NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 vs NVIDIA TITAN Xp Comparison

The NVIDIA TITAN Xp and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 represent two distinct generations of NVIDIA's GPU lineup, with the former being a Pascal-based flagship and the latter a Turing-based mid-range offering. The data shows that the TITAN Xp wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, but the RTX 2070 counters with a decisive victory in one compute-oriented test. This is a clash between raw rendering horsepower and newer architectural features, with the average benchmark scores reflecting a surprisingly narrow overall gap of just 388 points (19,177 vs 18,789) despite the TITAN Xp's commanding lead in several individual tests.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The TITAN Xp dominates the DirectX 12 workload in 3DMark Steel Nomad, posting a score of 2,372 against the RTX 2070's 1,569. That represents a 51.2% advantage, the largest delta in any test, and underscores how the older card's sheer compute throughput translates into modern API performance. Similarly, in Passmark GPU Compute, the TITAN Xp scores 9,430 versus 6,411, a 47.1% lead that highlights its 12.15 TFLOPS FP32 capability compared to the RTX 2070's 7.465 TFLOPS.

The gap narrows but remains in the TITAN Xp's favor across DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 legacy tests. In Passmark DirectX 11, the TITAN Xp scores 152 against 129, a 17.8% edge, while in Passmark DirectX 12 it leads 69 to 60, a 15% difference. The Passmark G3D test shows a 16.5% advantage (18,750 vs 16,094), and the Vulkan Geekbench result gives the TITAN Xp a 5.6% win (87,180 vs 82,521). Smaller victories appear in Passmark DirectX 10 (119 vs 111, +7.2%), DirectX 9 (226 vs 211, +7.1%), and G2D (883 vs 819, +7.8%).

The RTX 2070's sole victory comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 79,966 against the TITAN Xp's 72,585, a 9.2% reversal. This is notable because it is the only test where the Turing card's newer architecture and features—including its 2:1 FP16 ratio—translate into a measurable win. The result suggests that the RTX 2070's compute scheduling or driver optimizations give it an edge in this specific workload, despite the TITAN Xp's larger overall silicon.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The TITAN Xp uses the GP102 chip on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX 2070 employs the TU106 chip on the Turing architecture, also made by TSMC but on a 12 nm node. The TITAN Xp packs 11,800 million transistors into a 471 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.1M / mm². The RTX 2070 contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 24.3M / mm².

The most significant architectural divergence is the RTX 2070's inclusion of dedicated hardware: 36 ray tracing cores and 288 tensor cores. These are entirely absent from the TITAN Xp, which relies purely on traditional shader processing. The RTX 2070 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the TITAN Xp is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the RTX 2070's feature set positions it for future API developments.

Memory technology also differs sharply. The TITAN Xp uses 12 GB of GDDR5X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 547.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 2070 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a narrower 256-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s. The TITAN Xp's memory clock runs at 1426 MHz (11.4 Gbps effective), while the RTX 2070's memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), but the wider bus of the Pascal card still provides superior overall bandwidth.

Where Each One Wins

The TITAN Xp is the clear winner for rasterization-heavy workloads and any task that demands maximum pixel and texture throughput. Its pixel rate of 151.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 379.7 GTexel/s dwarf the RTX 2070's 103.7 GPixel/s and 233.3 GTexel/s. In gaming scenarios that rely on traditional shading, the TITAN Xp's 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs outclass the RTX 2070's 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Passmark DirectX 11 and G3D results confirm this, with the TITAN Xp leading by 17.8% and 16.5%, respectively.

The RTX 2070 wins specifically in OpenCL compute, where its 9.2% advantage in Geekbench suggests that its Turing architecture—with support for concurrent execution of integer and floating-point operations—handles certain compute kernels more efficiently. The RTX 2070's FP16 performance is also dramatically better: 14.93 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio versus the TITAN Xp's 189.8 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. This makes the RTX 2070 a more capable choice for workloads that can leverage half-precision arithmetic, even though the TITAN Xp still leads in raw FP32.

For legacy API compatibility, the TITAN Xp holds a consistent edge across DirectX 9, 10, and 12 tests, with deltas ranging from 7.1% to 15%. The RTX 2070's only other bright spot is its lower power draw of 175 W versus 250 W, which also translates to a lower recommended PSU of 450 W versus 600 W, but this is a specification detail rather than a benchmark-driven advantage.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The TITAN Xp has a base clock of 1405 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz, while the RTX 2070 runs slightly higher at 1410 MHz base and 1620 MHz boost. However, the TITAN Xp compensates with a massive core configuration delta: 3,840 shading units versus 2,304, 240 TMUs versus 144, and 96 ROPs versus 64. This translates to 12.15 TFLOPS FP32 for the TITAN Xp against 7.465 TFLOPS for the RTX 2070.

Memory capacity and bandwidth favor the TITAN Xp (12 GB GDDR5X on 384-bit, 547.6 GB/s) over the RTX 2070 (8 GB GDDR6 on 256-bit, 448.0 GB/s). The RTX 2070 counters with its 36 RT cores and 288 tensor cores, which have no equivalent on the TITAN Xp. The RTX 2070 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, whereas the TITAN Xp is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Physical dimensions and power requirements differ substantially. The TITAN Xp is longer at 267 mm (10.5 inches) versus 229 mm (9 inches) for the RTX 2070, and slightly thicker at 40 mm (1.6 inches) versus 35 mm (1.4 inches), while both are 112 mm (4.4 inches) tall. Both are dual-slot cards, but the TITAN Xp requires 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors, while the RTX 2070 needs only 1x 8-pin. The TITAN Xp's TDP is 250 W, compared to 175 W for the RTX 2070.

Display outputs vary as well: the TITAN Xp offers 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 2070 includes 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C. The TITAN Xp was released on 2017-04-05, with a launch MSRP of 1,199 USD, while the RTX 2070 arrived on 2018-10-16, with a launch MSRP of 499 USD. Both cards are end-of-life, with the TITAN Xp succeeding the GeForce 900 series and the RTX 2070 succeeding the GeForce 10 series.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN Xp has an average benchmark score of 19,177, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 scores 18,789. This places the TITAN Xp at the 64th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the RTX 2070's 63rd percentile.

Q: How much faster is the TITAN Xp in 3DMark Steel Nomad?

A: The TITAN Xp scores 2,372 against the RTX 2070's 1,569, giving it a 51.2% advantage in this DirectX 12 test.

Q: Does the RTX 2070 win any benchmark against the TITAN Xp?

A: Yes, the RTX 2070 wins Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 79,966 versus 72,585 for the TITAN Xp, a 9.2% difference.

Q: What architectural features does the RTX 2070 have that the TITAN Xp lacks?

A: The RTX 2070 includes 36 ray tracing cores and 288 tensor cores, which the TITAN Xp does not have, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the TITAN Xp's DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do the memory bandwidth specifications compare?

A: The TITAN Xp has 547.6 GB/s bandwidth from 12 GB of GDDR5X on a 384-bit bus, while the RTX 2070 has 448.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two cards?

A: The TITAN Xp has a TDP of 250 W with a recommended PSU of 600 W, while the RTX 2070 has a TDP of 175 W and a recommended PSU of 450 W.