NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Comparison

The benchmark data presents a clear generational divide between the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN. While the GTX TITAN was a formidable flagship in its era, the recorded measurements show that the RTX 3060 Ti, a product from a much later architecture, holds a decisive advantage in every head-to-head comparison available in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparison points between these cards, and the RTX 3060 Ti wins both by substantial margins. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 78,927 points against the GTX TITAN's 24,873 points. This represents a 217.3% advantage for the newer card, indicating that its compute throughput is more than triple that of the older GPU in this specific workload.

The second head-to-head test, Geekbench Vulkan, shows an even more pronounced gap. The RTX 3060 Ti achieves a score of 47,784, while the GTX TITAN manages only 10,027. The delta here is 376.6%, meaning the RTX 3060 Ti delivers nearly four times the performance of the GTX TITAN in this graphics API benchmark. This is a significant separation that reflects not just raw compute ability, but also the efficiency of the newer architecture when interacting with modern APIs.

The overall win tally is 2 for the RTX 3060 Ti and 0 for the GTX TITAN. This is not a close contest. The data suggests that the architectural advancements between the two releases have resulted in a performance chasm that cannot be bridged by the older card's higher original market positioning. The GTX TITAN's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 14,373, while the RTX 3060 Ti's average is 16,129. This places the RTX 3060 Ti in the 59th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the GTX TITAN sits in the 56th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

Given the head-to-head results, the use-case split is heavily skewed towards the RTX 3060 Ti. The most obvious area of advantage is in compute-heavy tasks. The Geekbench OpenCL score of 78,927 for the RTX 3060 Ti suggests it is far better suited for general-purpose compute workloads, such as rendering, video encoding, or scientific calculations that leverage GPGPU acceleration. The GTX TITAN's OpenCL score of 24,873 is more than three times lower, indicating it would be a significantly slower option for these tasks.

For gaming and applications that rely on modern graphics APIs, the RTX 3060 Ti is also the clear winner. Its Vulkan score of 47,784 dwarfs the GTX TITAN's 10,027. The GTX TITAN does support Vulkan, but its implementation is older (version 1.2.175) and its architecture lacks the dedicated hardware features found in the newer card. This results in a massive performance discrepancy in Vulkan-based titles or applications. The RTX 3060 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX TITAN only supports DirectX 12 (11_0). This means the newer card can take advantage of features like ray tracing and mesh shaders that are simply unavailable on the older hardware.

There is no benchmark category where the GTX TITAN emerges as a winner. Its only recorded scores are in Geekbench OpenCL, Geekbench Vulkan, and a Metal test (8,218) which the RTX 3060 Ti does not have a recorded result for. The data does not support a scenario where the GTX TITAN would be the preferred choice based on performance metrics. Its higher power consumption and older feature set make it a less compelling option for any modern workload where the RTX 3060 Ti is available.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures from different foundries and process nodes. The RTX 3060 Ti uses the GA104 chip based on the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process by Samsung. The GTX TITAN uses the GK110 chip based on the Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process by TSMC. This process node difference is substantial, with the newer 8 nm node allowing for a much higher transistor density. The RTX 3060 Ti integrates 17,400 million transistors on a die size of 392 mm², resulting in a density of 44.4 million transistors per mm². The GTX TITAN has 7,080 million transistors on a larger 561 mm² die, yielding a density of only 12.6 million transistors per mm².

The core configuration reflects these architectural changes. The RTX 3060 Ti has 4,864 shading units, 152 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The GTX TITAN has 2,688 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. While the newer card has significantly more shading units and ROPs, the older card has a higher count of texture mapping units. This difference in resource allocation suggests the GTX TITAN was designed to handle texturing-heavy tasks in its time, but the sheer computational throughput of the RTX 3060 Ti's shading units proves to be far more decisive in modern benchmarks.

A critical architectural difference is the inclusion of dedicated hardware on the RTX 3060 Ti. It features 38 RT cores and 152 Tensor cores. The GTX TITAN has none of these. The presence of RT cores enables hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature completely absent from the Kepler architecture. The Tensor cores are designed for AI acceleration and are essential for features like DLSS. The GTX TITAN lacks this capability entirely, making it unable to perform these tasks with any efficiency.

The memory subsystem also shows stark differences. The RTX 3060 Ti uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GTX TITAN uses 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a wider 384-bit bus, but its bandwidth is only 288.4 GB/s. Despite having a narrower bus, the newer memory type on the RTX 3060 Ti provides a 55% bandwidth advantage. The GTX TITAN also has a lower memory clock, operating at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) compared to the RTX 3060 Ti's 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for the two cards diverge on nearly every measurable field. The process node has already been mentioned, but other key differences include the clock speeds. The RTX 3060 Ti has a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The GTX TITAN has a base clock of 836 MHz and a boost clock of 876 MHz. This is a massive clock speed advantage for the newer card, contributing directly to its performance lead.

The compute rates are also vastly different. The RTX 3060 Ti achieves a pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s. The GTX TITAN achieves 49.06 GPixel/s and 196.2 GTexel/s respectively. The floating-point performance (FP32) is 16.20 TFLOPS for the RTX 3060 Ti, compared to 4.709 TFLOPS for the GTX TITAN. This is a 3.4x difference in raw compute power.

Power and connectivity specifications also differ. The RTX 3060 Ti has a TDP of 200 W, while the GTX TITAN has a higher TDP of 250 W. The recommended power supply is 550 W for the RTX 3060 Ti and 600 W for the GTX TITAN. The newer card uses a single 12-pin power connector, while the older card requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 on the RTX 3060 Ti, whereas the GTX TITAN uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 standard.

The display outputs are also from different generations. The RTX 3060 Ti offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX TITAN offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The newer outputs support higher resolutions and refresh rates. The RTX 3060 Ti also supports a newer version of Vulkan (1.4) compared to the GTX TITAN (1.2.175), and its DirectX support is more advanced as noted earlier. The physical dimensions differ, with the RTX 3060 Ti being 242 mm long and the GTX TITAN being 267 mm long, though both are dual-slot cards.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16,129, which is higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN's average of 14,373.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 3060 Ti in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti scores 47,784 points in the Geekbench Vulkan test, which is 376.6% higher than the GTX TITAN's score of 10,027.

Q: Does the GTX TITAN support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX TITAN has no RT cores listed in its specifications, while the RTX 3060 Ti is equipped with 38 RT cores.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two cards?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, whereas the GTX TITAN has a bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s. The newer card offers more bandwidth despite having a narrower 256-bit bus compared to the GTX TITAN's 384-bit bus.

Q: Which card requires a more powerful power supply?

A: The GTX TITAN has a higher TDP of 250 W and a suggested power supply of 600 W. The RTX 3060 Ti has a TDP of 200 W and a suggested power supply of 550 W.

Q: What are the process node differences between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti is manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung, while the GTX TITAN is manufactured on a 28 nm process by TSMC. This contributes to the RTX 3060 Ti's much higher transistor density of 44.4M / mm² compared to the GTX TITAN's 12.6M / mm².