Today's arrival of the Radeon R9 Fury has brought some much-needed competition to the high-end GPU marketplace. Nvidia's GTX 900-series has had it too good for too long, and though the green team still holds the single-GPU performance crown, renewed focus from the folks in red has both sides jostling for position in the high-end space.
The last few months have seen a flurry of activity with regards to high-profile launches, and enthusiasts now have at least half-a-dozen options to choose from.
GeForce GTX Titan X |
Radeon R9 Fury X |
GeForce GTX 980 Ti |
Radeon R9 Fury |
GeForce GTX 980 |
Radeon R9 390X |
|
| Launch date | March 2015 |
June 2015 |
June 2015 |
July 2015 |
September 2014 |
June 2015 |
| Codename | GM200 |
Fiji XT |
GM200 |
Fiji Pro |
GM204 |
Grenada XT |
| DX support | 12.1 |
12.0 |
12.1 |
12.0 |
12.1 |
12.0 |
| Process (nm) | 28 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
28 |
| Transistors (mn) | 8,000 |
8,900 |
8,000 |
8,900 |
5,200 |
6,200 |
| Approx Die Size (mm²) | 601 |
596 |
601 |
596 |
398 |
438 |
| Full implementation of die | Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Processors | 3,072 |
4,096 |
2,816 |
3,584 |
2,048 |
2,816 |
| Texture Units | 192 |
256 |
172 |
224 |
128 |
176 |
| ROP Units | 96 |
64 |
96 |
64 |
64 |
64 |
| Peak GPU Clock/Boost (MHz) | 1,076 |
1,050 |
1,076 |
1,000 |
1,216 |
1,050 |
| Peak GFLOPS (SP) | 6,611 |
8,602 |
6,060 |
7,168 |
4,981 |
5,914 |
| Peak GFLOPS (DP) | 207 |
537 |
189 |
448 |
156 |
739 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 7,012 |
1,000 |
7,012 |
1,000 |
7,012 |
6,000 |
| Memory Bus (bits) | 384 |
4,096 |
384 |
4,096 |
256 |
512 |
| Max bandwidth (GB/s) | 336 |
512 |
336 |
512 |
224 |
384 |
| Default memory size (MB) | 12,288 |
4,096 |
6,144 |
4,096 |
4,096 |
8,192 |
| Memory type | GDDR5 |
HBM |
GDDR5 |
HBM |
GDDR5 |
GDDR5 |
| Power Connectors | 8+6-pin |
8+8-pin |
8+6-pin |
8+8-pin |
6+6-pin |
8+6-pin |
| TDP (watts) | 250 |
275 |
250 |
275 |
165 |
275 |
| GFLOPS per watt | 26.44 |
31.28 |
24.24 |
26.06 |
30.19 |
21.50 |
| Launch MSRP | $999 |
$649 |
$649 |
$549 |
$549 |
$429 |
If your wallet is deep enough, you'll likely agree: the high-end GPU line-up has never looked so tantalising. And it's important that neither manufacturer has it all their own way.
The launch of AMD's Fury products - in particular the R9 Fury at around £450 - appears to have had an immediate impact on GeForce pricing. Indeed, a quick scout around UK retailers reveals that GTX 980 Ti has dipped below the £500 mark, while GTX 980 has conveniently tumbled to £360.
Choice is most definitely a good thing, so given the options and your own personal budget, which GPU, if any, would you choose? Share your thoughts and reasoning using the comments facility below.
