NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN represent two distinct eras of NVIDIA’s flagship GPU design. The GTX 1080 Ti, built on the Pascal architecture, is a modern powerhouse, while the GTX TITAN, based on the older Kepler architecture, was the original halo product of its generation. Benchmark data shows a decisive generational leap, with the GTX 1080 Ti outpacing the GTX TITAN by massive margins in every shared test. The data reveals not just a difference in speed, but a fundamental shift in compute capability and feature support.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the GTX 1080 Ti than the GTX TITAN in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The performance gap is enormous. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511 versus the GTX TITAN's 10,027, a delta of 304%. In Geekbench OpenCL, the lead is 173.1%, with scores of 67,929 and 24,873 respectively.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has a significantly higher average benchmark score of 15,548, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The GTX TITAN averages 14,373, sitting in the 56th percentile.

Q: What is the difference in memory technology and capacity?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti uses 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, delivering 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX TITAN uses 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a wider 384-bit bus, but achieves only 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Are there any benchmark tests where the GTX TITAN wins?

A: No. In the head-to-head comparison, the GTX 1080 Ti wins all three shared benchmarks: Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan. The win count is 3 for the GTX 1080 Ti and 0 for the GTX TITAN.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of transistor density?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has a much higher transistor density at 25.1M / mm², despite having a smaller die. The GTX TITAN has a density of 12.6M / mm² on a larger physical die.

Q: What is the DirectX feature level support for each card?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the GTX TITAN supports DirectX 12 (11_0). This indicates the newer card has access to more advanced DirectX 12 features.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The GTX 1080 Ti uses the GP102 chip, based on the Pascal architecture, manufactured on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The GTX TITAN uses the GK110 chip, based on the much older Kepler architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink is a primary driver of the performance disparity.

The transistor counts reflect the architectural leap. The Pascal chip packs 11,800 million transistors into a 471 mm² die, yielding a density of 25.1M / mm². The Kepler chip contains 7,080 million transistors on a larger 561 mm² die, resulting in a much lower density of 12.6M / mm². This shows how much more efficiently the newer architecture utilizes silicon area.

Core configuration differs significantly. The GTX 1080 Ti has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 88 raster operation units (ROPs). The GTX TITAN has fewer shading units at 2,688, the same number of TMUs at 224, but significantly fewer ROPs at 48. This suggests the GTX 1080 Ti is better optimized for pixel-heavy workloads.

Clock speeds are also in the newer card's favor. The GTX 1080 Ti runs at a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz. The GTX TITAN operates at a much lower base clock of 836 MHz and a boost clock of 876 MHz. This higher frequency, combined with the newer architecture, leads to substantial performance gains across the board.

Neither card features dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as those were introduced in later generations. Both cards use the PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface and have a TDP of 250 W, requiring the same 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 600 W power supply.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 1080 Ti wins in every category where data is available. Its compute capabilities are vastly superior, as shown by the Geekbench OpenCL score of 67,929, which is 173.1% higher than the GTX TITAN's 24,873. This makes it the clear choice for compute-heavy applications like rendering or scientific workloads.

In graphics-centric workloads, the GTX 1080 Ti also dominates. The Geekbench Vulkan score of 40,511 is 304% higher than the GTX TITAN's 10,027, indicating a massive advantage in modern APIs. The Geekbench Metal score of 30,624 is 272.6% higher than the GTX TITAN's 8,218, showing superiority in Apple's graphics API as well.

The GTX TITAN, while still a capable card for its era, is outclassed in all modern scenarios. Its lower pixel rate of 49.06 GPixel/s and texture rate of 196.2 GTexel/s are far behind the GTX 1080 Ti's 139.2 GPixel/s and 354.4 GTexel/s. The data suggests the GTX TITAN would struggle with modern high-resolution gaming, while the GTX 1080 Ti remains a viable option for 1440p and 4K gaming.

For users with legacy software, the GTX TITAN's support for OpenGL 4.6 matches the GTX 1080 Ti. However, its Vulkan support is limited to version 1.2.175, while the GTX 1080 Ti supports Vulkan 1.4. This means the newer card is better prepared for future titles utilizing the latest Vulkan features.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is in memory. The GTX 1080 Ti offers 11 GB of GDDR5X memory, while the GTX TITAN has 6 GB of GDDR5. The newer card's memory runs at an effective speed of 11 Gbps, compared to the GTX TITAN's 6 Gbps. This results in a bandwidth advantage for the GTX 1080 Ti: 484.4 GB/s versus 288.4 GB/s.

The bus width is a point of divergence. The GTX 1080 Ti uses a 352-bit bus, while the GTX TITAN uses a wider 384-bit bus. Despite the wider bus, the GTX TITAN's slower memory speed and older technology result in lower overall bandwidth, highlighting the efficiency gains of the newer GDDR5X standard.

Compute capabilities differ drastically. The GTX 1080 Ti delivers 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the GTX TITAN delivers just 4.709 TFLOPS. The GTX 1080 Ti also has FP16 support at 177.2 GFLOPS (1:64), while the GTX TITAN has no listed FP16 capability.

Display outputs are another differentiator. The GTX 1080 Ti features 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX TITAN has 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. This gives the newer card access to newer display standards and higher refresh rates. Physical dimensions are similar, with both cards being 267 mm long and 112 mm or 111 mm high respectively, but the GTX 1080 Ti is slightly thicker at 40 mm versus 38 mm.

The release dates are four years apart, with the GTX TITAN launching on 2013-02-18 and the GTX 1080 Ti on 2017-03-09. The GTX TITAN's launch MSRP was 999 USD, while the GTX 1080 Ti launched at 699 USD. Both cards are now end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is in the Geekbench Vulkan test. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511, which is 304% higher than the GTX TITAN's 10,027. This is the largest performance delta in the entire comparison and clearly demonstrates the newer architecture's superiority in handling modern, low-level graphics APIs. This kind of margin suggests the GTX TITAN is not just slower, but is architecturally incapable of efficiently processing the workloads that the GTX 1080 Ti handles with ease.

The Geekbench Metal test shows a similar, though slightly less extreme, trend. The GTX 1080 Ti's score of 30,624 is 272.6% higher than the GTX TITAN's 8,218. Metal is Apple's graphics API, and this result indicates that the GTX 1080 Ti is dramatically better suited for macOS-based applications and games that rely on Metal for rendering.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 67,929, a 173.1% improvement over the GTX TITAN's 24,873. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, and this large lead confirms that the GTX 1080 Ti is vastly superior for non-graphics workloads such as video encoding, machine learning inference, and scientific simulation. The FP32 performance difference of 11.34 TFLOPS versus 4.709 TFLOPS directly correlates with this benchmark outcome.

The GTX 1080 Ti also shows dominance in theoretical pixel and texture throughput. Its pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s is nearly triple the GTX TITAN's 49.06 GPixel/s. Similarly, its texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s is almost double the GTX TITAN's 196.2 GTexel/s. These metrics explain why the GTX 1080 Ti is far more capable at high resolutions with anti-aliasing enabled, where fill-rate and texture fetch are critical bottlenecks.

The average benchmark scores further contextualize the gap. The GTX 1080 Ti averages 15,548, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, which is just 1.7% behind. The GTX TITAN averages 14,373, placing it in the 56th percentile, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, which is only 0.1% behind. This shows that while the GTX TITAN is still competitive with much newer integrated graphics, the GTX 1080 Ti is in a different performance class entirely, competing with dedicated mid-range cards from a later generation.