Upgrading from mid-range? Try second hand. GTX 1080Ti: The Anomaly That's Killing RTX!

[Thinder]

I've done it and I'm happy I did. For UK players, try CEX.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB GDDR5X.   £615.00

 

Thoroughly tested with a two years warranty on top. A tip: Register, sell your old GPU (if it passses their test) and exchange for wouchers + cash.

 

[nikita_nomad]

I was thinking about cex myself, since nothing is available anywhere else. Do you think its worth it for a second hand?

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[Bossco82]

I dont see a problem buying a used GPU. Even more so if you get a 2 year warranty. My 6800xt this year was the first brand new gpu I bought for myself in over a decade. Just give it a good physical check, install it carefully and then check its performance in game. 

Whether its worth it to anyone personally. What is the pleasure its going to give you vs the cash sitting in your bank?

[nikita_nomad]

I might go down that route still :), although i see even cex start to raise their gpu prices. But it still looks tempting

[Thinder]

1 hour ago, nikita_nomad said:

I might go down that route still :), although i see even cex start to raise their gpu prices. But it still looks tempting

Well if your actual GPU is passing their test it might cut the price of purchase and make the buy worth it.

I'm not going to upgrade this 1080Ti unless there is something significantly more performant for a reasonable price, I got vouchers from my previous GPU and was able to afford it, I've been with them for more than 10 years now and have nothing but good things to say about them.

[nikita_nomad]

Cheers for info, will definitely consider this option

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[BitMaster]

LoL, that's roughly what a new 1080ti costed back then when it was new and sold close or at MSRP.

I guess I could sell mine with the EK block for 600€ on eBay.. this is all just crazy.

 

But you are right, it still is a great card for sub-4K

[edmuss]

I just picked up a 3070FE for 470 quid, my 1070 is currently bidding on eBay at 280 and rising so it's looking like a super cheap upgrade cycle this time. Especially given the current market and this is the first new GPU I've purchased in 6 upgrades

[nikita_nomad]

I just picked up a 3070FE for 470 quid, my 1070 is currently bidding on eBay at 280 and rising so it's looking like a super cheap upgrade cycle this time. Especially given the current market and this is the first new GPU I've purchased in 6 upgrades

Where did you get it from mate?

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[edmuss]

It was from scan (nvidias uk fullfillment partner), I have been watching the stock drop notification channels on telegram like a hawk for over a month.  The notification that the UK cards were in stock and got the buy button clicked within 20 seconds.  They were out of stock by the time I had put my card details in...

Essentially if you want a "cheap" 30 series card you have to buy an FE from nvidia direct (via scan here) but you have to be quick and fortunate to see the notification in time.  The only FE cards that hung around were the 3090s which lasted about 20 minutes, but they were only 1500 quid.  The last drop was nov 23rd at 20:54, previously it was oct 29th at 12:17 so they might be typically monthly but who knows what time they get listed.

edit: I could now sell this 3070 to cex for 300 profit or sling it on ebay for 500 profit but then that is just propagating the issue and my moral compass won't let me

Edited December 2, 2021 by edmuss

[Boosterdog]

As a 1080 owner I can only say I wished I’d have been patient, spent another £150 and bought a ti instead. The 1080 is a millstone. Not powerful enough in one resect but not slow enough in another to justify the relatively small extra performance boost of a 1080ti or 2080 in DCS. A cex trade in would still cost £250 to 300 for what? 7-10 fps?  

At the moment, even at 900 quid used the 2080ti appears to the low end of a meaningful upgrade  

 

 

[edmuss]

If you can stand the financial outlay then buying an FE card and selling on the 1080 is still a viable option.  Coming from the 1070 I had discounted the 20 series entirely as the performance increase just wasn't worth the additional outlay.  With the FE cards being far cheaper then if you're lucky enough to get one the 1080 will still command a good price on the second hand marketplace.  The performance uptick from 10 to 30 is massive, more than 100% from the 1070 to the 3070

[nikita_nomad]

It was from scan (nvidias uk fullfillment partner), I have been watching the stock drop notification channels on telegram like a hawk for over a month.  The notification that the UK cards were in stock and got the buy button clicked within 20 seconds.  They were out of stock by the time I had put my card details in...
Essentially if you want a "cheap" 30 series card you have to buy an FE from nvidia direct (via scan here) but you have to be quick and fortunate to see the notification in time.  The only FE cards that hung around were the 3090s which lasted about 20 minutes, but they were only 1500 quid.  The last drop was nov 23rd at 20:54, previously it was oct 29th at 12:17 so they might be typically monthly but who knows what time they get listed.
edit: I could now sell this 3070 to cex for 300 profit or sling it on ebay for 500 profit but then that is just propagating the issue and my moral compass won't let me

Do you mind sharing those Telegram channels or how do I find them? :)

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[edmuss]

Google FE PartAlert and you should get a hit on the telegram channel.  That covers the UK and European retailers I believe.

Hopefully this isn't against forum rules, if it is please shout!

Edited December 2, 2021 by edmuss

[Boosterdog]

37 minutes ago, edmuss said:

If you can stand the financial outlay then buying an FE card and selling on the 1080 is still a viable option.  Coming from the 1070 I had discounted the 20 series entirely as the performance increase just wasn't worth the additional outlay.  With the FE cards being far cheaper then if you're lucky enough to get one the 1080 will still command a good price on the second hand marketplace.  The performance uptick from 10 to 30 is massive, more than 100% from the 1070 to the 3070

Sadly in a fit of generosity I promised the card to my lad. He plays games for which the oft said “still more than enough for anything under 4K” is actually true. 
 

I like Scan. They have always been very fair and efficient. 

I will keep a watch for the 3070ti whilst I procrastinate further   

[nikita_nomad]

Google FE PartAlert and you should get a hit on the telegram channel.  That covers the UK and European retailers I believe.
Hopefully this isn't against forum rules, if it is please shout!

Thanks :)

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[edmuss]

1 hour ago, Boosterdog said:

Sadly in a fit of generosity I promised the card to my lad. He plays games for which the oft said “still more than enough for anything under 4K” is actually true. 
 

I like Scan. They have always been very fair and efficient. 

I will keep a watch for the 3070ti whilst I procrastinate further   

See I narrowly avoided that trap with the 1070.  The lads evga 780oc (my previous card before the 1070) blew itself up about 9 months ago, working but artifacts galore, to tide him over I grabbed one of the spare quadro 2000 (equivalent of a gts450!) from work and he's been using it since!  He prefers it as it's silent and plays roblox and team fortress at sufficient frame rates

I had always intended to give him the 1070 so he can pcvr with the quest2 that he bought himself for his birthday but in reality he has no interest in pcvr at the moment.  As such Im selling the 1070 to recover the majority of the cost of the 3070 (the market is rediculous) and I can grab him a 1070 or above at a later date.

[Boosterdog]

2 minutes ago, edmuss said:

See I narrowly avoided that trap with the 1070.  The lads evga 780oc (my previous card before the 1070) blew itself up about 9 months ago, working but artifacts galore, to tide him over I grabbed one of the spare quadro 2000 (equivalent of a gts450!) from work and he's been using it since!  He prefers it as it's silent and plays roblox and team fortress at sufficient frame rates

I had always intended to give him the 1070 so he can pcvr with the quest2 that he bought himself for his birthday but in reality he has no interest in pcvr at the moment.  As such Im selling the 1070 to recover the majority of the cost of the 3070 (the market is rediculous) and I can grab him a 1070 or above at a later date.

My lads a saver and oddly patient for a 13 yr old. Too patient. His (my old) EVGA 1060 mini has no working fan and is instead cooled by a health robinson Noctura sticky padded to the bottom it!. Works very well!!

Looking a Telegram snagging a card at those prices would be like Alice emerging from out of the looking glass. Im already training my lad. Hes got much faster reactions when it comes to clicking links!  

[Bossco82]

Hi Boosterdog,

I like the Heath Robinson approach saved me on many occasions. I had a fan pack up on my old GTX 1070 years ago. I contacted EVGA about buying a replacement and they just sent me one instead. Worth a try mate.

[edmuss]

I used a thermalright heatpipe cooler to passively cool my 660.  Cost me about 8 quid from scans clearance stock, designed for a gtx285 so I knew the thermal capcity was good.  Just needed to hack some new holes into the mounting steels and get it mounted.  Worked like that for years

Similarly my thermalright truespirit 140bw that I used on my 2500k @4.7ghz is now residing on my ryzen @4.4ghz.

Apologies, gone off on a bit of a tanget!

[nikita_nomad]

A bit off topic one. Do you guys reckon a 700w is enough for 3070ti or 3070?

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[edmuss]

Easy as long as it's a reasonable brand.
I'm using a 550w antec gold psu without any issues, that's including the overclocked cpu*, 2 SSDs, 2 HDDs and powering 10,000,000 usb peripherals.
The 3070 only consumes something like 220w, my 1070 was running at 120% power target so was closer to 215w.

*although it's acutally undervolted compared to stock.

[nikita_nomad]

I think mine is cooler master 700 white rated... So for 3070ti would also be OK then you think?

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[edmuss]

I can't say 100% but I would be suprised if it struggled, in reality the 70s are only midrange cards although the ti is a little more power hungry I think.  From what I read, the 3070ti is not worth the extra cost, it's priced slap bang in the middle of the 3070 and 3080 but only about 30% (I think) of the performance delta between the two.

[nikita_nomad]

Yeah, I get it. To be fair I'll be happy with whatever comes up on alerts

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