Upgrade dilemma - RTX3080 or 3080Ti..?

[Robsterios]

Hi... My current system runs a Ryzen5800X, 32G Ram and RTX3070 @4K on an ultrawide monitor. (non-VR).

DCS runs pretty good with the exception of low down busy areas and lots of action. I run most of my settings on ultra or high. Still - as with most of us, always looking for more frames and a smooth experience, thinking about upgrading to RTX3080Ti. There's lots that have become available recently in Aus. and prices, although still high have come down somewhat. 

The quandary I have is to lay out about AU$2100 for a 3080 or $2600 for the Ti. I'm a little concerned that the upgrade from the 3070 to 3080 may only give me a slight improvement and the $per frames might not justify the upgrade. I recently upgraded from the Ryzen 2700X to the 5800X and although better, was hoping for more I guess. Probably average 10% improvement in frames for AU$700+...!! 

Or - would I be better, going the 3080 and spend the extra on replacing my 4 sticks of 8G to 4 sticks of 16G Ram...?

Anyway, if someone can offer advice, this would be greatly appreciated. 

cheers, Rob. 

[Dudikoff]

I guess that depends on the price you can get them at. MSRP wise, the 3080Ti is of course not worth it (as it brings only a 5-10% increase in performance, depending on the title), but with the inflated 3080 prices, it could be relatively speaking if the price difference is small enough.

[LucShep]

Regarding the GPU, if the price is right and it won't hurt, sure, it's always great to upgrade. And you can try selling that RTX3070 to get a good chunk of money back.

But, while there'll be a step up in performance on 3080/3080Ti (from the 3070 that you have), I don't think the expected returns in performance gains are worth the premium.

At the current times (GPU apocalipse), and with DCS still a bit unoptimized, I'd rather wait for next gen of Nvidia and AMD GPUs, and rethink that move again then.

Afterall, you're already on a 3070, which performs about the same as a 2080Ti (minus the vram deficit), same as saying "that's pretty darn good already".

 

As for more and faster RAM, similar thing.

Unlike Intel CPUs (which run great with whatever RAM at +3200 Mhz), the AMD Ryzen CPUs still have that idiossincracy where, to perform at their best, they prefer RAM at specific speeds, low latency and certain ranks. 

So, replacing the 4 sticks you already have for 64GB RAM of such specific memory will be very expensive (see prices on DDR4 64GB, 4x 16GB 3200 CL14 and 3600 CL16 Samsung B-die based kits, you'll imediately understand). Again, with those kits there'll be a step up in performance but, IMO, those gains are not worth the big premium.

 

As side note, and just a suggestion that goes for any person here - try to adjust DCS settings (flying down low, not when above the clouds where it always performs good).

DCS settings adjustment is like a game of compromise (f.ex, see HERE) no matter how mighty one think his/her gaming rig is. Getting it right can feel like a decent hardware upgrade.... and it's FREE!

 

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by LucShep

[Dudikoff]

One more point worth considering is that rumors are the next generation of Nvidia cards should be in production next May. Now, that's certainly not a given in the current silicone shortage environment, but since you've said it runs DCS well enough, you might as well wait for next gen to splurge that amount as the performance gains will be much bigger.

[Robsterios]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't really think I can be that patient to wait until the 40 series RTX's and yeah, I've sold the 3070 for more than I paid for it over 6 months ago now so will probably take the plunge and grab a 3080ti. I'm being realistic with regards to my hopes in massive gains but if I can squeeze another 20fps, it should do the trick I reckon. I might do some optimizing with some settings as well. I'll certainly try the flat shadows...I fly the warbirds and choppers predominately so I spend a lot of time down low. 

 

[Hector45]

Like others said if you can get a 3080 at MSRP it's the much better value option, at least here in the US ($850 vs $1400 for 7% performance difference). That being said I upgraded from a 3070 to 3080 Ti and it should def give you an extra 15-20 frames in DCS over the 3070 with setting the same. Still not as big of an improvement as I was hoping for. DCS is still terribly optimized so basically it let me dial up some of the setting while still getting an addition 5-10 FPS. 

[Pilotasso]

not enough memory on the 3080. 10GB on this day and age is unacceptable. Personally I would go with a 6800X this time around.

Edited August 21, 2021 by Pilotasso

[agrasyuk]

upgraded to 3080ti from 1080, it was a considerable improvement, almost double the FPS  (10700K at 5Ghz is the CPU). playing on dual screens + another one for instruments . I would have preferred the 3090 , but I just kept missing out on it. While it looks like AMD stuff might be competitive in single screen applications I'm really happy with the upgrade, 
your dilemma comes down to funds availability. I read that 3070 is a very capable GPU, it is certainly better then nothing. but if you can upgrade to something higher, I'd go for it

good luck

[Thinder]

On 8/20/2021 at 8:08 AM, Robsterios said:

Hi... My current system runs a Ryzen5800X, 32G Ram and RTX3070 @4K on an ultrawide monitor. (non-VR).

DCS runs pretty good with the exception of low down busy areas and lots of action. I run most of my settings on ultra or high. Still - as with most of us, always looking for more frames and a smooth experience, thinking about upgrading to RTX3080Ti. There's lots that have become available recently in Aus. and prices, although still high have come down somewhat. 

The quandary I have is to lay out about AU$2100 for a 3080 or $2600 for the Ti. I'm a little concerned that the upgrade from the 3070 to 3080 may only give me a slight improvement and the $per frames might not justify the upgrade. I recently upgraded from the Ryzen 2700X to the 5800X and although better, was hoping for more I guess. Probably average 10% improvement in frames for AU$700+...!! 

Or - would I be better, going the 3080 and spend the extra on replacing my 4 sticks of 8G to 4 sticks of 16G Ram...?

Anyway, if someone can offer advice, this would be greatly appreciated. 

cheers, Rob. 

 

Would be interestintg to know more than "32G Ram", the difference can be as high as 10%.

[Bossco82]

If it was me and I already had a 3070 I would not buy a 3080. It would be a 3090, 3080ti or a 6800xt from AMD. I have one and it runs DCS great at 4k even down low. So I would upgrade by two steps/levels or stick.

 

As for dram I have 4x8gb sticks of 3200mhz c14. I only play DCS in single player and so far that is enough for me.

[joseridingclub]

3080 ti's are all LHR light hash rate therefore they are usual had for less around here 

[Napa]

For what is worth I had a GTX1080 and recently upgraded to an RTX3080Ti. My frames in Marianas went from 30-40 fps to 120-140fps. I'm still using an older i7-6700k so a 30-40% bottlenecking is added on top but daaaamn... that's 100 fps more than before 

[Gierasimov]

On 8/20/2021 at 9:08 AM, Robsterios said:

Hi... My current system runs a Ryzen5800X, 32G Ram and RTX3070 @4K on an ultrawide monitor. (non-VR).

DCS runs pretty good with the exception of low down busy areas and lots of action. I run most of my settings on ultra or high. Still - as with most of us, always looking for more frames and a smooth experience, thinking about upgrading to RTX3080Ti. There's lots that have become available recently in Aus. and prices, although still high have come down somewhat. 

The quandary I have is to lay out about AU$2100 for a 3080 or $2600 for the Ti. I'm a little concerned that the upgrade from the 3070 to 3080 may only give me a slight improvement and the $per frames might not justify the upgrade. I recently upgraded from the Ryzen 2700X to the 5800X and although better, was hoping for more I guess. Probably average 10% improvement in frames for AU$700+...!! 

Or - would I be better, going the 3080 and spend the extra on replacing my 4 sticks of 8G to 4 sticks of 16G Ram...?

Anyway, if someone can offer advice, this would be greatly appreciated. 

cheers, Rob. 

 

It's up to you. I am fine with my RTX 3080 at max DCS settings. Have a look here as well:

 

 

[Furiz]

On 8/22/2021 at 9:15 PM, Thinder said:

 

Would be interestintg to know more than "32G Ram", the difference can be as high as 10%.

 

This exactly,

 

I don't think you will gain a lot with 3080ti, but you will lose a lot of money for that one. When you upgrade you should look at which part is the one that is the bottleneck, since you already have pretty decent GPU and CPU, I'd look at the other parts.

So if you have low speed RAM, or low speed HDD, low end Motherboard? consider upgrading those then, your gain will be much higher.

[SkateZilla]

if it's an directX API Overhead issue form object count, then 3080 to 3080ti isnt going to change anything,

I'd wait for Vulkan, by then GPU prices may stabilize (hopefully).

[Robsterios]

Hi.. appreciate all the feedback.

Well, after taking the plunge, (3070 - 3080Ti) I will give my thoughts. I don't regret it one bit. I was averaging 60-80 fps depending on the mission and map, it now averages 80-100 fps. 

More so, I find it more stable, ie; doesn't fluctuate as much from flying high up to low down amongst the detail. Overall, it runs and looks so very much smoother. This is with everything maxed out except for SSA and FXA.  I also run IL2, MSFS2020 (which looks amazing, particularly with new updates) and COD which I now run with Ray Tracing on ultra and again, looks and runs awesome. I only upgraded because I was able to sell my 3070 for more than I paid originally nearly a year ago. I'm also able to offload my 32G or ram so will take the final plunge and go the 64G and that's pretty much as much as I can pimp out my machine. Anyway, I can recommend the upgrade, albeit an expensive one. Now the VR decision...!!? 

cheers, Rob. 

 

[Heli Shed]

I went from a 1080ti to a 3080ti.  Differences are enormous and although the 3080 is slightly cheaper than the ti, what you get in the ti is out of parity - more RAM and fpr DCS, that's as important as out and out performance.

 

In short, get the ti - nuff said.

 

VR Rob?  go with a quest 2.  That's my view.  You won't regret that either!

Edited September 11, 2021 by [WF]-Templar

[Hector45]

8 hours ago, Robsterios said:

Hi.. appreciate all the feedback.

Well, after taking the plunge, (3070 - 3080Ti) I will give my thoughts. I don't regret it one bit. I was averaging 60-80 fps depending on the mission and map, it now averages 80-100 fps. 

More so, I find it more stable, ie; doesn't fluctuate as much from flying high up to low down amongst the detail. Overall, it runs and looks so very much smoother. This is with everything maxed out except for SSA and FXA.  I also run IL2, MSFS2020 (which looks amazing, particularly with new updates) and COD which I now run with Ray Tracing on ultra and again, looks and runs awesome. I only upgraded because I was able to sell my 3070 for more than I paid originally nearly a year ago. I'm also able to offload my 32G or ram so will take the final plunge and go the 64G and that's pretty much as much as I can pimp out my machine. Anyway, I can recommend the upgrade, albeit an expensive one. Now the VR decision...!!? 

cheers, Rob. 

 

Nice, what resolution are you running it on?

[Robsterios]

Hi Hector..I run the LG 38" GN950 ultrawide - it's a strange res. but almost 4K like - 3840x1600. It's an awesome monitor..!!

[rapid]

Upgrading to 64G of ram wont really help you right now, 32G ram is the Sweet spot.

 

If you can then it has to be the 3080ti...if you can get one at a good price.

[Hector45]

4 hours ago, Robsterios said:

Hi Hector..I run the LG 38" GN950 ultrawide - it's a strange res. but almost 4K like - 3840x1600. It's an awesome monitor..!!

Wow impressive FPS at that resolution! My CPU I think is def bottlenecking me. Never intended on getting a 3080Ti when I first started building my rig but the stars kind of just aligned. Enjoy that beast of a rig man!