TechRadar Verdict
This is the fastest single GPU card around, offering performance only before seen in monstrously power hungry dual-GPU cards, but now in an elegant, efficient package.
Pros
- +
Impressive 4K gaming performance
- +
Efficient high-end GPU
- +
Stays quiet
- +
Overclocks like a boss
Cons
- -
Performance isn't unprecedented
- -
Not taken by the black shroud
- -
Prohibitively expensive
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The Nvidia Titan X is the result of Nvidia maxing out its Maxwell graphics architecture. This is one of the best graphics cards of all time.
Fantastic. That means, once again, we can trot out the familiar ‘fastest graphics card ever’ headline, right?
Well… no. There's actually a bit of a distinction between the fastest single GPU and the fastest graphics card – the two do not necessarily mean the same thing. But we'll come to that in a bit.
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What the Nvidia GTX Titan X is, though, is a brand new ‘ultra-enthusiast’, super-expensive $999 graphics card. Think something like the Intel Core i7-5960X, Apple Watch Edition or Audi R8, and you’re on the right track.
But where the Audi really needs a race track to show its full worth, the Apple Watch Edition needs a millionaire who doesn't get out much, and the 5960X can't shine without rare complex number-crunching algorithms, the Titan X will deliver impressive gaming performance at almost any level.
Like any other Nvidia Titan card that Team Green has released in the past, this card is for gamers that need the best gaming experience imaginable, and don’t mind the cost.
But, the Nvidia GeForce Titan X is also a card meant to be a desirable object. This is an aspirational piece of PC hardware, likely to be much wanted but less purchased by your average consumer.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan X is a headline-grabber, a card built to showcase the Maxwell GPU tech and hopefully convince the more money-conscious to spend their GPU upgrade cash on one of the more affordable Maxwell-powered graphics cards.
The trickle-down effect is real here, because the GTX Titan X is using the same overall GPU design. However, it's also throwing many more cores and a lot more memory at the gaming problem to deliver seriously impressive frame rates.
And the target for those metrics? Nvidia has 4K gaming at peak settings firmly in its sights for the GeForce GTX Titan X. And, for the most part, this card is very accomplished at delivering on that lofty ambition.
