Help me pick my Christmas Present - new video card

[fargo007]

So, I've decided to up my video card. It's cyber monday, and I have a green light from the financial department.

 

I play (or try to) exclusively in VR with the Oculus rift. DCS is pretty much all I do with the machine.

 

Seems like I am heading for a 1080ti, but which one stands out among the others?

 

I'd like to be able to overclock it for performance or experimentation's sake.

 

My existing one will be relegated to a second computer that I plan to use as a dedicated server for our squadron.

 

Your informed suggestions and experiences that help color my decision are welcome and I thank you in advance for them.

 

/Fargo

[Buckeye]

Asus ROG Strix OC, days and days of research before buying my 1080 Ti led to me this.

[dburne]

I personally love my EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 card, has been performing quite well for me. It is already set for an overclock and tested to run at that speed.

 

Note though with it's ICX technology and multiple fans, need to use Precision XOC to be able to control the three main fans.

[hansangb]

I have the EVGA as well, but the hybrid AIO 1080Ti. Gives me piece of mind even if I don't need it. What CPU/GPU do you have now? I'm assuming you're already using SSD?

[fargo007]

Yup, I'm on two SSDs for 1.5 and 2.1 respectively. I have a lower end Duke 1080. Not that it's bad, it's actually very nice but I've smoked the VR crack, and work has been good to me so I want to go top shelf. I thought about the Samsung Odyssey, but not enough of an improvement to take the loss on the Oculus.

[BitMaster]

air or water ?

 

if you aim for water:

I`d now get me the Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce Fullblock instead of what I have, Asus Poseidon.

 

High-Flow_DIY_Loop and Asus Poseidon is not perfect.

 

Pure Air:

Asus ROG Strix OC

[fargo007]

Buckeye, what were some of the points in your research that led you that way?

[Johnny_Rico]

I went for the Zotac 1080TI AMP edition, I liked the 5 year warranty (just in case)

[Simicro]

the 5 year warranty (just in case)

 

Unbelievable!

 

First time I see a so extended warranty on hardware!

[Gladman]

ASUS. I've always had good luck with them. For my 1080 founders edition I put an aftermarket waterblock on it.

[Johnny_Rico]

Unbelievable!

 

First time I see a so extended warranty on hardware!

 

3 is standard for Zotac (but if you register within 28days you get 5 years)

 

I had a bad experience many years ago, bought a slightly cheaper 8800GTX

with 1 year warranty ..... damn thing broke after 15 months, had a £350 paper weight ......

[BitMaster]

3 is standard for Zotac (but if you register within 28days you get 5 years)

 

I had a bad experience many years ago, bought a slightly cheaper 8800GTX

with 1 year warranty ..... damn thing broke after 15 months, had a £350 paper weight ......

 

Paper weights, oh boy...I remember times when my HIS and Sapphire cards burned through after like 39 month, 36m warranty, always like that. Then I started buying Asus cards and none failed yet, regardless how old they are.

 

Still, 5 years is BIG positive point for Zotac

[fargo007]

That is a big positive, but truth be told, I'd rather expect new tech in five years. Especially with VR's moon on the rise.

[Johnny_Rico]

That is a big positive, but truth be told, I'd rather expect new tech in five years. Especially with VR's moon on the rise.

 

Like most companies with long warranties, you will get an equivalent value card (lets face it 5 years no one will have an 1080TI cards stocked)

[BitMaster]

Like most companies with long warranties, you will get an equivalent value card (lets face it 5 years no one will have an 1080TI cards stocked)

 

if you want that get a dell/alienware with max warranty extension, they will have all parts in stock for that period. for a lot of money

[Johnny_Rico]

if you want that get a dell/alienware with max warranty extension, they will have all parts in stock for that period. for a lot of money

 

huh? No way would I ever buy an over priced off the shelf PC

Most of the time from reading in forums when people return a faulty card get

at worst they get the same performance as their old one, most of the time u

get a much better/newer one

Edited November 29, 2017 by Johnny_Rico

[Demon_]

Like an old guy who is going to refresh his marriage.

[cichlidfan]

Paper weights, oh boy...I remember times when my HIS and Sapphire cards burned through after like 39 month, 36m warranty, always like that. Then I started buying Asus cards and none failed yet, regardless how old they are.

 

Still, 5 years is BIG positive point for Zotac

 

Personally, 5 years for a video card means nothing to me. The only video cards that I have ever had for that long are the ones sitting in boxes because I was too lazy to try and sell them. Currently, I think I have at least four retired cards. My two gaming boxes are both running Zotac 1080 AMP! Extremes.

[Gladman]

yeah, I gotta agree with cichlidfan. I've never had a vid card in a gaming machine for more than 2 years. If the software demands arent there, new tech is. These days more than the last few years with VR being a fresh industry.

[Johnny_Rico]

My rule is that if the latest gen is 40-50% faster than the card I currently have then time to upgrade,

some cards I have owned have been a few gens apart because it was not worth the money to upgrade

[Hadwell]

I use the evga 1080ti ftw3, I upgraded from a 780, it is, in every way, over twice as fast as my 780, and has almost 4x the memory, it's the best investment i've made in years... that being said... with the way nvidia hardware works, pretty much all the 1080tis but the cheapest ones will get you the same performance, just with different noise levels.

 

if you're planning on buying a waterblock then buy the very cheapest 1080ti you can find, because it has to meet nvidias specs, no reason to waste money on a hunk of aluminum and plastic and cheesy LED lights if you're just going to take them off anyway, and you'll still get the same performance as any other 1080ti with a waterblock.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Hadwell

[StandingCow]

You can't go wrong with the ASUS, EVGA or MSI versions they all perform very well. EVGA has an amazing warranty that you may want to take into consideration.