Wednesday, May 14th 2014

Drivers Holding Back GTX TITAN-Z Launch

It turns out that drivers are holding back launch of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX TITAN-Z flagship graphics card. That's not to say that drivers for the card don't exist. When tested with ones that do, performance numbers yielded by Hong Kong-based tech print magazine E-Zone, reveal that the card trades blows with AMD's R9 295X2 in too many tests to warrant double its price at $2,999; and that it's also slower in some. The only way NVIDIA can sell the GTX TITAN-Z at that price, is by either making it significantly faster, or reducing the price. It looks like NVIDIA is trying the former, and not by tinkering with hardware specifications, but drivers. NVIDIA believes it can yet salvage the $2,999 pricing of the GTX TITAN-Z, by developing drivers that make the card convincingly faster than AMD's $1,499 offering. Retailers and distributors are being told not to sell their GTX TITAN-Z inventory until NVIDIA releases these drivers. The company didn't mention a date to these retailers. Given its track-record with performance-enhancing drivers, one can give NVIDIA the benefit of doubt. It may yet prevent a "GTX TITANIC-Z" from happening.
Source: Hermitage Akihabara
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85 Comments on Drivers Holding Back GTX TITAN-Z Launch

#51
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
theoneandonlymrkYeah like nvidia we're ever going to blame anything but driver's.
I could write this soap opera better than them and im a gramma assassin.
Nvidia is butt hurt over the Price that AMD fetches for their card, course a Titan gets Overthrown by an Olympian
Posted on Reply
#52
xBruce88x
radrokI'd prefer licenses for CUDA renderers TBH.
Now that you mention it... That's exactly what this product should be. They should just brand it a Quadro part and optimize it for workstation use and be done with it.
Posted on Reply
#53
Prima.Vera
xBruce88xNow that you mention it... That's exactly what this product should be. They should just brand it a Quadro part and optimize it for workstation use and be done with it.
Actually, if you know the know how, you can do it by yourself with a re-flash and new drivers ;)
Posted on Reply
#54
Xzibit
Prima.VeraActually, if you know the know how, you can do it by yourself with a re-flash and new drivers ;)
That hasn't worked in awhile. Bin/Firmware/hard-lock, software bypass doesn't unlock anything major either.
Posted on Reply
#55
GhostRyder
XzibitThat hasn't worked in awhile. Bin/Firmware/hard-lock, software bypass doesn't unlock anything major either.
Yep, sad but true theres alot less goodies these days for people to find a way to open up. I miss the days of unlocking extra processor cores or flashing cards to the upper model variants (Like the 6950 flashed to the 6970).
Posted on Reply
#56
Steevo
XzibitMaybe the new 337.81 drivers give the Titan Z that extra kick
$1800 worth? I bet those drivers come with a magic green fairy who reads to you and snuggles you to sleep while telling you stories of how your money is saving the world from the big bad AMD.
Posted on Reply
#57
cyneater
the GTX titan is abit like a Bugatti veyron.
They made it because they could.
But when you compare it to other super cars it sucks.
Posted on Reply
#58
Fluffmeister
That is a shit metaphor because compared to other super cars the Titan Z is still cheap.
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#59
Prima.Vera
cyneaterthe GTX titan is abit like a Bugatti veyron.
They made it because they could.
But when you compare it to other super cars it sucks.
NO.

You cannot compare like that. Bugatti cars never loose their value after 1 or 2 years. On the contrary. Just check with Google how much a Bugatti from 1940 goes for. ;)
Posted on Reply
#60
Steevo
cyneaterthe GTX titan is abit like a Bugatti veyron.
They made it because they could.
But when you compare it to other super cars it sucks.
More like a Pontiac Fiero, its not as fast, not as good, but we gave it special alloy rims that raised its price to higher than a 911, so it must be better right? Now the driver will make all the difference, right....right....
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#61
Xzibit
SteevoMore like a Pontiac Fiero, its not as fast, not as good, but we gave it special alloy rims that raised its price to higher than a 911, so it must be better right? Now the driver will make all the difference, right....right....
Drivers make all the difference

Posted on Reply
#62
R-T-B
XzibitDrivers make all the difference

If you go too fast, you run into icebergs?

That's what Edward Smith taught me. Might help in this case though....
Posted on Reply
#63
Fluffmeister
...or he is mad no one talks about his Olympic anymore?
Posted on Reply
#64
R-T-B
Fluffmeister...or he is mad no one talks about his Olympic anymore?
You mean the fact that he crashed it... nah, nvidia drivers are stable, remember? ;)

That's only partially sarcastic by the way, I've found them to be stable personally but everyone's mileage varies...
Posted on Reply
#65
SKL_H
SteevoSo, how much does Nvidia pay you to post this crap? 1 + 1 =2, and that is if scaling is perfect, and it never is, so more like 1.7-1.9 at best, so driver schmivers its still going to be slower with a hot air blower.


I am so tempted to find old AMD/ATI threads to post links to where they turned into napalm exhibits from the rabid fanboys, I must say this whole forum is getting clean, almost too clean. :D Even TMM is calm.
Dude I just saying it is posible cause most driver updates give GPUs 20% or more perfomace increase in single GPU, so with 2x GK110 its possible that they can reach the perfomance that will make $3K worth it to those who can afford it, Nvidia GPUs have always costed more than AMDs but the number of people who use Nvidia is higher than those who use AMD GPUs.

"Hell I have been using Nvidia GPUs before Gefoce, since those Riva TNT days":):)
Posted on Reply
#66
Relayer
SKL_HDude I just saying it is posible cause most driver updates give GPUs 20% or more perfomace increase in single GPU, so with 2x GK110 its possible that they can reach the perfomance that will make $3K worth it to those who can afford it, Nvidia GPUs have always costed more than AMDs but the number of people who use Nvidia is higher than those who use AMD GPUs.

"Hell I have been using Nvidia GPUs before Gefoce, since those Riva TNT days":):)
Say what? You mean 2%, don't you?
Posted on Reply
#67
Tsukiyomi91
the thing is here about Nvidia is that they're expert in visual computing, aka the software realm whereas AMD excels in hardware. So in response to what they've found/heard, the guys are trying their best to make the most out of the flagship card in order to keep the competition with AMD nice & hot.
Posted on Reply
#68
Tsukiyomi91
been using both AMD & Nvidia cards for some time now... Pretty agree that Nvidia drivers are stable most of the time of release, be it beta, WHQL-certified or Game Ready. Another thing is even though Nvidia is selling their cards slightly more than AMD's offerings, you should know their software divisions are not to take things too lightly. Flexibility-wise, Nvidia's cards are #1 since they pretty much support ALL kinds of OCing utilities like EVGA Precision X, MSI AfterBurner & even vendor's own in-house utilities regardless of what brand & model you use e.g: Leadtek GTX770 2GD5 + EVGA Precision X. AMD still need to polish their software division IF they want to fight against Nvidia in a good way. Otherwise, it will just be another worthless campaign & eventually fail to attract customers/supporters due to their failure to deliver what the consumers wants & demands.
Posted on Reply
#69
Ed_1
eidairaman1Nvidia is butt hurt over the Price that AMD fetches for their card, course a Titan gets Overthrown by an Olympian
But Nvidia knows that AMD was going to release a multi-core card it was not going to be anything high like 3k , so they knew the track record .
3k is just to much for this card and it should come with Quadro drivers and software .
Posted on Reply
#70
Relayer
Tsukiyomi91the thing is here about Nvidia is that they're expert in visual computing, aka the software realm whereas AMD excels in hardware. So in response to what they've found/heard, the guys are trying their best to make the most out of the flagship card in order to keep the competition with AMD nice & hot.
Tsukiyomi91been using both AMD & Nvidia cards for some time now... Pretty agree that Nvidia drivers are stable most of the time of release, be it beta, WHQL-certified or Game Ready. Another thing is even though Nvidia is selling their cards slightly more than AMD's offerings, you should know their software divisions are not to take things too lightly. Flexibility-wise, Nvidia's cards are #1 since they pretty much support ALL kinds of OCing utilities like EVGA Precision X, MSI AfterBurner & even vendor's own in-house utilities regardless of what brand & model you use e.g: Leadtek GTX770 2GD5 + EVGA Precision X. AMD still need to polish their software division IF they want to fight against Nvidia in a good way. Otherwise, it will just be another worthless campaign & eventually fail to attract customers/supporters due to their failure to deliver what the consumers wants & demands.
While you seem to think that AMD wins on hardware but nVidia wins on software keep in mind that 2x GK110 should be faster than 2x Hawaii all else being equal. Problem is what's not equal is multi-GPU scaling, which drivers are directly responsible for. So, in this instance it's AMD's superior drivers/software that gives them the win with 2x GPU's that individually are slower. Add to that AMD has released an entire new rendering API that's sent MSFT scrambling to reinvent DX and I think this tired old, "AMD isn't good at software", line really isn't holding up too well.
Posted on Reply
#71
SKL_H
RelayerSay what? You mean 2%, don't you?
This is one example


Of course it does depend on system configuration as the are many variables that play a role...
Posted on Reply
#72
Relayer
SKL_HThis is one example Of course it does depend on system configuration as the are many variables that play a role...
This is marketing. It's not real. The 337.5 drivers were supposed to give another huge boost as well. Think about it, we would never need new hardware if every driver release gave double digit increases.
Posted on Reply
#73
Steevo
RelayerThis is marketing. It's not real. The 337.5 drivers were supposed to give another huge boost as well. Think about it, we would never need new hardware if every driver release gave double digit increases.
SKL_HThis is one example


Of course it does depend on system configuration as the are many variables that play a role...
www.extremetech.com/gaming/180088-nvidias-questionable-geforce-337-50-driver-or-why-you-shouldnt-trust-manufacturer-provided-numbers


System configurations, like adding another card for SLI where it wasn't supported before?

Also, where is the commentary on why they didn't think of this before? Were the just lazy and not giving the best drivers they could? Did they not care about your money spent on their card enough to deliver before they were forced to?
Posted on Reply
#74
GhostRyder
Steevowww.extremetech.com/gaming/180088-nvidias-questionable-geforce-337-50-driver-or-why-you-shouldnt-trust-manufacturer-provided-numbers


System configurations, like adding another card for SLI where it wasn't supported before?

Also, where is the commentary on why they didn't think of this before? Were the just lazy and not giving the best drivers they could? Did they not care about your money spent on their card enough to deliver before they were forced to?
Most drivers have some level of smoke and mirrors put into them to make them sound better than they should. Nvidia and AMD are both guilty of this and in actuality it becomes more of a whose pulling the least amount of wool over the peoples eyes.

As far as drivers go, neither side is better than the other especially now a days. I had people constantly say AMD/ATI drivers were bad in the past and heck I had even not been a big fan of the cards back then. I ended up buying a pair of HD 6990's finally to give AMD a try and have not had a problem since. Most of the problems people have with any graphics card I feel is all in their heads or just a state of mind. If you get told something is better, your more likely to believe or see something that is not there and see it being better even in situations where performance is equal. Either way, neither company has problems most of the time (Of course there are exceptions) and in all honesty any choice is good at this point.

As far as Titan-Z drivers, I highly doubt much of any increase will come from this if at all to still justify it. No matter what, at the end of the day its still just a pair of underclocked Titan Blacks in SLI.
Posted on Reply
#75
radrok
GhostRyderMost drivers have some level of smoke and mirrors put into them to make them sound better than they should. Nvidia and AMD are both guilty of this and in actuality it becomes more of a whose pulling the least amount of wool over the peoples eyes.

As far as drivers go, neither side is better than the other especially now a days. I had people constantly say AMD/ATI drivers were bad in the past and heck I had even not been a big fan of the cards back then. I ended up buying a pair of HD 6990's finally to give AMD a try and have not had a problem since. Most of the problems people have with any graphics card I feel is all in their heads or just a state of mind. If you get told something is better, your more likely to believe or see something that is not there and see it being better even in situations where performance is equal. Either way, neither company has problems most of the time (Of course there are exceptions) and in all honesty any choice is good at this point.

As far as Titan-Z drivers, I highly doubt much of any increase will come from this if at all to still justify it. No matter what, at the end of the day its still just a pair of underclocked Titan Blacks in SLI.
I'm pretty sure you didn't even game on those 6990s because many of the people I know that had multiple 69xx series cards, me included, had so many nightmares with crossfire that was enough to jump ship.

Hell, even Dave which has always rejected to buy Nvidia, now has a Tri 780ti array.

Can't tell for R9 series but I can tell you that up to 79xx series AMD CFX was utterly broken, especially in eyefinity.
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