NVIDIA offers a variety of graphics cards, some distinguished by the letters "Ti" or the word "Super". In this article, we will focus on the graphics cards marked with the letters "Ti".
NVIDIA Ti graphics cards
We will explain the meaning of these letters, the difference between these cards and the regular NVIDIA cards, as well as a comparison with the "Super" cards. Additionally, we will discuss the role of CUDA cores in these cards, and finally, we will evaluate whether "Ti" cards are the best among NVIDIA's products and highlight their only drawback. Let's get started directly.
1.What does the "Ti" symbol mean in Nvidia cards?
The Symbol's Usage in the Past
In the early 2000s, with the advent of the GeForce 4 Ti and GeForce 3 Ti cards, the letters "Ti" referred to "Titanium," indicating superior performance and distinguishing these cards from others in the same series that did not have the same performance level. The GeForce 3 Ti200 and GeForce3 Ti500 were among the first cards to carry this symbol, offering better performance in terms of speed and memory compared to the standard versions of the same model.
The Symbol's Impact on Card Performance
Following the GeForce3 Ti cards, the GeForce4 Ti series, including the Ti 4200, Ti 4400, and Ti 4600, reinforced consumers' association of the "Ti" symbol with strong performance in terms of speed and memory size. However, there were instances where "Ti" cards did not perform better than their counterparts. For example, the GeForce 3 Ti 200 performed worse than the regular GeForce3 card, which is something we no longer see today.
The Symbol in the Present
Today, all NVIDIA cards bearing the "Ti" symbol are recognized as the best in terms of performance, typically being the last in the series or generation. These advanced cards generally contain a larger number of CUDA cores and more memory capacity. However, it is important to note that higher performance always comes with increased power consumption.
Card Release Strategy
"Ti" cards are usually released after the basic cards to follow a logical performance progression. However, NVIDIA sometimes takes advantage of circumstances and releases both cards simultaneously or even in reverse order. For instance, in 2021, NVIDIA exploited the graphics card shortage and high demand from cryptocurrency miners by launching the RTX 3060 Ti before the standard RTX 3060 model.
2. What are CUDA nuclei?
In general, CUDA cores available in NVIDIA GPUs are an advanced tool for processing complex graphical tasks. These cores serve as a software interface enabling developers (API) to harness the power and resources of GPU cards using programming languages like C and C++.
CUDA cores find primary applications in various fields, starting from gaming where they compute pixel values and apply shading and lighting effects, to film industry where they efficiently render complex animations and apply diverse visual effects.
Additionally, CUDA cores are used in modern fields such as artificial intelligence training and machine learning, as well as in scientific research, big data analysis, and complex computations. This versatility enhances their performance as a multi-purpose tool in modern science and technology.
3.Why are Ti cards superior to regular graphics cards?
If we take the RTX 3090 and the RTX 3090 Ti as examples, we find that the CUDA core count in the RTX 3090 is 10496, while in the "Ti" version it is 10752. The base clock speeds range from 1.4 GHz to 1.67 GHz for the Ti, with maximum speeds from 1.7 GHz to 1.86 GHz in favor of the Ti. Both cards have 24 GB of GDDR6X VRAM (384-bit), and they share the same cores like Tensor and Ray-Tracing cores, hence operating on the same architecture.
The RTX 3090 Ti serves as a straightforward example to illustrate the difference between Ti and regular versions: they share the same architecture and generation, but the Ti variant offers higher speeds. In our example, its performance is approximately 13% better than the regular version, albeit with higher power consumption. The RTX 3090 Ti consumes around 450 watts compared to the RTX 3090's 350 watts.
Let's take a more complex example to highlight an important point: the RTX 3060 and the RTX 3060 Ti. The RTX 3060 has 3584 CUDA cores, a base clock of 1.32 GHz, and a boost clock of 1.78 GHz, with 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 192-bit interface.
On the other hand, the RTX 3060 Ti has 4864 CUDA cores, a base clock of 1.41 GHz, a boost clock of 1.67 GHz, and 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit interface. What do we observe?
Despite the RTX 3060 having higher VRAM (12GB vs. 8GB), the 3060 Ti outperforms it by 35% according to UserBenchmark. This performance difference is primarily due to the increase in CUDA cores, indicating that these cores are the primary factor in determining the speed and performance of the graphics processor, rather than VRAM.
4.What about the "Super" cards?
Aside from the "Ti" cards, NVIDIA also provides a lineup of graphics cards featuring "Super" in their names, like the GTX 1660 Super and GTX 2080 Super. What sets these cards apart from the "Ti" models?
Although "Super" cards are typically superior to standard or base models, they still deliver lower performance compared to "Ti" cards. The primary reason for introducing "Super" cards is to prevent consumer fatigue with long-standing models by offering these cards with minor updates in CUDA core counts, thereby rejuvenating the market to some extent.
Are Ti cards always the best?
There is no doubt that they are better cards than Nvidia (for ordinary users and not for artificial intelligence companies, for example) in terms of performance in games, montages, and all graphic tasks - three-dimensional - similar, but the problem is that this type of card consumes higher energy, which may not suit some, but for the vast majority, there is no problem with energy consumption and the most important thing is performance.
Overall, while "Ti" used to represent a card built with Titanium, it now signifies a higher performance variant within an Nvidia graphics card lineup. It's a way for Nvidia to offer a more powerful option between product generations.
