I live by one rule. If you’re going to spend $1200 on a video card, you might as well make it a Star Wars video card. Thankfully, Nvidia and Disney agree with me and the two have joined forces to make the coolest (and/or geekiest) video card in recent memory. The Nvidia Titan Xp Star Wars Collector’s Edition GPU is for the enthusiast PC gamer who not only wants the top of the line, but also wants to proudly show how much they love the saga in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It just so happens that aside from being intricately Star Wars-themed and stunning to look at, the Titan Xp is also a hell of a video card. This is our review.
The Technical Specs
The Nvidia Titan Xp Star Wars Collector’s Edition uses the Pascal 16nm FinFet architecture, and with 12 billion transistors, a full 3840 shader/stream cores, and 12 GB of GDDR5X. It’s the same architecture as the non-Star Wars Xp, which provides up to 3X more processing power compared to the Maxwell-based Titan X. It has a robust 3840 CUDA cores with a dynamically boostable frequency of 1582 MHz. The memory (12GB GDDR5X) runs at an effective 11.4 Gbps. That’s roughly 4.5 GBPs faster than the Maxwell Titan, and right in line with the 1080Ti.
Nvidia Titan Xp Comparison Chart (to 1080 Ti, 1080, 1070)
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The card retains its 250 Watt TDP, 75 Watts is delivered through the PCIe slot, then 150+75 Watts through the single 6- and 8-pin PEG (PCI Express graphics) power connector. The Nvidia Titan Xp engine is capable of supporting ultra high def, including 4K and 5K resolutions. And with HDMI 2.0 support, the Nvidia Titan Xp can be used by gamers who want to game on the newest state-of-the-art big screen TVs. For me, I went with a nice 4K and 1440p monitor setup, and the good ol’ display port.
On the Xp, the Display port support has gone up to DP 1.4 which provides 8.1 Gbps of bandwidth per lane and offers better color support using Display Stream Compression (DSC), a "visually lossless" form of compression. DisplayPort 1.4 can drive 60Hz 8K displays and 120Hz 4K displays with HDR "deep color." Nvidia's Pascal generation products will receive a nice upgrade in terms of monitor connectivity. First off, the cards get three DisplayPort connectors, one HDMI connector and a DVI connector. You can drive some nice multi-monitor setups this way, and Nvidia is happy to help you do it. The HDMI connector is HDMI 2.0 revision b which enables HDR and all the visual glory that comes within.
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The card is 10.5 inches in length so it should fit comfortably in pretty much any mid to full chassis. The cooler of the Titan Xp features that all familiar cooling with the very same noise and cooling performance. The Jedi Order edition is slightly off-white styling, with wear and tear to reflect the rebellion’s gritty nature, while the Galactic Republic edition (the one we were provided) is sleek, black, and sexy. The Jedi one uses green atmospheric lighting, and the Empire uses red. Just think about how cool it would look to house one of each in SLI?
The Performance Tests
First, our Test System: i7-4790k @ 4.4GHZ, 16GB DDR4 3200MHz GSkill RAM, Nvidia Titan Xp Galactic Empire Edition, Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD5H MOBO, Cooler Master 750W PSU, and Cooler Master Mid-ATX Case
For the initial tests, we ran Unigine’s new Superposition benchmark tool, which was just launched in 2017 to stress test the latest cards. We also tested both the Titan X Maxwell and the Titan Xp against some of the latest games like Assassin’s Creed Origins, as well as some old MMO favorites like Elder Scrolls Online and World of Warcraft. It’s also important to note that just because Nvidia says the Pascal-powered Titan Xp is up to 3X as powerful as the Maxwell, doesn’t mean it’s going to get 3X the FPS. Instead, expect steadier FPS all around, better tops and higher lows. We tested everything in Ultra settings, with Anti-Aliasing and without. Because what’s the point of either of these beastly cards if you’re not going big? Obviously, 4K is the least-likely resolution to need AA, but it never hurts to test it when you’re testing one of the most powerful GPUs on the market.
The charts kind of speak for themselves, as you see a marked improvement with the Xp over the Maxwell-based X. The Star Was Titan Xp is the same as the other Pascal-based Titan Xps, so there’s no point in comparing this to that. As you can imagine, the Titan Xp also outperforms the AMD Strix Gaming 580, though the Strix is obviously a fraction of the price.
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Ultimately, who is this card for? With a nearly $1200 price tag, it’s clear that it’s for the PC building and gaming enthusiast - and one with a penchant for Star Wars. Clearly, I fall into that category. THing is, this job afford perks, and Nvidia sending a review sample to keep is one of those perks. I can’t say I’d spend the $1200 otherwise, but the collector’s edition see-through box it comes in means that even in 5 years when I’m no longer using this card, I’ll have one hell of a shelf-piece to remember fondly. It truly is a Collector’s Edition, because of this. It’s not a card you’ll sell off or forget about when it’s outlived its usefulness. Plus, in the words of Palpatine, it’s close to “unlimited powah” for now. Recommended, for sure.
Pros
- Absolutely beastly performance
- Gorgeous Star Wars branding and lighting
- Quiet and cool as a cucumber
Cons
- It’s $1200
- Does anyone need this power?
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