3090ti now or wait for 4080

[Dolk]

I entered the evga que for 3090ti last night as a joke. I just shunt modded my 2080ti and have been abusing it to no end to find its max (hint +190 core, +1000 Mem, thats what I get with a A-type gpu )

I just got notified that I got selected. Now I have to seriously decide to stick to my original plan and wait for the 4080 or just get this card.

What is known about the 4000s isn't much as far as new features (RTX+++, DLSRSRSRS, etc). What we do know is that the 4080 ~== 3090ti just like the 2080ti ~== 3080 in terms of Clocks, RPs, CUDA, etc. Performance obviously better with the newer card, but you get what I'm saying. The last latest gen roughly equals the start of the next gen high-end.

I got 24hrs to decide. Just seeing what others might say about this. I bought my 2080ti right before the GPU price and quantity crash. I haven't had to deal with buying a new card in several years. Worth to wait or buy now and get something rather than hope I get a 4080 when they come up?

 

[EarthDog]

There's always something better around the corner, Dolk. If you're ready to buy, buy. Worth it is up to the user and their personal situation.

Typically, performance matches from flagship Ti to x080 as you are saying, but hardware count, and especially clocks, not so much. There's IPC differences and power envelopes to think about among different hardware configurations.

Stripping that away, what benefits would a 4000 series GPU give you over 3000? Outside of high level things (performance uptick, maybe more efficent/less power), we don't know... nor will we when your 24 hour window closes, sadly. Buy on it's merits now... or sit and wait since you have a capable card as is.

 

[BugFreak]

3090ti isn't really a bad deal considering prices these days. Personally I would go for a 3080 but since you have the 3090Ti through the queue I would go for it.

Plus if there is another shortage problem with 4000 series like the 3000 series you will easily be able to sell the 3090Ti at that time. Most likely for a profit.

 

[don256us]

Yeah. You have to jump in when it's time to jump in. If you wait... you'll always wait.

In terms of value, the current market makes that complicated. If you could pay actual retail prices, It wouldn't be worth it. Being that this is probably the ONLY card that you can buy at retail, makes it a better buy.

 

[JrClocker]

Value is always a relative term when you are trying to decide these things.

If you wait for the next best thing, you will always end up waiting.

If you have the cash and want the product, then buy the product.

 

[Woomack]

I would say wait for RTX4000 but no one knows if there won't be any delay. I don't think we will see it earlier than in 4 months but I can be wrong. I'm not sure if you can wait ... and if it will be available just after the premiere. You can get into a new queue for 2+ months.

 

[stompah]

You don't *need* a 3090Ti. You probably won't *need* a 4xxx. The question is do you want to play with something new today or maybe in 6 months?

 

[freeagent]

I too would go for a 3080Ti, but if you can swing a 3090Ti, I would.. worst case you flip it weeks before 40 series drops. But people are going to be buying a PSU at the same time as their GPU by the sounds of it. Funnily enough, I actually respect the planet enough not to buy into 40 series.. of course I say that now.. but I know what its like to have 600-700w running all the time.. it sucks when the power bill comes.

 

[Kenrou]

 

[EarthDog]

40 mins....... oof. Cliff's? I'm curious, but not enough to take 40 mins out to find out what they say, lol.

 

[Kenrou]

It's in the spot you're supposed to watch, reply to OP is basically "don't wait" simply because the manufacturers learned that no matter how much they raise prices, people will buy them

 

[WrkBoot]

What was the price??

 

[Dolk]

Ended up with the 3080ti instead. I couldn't justify the cost over performance. 3080ti's seem to be in stock and relatively easy to get a hold of. EVGA seems to have a lot in stock to where there is no que.

I got the EVGA FTW series, so I'm hoping for a properly binned GPU. Never again will I not do binned GPUs. 2080ti Black Edition was a nightmare to overclock and get its full potential. I really don't want to do shunt modding again lol.

However, why would people shunt mod when the next gen gpus will typically use 400W+ power lol.

I had expected the streaming data services (GPU <--> RAM / Storage / NIC) would be out by now but it looks like the RTX 40s and AMD RDNA3 will provide those services with the increased L2 Cache, among other things. I built my entire system in anticipation for that feature to be available with cur gen (RTX 20s/30s, RDNA 2, AMD 5000, Intel 10th/11th series). But it looks like the industry shifted that plan to the next release, I guess DDR5 has something to play into this or maybe DX12 Ultimate development is taking longer internally at these vendors. Regardless I'm adjusting my plans to wait for gen2 of next gen products (AMD 7000s, Intel 13th, RTX 50s, RDNA4). But we'll see how the industry shifts around. I'll grab a 5800X3D when it comes out and that should place me in the 3-5yr range system life with new AAA games.

If anyone comes around sniffing these same questions. I suggest the same as everyone else, buy if you can now or wait for a long time. I think the round of hardware coming out late this year early next will be awesome, fast and a host of new features, but the maturity of what will be the next level of gaming performance (stream data) probably wont mature until we see the next round of hardware after this one. But who knows, just me guessing

Those curious: I got selected for a 3090ti FTW3 for $2200, bought the 3080ti FTW3 for $1500. I think the $700 in savings is worth it, i mean most of that will be going into WC gear

Thanks to all that posted! I took a long time to consider this decision, and it was not one I thought I would have until the RTX 40s heh.

 

[EarthDog]

I'll bite... what are streaming data services?

 

[freeagent]

I'll bite... what are streaming data services?

I am just guessing when I say Netflix, Prime, etc.

I cant see anyone here paying for a game service..

Edit:

Couldn't have more wrong lol.

 

[Dolk]

DirectStorage API Now Available on PC - DirectX Developer Blog

Starting today, Windows games can ship with DirectStorage. This public SDK release begins a new era of fast load times and detailed worlds in PC games by allowing developers to more fully utilize the speed of the latest storage devices. In September 2020,

devblogs.microsoft.com

GPUDirect Storage: A Direct Path Between Storage and GPU Memory | NVIDIA Technical Blog

As AI and HPC datasets continue to increase in size, the time spent loading data for a given application begins to place a strain on the total application’s performance. When considering end-to-end…

developer.nvidia.com

 

[EarthDog]

Thanks for the info. I remember DirectStorage.

May I ask what building for this looks like compared to not? Isn't it just OS + NV GPU + NVMe + Supporting Game = Directstroage/Winning? Is there a better hardware ecosystem than others outside of fast storage?

EDIT: This is a great article on it...

Microsoft releases DirectStorage, the future of fast-loading PC games

Microsoft has begun shipping the DirectStorage API to its developer partners. Games that support DirectStorage should load dramatically faster than before, possibly putting the Xbox "Quick Resume" feature on the PC.

www.pcworld.com

What will you need to take advantage of DirectStorage? According to Microsoft, DirectStorage will accommodate older hardware, even older spinning hard drives. Microsoft will also make DirectStorage available for Windows 10. But the technology is also being optimized for Windows 11, which will “unlock the full potential of DirectStorage,” according to Microsoft. Fast I/O transfers between a GPU and a storage device will also benefit from fast storage—which means that an NVMe SSD is probably best.

Microsoft’s next steps are to distribute the API, then let gamers know which games will actually support the new DirectStorage technology.

 

[Janus67]

Fwiw folks at evga have said that the ftw and regular lines are not binned different

 

[Dolk]

Fwiw folks at evga have said that the ftw and regular lines are not binned different

Not what I heard. At least for the 3090ti they binned them. GamerNexus talked to a rep on camera since their GPU had numbers scratched into the metal around the die. I expected the same treatment for 3080s but who knows. At least the one I got is binned to be 1800MHz boost rather than the 1700s.



Nvidia is getting ready for this tech and the RTX 30s introduce it. I think AMD has been more prepared then Nvidia due to their Infiniti I/O. In the next gen GPUs L2 Cache will be increased by a significant amount by both vendors. I think this is to aid in streaming any data, among many other benefits.

I had read about this tech coming up for awhile through other channels. From what I had learned back in 2019ish, any GPU could just attach itself to a storage device with the right API. CP2077 was coming out as well and so my computer nerd self flared a bright flame for many months. I landed on getting a x570 Gigabyte Master, 2080Ti, and 3600X.

I chose the x570 Master because it had the best break down of PCIe utilization for their M.2 drives. There are 3 M.2s, 1 direct to CPU and 2 direct to PCH. It's also not SATA only, so I get the option of 2 extra SATA ports or 1 3.0x4 port. I grabbed a pair of A-DATA 1TB 8200. Raid these together on the PCH M.2 ports, gives me a pretty nice bandwidth. Now granted I am limited by the PCIe4.0 x4 CPU<->PCH link but since the Drives are x4 3.0, I hopefully won't be hitting ceiling often.

So that's the storage side. For the GPU, the 2080ti was at a good price and seemed future proof enough for my Ultra-wide 1440p monitor. Oh how wrong I was when DX12 Ultimate smacked us all in the face and made us realize that Microsoft opened up the flood gates on texture load and all the post processing that comes with it. Ontop of that Nvidia announces that the RTX 30s will only get the DirectStorage (RTX IO) once its ready. I was trying to stretch through the shortages and wait for RTX40s. I BIOS and HW modded my card to get every last ounce of power out of it. Been a great sport about it too. So now we are hearing this news about the power requirements of the RTX40s and ATX3.0, got me re-thinking things. This chance came up for these cards and after a long day of brooding I decided on the 3080 ti.

All in all, it seems like my current system was timed just 1 gen behind. I'm going to grab what I can for this generation of hardware before the next phase comes through. ATX3.0, PCIe5.0, DDR5, software continues to break away from the CPU to live in GPU only, all these things are going to create a neat package. I'm going to wait a gen or two for this stuff to settle out before I step in. I'm just hoping I my stuff can just dip its toe in the water.

 

[EarthDog]

The differences between them are so little, it's still really a crapshoot. The only 'really' binned cards (evga) are going to be the KingPin editions. And those are binned more for extreme overclocking/cooling than ambient. Look at the meager clock speed differences between them (about 100 Mhz?) and tell me any are worth more than others for sure/regardless when overclocking. Shunt this and BIOS mod that... things are a lot different than 12 years ago when strapping on some potOmeters and killing OCP yielded significant gains. A couple of percent at best for overclocking these days.

Between the potato and the 'highest' FTW card, I'd bet money says they are within 25-50MHz of each other on ambient cooling when overclocked... that's only going to make a difference on paper.

... it had the best break down of PCIe utilization for their M.2 drives. There are 3 M.2s, 1 direct to CPU and 2 direct to PCH.

There's always one attached via the CPU and the rest the chipset - it's how mobos work. There's occasionally lane sharing between the SATA ports and the PCH-connected devices, but otherwise, this is as common as it gets.

So, is there a difference between building a system for this and any other syste? Just have an NVMe and a compatible GPU/OS for best results? You could have picked an OEM off the shelf and have this work properly or am I missing something? I'm not trying to be a douche, but really wondering how this was 'anticipated' and how that could make it better by doing so.