Is the GTX 1080 still relevant?

[drade]

Hello TPU. I just received my 8700K. I am now shopping for a graphics card!

I have always utilized AMD graphics cards in the past. I am not liking the VEGA line up; the performance is just not there sadly. I am interested in a NVIDIA graphics card, particularly the GTX 1080. I game on a 27 inch 1440p ASUS ROG Monitor. I play games like PUBG, Overwatch, Battlefield etc.

The GTX 1060, 1070, and 1080 have been out for > 1 year now. Sadly, due to the mining surge, stock is limited and prices have increased. I found a reasonably priced GTX 1080 brand new locally. I feel as though a GTX 1080Ti is overkill for my daily needs.

Should I lean towards buying a GTX 1080 or spend the extra ~250$ for a Ti for future proofing? Thanks!

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

If there is one thing that Ive learned in the world of technology, there is no such thing as future proofing. Are you playing all games max settings and getting over 60 FPS? Potentially 100FPS? If so, then you dont need the 1080 Ti. If you wanted to save a buck, you may as well wait for the 1070 Ti to be released or if you need a card right now, the 1080 would be a great option as well. Personally for me, I always buy the best of what I can afford to give me the performance I want for max settings. But to each their own

 

[P4-630]

Should I lean towards buying a GTX 1080 or spend the extra ~250$ for a Ti for future proofing? Thanks!

A 1080 is still a great card for a high Hz 1440p monitor but if you have the cash I'd get a 1080Ti!
I have a 1070 with a 1440p 165Hz G-Sync monitor which works great as well.

 

[Darkleoco]

Just get a 1080 and be happy with it. Getting a 1080 TI wouldn't really constitute future proofing anyway as the performance increase is so small relative to how much more you are spending. Saving that $250 and either putting it away for a new GPU down the road or even towards a second 1080 later would be much more "future-proof" than upgrading to a 1080 TI.

 

[RejZoR]

If you're looking at GTX 1080, then throwing an eye at RX Vega 64 is an option imo. They are about the same and depending on the pricing, RX Vega does offer more modern stuff goodies inside the core. Which is why I'd recommend it as an option if you're looking at the thing long term. Then again, if you're looking long term, 1080Ti is also an option. For the $250 extra you get roughly 40% extra performance on top of GTX 1080. Knowing how fast GTX 1080 already is, I think it's worth the extra money (which is also one of reasons why I have it as well instead of GTX 1080 vanilla I was looking at initially). I mean, if you'll sometime in the future replace it with a new one, you'll most likely pay this much or more again anyway. So, why not have all this power already, now. If the boost was smaller, hell no. But with the gains Ti is having, it's worth considering imo. It's unlikely we'll see a massive technology shift in a near future. DX12 and Vulkan in current form will still remain what's considered as "future" for few more years guaranteed.

Then again (for the 3rd time), the games you're playing should be more than just fine on vanilla GTX 1080 or RX Vega 64...

 

[drade]

If there is one thing that Ive learned in the world of technology, there is no such thing as future proofing. Are you playing all games max settings and getting over 60 FPS? Potentially 100FPS? If so, then you dont need the 1080 Ti. If you wanted to save a buck, you may as well wait for the 1070 Ti to be released or if you need a card right now, the 1080 would be a great option as well. Personally for me, I always buy the best of what I can afford to give me the performance I want for max settings. But to each their own

Great response thank you! I should limit the term usage of "future proofing" in the tech realm. I agree there is no true way of future proofing performance these days with the rapid advancements in the tech sector. I don't care for high FPS rates like >100 FPS. I just want a card that has concrete and consistent performance across all gaming types.

I've put some serious thought into the Vega 64. There are some conflicting reviews regarding gaming and thermal performance. I feel as though the GTX 1080 beats it indefinitely all across the board. I'm assuming "vanilla" is a GTX 1080Ti? I am relatively uneducated with terminology and in general when it comes to graphics cards, Back in the day it was so much easier to just buy a video card and game. There are so many different models per manufacturer now!!!

 

[R00kie]

I'm assuming "vanilla" is a GTX 1080Ti

Guessing its a 10Gbps Founder's Edition card. There are bunch of custom ones with faster memory.

 

[RealNeil]

I'm using 980Ti cards, 1070 cards, and 1080 cards. All of them are in pairs, running SLI.

Even the older 980Ti cards play my shooters without any problems. Many people say to avoid SLI setups, but I like mine.

 

[Fluffmeister]

I know you game at 1440p but HardOCP upped a RX Vega 64 4K Video Card Review a few days ago, and they test against a GTX 1080 and 1080 Ti.

V64 and the GTX 1080 are very closely matched, with the 1080 having the edge overall. The 1080 Ti remains the king though.

Worth a look anyway:

https://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/10/09/amd_radeon_rx_vega_64_4k_video_card_review/1

 

[BiggieShady]

You have found reasonably priced GTX 1080 locally and instead of buying it you are wasting time here while some miner is picking up all available 17 of them as we speak

 

[StrayKAT]

1080 is great and I think mostly unphased by mining. Maybe I'm wrong about all areas, but the prices haven't changed for me since the beginning of the year.

 

[Franzen4Real]

I'm quite happy with my 1080 for 1440p60 gaming. Though I think that it is not a bad idea to hold off a couple of weeks to see if 1070ti causes some price drops. If you feel that your local store won't respond to the 1070ti pricing, then just grab the 1080. If you have any thoughts of gaming higher than 1440p in the near future, 1080ti is probably the better buy over the long term.

 

[EarthDog]

Why is this up to us? Its your money.. you know their performance... is it worth it to YOU to spend $250 for more performance?

I always get the best I can or want to afford. A 1080Ti will last 3+ years or so at 1440p before it starts showing its age.

 

[RejZoR]

"Vanilla" version of something means the ordinary version. It means the base model without any SE, LE, Ti or whatever stuff added.

 

[drade]

Professional advice from tech enthusiasts always helps! On my way home with a Asus Strix 1080!

 

[RealNeil]

You'll like it.

 

[EarthDog]

"Vanilla" version of something means the ordinary version. It means the base model without any SE, LE, Ti or whatever stuff added.

Or to many others, a reference model.

 

[erocker]

I could, but I refuse to buy a 1080ti at current prices. 1080 seems to be a better deal right now.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Or to many others, a reference model.

Mmmmmm.... vanilla 1080,

 

[RealNeil]

I could, but I refuse to buy a 1080ti at current prices. 1080 seems to be a better deal right now.

I got 1080FE GPUs and I'm happy with them both.

 

[Vayra86]

Yes, go 1080, and do not invest the premium for a 1080ti. Minor detail: its also not worth investing more to get a 1080 11Gbps. Just get a regular if its cheaper. Won't be noticeable one bit.

My motto for cost effective upgrades really is to sit just one gen behind (and take the best it offered) or to sit just one tier below the top end current GPU. With PC gaming and performance, the metric that REALLY matters in the longer run is what the majority, or what larger groups of enthusiasts, have in terms of performance. Optimization happens mostly based on these metrics, its a simple business case: you optimize for the largest target audience. Which is never the absolute cap of achievable single GPU performance, obviously. Then at some point the bar shifts upward and that's when you see midrange cards fall off harder than high end ones. This is why, if you resell the card in two years, it will still be relevant,but just to a different target audience. Two years is also a period of time within things may have been revised, new APIs have become common, stuff like Shader Models get updated, and a slightly different reality exists which results in new GPUs that focus on different things. So its a good upgrade frequency because you stay current.

That absolute cap in GPU performance is only important, or should only come into play, when you want to drive very high resolution or very high refresh rates.

Also the Pascal refresh, even though all we have right now is the 1070ti release, will not be significant enough to diminish the value of a 1080. This is really a card that will hold its value for a good two years on, still. Fully functional SKUs are, in the longer term, also a better guarantee that they will hold the performance even in newer games. They are very well balanced, more so than 'cut down' alternatives (and 1080ti is a cut down GP100 essentially, and ironically).

And lastly, as for AMD, well... if you want to join them in their premature MCM-Navi adventure be my guest, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.