Honourable Mention:
GeForce GTX Titan
Excellent 2560x1600 performance
| GeForce GTX Titan | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | GK110 |
| Process: | 28 nm |
| Unified Shaders: | 2688 |
| Texture Units: | 224 |
| ROPs: | 48 |
| Memory Bus: | 384-bit |
| Core Speed (Turbo) MHz: | 837 (836) |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1502 (6008 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5 |
| Max TDP: | 250 W |
The GeForce GTX Titan sports the fastest GPU ever seen: GK110. As it happens, though, that one chip isn't quite as fast as the two GK104s you find on Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 (even though it also costs £800).
We're impressed by what GK110 can do. But the GeForce GTX Titan is overpriced by most accounts. Two GeForce GTX 770s are faster, and for far less money. Nevertheless, GeForce GTX Titan gets an honorable mention for the two applications where it really shines: small form factor and multi-card machines.
Also plaguing the Titan right now is availability. They're pretty rare, and as of this writing, there's only one in stock on Newegg. Nvidia admits it underestimated demand, and ramping production up isn't an easy matter. It's consequently not clear when this top-tier board might get easier to find.
Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce Titan for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Honourable Mention:
GeForce GTX 690
Excellent 2560x1600 performance
| GeForce GTX 690 | |
|---|---|
| Codename: | 2 x GK104 |
| Process: | 28 nm |
| Unified Shaders: | 3072 (2 x 1536) |
| Texture Units: | 256 (2 x 128) |
| ROPs: | 64 (2 x 32) |
| Memory Bus: | 256-bit |
| Core Speed MHz: | 915 |
| Memory Speed MHz: | 1502 (6008 effective) |
| DirectX/Shader Model: | DX 11/SM 5 |
| Max TDP: | 300 W |
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 is one of the fastest graphics cards in the world. It's essentially two GeForce GTX 680s on a single PCB, with a slightly lower core clock and a 300 W TDP. The company sets this card's MSRP right around £800, roughly £50 pricier than two GeForce GTX 680s in SLI. The card remains difficult to find though; only one model is available on Newegg in the U.S. at the time of this writing.
While a few companies launched custom-built dual-Tahiti cards, they're very power-hungry and tend to be loud under load. HIS' solution never even made it to market. Asus' is no longer available. PowerColor's triple-slot monster is the only one left, and even then it's a de-tuned version. As such, we removed them all from our column. AMD's recently-introduced Radeon HD 7990 improves on those third-party designs, but comes up short in too many other ways to earn a recommendation here.
Read our full review of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 690 for more information on the card and its accompanying architecture.
Come on! Gi'es us something new already.
I was worried about buying VTX3D as they aren't a well known brand to me, but so far it has been rock solid. The card feels well constructed and the single fan (something else I was worried about; I wanted a dual-fan card originally) is much quieter than I would have guessed - even under load.
If you're looking to get a new graphics card in the £160 - £180 region then you'd be stupid not to consider this card.
For years I've been good with integrated and <£30/$50 GPU's. But now after getting more into PC gaming and video editing, decided to get the best I could afford... A Gigabyte 770 OC 4GB. Should be good enough for a few years.