Titan X or 980ti for mostly rendering plus some gaming

Bran_2 · Jul 16, 2015

Hi my name is Bran,
I'm in the midst of building a computer from scratch mainly for content creation, graphic design, 3d / fractal rendering, and video rendering / editing and second to that I'm an average/big gamer and really need to know a few key things like:

1) Would it be worth it to spend the extra cash on a Titan X for the 12gb VRAM and extra cuda cores etc..? Or would a 980ti at 6gb VRAM work fine?

2) Is SLI a viable option other than for gaming? (as mentioned above) content creation(like 3d modelling/ Fractal rendering), graphic design work (like Photoshop/Illustrator) and Video editing/rendering? (And I do understand SLI isn't always supported for all games or not right away).

I have read some and seen some videos about DirectX 12 and the possibility of allowing developers to add support for vram stacking in the future. In that sense I feel like SLI 980ti could be a good option. But then again could Titan X stacked vram be even better? Either way I would like to start with a single card and test the waters for awhile before adding a second card.

How much does vram even play into content creation and rendering work?

So far... besides the graphics card options I listed above my main system components are probably going to be:

i7 - 5960x
Asus Rampage V
32gb 2400hz G-skill
Samsung Evo Pro 512gb
Rosewill Photon 1200w
Corsair H100i

Also future proofing for 4k of course.

Looking to stay around $5k price tag.

introsounds · Jul 17, 2015

I'd opt for the 980Ti. The difference between the compute power of the Titan and the power of the 980 Ti is negligible, as places like ExtremeTech have pointed out: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/206956-nvidia-gtx-980-ti-review-titan-x-performance-at-a-fraction-of-the-price , but the price points are drastically different. Use the money you saved going with the 980Ti and invest it in another one, if you really want THAT much power.

Hope I helped!

Noah Siano · Jul 17, 2015

From all I've heard, the Titan X holds a very small advantage over the 980 Ti where, if price is of any concern, it makes no sense to buy it. You can have two 980 Ti's for just over the price of one Titan X. Since the 980 Ti is pretty darn close to the compute and gaming performance of the Titan X, sometimes besting it even, having two of them would be theoretically double the power of one Titan X.

But, if you're only wanting to use a single card and you've got a loose budget for this and want the best of the best(which, from the looks of your other parts, you do), then a Titan X will serve you very well and having two or three down the road will definitely boost performance. It is a better card than the 980 Ti, but not by much, and definitely not worth the $350 more except that it is the fastest single gpu and you pay a premium for the best.

TL;DR I'd buy the 980 Ti. Actually, I did, it should be here in the next two weeks

Rev2k · Dec 25, 2015

I know this has been answered and you've probably bought your card a while ago but I believe the answers failed to cover every part of your question.

- 1. Worth it? Generally yes if you have the money and are using it in a professional settting. Render speeds will remain about the same, the card performance is very close to one another, but the extra VRAM allows you to double your scene complexity. Most GPU renderers are limited by the VRAM. I use Octane and work with large CAD file conversions and without optimizing it is pretty easy to hit the limit with a 980 ti (that's what I have and wish I had gotten the X). Keep in mind that even with a full 6GB you will not be allowed to utilize all of it for rendering due to card overhead. To give you an idea, and this is just a rough example but my 6GB Ti generally fails to load a scene when there are more than 14-16 million polygons but it varies depending on other loaded textures, etc. That sounds like plenty but with some instances, repetition, subdivision or heavy CAD conversions, I hit it more often than I'd like.

-2. SLI depends on the renderer. Currently with Octane in version 2.24 SLI is not supported, so I keep it off. Not sure about the other renderers.

- I am hoping in the upcoming versions it wont matter as much so that may be something to hold out for but for now it is definitely a factor. There are some tools out there currently to side load the textures for example but that only goes so far.

kyotokid · Jan 9, 2016

...as you intend to also do 3D graphic desing and rendering, the Titan X would be the better solution

For example, if you are rendering in Iray using GPU mode, the entire scene (geometry, textures, transmaps, reflectivity, etc.) must fit within the card's memory. Many scenes I create can easily push upwards of 8, 9, to even 10 GB during the render process which would exceed the 980 TI's memory. Once that happens, the process dumps to CPU/physical memory and all the CUDA cores in the world are not going to help.

I look at it this way, 650$ -700$ (980 TI) for maybe 60% of the render jobs completing in GPU mode or for another 300$ (Titan X) I can push that up to between 95% - 98%.

steven cook · May 7, 2016

Here is my take on this dilemma:

1. If you will be performing more gaming than workstation tasks buy the 980 Ti it is cheaper and uses less power, and generates less heat. SLI solutions are only good for intensive workloads like gaming at high resolutions or performing other GPU related tasks. Using SLI means you have to buy a better power supply and if you don't want any bottlenecks then you'll have to invest in a higher end processor. SLI is more expensive and not ideal for gaming.

2. If you are performing high end workstation tasks the Titan X is better because it has 3028 cuda cores, more than 1000 extra cuda cores than the 980TI this means the Titan X will perform better under heavy loads than the 980Ti because it can process more information. According to modern prices 980Ti in SLI is slightly more expensive than a single Titian X and of course it uses more energy.

Conclusion: for workstations the Titan X is better for gaming the 980Ti is perfect especially if you're playing at 4k resolutions and for 1080p you should not see too much bottlenecks as long as you have decent Intel i7 or a higher end i5 CPU but for Titan X you will want to invest in a higher end processor like the I7 5820k or even the I7 5960x but the 8 core will set you back another $1000 so it's a matter of budget and the workload. for most people the 5820k is perfect.

Miguel_18 · May 30, 2016

steven cook :

And my dilemma is, should I wait for the GTX 1080 or should I go with the Titan X? I am going to use it as a workstation for using sketchup, autocad, 3ds max and Unreal and I am wondering if the 4gb gap between them will make any difference during the workflow and render. Also some benchmarking seems like the 1080 gets better results.

I could go with the Titan now and then update it for the "Titan Pascal" next year if it comes to sale and has more memory.

steven cook · Jun 10, 2016

Miguel_18 :

The GTX 1080 has slightly less cuda cores than the Titan X and 8gb memory instead of 12gb memory, the 1080 also has a much higher base clock at 1.60mhz and that is good. According to a few leaked benchmark tests the 1080 gets a 25% advantage over the 980TI. The 1080 is also a bit faster than the Titan X with a reasonable price tag, and honestly I don't see most people even needing the Titan X unless you're working on really detailed projects at high resolution with multiple monitors. I think the 1080 Founders Addition is going to be a game changer as it is around $300 cheaper than the Titan X mostly because it is 8gb vs 12gb but it has almost the same performance or better depending on what you're doing.

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Titan X or 980ti for mostly rendering plus some gaming

Bran_2

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Rev2k

introsounds

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Noah Siano

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Rev2k

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kyotokid

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steven cook

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Miguel_18

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steven cook

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