1080ti for future proofing?

[<Genericnamehere>]

So i really want a 1080 ti, but mostly just because im a sucker. (The EVGA 1080 ti SC2 Aorus Extreme, specifically).
I like the hi res gaming option and i have some 4k tvs I could connect to, but the monitor i would bring to school will likely only be a 1080 144hz.
The plan was to use a 1080ti for as long as it held up and then buy a second for sli when they arent expensive, thereby extending the life if i want to. Is this completely idiotic and is volta just going to render my whole system obsolete? Is more than a grand on graphics cards (post sli upgrade) going to have any staying power in a few years?
Technically i could wait but ive wanted a decent gaming computer for years and im currently on the 960m in my laptop. I want one enough that I don't care about cost as long as it pays off.

 

[P4-630]

Well Volta isn't coming anytime soon.... First we'll get Pascal-Refresh.

 

[Shou Miko]

Well Volta isn't coming anytime soon.... First we'll get Pascal-Refresh.

You sure about that? because a sample of the Titan Volta have already been leaked online u should know that when u r here on TPU

@<Genericnamehere> what resolution do you want to game at? 1080p@120-165hz? if so the GTX 1080Ti will last you for a long time, but a GTX 1070 can do that to for a much lower price if we r only talking about 1080p.

 

[Vayra86]

Im not voting either option because:

- Not a single GPU is future proof
- GTX 1060 is far too light for your 4K urge
- Not even a single 1080ti is enough to run everything @ ultra 60 fps 4K

Every new GPU gen makes the previous one obsolete, to a degree. As long as you keep that in the back of your head, all is fine.

Another thing, 2x 1080ti is about 500W of power and heat inside that case. Prepare accordingly. And also keep in mind that SLI support is waning, often gets added long after a game is released, or doesn't get there at all. Scaling is never perfect either.

Consider other options, such as a 1080 (non ti), this saves you a lot of cash for that future Volta/Pascal Refresh upgrade, and selling the 1080 off by then = good return on investment which you can put towards a new, powerful single GPU. This saves you from the obvious SLI problems, the added power usage and the added heat, net result in price will be similar, and performance may very well be better.

That last option is what I do on a regular basis, I can swap GPUs almost yearly or bi-yearly and only need to cough up 100-200 bucks per upgrade. Put that against time played/owned for each card and Im down to about 10-15 EUR per month to keep gaming at the highest performance level at any given time - and with zero SLI woes.

 

[ERazer]

1080ti overkill for 1080p, buy it imo it will last you for a while, upgrade to 1440 later on.

 

[infrared]

No such thing as future proofing so forget that idea.

Personally I decided to just quit waiting (for vega at the time) and go for the 1080Ti and tbh I couldn't be happier with it. I'm running it with a high refresh rate 1440p gsync monitor and it's stunning! Every game without fail runs over 100fps minimum (typically a lot more) on ultra settings with this resolution. Prey for example hovers between 120-150fps and looks incredible, overwatch maxed out is basically sat on the 165hz limit of the monitor hehe, very smooth gameplay. VR games run effortlessly, it's just a very nice experience. 4K will run excellently for most things, a handful of games may need a few settings turning down to hold above 60fps but it's an incredible amount of pixels so not really surprising lol. At that resolution you could turn down AA and probably not even see a difference.

I like @Vayra86's suggestion of getting a 1080 non Ti, and selling it on and getting Volta when it arrives. That's a good option.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Consoles are the only thing that is "future proof" and that only depends on its popularity.

 

[erocker]

If you generally wait a few years in between upgrading, sure. Get the 1080ti.