Who's getting a 1080ti?

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Alamat

Senior member
Apr 30, 2003
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So, I have $750 to spend in Amazon, which would be best then for gaming? I probably would not try overclocking yet if that matters.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
622
126
So, I have $750 to spend in Amazon, which would be best then for gaming? I probably would not try overclocking yet if that matters.
I haven't taken a look to see if there are new models available. The Asus strix and strix oc seem like the most popular followed by gigabyte. I had the gigabyte model but had to return it because it was not stable even at stock clocks.

Evga sc and sc black are decent models too. Basically any of them will do the job for gaming and you shouldn't have to OC them if you don't want to.
 
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2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
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I've changed my mind. Volta looks too good to pass up so I'll be hanging on to the 980Ti for a while longer.

I've changed my mine yet again. With the mining craze injecting new value into my 980Ti I've decided to part ways with it. Already ordered an eVGA 1080Ti SC2. Was going to order the FTW3 but i'm not sure my case has the space for it.
 

DaQuteness

Senior member
Mar 6, 2008
200
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Will mixing an FTW3 with a Strix keep SLI working? I'd love to buy 2 of the same as I found a sweet offer but it's a limit of 1 per customer.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
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106
Will mixing an FTW3 with a Strix keep SLI working? I'd love to buy 2 of the same as I found a sweet offer but it's a limit of 1 per customer.

SLI should work as long as the actual GPU is the same and I believe memory size. When I was running SLI 680's one was an EVGA the other an ASUS.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
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Received my EVGA 1080Ti SC2 today (a day early) and I'm very impressed with the build quality and equally impressed with the performance. I only played a couple older games and a couple newer ones just to see how the aging 3770k is going to hold up and happily, it's doing just fine. The most demanding CPU limited game I ran was GRID: Autosport. It breezed through that maxed out @ 1440p barely hitting 60% utilization. CPU limitation wasn't an issue on more modern titles. I played Far Cry Primal and Rise of the Tomb Raider and both saw significant improvements over my 980Ti. FC I was able to max out on the 980Ti but the 1080Ti did it at roughly 2x the fps. ROTR wasn't playable at the highest settings on the 980Ti but the 1080Ti ran them at 80-100 fps, though I will need to go back and try it out with SSAA as I was only running SMAA. VRAM utilization in ROTR was just over 7GB.

I have no plans to upgrade to a 4k display anytime soon and I feel the 1080ti will last a good while pushing 1440p. TBH, my 980Ti was doing just fine by me at 1440p. If it wasn't for the value holding strong due to mining and the added ~$270 sitting in my Amazon Gift Card I wouldn't not have had the temptation to upgrade until Volta.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I've changed my mine yet again. With the mining craze injecting new value into my 980Ti I've decided to part ways with it. Already ordered an eVGA 1080Ti SC2. Was going to order the FTW3 but i'm not sure my case has the space for it.

After dealing with some of the cards, I'd recommend the ROG Strix. The non-OC model is the same price as the SC2, and it has a better cooler. Although, if you were worried about the FTW3 not fitting in the case, the Strix might have the same problem as it's quite a large card!
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
622
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After dealing with some of the cards, I'd recommend the ROG Strix. The non-OC model is the same price as the SC2, and it has a better cooler. Although, if you were worried about the FTW3 not fitting in the case, the Strix might have the same problem as it's quite a large card!
I also tried the gigabyte OC model and that was also a huge card but felt much more flimsey. The plastic wasn't solid and it didn't really feel premium but it was heavy. Unfortunately I had to send it back because it was faulty. The strix stays cooler and although it's also plastic, the plastic around it is not as loose feeling.
 

2is

Diamond Member
Apr 8, 2012
4,281
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106
After dealing with some of the cards, I'd recommend the ROG Strix. The non-OC model is the same price as the SC2, and it has a better cooler. Although, if you were worried about the FTW3 not fitting in the case, the Strix might have the same problem as it's quite a large card!

I've always been partial to evga and went with the sc2. Build quality is top notch. Only takes up 2 slots and temps don't go above 70C using the stock fan profile. Watched several reviews on the sc2 and ftw3 and the general consensus is evga knocked it out of the park after the 1070/1080 fiasco with their engineering on the icx coolers and the way over built ftw3 power delivery.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I've always been partial to evga and went with the sc2. Build quality is top notch. Only takes up 2 slots and temps don't go above 70C using the stock fan profile. Watched several reviews on the sc2 and ftw3 and the general consensus is evga knocked it out of the park after the 1070/1080 fiasco with their engineering on the icx coolers and the way over built ftw3 power delivery.

I went in with the same approach of preferring EVGA, and I ended up burned with their FTW3. The card has some issues with its asynchronous fan tech that caused only the first fan to spin up unless I was running their Precision OCX software. With the software, I was able to get the second fan to spin up (after turning off auto mode), but I could never get the third fan to do anything. This caused some rather poor temperatures as the card struggled to remain in the 70s.

I was tempted to go with EVGA again for their SC Black. The SC Black is the cheapest non-Founders card (i.e. has DVI) that is still a reference design, which meant I could do custom water cooling. Unfortunately, the miners started getting too itchy to wait for more 1070s, and they started buying up the 1080 Ti cards. I ended up picking up an EVGA 1080 Ti Hybrid, which has the same issue as the 1080 Hybrid Kit... the fan is too darn noisy. The temperatures are fine on it though. It's a bit hotter than an average custom loop (usually around high-30s to low-40s), but it's admirable enough.
 

TeknoBug

Platinum Member
Oct 2, 2013
2,084
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I wouldn't mind having a 1080Ti if it didn't cost +$1000 CDN, 980Ti were just below $800 before and 780Ti were just over $700, now the top end cards are way more expensive than ever.

Maybe one day when I get my Christmas bonus and Nvidia releases a new line.
 

Charlie22911

Senior member
Mar 19, 2005
614
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To those wondering; yes you can water cool the EVGA 1080ti SC2 with caveats.

Seeing as how mining is taking a dump I migrated my two 1080 FE out of my gaming rigs custom loop and replaced them with 2x EVGA 1080ti SC2 using the EK FE universal block. On the SC2 PCB there is a fan connector by the PCIe slot that very slightly interferes with the block, I took my dremel and cut a small square out of the copper and it fits perfect; In retrospect I don't think I even needed to dremel it out.

I'd take pictures if it didn't involve me tearing down the loop, also make sure you have plenty of radiator for these cards. moving from shunt modded 1080 FEs to 1080ti raised water temps by nearly 15 degrees!
 

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
Well, I waited quite awhile for Vega but what I have seen so far did NOT convince me it would be a distinct improvement over the GTX1080. Couple that with my desire to improve my Ryzen 1800x with a faster card than the RX480 made me pull the trigger on this:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125988.

I will move the GTX1080 with the EK full block over to the Ryzen 1800x rig and put the new Gigabyte 1080TI with WB into the 5960x rig.

I'll sell the RX480 and recoup the cost and have a card about as fast as the fastest Vega (GTX1080) and have a faster card to boot (GTX1080TI).

BTW, the full waterblock 1080TIs have only been out a short while. With 3 480 rads I should have plenty of cooling capacity for the GTX1080TI and the 5960x at 4.4Ghz..

I'll still follow the Vega roll out but my Ryzen 1800x at 4.05Ghz (also custom water cooled) will be happy to share the loop with a GTX1080 Zotac FE, now with an EK waterblock.
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
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BTW, the full waterblock 1080TIs have only been out a short while. With 3 480 rads I should have plenty of cooling capacity for the GTX1080TI and the 5960x at 4.4Ghz..

I would expect that 3x 480 radiators might be a little too much. Unless you're using high flow, low FPI radiators specifically for reduced noise (or something like that), you're not likely cooling the water any further yet adding more resistance. It's not harmful as long as you have good pumps that can keep it around 1GPM or higher, but it's not necessarily helpful either. I mean.. air can't cool the water any lower than ambient.

I'll still follow the Vega roll out but my Ryzen 1800x at 4.05Ghz (also custom water cooled) will be happy to share the loop with a GTX1080 Zotac FE, now with an EK waterblock.

Did you end up going with their new 1080 FE waterblock? (I think that's the name....) The one that fits all reference 1080s and 1080 Ti cards.

EDIT:

To be clear, being below 1GPM isn't harmful to a loop. But from what I recall from my custom water cooling days, it was the preferred flow rate to provide the best level of cooling.
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
Aikouka: I just bought the Gigabyte Aorus Extreme Gaming edition GTX1080TI with the integrated waterblock. It was Salty at @849 BUT was cheaper than the Aircooled edition plus an EK block.

It is a MONSTER card. They did a beautiful job.

Here is a link to it at Newegg.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125988

I was really tempted to get one of the integrated water cooled products, but I think ASUS's Poseidon was the only one available... until EVGA released their Hydro Copper a couple days later. :p (I really need to keep abreast of upcoming releases!) $849 certainly isn't bad either. If you don't want to use an FE card, I think only Gigabyte and EVGA sell cheap ($720 or less) 1080 Ti cards that are reference. In that case, the water block costs you about $120 and the backplate costs about $30. The Aorus isn't a reference card though, so that's a nice little bonus. :)

I know some people don't like doing it, because it's a little harder to sell a card that was water cooled from the factory, but I recall having no issue selling my 780 Hydro Copper back in the day.
 

guskline

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2006
5,338
476
126
Loves the Gigabyte Aorus with the waterblock and ,yes I have plenty of flow with 2 D5 pumps in series in a XSPC Twin D5 Bay res setup.
 

suklee

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,585
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81
I'm about to join the club.. Ordered an Asus 1080 Ti Poseidon, originally as an upgrade to my 1070 but upgrade replacement bug hit, suddenly I want to replace the rest of my rig and do a whole new water cooling set up with ekwb. :D

The new rig will be paired with an Asus 34" PG348Q
 

DaQuteness

Senior member
Mar 6, 2008
200
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86
I'm about to join the club.. Ordered an Asus 1080 Ti Poseidon, originally as an upgrade to my 1070 but upgrade replacement bug hit, suddenly I want to replace the rest of my rig and do a whole new water cooling set up with ekwb. :D

The new rig will be paired with an Asus 34" PG348Q

Awesome screen. 'Nuf said.

I was eyeballing the Poseidon myself but in the end just went with the FTW3 as it's well supported by EKWB and you can switch for water block without voiding the warranty - I don't know of any other company than EVGA who approve/support this.

I don't know why everybody seems to have issues with the fans, I haven't had a single problem... and OC's fairly mental, I drew the short straw on GPU limit, top speed of 2025MHz, but had good output on memory, OC almost 800MHz. Actually placed 148 on Unigine Superposition benchmark leaderboard. Not bad :D
 
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Galatian

Senior member
Dec 7, 2012
372
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Well I sold both my R9 290X to some miner and was actually planning on getting Vega since I believed in the hype. Siggraph was such a huge letdown that I ordered an MSI 1080 Ti Sea Hawk EK. It was fairly cheap and not much more expensive then adding a waterblock myself. Pretty happy with it. Boosts to 1949 MHz out of the Box and it is so cool, that the fans from my radiators can actually stay off most of the time. Simply amazing. Only bad things is. My Freesync monitor...
 

DaQuteness

Senior member
Mar 6, 2008
200
34
86
Well I sold both my R9 290X to some miner and was actually planning on getting Vega since I believed in the hype. Siggraph was such a huge letdown that I ordered an MSI 1080 Ti Sea Hawk EK. It was fairly cheap and not much more expensive then adding a waterblock myself. Pretty happy with it. Boosts to 1949 MHz out of the Box and it is so cool, that the fans from my radiators can actually stay off most of the time. Simply amazing. Only bad things is. My Freesync monitor...
Even if it's a 144hz 1440p screen, this card is so massively overpowered that it won't be a problem. Also on water you have shit tons of overhead for OC. My FTW3 only goes as far as 2025MHz gpu but 6250MHz on memory, that's +750 from base which is really good.

Enjoy! Post some results, do a unigine superposition 1080p extreme test and post the score: my best is 6702 :)
 

urvile

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2017
1,575
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I also waited for vega only to be disappointed. I am buying one of these next week: Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Waterforce Xtreme Edition

I also have a freesync (3440x1440) monitor. I have been running a pair of fury X for the last few years and they don't have much more time left in them. There isn't any other option for high end so screw it.
 

DaQuteness

Senior member
Mar 6, 2008
200
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86
I also waited for vega only to be disappointed. I am buying one of these next week: Gigabyte AORUS GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Waterforce Xtreme Edition

I also have a freesync (3440x1440) monitor. I have been running a pair of fury X for the last few years and they don't have much more time left in them. There isn't any other option for high end so screw it.
I think the hype was a bit misinterpreted for vega, it was never supposed to compete with 1080ti, but it does have a few drawbacks and the driver is still crap. It will get better for sure but for now it's plain bad. I will be getting a Vega 64 or FE though but not for gaming.
 

urvile

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2017
1,575
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I think the hype was a bit misinterpreted for vega, it was never supposed to compete with 1080ti, but it does have a few drawbacks and the driver is still crap. It will get better for sure but for now it's plain bad. I will be getting a Vega 64 or FE though but not for gaming.

I was expecting it to be between the 1080 and 1080ti. Probably a bit optimistic. :)