Graphics card Technical specs

kev030981

Honorable
Aug 14, 2013
9
0
10,510
Hi - I'm about to upgrade my system, and have recently sought and found some excellent advice on here about my decision (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-1767285/upgrade-780.html#xtor=EPR-8809)

My Current system is i7-2600K 16GB with a gtx 570. I run a 27" display at 2560 x 1440. I use the system for a mix of both gaming and architectural visualisations (3DS max, vray, Revit, Adobe Creative suite)

From the advice above I had decided to go with an upgrade to gtx 780, which looks good for my needs. It now seems I am to get a bit more £ for a job I recently finished , so I'm considering upgrading (my upgrade) to a Titan. Rather than ask if its better than a 780 (I've read countless threads on this) -I was wondering if someone could help me understand, as simply as possible - what each of the specs means in terms of real life use?

What I mean is
* What will increase viewport speed on complex scenes (3DS max / Revit) - memory? Cuda cores? etc
* What will increase rendering speeds?
* What will allow me to run more complex (high poly) scenes - i suppose this is an extension of viewport speed? (I think?).
* What does this double precision point thing actually mean for the above apps (if anything)? It seems to be the main dif (other than ram) between the two cards.

I'm quite technical - but am never 100% sure what each of the specs mean when I'm comparing the cards. There doesn't seem to be a clear explanation from my searching on the web? If anyone has any thoughts (or a link) I'd be most grateful!

Then with all that said ^ - Does anyone think I'd be wasting the money on the titan? Or will it make a real difference, if so - i'd gladly spend the extra on it but don't want to waste the money!

Many thanks!

PS: I've looked in Quadro cards, but want to stick with GTX due to gaming
 
Solution

RyanTH98

Honorable
Mar 26, 2013
263
0
10,810


Honestly I wouldn't know much about architectural visualizations, but what I do know is that GTX 780 vs. GTX Titan there is hardly any difference. Only difference is that the GTX 780 only has 3 GB of VRAM instead of Titan's 6 GB of VRAM. If you look at game benchmarks it's only a few FPS difference which shouldn't justify the hundreds of dollars extra to get a Titan. Tom's Hardware ( I think I could be wrong) did a test with VRAM on crysis 3 they maxed it out with AA on a 1440p monitor and found it would only use a little over 2 GB of VRAM. So VRAM shouldn't be a problem for your resolution either.
 
Solution

kev030981

Honorable
Aug 14, 2013
9
0
10,510
Thanks for reply Ryan - what I've basically found from research and asking around is that the Titan is faster than a std factory 780, but only by 5% (ish). The OC 780s match and even outperform the Titan - but its important to note this is only for gaming.
When it comes to workstation use - for the types of visualisation software I've mentioned above things become much trickier. No one seems to have compared a 780 to a titan for professional use (I suppose why would they? Not a common review...) - but there is a very handy review here on tomshardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-workstation-graphics-card,3493.html)

This and a few other sources (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-titan-opencl-cuda-workstation,3474-23.html) essentially state that the titan is an excellent card, but no match for a professional nvidia quaddro or Firepro when it comes to professional software (no surprise there I expect). This isn't just drivers and reliable memory etc (that help for sure) - but from a viewport speed in maya or 3ds max, what I am hearing is gtx cards are faster with low complexity, and then drop off the face of the earth when a model becomes high poly (say 500 000 polys or more) - where to pro cards don't lose steam until much further on complexity wise.

Incase anyone has the same question I had in future months: all of the tech specs are difficult to define - as each software application differs greatly. GPU rendering seems to benefit form faster core speed, no of cores, amount of vram (basically everything on card).
Viewport speed again benefits from jsut about everything.
Complexity of models - or the ability to open a more complex model is largely a vram issue.
And all of the above can be greatly influenced by drivers and software updates (i.e. 3DS max 2014 has faster viewport speed than 2013, and pro drivers increase gpu rendering times and viewport speed)

To end my long rambling post :) : The solution I have decided to go with is this:
I am getting a 780 (probably an OC one) to satisfy gaming upgrade. I will then save and buy either a new Quadro K4000 or a used K5000 when I can afford £900, add it to my system and run a duel boot (one having gtx drivers, one quadro). I imagine I'll have to watch the cooling a bit and sapce the cards apart, but otherwise all should be well. Think its a case of right tool for the job here... rather than the titan's 'bridge a gap' philosophy, I think I;d rather have two cards that specialise in different areas :)
 

RyanTH98

Honorable
Mar 26, 2013
263
0
10,810


No problem! It's great that you found a solution to your problem. I wish the best of luck to you with your plans for the future! :D