Hey, guys, I've got a somewhat subjective preference question. Obviously we all know the 1070ti is a castrated 1080, not a beefed-up 1080. It's also forbidden by nVidia from being overclocked, but overclocks quite nicely as a user. These cards also — and I know this from comparing 1070, 1070ti and 1080 reviews at TechPowerUp — tend to end up quieter than either 1070 or 1080. Still, a full 1080 will be better stock-for-stock and might overclock somewhat better and give a crucial fps difference in higher resolutions and generally be a somewhat better 4K card. For this reason plain 1080 like Palit Dual vs pampered 1070ti like GamingX or Strix is going to be quite controversial. Personally, I'm inclined to go for the 1070ti in this scenario because of acoustics — 5 fps is far less important than 5 dbA to me, unless the noise is already too low to be overheard over game ambient/music. Plus, any used 1070ti is obviously bound to be like several months old tops, compared to the possible age of some 1080s; hence you're buying an almost new card.
This said, I have the following options right now, in PLN. 1 PLN = $0.26 / €0.23 if you're interested, but my focus here is on relative ordering among the cards listed:
PLN 1000 — Palit Dual 1070 (for comparison)
PLN 1100 — mid-shelf 1070s like MSI Armor, various Gigabytes etc. (unconvincing to me)
PLN 1100 — real nVidia FE 1070
PLN 1200 — MSI 1070 GamingX, Asus Strix etc., EVGA SuperClocked, Palit GameRock, Gainward Phoenix, Zotac Exo Armor/Amp, etc.
PLN 1300 — Zotac Mini 1070ti (nice but louder than most)
PLN 1350 — Gigabyte 1080 WindForce OC 3X (I've read customer testimonials, reviews, problem threads, etc., and this does seem loud, so I might end up needing to replace the cooler, and in some cases those card's cooling systems go rogue, which I've witnessed first-hand, so Gigabyte is normally blacklisted for me for higher-end products)
PLN 1400 — Asus 1070ti Strix, which for 1070tis is better than MSI GamingX (performs better, OC's better and isn't louder)
PLN 1400 — Zotac 1070ti Amp!, (louder but with superior electronics, power protections, ripple dampening and whatnot)
PLN 1400 — MSI Aero 1080 — blower (I could remove the fan shroud and place a larger fan (plugged into mobo) on top of the heatsink to help things along; I also have the heatsink from a Gigabyte 280X WindForce 3X somewhere, which might be convinced to fit, with some persuasion)
PLN 1450 — MSI 1070ti GamingX (I'll pass; Strix wins)
PLN 1500 — MSI Armor 1080 (and this gives me the pause, as Armor, while average, is not bad, it at least shouldn't have issues and isn't fragile or crappy-constructed or anything of the sort)
PLN 1800 — Zotac 1080 Bulk new-in-box from a proper retailer (but I think too loud for me to not replace the cooling, voiding warranty)
Because of ease of use, out of the box, the 1080 Armor for 1500 wins against the 1080 Aero for 1400. However, the blower is a reference design, and — while this not coming from nVidia would be less likely to be higher-binned — those OC better. And because of not paying for a fancy partner cooler, I'd have 100 more towards an aftermarket cooler like Accelero or Morpheus. Even if the card fails to OC significantly, it will at least be made dead-quiet under 100% load. On the other hand, Armor isn't loud, and Armor too can have its cooler replaced (or even just have larger, better fans mounted on the same heatsink). And obviously if I can fit the 280X WF3X heatsink on this, I'm gold. Hence I'm undecided. But I don't really want to have to void the warranty right off the bat, so I lean toward the Armor here.
I'm also undecided between 1070ti Strix for 1400 vs 1080 Armor for 1500. The Armor will still get more fps out of the box and will still have some headroom. The difference between 1070ti and full 1080 will probably count for more than the difference between the Strix and the Armor cooler. The Armor will be louder, but won't be a loud card really, and I could still spend like 100 on two nice, large high-pressure fans.
And the Gigabyte for 1350 obviously seems to rock the boat. But I've had two Gigabyte Windforce cards with serious problems in the last 5 years, in addition to a somewhat large crowd of dissatisfied customers online. The seller would give me 5 days to test the card, but the problem is I can't afford a whole day for serious testing this week.
Between the Gigabyte Windforce 1080 and the MSI Armor 1080, the 150 difference is 2/3 of the price of Accelero Extreme III/IV and half the price of a Morpheus II, both being way superior toolers to almost anything else on air (well, okay, perhaps Strix or GamingX can compete with Accelero).
And between Aero at 1400 and GB at 1350, the GB may be a better candidate for Accelero/Morpheus installation, provided the circuitry is OK.
But I'm still worried about Gigabyte's power circuitry, fan profiles and propensity for sudden violent death or crippling.
If the card is merely too loud, I can obviousy resell it without (much) loss, and the manufacturer will probably take it back anyway, so no real risk, just the nuisance.
I might be able to talk the 1070ti Strix guy down from 1400 to 1300, but I'm not sure. I'm watching some 1070ti auctions just as well as 1080s and will see where those end up.
What would you guys do? I know I'm obnoxious with all this overthinking and indecision, but I'd really like to close this, stick to a choice and move on.