Last Updated on August 2, 2023 by Shahzad Arsi
The graphics card market is a turbulent and constantly evolving one, with GPU manufacturers striving to create cards that provide exceptional performance. Two of Nvidia’s most popular high-end GPUs are the GTX series and RTX series.
Both boast numerous features and technologies designed to maximize their capabilities for gaming; however, what precisely distinguishes these two models? In this blog post, we shall examine the distinctions between Nvidia’s GTX and RTX offerings so you may more easily decide which model best fits your gaming PC setup!
Table of Contents
What is GTX?
The GTX series from NVidia has been around since 2008, starting with the GTX 260 with a 576 MHz base clock rate and 896 MB of memory.
Over the years the cards have become much more powerful, like the newest GTX 1080 Max-Q with its 16nm architecture, 1.29 GHz base clock performance, 1.47 GHz turbo boost, 2 MB cache, and 8 GB of memory. If you’re comparing GTX and RTX though, cards before the 10- series or 16- series GTX just can’t compete.
Even 1080 has trouble keeping up with tasks RTX cards can do with ease. NVidia has gone all in on the improved RTX cards.
Here are some of the cards you’ll find out there:
- 1650
- 1660
- 1660 Ti
- 1070 Ti
- 1070 Max-Q
- 1080 Max-Q
- 1080 Ti
- 1070
- 1080
- 1060
Just bear in mind that the 16- series GTX cards won’t give you the same performance as the GTX 1070 or 1080 models. You can still game on them, but most 1650 cards have less memory than their gaming-specific alternatives.
Plus, it was known for providing solid performance for a good price. On top of that, the Nvidia GeForce GTX series uses the same Turing architecture in their cards, which gives you great gaming power.
What is RTX?
Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards are a total game-changer for gaming performance. Launched in 2018, 2060, 2070, and 2080 models made it possible to do some serious 3D design and engineering, plus they took virtual reality (VR) to the next level with improved raytracing.
Check out the RTX graphics cards currently on the market!
- 2060
- 2070
- 2070 SUPER
- 2080
- 2080 Ti
- 2080 SUPER
- Quadro A4000
- 3050
- 3060
- 3070
- 3080
- 3090
- 3080 Ti
- Quadro A6000
- Quadro A5000
- 3070 Ti
- RTX Titan
This next-gen card from Nvidia GeForce RTX is packed with ray-tracing cores and an AI-powered DLSS 2.0 version, making it great for popular PC games like COD, Fortnite, Battlefield, Control, Cyberpunk 2017, and Minecraft. All that tech comes with a hefty price tag, but you get amazing reflections and lighting effects, and real-time light particle simulation.
Why should you change from GTX to RTX?
Before RTX, GTX was the architecture used. It started off on a 65nm build in 2008 and eventually got as small as 16nm. But now RTX is on a 14nm build, meaning it can fit three times as many transistors as before.
For example, 1080 has 7.2 billion transistors while the RTX 3070 has 17.4 billion. That’s a huge difference thanks to the 2nm build difference. Plus, RTX cards also have more cores than the previous Nvidia series – the RTX 3070 has 5888 CUDA cores while 1080 has 2560 CUDA cores.
5 Differences between RTX and GTX
| Name | Memory | Memory Speed | Ports |
| 1060 | 3/6 GB | 320GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 DVI |
| 1070 | 8/16 GB | 320GB/s | |
| 1080 | 8/16 GB | 320GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 DL-DVI |
| 2060 | 6 GB GDDR6 | 336GB/s | 1 DVI, 1 HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |
| 2070 | 8/16 GB GDDR6 | 448GB/s | 1 DVI, 1 HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |
| 2080 | 8/16 GB GDDR6 | 495GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, USB Type-C |
| 3060 | 12 GB GDDR6 | 360GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.1, 3xDisplayPort 1.4a |
| 3070 | 8 GB GDDR6 | 448GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| 3080 | 10/12 GB GDDR6 | 760GB/s | 1 HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |
The RTX and GTX line of graphics cards from Nvidia are two popular options for gamers seeking high-end graphics performance. But what is the difference between them? In this blog, we will discuss 5 key differences between the RTX and GTX GPUs:
1. Different generations
RTX GPUs are based on newer architecture compared to GTX GPUs which utilize an older generation of architecture. This means that the RTX GPUs have higher gaming performance capabilities than their predecessors.
2. Ray tracing support
One major difference between both series is ray tracing support in Turing-based GPU i.e., RTX 20 Series and above. Ray tracing allows realistic lighting effects, shadows, reflections, etc making games more immersive. On the other hand, GTX does not offer any ray tracing features at all.
3. Price point
The price range for NVIDIA GeForce® RTX SUPERTM Series ranges from $350 USD to over $1000 USD compared to slightly less expensive prices typically ranging from $100 – $400 USD for NVIDIA GeForce® GTX Series Graphics Cards.
4. Memory bandwidth & Speed
RTX series provides users with more memory bandwidth along with faster speeds when playing specific types of games like VR or those requiring a lot of data processing power on immensely detailed textures etc while GDDR5 technology used in GTX cards can’t keep up with its successor due to wider bus width, effective speed and increased throughput provided by its GDDR6 technology.
5. Shading Performance
Typical shading performances seen in the current gen RX/GTX 10xx/20xx series stand at around 4TFLOPS (Trillion Floating Point Operations Per Second) whereas some models present under the new SuperSeries reach 6TFLOPs giving an extra boost to user experience.
Thus, these extra 2 TFlops can make significant changes in terms of overall performance as well as the image quality produced during intense gaming sessions.
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FAQ: What’s the difference between RTX and GTX
WHICH IS BETTER GTX OR RTX?
The RTX series of graphics cards from NVIDIA offer more features and performance than the GTX series. RTX cards can support ray tracing, a technology used in video games and other applications to create more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. They also have better support for AI features such as DLSS, which can help improve the performance of games and other applications. However, RTX cards are typically more expensive than GTX cards.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT RTX AND GTX?
The RTX series of graphics cards from NVIDIA offer more features and performance than the GTX series. RTX cards can support ray tracing, a technology used in video games and other applications to create more realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections. They also have better support for AI features such as DLSS, which can help improve the performance of games and other applications. Additionally, RTX cards typically have higher core and memory clock speeds, faster memory bandwidth, and more CUDA cores.
WHICH IS BIGGER GTX OR RTX?
The RTX series of graphics cards are typically larger than the GTX series. This is because they have more cores and memory, as well as additional features such as ray tracing and AI support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear to see that RTX and GTX cards have several meaningful differences.
RTX cards are the newest technology and feature innovative technologies such as real-time ray tracing, deep learning algorithms, higher core counts, faster clock speeds, advanced programmable shading capabilities, more powerful memory, and more driver support for DirectX 12 Ultimate games.
These features make them superior to GTX cards in terms of gaming performance and visuals. Ultimately it comes down to what you need from your graphics card to decide whether an RTX or GTX card is best suited for you.
