When Titan first launched, many of my enthusiasts colleagues spent the day reading reviews and wiping the drool off their keyboards. The gamers saw the Titan as perhaps a card to end all cards, or at least an upgrade to last for years. The Folding and Photoshop crew understood that Titan had the Shaders and cores to process some serious work loads. However, one big obstacle stood between them and their dream card: The price. While Titan remains the current single GPU desktop flagship at $1K USD, neither affordable nor a true gamer’s card. Naturally, a new alternative high performance “sports-card” is here with a lower price tag.
Continued refinements to the Kepler GPU has spawned the GTX 780 which fills a convenient yet somewhat unique need as the new flag ship gaming GPU. Its the latest Kepler powered video card designed for maximum frame rates, multi-monitor support, 3D gaming, and a GEFORCE Experience using sampling and details settings that would otherwise choke out most of the previous generation. Let’s see how the NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 stacks up against the higher end cards we have in the lab and determine if it’s worth the quasi-premium cost.
Key Specifications
In a nutshell, the GTX 780 is replacing the GTX 680 which was the current king of the gamer cards. The GTX 680 offers 1536 CUDA cores versus the GTX 780 at 2,304. That alone reveals that the GTX 780 is a stronger GPU on paper. Here’s the quick list so you can see the basic spec for spec differences between the two.
With increased CUDA core processing performance comes increased power requirements for the GTX 780. Proud owners should have a recommended 600 watt capable power supply. The card will consume about 235 watts rendering a fully capable video game (engine). Naturally, something like Starcraft 2 won’t require so much from high end video cards and of course, if your appetite is for more than one of these cards in a system, then you will need to upgrade your power supply requirements appropriately.
Most of the integrated features are similar to the GTX 680. But they are also updated. Let’s blast through those so you know what to expect.
Features – GEFORCE Experience
GEFORCE Experience…it’s not just a pretty metaphor. It’s a revised NVIDIA developed program that will optimize supported video game settings so you get the most out of your gaming experience. Of course, you’ll need a supported NVIDIA GPU to reap the benefits. Currently, there are about 80 supported video games. I’ve tried it on GTX 580, GTX 660 Ti, GTX 680, and now GTX 780. If I missed maximizing any setting, the program automatically aligns the settings with the capabilities of the GPU. If you find the settings undesirable, simply “revert” to the settings you chose originally. Easy as that.
3D Performance – Approved Games for Best Results
Last year, I took 3D Vision 2 for a spin. Even as a sceptic, I found myself appreciating many of my favorite games all over again because it adds something new to the experience. Spending $250 or so on a 3D compatible monitor and 3D Vision 2 glasses are all that’s needed to see a new side of your favourite games. What is apparent this time around is that while the GTX 660-680 offer a much smoother 3D experience, the GTX 780 continues the trend, but without a severe drop in performance. More on that in testing.
3D performance can bounce all over the place as game engines and drivers are updated. Drivers play a significant role and can either improve or neglect aging games, or unofficially supported games like Assassin’s Creed III. The frame rates would drop as low as 25 FPS in the larger more active areas of the game where there was a lot of content rendered in 3D. Otherwise, frame rates are easily 60 or so. Supported games like Battlefield 3 have less of an issue losing about 15 frames to the 3D feature. So keep that in mind if you plan to get your 3D experience on.
Next Generation Gaming Engine Support
The GTX 780 has all the power needed to run video games, or demos, built with the Unreal Engine 3 and 4 graphics engines. If you’ve seen the UR4 Elemental demo or the new Infiltrator demo that debuted at GDC 2013, then you know it takes a high end GPU to create the magic. Unfortunately, there aren’t any released video games like the demos to really show off the GTX 780’s real world capabilities. It’s kind of like having a 0-60 3.5 second sports car and only city streets to drive it. It’s great for showing off, but you won’t get to use the horsepower.
Now let’s get to testing all this horsepower!
Test System and Setup
In order to save you time and cut to the chase, we’re keeping things short and sweet. We really don’t need to see 300 game titles tested on the card to figure out if it’s better than the previous generation. If it runs on games like Assassin’s Creed III, Battlefield 3, Metro: Last Light, and Batman: Arkham City, as a general rule, it will run anything including Crysis 3. Here’s the test system break down…
- Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z77X-UP7 OC Edition
- Memory: Kingston HyperX 2800MHz 8GB DDR3
- Graphics 1: NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780 (as tested)
- Graphics 2: GIGABYTE GTX 670 OC
- Graphics 3: ZOTAC GTX 680 AMP
- Graphics 4: ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II
- Graphics 5: EVGA GTX 660 Ti SC
- Power Supply: Rosewill 1000 Watt Tachyon Platinum
- Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD
- OS: Windows 7 Pro
- CPU Cooling: Corsair H110
The display is an ASUS VG278H 3D monitor operating at 1080p. Game settings are all maxed out to make the GPU work hardest. Games were tested in regular mode then 3D Mode was tested at the end. Temperatures were monitored with EVGA’s Precision utility. A Seasonic Power Angel at the wall was used to determine power consumption.
One final note is that the HD 7970 GPU was tested with PhysX disabled because it doesn’t support the feature.
Real World Gaming Performance
It’s pretty rare to see someone buying the latest video card to only play their old games. So instead of testing every generation of game, we’ve decided to concentrate on what’s most important which are the latest games that tax the performance of today’s GPUs.
Assassin’s Creed III
AC III is pretty amazing for this level of detailed game play. Average frame rates were combined running around the port after the opening ship scene.
In most scenarios, the game renders pretty easily even with maxed settings. The GTX 660 Ti struggled the most. Even the GTX 680 worked pretty hard in the port scene. Otherwise, the GTX 780 kept a higher 69 FPS average showing it to be a stronger GPU. I also appreciate the ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II’s rich detail and contrast. If this was a test more about perceived image quality, then that card really puts NVIDIA’s best on notice.
Battlefield 3
While this game is growing a little long in the tooth, the semi-recent game updates still make it a strong first person relevant shooter. When you find a smoother server, it’s quite enjoyable. Since those servers are few and far between, I benchmarked the cards in Single Player mode.
When the brass landed and the smoke cleared, all of the cards are more than capable of running the game maxed out. The GTX 660 Ti has a little trouble when there is a lot of lighting from explosions, flashes, and quick movemnt. 3D mode adds an extra realistic effect which makes you just want to keep going. Ultimately, the GTX 780 is super smooth at all times and there is no noticeable tearing with Adaptive Vsync (AV) enabled. BF3 tears often so AV is your friend.
Metro: Last Light
One of our previous benchmarks, Metro 2033, was a GPU crippler on its own. But it’s time to move on so I retired it to try out the latest Metro: Last Light and the details are both amazing and even more taxing on system resources. It’s also a GPU monster so keep that in mind if you have an older video card. You’ll almost definitely need to turn down some settings to run on last generation equipment as shown in the chart. Again, GTX 780 holds up better than the rest.
Batman Arkham City
Sure, this is a semi-aging title but it’s still a viable game engine and a good gauge for RPG type games. It’s also a lot of fun even today and offers a lot of re-playability thanks to DLC content. From the scores, you can see that the GTX 780 blows its predecessor away. PhysX be blessed, it doesn’t bother the card at all. Crank those settings up!
Synthetic Gaming Benchmarks
While real world gaming benchmarks are essential, they sometimes don’t provide the cross reference one needs to compare their own current equipment to. We’ve chosen two more benchmarks that are both free and provide you a good snapshot of how this card will upgrade your experience compared to what you have right now.
Heaven Demo
I’m throwing this great benchmark in because it’s a free to download so you can compare if you don’t have any of the games that are used in most reviews for testing. This should give you an idea of whether or not an upgrade will give you the frame rate boost you need to tackle that new title you’ve been eyeing. Of course, if your video card doesn’t support DX11 Tessellation, the option will be blank. Which might be reason enough to upgrade.
Based on the previous benchmarks, these results aren’t a surprise. The GTX 780 runs very, very smooth throughout the benchmark. Even with Extreme Tessellation, the GTX 780 managed 48 frames while the rest of the pack lost more than 15 frames each with the option enabled.
3DMark11
For benchmark enthusiasts, Futuremark’s 3DMark11 is still a standard and free to download so you can compare with your equipment at home. As shown, the GTX 780 is a mean, lean rendering machine. The NVIDIA reference card overclocks a bit but not a great deal. You can expect the NVIDIA partners to offer some highly overclockable versions very soon.
Now let’s do a quick check out on thermals and power consumption.
Thermal, Noise, and Power Consumption
I used the Heaven demo going through three passes recording the operating temps because it’s a good real world indicator of what you can expect in real world conditions of usage. Ambient temp was 20C. At idle, the NVIDIA GTX 780 idled between 28C and 30C versus the ZOTAC GTX 680 AMP at 36C. At full load, the GTX 780 reached 79C versus the 680 at 81C. Keep in mind, that even though the GTX 780 consumed 236 watts that it idled cooler and ran similarly to the hotter 680. To top it off, this is with the GTX 780’s reference cooler which is a very decent performer and quite the looker in our opinion.
In terms of noise, the GTX 780 didn’t quite reach the 43dB seen in the press release. In fact, it was below 40dB all the time and especially not noticeable inside a Coolermaster HAF XB despite all its venting. The only way the card would top 40dB was through artificial means. This is a gaming card, not a cooking utensil. The card ran much cooler than anticipated.
Final Thoughts
I have to admit that I was a little enamored and a little concerned when I first saw the NVIDIA GTX 780. Granted, its a great looking two toned green LED lit reference card if it can even really be called reference. However, the concern was that the card is only cooled by a large flat standard aluminum heat sink similar to the GTX 680 heat sink. But in this case, we’re given more CUDA cores and more power consumption which creates more heat. The thermal solution shouldn’t be able to properly cool the GPU, should it? But not only did it succeed, but exceeded our expectations. Especially in noise levels.
NVIDIA’s refinements to Kepler continue to show enormous promise in terms of architectural innovation. The NVIDIA GTX 780 is powerful, fast, an sports a great looking design. It’s also surprisingly quiet for a high performance video card, and remains quite cool under pressure despite the 250W consumption specification. Users only need a single 8-pin and 6-pin PCI Express 600 Watt power supply which should please those on a tight budget after buying the $649 USD card.
If NVIDIA’s goal was to create an affordable “Titan” for high end gamers, it most certainly has done that here. At over $350 less, it brings the power of their flagship card to more people. But if the GTX 780 is still out of your price range, the last generation of GPUs still provide great performance and greatly reduced prices. But if you want the latest and greatest card for gamers, then I’d give that title to the GTX 780 today.
Pros
- Impressive Frame Rates!
- Requires a single 8pin and 6pin
- Quieter and cooler operation
- Great looking “reference” card
- Continued 3D Vision compatibility
- A more affordable “Titan” for the masses
Cons
- Would like to see bundled game codes for the cost
Overall Rating: 9.0 / 10.0
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