When comparing NVIDIA TITAN X (Pascal) vs AMD Radeon RX 470, the Slant community recommends AMD Radeon RX 470 for most people. In the question“What are the best GPUs for gaming?” AMD Radeon RX 470 is ranked 6th while NVIDIA TITAN X (Pascal) is ranked 13th. The most important reason people chose AMD Radeon RX 470 is:
The RX 470 performs extremely well in recent games when played in Full HD resolution and with the highest possible graphical settings. For example, the RX 470 is able to achieve an [average framerate of 117 fps in DOOM](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=8). The card also manages to get a very [fluid 68 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=9) in Fallout 4 and even more intensive games such as Hitman perform well with the RX 470, averaging at [67 frames per second](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=10). In short, the RX 470 is ideal for playing games with a fluent framerate in 1080p. When gaming on a higher resolution of 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixels), performance on the RX 470 is often a hit or miss. Some more optimized games such as Dirt Rally ([52 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=6)) or DOOM ([77 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=8)). However, some other games will struggle to deliver a fluent gameplay experience. The average 1440p framerate in both The Division and Rise of The Tomb Raider for example hovers [around the 45 fps mark](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=11), although a higher framerate can be achieved if graphical settings are toned down.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Large memory size allows for plenty of headroom
The TITAN X is equipped with 12 gigabytes of video memory, while most other high-end cards only have about 8 gigabytes. While those extra gigabytes of memory may prove quite useless for the moment, the extra memory does allow for plenty of headroom for more memory-intensive games in the future, especially at higher resolutions.
Pro Incredible performance, ideal for 4K
The NVIDIA TITAN X is the company's most powerful graphics card available based on the Maxwell architecture which makes it ideal for the most intensive gaming situations. In 1080p and 1440p gaming situations, the TITAN X will effortlessly achieve very high framerates of 100+ fps while using the highest possible graphical settings. The power of the TITAN X truly shines when gaming in 4K. For example, in the resource-intensive Rise of The Tomb Raider, the TITAN X achieves an average framerate of 61 fps with the highest possible settings and 4K resolution. The same can be said for games such as Doom (81 fps), Grand Theft Auto V (75 fps) and 64 frames per second in The Witcher 3. Considering the very high 4K-resolution and the use of the absolute maximum graphical settings with anti-aliasing and high-quality anisotropic filtering, this is a very impressive feat.
Pro Offers exclusive features such as Ansel and Simultaneous multi-projection
The updated TITAN X and other Pascal-based GPU's from NVIDIA offer a couple of exclusive features that aren't available on previous-generation graphics cards or current GPU's made by AMD.
Taking advantage of the new GPU architecture, NVIDIA has introduced a feature called simultaneous multi-projection. It allows developers of games and applications to improve performance when rendering multiple viewports of the same image. This is particularly useful when using a multi-monitor setup or in virtual reality where two images are required, one for each eye. Simultaneous multi-projection allows up to 16 different viewpoints and only requires calculating the geometry of a scene once. In compatible games, users of multi-screen setups can calibrate this experience so that distortion no longer occurs. Virtual reality games can use SMP to improve performance, although developers will specifically need to implement this feature in their games.
Ansel is another feature that is exclusive to NVIDIA's Pascal-based graphics cards. Ansel can be described as a very extensive 'photomode', where you can capture massive in-game screenshots of several gigapixels or capture images in 360 degrees. The player is also able to use filters, adjust camera positions, take HDR-images and share them via the built-in software.
Pro Decent overclocking potential
The TITAN X doesn't have issues with hefty overclock boosts of over 10%, both for the overall GPU clock speed and the memory. The increase in the power limit of the TITAN X also allows for more consistent results.
Pro Ideal for 1080p gaming
The RX 470 performs extremely well in recent games when played in Full HD resolution and with the highest possible graphical settings. For example, the RX 470 is able to achieve an average framerate of 117 fps in DOOM. The card also manages to get a very fluid 68 fps in Fallout 4 and even more intensive games such as Hitman perform well with the RX 470, averaging at 67 frames per second. In short, the RX 470 is ideal for playing games with a fluent framerate in 1080p.
When gaming on a higher resolution of 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixels), performance on the RX 470 is often a hit or miss. Some more optimized games such as Dirt Rally (52 fps) or DOOM (77 fps). However, some other games will struggle to deliver a fluent gameplay experience. The average 1440p framerate in both The Division and Rise of The Tomb Raider for example hovers around the 45 fps mark, although a higher framerate can be achieved if graphical settings are toned down.
Pro Great performance improvements in Vulkan-compatible games
When using Vulkan, a graphical API that allows developers to better communicate with the GPU, the RX 470 can achieve great performance improvements compared to the more standard DirectX 12 or OpenGL API's. Some recent games offer support for Vulkan, such as Doom, Dota 2 and Ashes of The Singularity. When playing Doom under the standard OpenGL in Ultra Settings and 1080p resolution, the RX470 is able to achieve an average framerate of 84.2 FPS. When using Vulkan however, the same RX 470 performs significantly better with an average result of 101.5 frames per second, a 20.5% performance increase.
While NVIDIA's new Pascal architecture is also compatible with the Vulkan API, the AMD RX series benefit more greatly from it. In the same benchmarks, results for the competing GTX 1060 were also provided, where the performance improvement under Vulkan was only 6%.
Pro Asynchronous shaders improve performance in recent games
The RX 470 offers concurrent/parallel CPU to GPU communication in DirectX 12, Mantle and Vulkan with asynchronous shaders for the stream processors. Asynchronous shaders allow the developers of games to maximize the potential of AMD's new Polaris architecture and this technology is used to optimize DX12, Mantle and Vulkan performance in recently released compatible games. In short, developers can now use multiple task queues and split up GPU power across multiple tasks at the same time.
This also works well in virtual reality situations, where head tracking is required. Latency (delay between the images that appear on the display) and stuttering can be reduced by using asynchronous shading. Although the RX 470 lacks the overall computing power to render VR games comfortably, the card has been given the 'VR Capable' rating by SteamVR, which implies a stable framerate of over 90 frames per second but not at the level that's recommended for smooth VR experiences.
Cons
Con High temperatures, throttling may occur
During full load, temperatures of the high-end TITAN X chip will reach roughly 80 degrees Celsius. Those temperatures are acceptable for a high-end card, but the TITAN X will not allow itself to go above this temperature in order to prevent damage to the chips. When the maximum target of 80° C is reached, the card will start to slow itself down and reduce the clock speeds (also known as throttling), which also results in a slightly lower and less consistent performance.
Con Doesn't offer decent value
With a recommended retail price of $1,200, the TITAN X is one of the most expensive GPU's available. In fact, the price tag is almost two times as much as that of NVIDIA's second-fastest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080. The latter retails for a little bit over $600. While the TITAN X may perform about 30% better than a 1080, a card with nearly double the price tag may be hard to justify.
Con Very minimal price difference with RX 480
The RX 470 is positioned slightly under the RX 480 by AMD, but the price difference between these two GPU's is very minimal. Both GPU's hover slightly above the $200 mark, which gives users little reason to purchase a RX 470 instead of a faster RX 480.
Con Limited overclocking potential
The RX 470 has limited overclocking potential as AMD has decided to cap the maximum memory bandwidth at 1850 MHz. Although GPU clockspeed increases of 10 - 15% aren't uncommon up to 1355 MHz, differences in games are less noticeable because the card tends to struggle with this maximum speed. If AMD had allowed further clockspeed increases of the memory, the RX 470 would be better suited for overclocking.
Con Mediocre performance-per-watt ratio
The RX 470 uses AMD's new Polaris 10 architecture and is more efficient than previous-generation GPU's, but the performance-per-watt ratio remains somewhat mediocre. The TDP (thermal design point and maximum power consumption) of the RX 470 chip is measured at 125W. The more expensive GTX 1060 by NVIDIA heavily outperforms the RX 470 but still manages to achieve the same levels of power consumption. Efficiency-wise, the Radeon RX 470 doesn't impress.