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The important thing though is it's not close to twice as fast given that it is retailing at more than twice the price of the top-spec, suddenly second-tier, single-GPU graphics cards. It also posts consistently lower benchmark scores than either the cheaper EVGA GTX 690 or the Club3D HD 7990.
Now, I completely understand that this straight-line performance comes at a cost to your sanity, such is the way with multi-GPU solutions, but by all established logic you would have to say the GTX Titan ought to be at least the same price as these faster cards, if not cheaper.
But Nvidia isn't just looking to make a substantial profit by pricing its Titan at over £800, it's making a statement. That statement though is that this card is not for you. This is an aspirational product, built in relatively low numbers for a niche market, mostly so it can point to the card as the fastest single-GPU on the planet.
It's not really an enthusiast part either, Nvidia is calling the new segment ultra-enthusiast, but that's almost disingenuous too. The sort of person that's going to own this card is unlikely to necessarily even know it's there. They've got this card as part of a custom-built PC, bought as a whole, with the proviso given to the system integrator that they want the best PC gaming experience on offer.
There is no doubt the Titan will offer a great PC gaming experience though, and even if you don't sign up to Nvidia's money-no-object strategy for this card, it's an eminently desirable device. It will run any game you throw at it, at incredibly high-resolutions, and doesn't suffer from any of the vagaries of multi-GPU gaming to get you there.
It's also very discrete too, offering all that power without a huge demand on your PSU or on your eardrums. And it's a beautifully engineered product, a truly lovely slice of high-spec, high performance tech that you'll desperately want if you ever come to hold one in your hands.
But it's not an upgrade. It's not a card many people are likely to ring up Scan or Dabs and order for their existing machine. You don't buy this card for your 24-inch screen gaming setup, or if you do it's because you couldn't afford this chip in its Tesla guise, but still have a penchant for 3D modelling.
But mostly you'll buy this as part of a premium system, with a vast display array and you'll be very happy once the buyer's remorse has subsided. It's a terrible shame that it's been priced out of the reach of most of us mere mortals and it's sad to think this is the fastest single-GPU card we'll see for a good couple years, but the Titan is still a slick and impressive feat of both design and engineering.
The GTX Titan is a card you'll no doubt want but are unlikely to be able to afford. But as a high-res gaming experience it's immense, and as a 'budget' pro-compute card it's unsurpassed.
