers. Yes, gamers with huge budgets will want them because they’re simply the most powerful graphics cards on the planet, regardless of the value proposition. However, the TITAN X also targets the deep learning and GPU compute crowds, both of which won’t bat an eye spending $1200 for a graphics card with 12GB of memory and the kind of horsepower offered by NVIDIA's GP102. The previous-gen TITAN X was gobbled up by engineers in huge numbers that used them as alternatives to more expensive Tesla products, for example. The same thing will most likely happen here.

The new Titan X should be available today for $1,200 direct from NVIDIA.com in North America and Europe. It will also find its way into systems from select boutique builders. Availability in other regions will come at a later date, though. If you can afford one of these beasts, and don't mind paying the premium, the new TITAN X will add some serious graphics muscle to a system and offer up the best single-GPU performance and VR experiences currently available, hands down.

Absolute Killer Performance Power Efficient For Its Weight Class 12GB GDDR5X Memory Bleeding-Edge Features	Limited Availability Very Pricey