AMD 6900XT vs RTX 3080 for VR?

[TED]

I am in a bit of a luxury problem! Over a year ago i ordered an RTX 3080 Ventus 3x OC. I got so delayed that i ended up buying an AMD 6900XT in the meantime. I have been using the 6900xt and love it but of course its a gpu, i fly vr, this is dcs so nothing is without its compromises and problems. So now I got a mail saying my 3080 is ready to ship and still at the same price for me that i originally ordered at over a year ago, so well under 50% the retail prices today. 

My question is really has anyone extensively used both and can directly compare the pros and cos of each? Really the only thing that frustrates me with the 6900xt is the jaggies i get on my reverb G2. I use the fholger reshade and that helps quite a bit, but its still a lot of compromise. With the 6900xt i am able to run at pretty much just under native resolution and keep a good 45fps, even low level, with motion smoothing, 2x MSAA, 4 x Antisopotric filter and most all other settings on high or maxed out in SP. MP is a little worse and i usually need to drop the MSAA if it is busy which makes the visuals significantly more jaggy. In general i am very happy with the performance. I am also wondering how this is all going to play out in the future with future upgrades, especially Vulcan to dcs. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by TED

[Hartsblade]

My advise, still buy the 3080. Test both, keep the one you like most and sell the other. With current prices you should still come out on top.

[JayRoc]

The Future is non foreseable. On Release i had both at hand and back then the AMD have been way better. From what i read RTX seems to be better now.
Get it, test it, sell one of them to your friends for a fair price. You can only win.

[dureiken]

 

[JayRoc]

Most AMD users get more FPS out of their AMD cards. No doubt a 3080ti is faster tho. But thats nearly a 3090.

[TED]

3 hours ago, dureiken said:

 

Yes I read this with interest too, but it is a Ti, and I wouldn't be getting that. 

[dureiken]

yes but if it's only for DCS, I would recommand a Nvidia GPU

[TED]

Yep it’s basically just for dcs. I went ahead and ordered it anyway and will do a comparison when I get time. The main pain will be having to remove all the drivers and software for the respective gpu while testing the other one but will be interesting to see if there is any significant differences. 

[Sr.]

17 minutes ago, TED said:

Yep it’s basically just for dcs. I went ahead and ordered it anyway and will do a comparison when I get time. The main pain will be having to remove all the drivers and software for the respective gpu while testing the other one but will be interesting to see if there is any significant differences. 

https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

[TED]

I just did another quick test on the 6900 xt after downloading the latest driver. An average of 70fps with frame times average around 12-13, in vr in the g2 at native resolution with all in game settings high or max, but no msaa and just 4x antisopotric. Caucuses in harrier with winter, clouds at sunrise, so fairly taxing and it looks very good and smooth. I will be amazed if the 3080 can do better but I’m interested to see. I should add this was mostly flying through the mountains, over trees. Over towns still int he high 50s or 60s.
Trying to even get that other “sim” called MSFS to work however is a complete other story! It crashes every single time I switch into vr. All 3rd party stuff removed, settings low but just doesn’t go. To be honest I hate MSFS more and more but just wanted to try. Since the last update I have not managed to get it to work a single time. All just makes me appreciate dcs even more. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by TED

[Sr.]

1 hour ago, TED said:

I just did another quick test on the 6900 xt after downloading the latest driver. An average of 70fps with frame times average around 12-13, in vr in the g2 at native resolution with all in game settings high or max, but no msaa and just 4x antisopotric. Caucuses in harrier with winter, clouds at sunrise, so fairly taxing and it looks very good and smooth. I will be amazed if the 3080 can do better but I’m interested to see. I should add this was mostly flying through the mountains, over trees. Over towns still int he high 50s or 60s.
Trying to even get that other “sim” called MSFS to work however is a complete other story! It crashes every single time I switch into vr. All 3rd party stuff removed, settings low but just doesn’t go. To be honest I hate MSFS more and more but just wanted to try. Since the last update I have not managed to get it to work a single time. All just makes me appreciate dcs even more. 

 

This sounds exactly like what I posted over on the MSF Simu-loader forum months ago.

 

I finally deleted that turd once and for all.

[Mikelug]

So, what are results of your test? I’m under the same choice. 
 

[TED]

It’s a tough one. The 6900xt is definitely more stable. I get better FPS and frame times with it but cannot use msaa. The 3080 I can use msaa but it struggles in my sometimes. My testing continues! Either one works very well but as always there are compromises to be had. Right now I’d say the 3080 creeps ahead on image quality , but the 6900xt on outright performance and stability as well as the software. You can’t go wrong with either to be honest.

[TED]

I feel if I had some clear indication Vulcan api was coming anytime soon I might be swayed in keeping the 6900xt straight away, but it’s all very quiet there. We do know for sure ED is doing a lot of work in the background on vr so again I do think we will see incremental improvements in the coming months/year but it’s only my speculation. 

[TED]

My decision is now made. I will be keeping the 6900xt and selling the 3080. Ive had a good test of them both. I ran the 6900 for a few months, switched to the 3080 for 4 weeks and now have the 6900 back in. It seems after the last driver update from AMD I am now able to run 4x msaa on dcs with all settings high or max at native resolution. This clinches it now as the 6900 runs cooler, quieter and is more stable. Last night I was on an MP server with 10 other players in Syria and absolutely no issues. This is with motion vector on, motion smoothing enabled, 4x msaa, adrenaline preset on rage, amd anti lag and boost settings on. Lots of air and ground units populating the server. For me it doesn’t get much better and that is well exceeding what i could do on the 3080. With all this set my 6900 was running solid fixed 45fps even at very low level over treetops. 

[TZeer]

Appreciate the feedback @TED. Been sitting on the fence on what GPU to purchase. All Nvidia options are easily 800-1000$ more expensive than a top tier RX6900XT where I live.

Personally running a Quest 2 on a RTX2080 atm, and with the AH-64D coming soon, I really want to enjoy it to the full potential.

[TED]

6 hours ago, TZeer said:

Appreciate the feedback @TED. Been sitting on the fence on what GPU to purchase. All Nvidia options are easily 800-1000$ more expensive than a top tier RX6900XT where I live.

Personally running a Quest 2 on a RTX2080 atm, and with the AH-64D coming soon, I really want to enjoy it to the full potential.

I should mention I’m also using an AMD cpu. A ryzen 7 3800xt. I’m not sure if it makes any difference but I’ve heard some say it helps. Additionally it allows me to use AMD SAM (smart access memory). My cpu is not anything spectacular but it’s very rarely being pushed hard in dcs and more than copes. 
I definitely just find the amd adrenaline software waaaay more user friendly and intuitive than nvidia control panel. I just did another quick run in a10c in mp marianas server all low level guns and rocket runs graphics in max and not a stutter. Even looking out the side at low level is smooth. As I said before there are pros and cons with each and at the end of the day it’s down to your own priorities but for me the whole package with amd is just better IMO , but there are many variables in setups and others may have different experience. 
 

[RED]

2 minutes ago, TED said:

I should mention I’m also using an AMD cpu. A ryzen 7 3800xt. I’m not sure if it makes any difference but I’ve heard some say it helps. Additionally it allows me to use AMD SAM (smart access memory). My cpu is not anything spectacular but it’s very rarely being pushed hard in dcs and more than copes. 
I definitely just find the amd adrenaline software waaaay more user friendly and intuitive than nvidia control panel. I just did another quick run in a10c in mp marianas server all low level guns and rocket runs graphics in max and not a stutter. Even looking out the side at low level is smooth. As I said before there are pros and cons with each and at the end of the day it’s down to your own priorities but for me the whole package with amd is just better IMO , but there are many variables in setups and others may have different experience. 
 

AMD SAM works with Intel CPUs. Also +1 on the 6900XT

[TZeer]

14 hours ago, TED said:

I should mention I’m also using an AMD cpu. A ryzen 7 3800xt. I’m not sure if it makes any difference but I’ve heard some say it helps. Additionally it allows me to use AMD SAM (smart access memory). My cpu is not anything spectacular but it’s very rarely being pushed hard in dcs and more than copes. 
I definitely just find the amd adrenaline software waaaay more user friendly and intuitive than nvidia control panel. I just did another quick run in a10c in mp marianas server all low level guns and rocket runs graphics in max and not a stutter. Even looking out the side at low level is smooth. As I said before there are pros and cons with each and at the end of the day it’s down to your own priorities but for me the whole package with amd is just better IMO , but there are many variables in setups and others may have different experience. 
 

Upgraded my entire rig earlier this year, except for the GPU. So currently running 5800X with 32gb ram and multiple M.2 drives. So really just missing a fitting GPU to drive my Quest 2.