Both 2012 and 2013 have turned out to be great years for NVIDIA. Both from an engineering and a gamer stand point. The Kepler architecture has proven to be the most scalable GPU architecture to date. First, Titan crashed through the Quadro barrier delivering unprecedented CUDA processing for pro desktop users as well as epic frame rates. Next, the GTX 780 answered the call for enthusiasts demanding Titan-like frame rates without the Titan price. It appears NVIDIA has stepped up again with another powerful remix dubbed the GTX 780 Ti. This graphics processor may look like the GTX 780 and Titan, but it’s faster than both and sits right between in pricing. Interesting.
Features and Specifications
A quick browse of the specs show what’s been added to the GTX 780 Ti. Frequencies get a little boost which typically pairs well with the video memory which gets a boost to 7 GHz. If you do the math, that calculates in to 336 GB/s throughput. Visually and theoretically, it should outpace Titan, despite the heavier memory load out on it vs the 3GB on the GTX 780 Ti.
The GTX 780 Ti is still based on the GK114 like the rest of the GTX 7xx series, but with more texture units, CUDA cores, and a higher clock speed, resulting in a higher texture fill rate, over the higher end Titan and its predecessor, the GTX 780. But regardless of the extra enhancements on the core, the GTX 780 Ti still only consumes about 250 Watts at full load. This is just further evidence of NVIDIA’s innovative architectural refining capabilities, resulting in what appears to be a fully enabled GK114 GPU.
Keep in mind that you won’t typically see maximum power draw from just gaming. Even if you utilize a program that appears to operate the card at full load, the consumption has been typically less on both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
Price Drops, Game Bundles, and Shield Discounts!
For those who are waiting for prices to come down on the Kepler series (and thanks to pressure from AMD’s recent launches), the addition of the GTX 780 Ti drops the GTX 780 to $499, the GTX 770 drops to $329, and the GTX 760 remains relatively unchanged at around $260 price point. All of which are in US dollars. The Titan still commands a $999 premium if you need the Quadro disguised CUDA processing power. This means that the GTX 780 Ti finds its home at $699, sitting right in between its predecessor and the top end Titan. But as we can see from the specs, except for the memory, the GTX 780 Ti looks like it’s ready to jump all over it.
In terms of promotions for Holiday 2013 (as of the time of this review), any purchases involving the GTX 770/780/780 Ti receive a free copy of Batman: Arkham Origins, Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus $100 off a SHIELD purchase. That Shield coupon alone makes either of these three cards a bonus.
If you’re looking for something more affordable, any purchases of a GTX 760/660 receive Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, plus $50 off a SHIELD purchase. It’s not as big a discount on the Shield but still a noticeable dent in the the $299 MSRP Shield price tag.
Clearly, NVIDIA is putting up a very good fight against AMD’s latest products and it’ll be interesting to see how the deals influence people’s spending decisions this holiday. But let’s get back to the GTX 780 Ti.
The GTX 780 Ti Looks the Same As…
Fore the most part, yes, the GTX 780 Ti looks exactly like the GTX 770 and GTX 780. The only discernible difference is that the internal heat sink is black instead of standard metal and the outer casing might be a tad darker shade of silver for that “Titanium” look. Otherwise, everything about the card looks exactly the same as its siblings. While enthusiasts may consider this pretty uneventful, consider that the cost still remains at $699 which would have undoubtedly been higher if the card would have been pimped out a bit more. Besides, the reference card is anything but average or ugly.
If sporty coolers and high speed themes are important, you can count on NVIDIA partners to carry over some of their excellent looking graphics cards with better aftermarket coolers. And hopefully we will be looking at some of the more notable designs in a future review.
Now that we’ve established where the GTX 780 Ti stands on paper, let’s get testing to find out where the performance aspects land using some of the latest game titles that you’ll be looking forward to playing soon.
Test System Setup
The test bed is pretty straight forward with the components listed below along with the driver revisions we’ll be testing with. As far as settings, we’ll be using extreme settings whenever possible and maximum Tessellation. No platform boost frequencies are being used except where the video card is concerned. GPU Boost 2.0 is a feature and we’ll darn well use it!
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC Force
- Memory: Kingston HyperX Beast 2133MHz 32GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz
- Graphics 1: NVIDIA GTX 780 GTX Ti 3GB (as tested)
- Graphics 2: NVIDIA GTX 780 GTX 3GB
- Graphics 3: NVIDIA GTX 770 2GB
- Graphics 4: GIGABYTE GTX 770 OC 2GB
- Graphics 5: NVIDIA GTX 760 2GB
- Video Software: EVGA Precision X
- Storage: Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
- Power: BeQuiet! Pure Power 700 Watt 80Plus Bronze
- Cooling: NZXT HAVIK 140
For all testing, we’ll still be on Windows 7, so some improvements in performance may still be available from an update to Windows 8.1, which we’ll be changing to in the New Year. A secondary system with the same CPU, similar motherboard, memory, and software configuration was used with a single Titan video card as a direct comparison test bench. We are using the latest drivers as of the writing of this review (331.65 WHQL).
The 3D display on the test bench is the ASUS VG278 monitor with integrated 3D sensor (reviewed here). Like many of ASUS’ premium monitors, NVIDIA NVision 2 comes bundled with the monitor. Chances are that you’ll find yourself playing for hours as if you weren’t even wearing the glasses as recent improvements have really made the technology great.
Now that we’ve got the systems assembled and ready to go, we’ll start off with the first salvo of synthetic benchmarks.
Synthetic Benchmarks
Once again, the round of benchmarks provided the opportunity to play some games and learn what the GTX 780 Ti is all about. Settings are noted in each benchmark. Keep in mind that the AMD HD 7970 doesn’t support Physics so the score is based on the disabled feature. Honestly, I didn’t notice playing a graphically intense game like Metro:Last Light which simply looks immaculate on the AMD card.
Starting with the staple synthetic benchmark, I ran the cards through in 720p Performance mode. The GTX 780 Ti actually shows its processing power quite visibly. It spreads even further with a bit of overclocking. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the benchmark installed on the secondary Titan system. At any rate, this is a pretty darn good score.
Heaven is a free to use DirectX 11 benchmark that works any GPU to its limit. I expected the Titan to do better but it seems that graphics favor the 780 Ti more. Still, it’s something to behold when the benchmark moves so smoothly. Anyone with a lower end GPU will understand this concept. We call it the “butter” moment.
Let’s move on to the real world gaming benchmarks.
Gaming Benchmarks
All of the video cards presented a very crisp pirating experience (Arr…). However, the two top dogs really make it easy to catch all the finite details happening in the game. This is where the GTX 780 Ti truly seems to excel. The picture is immaculate as well.
Batman, Batman, Batman! There’s nothing like a good raw game where you get to kick sociopath or psychopathic butt. The GTX 780 Ti just tops out in epic frame rate territory. And, most of the cards love the physics. I would even think that the Ti can operate this game in surround mode (3 screens) and still remain very playable.
Let’s check out some more gaming benchmarks and then take it on home.
Gaming Benchmarks Continued
I opted to use Battlefield 3 in benchmarking instead of Battlefield 4 which may need a patch before I’m convinced it’s ready for the lab. At any rate, the GTX 780 Ti ran quite well on a fresh OS install. The Titan again remains right on its heels. Ultra settings really give the game character.
I was excited to check this game out even though it’s on an older Unreal 2.5 game engine. The game site screenshots almost don’t do the game justice. The details are especially visible on the GTX 780 Ti and Titan. Honestly, any of the cards look amazing and show a lot amazing detail.
Finally, Metro: Last Light is a lot like the Heaven Demo in that the amazing details, textures, and shadows can slap a GPU silly. The GTX 780 Ti stands on top again which essentially proves that this card is the fastest on the planet. But most surprisingly, it ISN’T the most expensive card, knocking out its Titan brother in the process. Which has been the theme for the entire suite of synthetic and real world benchmarks.
Acoustics and Power Consumption
Video card noise was recorded with a trusty sound meter with the CPU fans forced to very low RPMs to eliminate them as a variable. Only auto fan settings were used since they’re set by the card manufacturers. Noise was recorded running just graphically intense benchmarks. Keep in mind that only a very hot room, or extremely poorly ventilated computer enclosures will result in higher than normal RPMs.
Here’s how the cards handled the job of cooling and staying quiet…
As you can see, I had a problem detecting any noise from the NVIDIA cards mainly because the sound meter couldn’t go any lower. Basically, this equates to a soft whisper at idle and was completely undetectable inside a computer enclosure. At a good real world load, the cards become a bit more audible, but any good enclosure will block about 8-10 decibels. Again, this was while pulling full 3D load and nothing artificial. During testing, the card never consumed a full 250 Watts but a more realistic 220 to 235 Watts.
Given that these cards all tend to rock, it’s thumbs up everywhere for PC gamers looking for silence and performance from the newly minted GTX 780 Ti.
Final Thoughts
It’s truly impressive that Kepler has undergone so many revisions offering unrivaled gaming performance and even compiling performance for those that love CUDA processing power. The fact that you can get the newer Warner Brothers and Ubisoft games with your Kepler based video card as well a discount on NVIDIA’s Shield is proof that NVIDIA continues to hear the voices of gamers around the world (and fight hard against its competitors). Ultimately, this benefits consumers and that’s what we love to hear. We hope that the trend for bundling new games as opposed to lackluster older titles is a continuing trend from either party.
The NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti has proven itself to be one of the best high performance gaming video cards to date that even rivals the epic Titan, both in performance and pricing. Both regular and 3D gaming experience is one of the smoothest yet which is really all any real enthusiast wants. The card doesn’t get any louder than the GTX 780. In fact, it is even less noticeable when in a worthy computer enclosure, dropping noise levels further. Essentially, the GTX 780 Ti is the optimal choice when you need a worthy companion on the battlefield, quest, and mission. Second best has really become the best when it comes to gaming performance in our testing.
Again, the NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti will come in at $699 US MSRP. However, you can expect partners to offer very similar priced cards with nicer cooling solutions at most likely for the same price. And, don’t forget, the GPU has driven prices down on all the other cards in the NVIDIA deck. So even if the GTX 780 Ti isn’t the one for you, the GTX 780, which may not have been affordable at the previous price point, may be affordable today.
Either way, it’s a win for you and a win for NVIDIA if you pick up one of their capable GPUs today. But if you do pick the GTX 780 Ti, you are guaranteed total high performance gaming today, surpassing even its own higher end brethren.
Pros
- Impressive Kepler architecture
- Extreme high performance
- Increased GPU and memory frequencies plus GPU Boost 2.0
- Supports 4 displays easily
- Performance enough for three displays
- Supports 3D NVISION 2 extremely well
- Great Warner Brothers and Ubisoft game bundle!
Cons
- $699 can’t please everyone
Overall Rating: 9.5 / 10.0
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