First time Nvidia Owner. Went green.

[chardly38]

Well it has finally happened. Went from a I5 2500 with RX580 to a 11700k with a EVGA 3080 12g. Running 3 1680x1050. Im not use to the nvidia control panel. Should I install the EVGA Precision x1 or something like MSI Afterburner for fan control. Or does the gpu take care if that its self.

[Taz1004]

4 hours ago, chardly38 said:

Well it has finally happened. Went from a I5 2500 with RX580 to a 11700k with a EVGA 3080 12g. Running 3 1680x1050. Im not use to the nvidia control panel. Should I install the EVGA Precision x1 or something like MSI Afterburner for fan control. Or does the gpu take care if that its self.

Don't install any OEM software.  Just Nvidia driver and GeForce Experience.  Afterburner only when you're ready to overclock.

[Hiob]

I would even skip GeForce Experience if you don't need it. Unless you want to record your sessions it does more harm than good in my opinion.

Afterburner/RivaStatistics is nice if you want to see some stats like memory usage, clock speeds and such during gameplay. Not necessary though!

You don't really need to touch the NVCP either. Just make sure, that G-sync is enabled if you have a Free/G-Sync capable monitor.

There is a ton of (little) tweaking possibilities but that only really makes sense if you're into that stuff. Otherwise just leave everything as is and enjoy.

1 hour ago, Taz1004 said:

Don't install any OEM software. 

This!

Edited April 7, 2022 by Hiob

[LucShep]

7 hours ago, chardly38 said:

Well it has finally happened. Went from a I5 2500 with RX580 to a 11700k with a EVGA 3080 12g. Running 3 1680x1050. Im not use to the nvidia control panel. Should I install the EVGA Precision x1 or something like MSI Afterburner for fan control. Or does the gpu take care if that its self.

I recommend installing just Nvidia drivers, and MSI Afterburner only if you're really going to use its functions.

On the Nvidia drivers, there are ways for users to clean the bloatware from them (Geforce Experience and a heap of other crap poluting them), but there are now "clean" drivers that dispense that bothersome work and are ready to go:  https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/512-15-clean-version.433367/
Results in less processes eating RAM usage and/or causing CPU spikes (smoother experience), very worthy in my experience.

On MSI Afterburner, this is an optional recommended only in case you want to control fan speeds (manual custom fan curve) and/or to undervolt/overclock (it's the best one for that). It also includes the famous monitoring OSD tools (in conjunction with RivaTuner), the best ones around.
https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards

 

1 hour ago, Hiob said:

I would even skip GeForce Experience if you don't need it. Unless you want to record your sessions it does more harm than good in my opinion.

You don't really need to touch the NVCP either. Just make sure, that G-sync is enabled if you have a Free/G-Sync capable monitor.

There is a ton of (little) tweaking possibilities but that only really makes sense if you're into that stuff. Otherwise just leave everything as is and enjoy.

^^ Pretty much this.

Edited April 7, 2022 by LucShep

[chardly38]

Thanks. I will leave things alone and enjoy.

[Hector45]

If you get monitor flickering issues with g-sync compatibility mode you can disable it. If you get low fps and low GPU usage setting vsync to fast fixed this for me.

[Burt]

Msi afterburners custom fan curve works like a charm. Set it and forget it.

[Bossco82]

Nvidia drivers only and MSI afterburner as often a custom undervolt can actually provide more stable performance. Finding a steady clock speed and voltage can sometimes be the best way to go.

[FR4GGL3]

I would say start with nVidia drivers only. And get them from the official nVidia site just to be shure. Uncheck GeForce Experience and  you may even want to uncheck the Audio drivers if you don't plan to use the nVidia Audio.

If you know that your system runs good and stable this way, you might try to use MSI Afterburner (I personally don't, I also do not undervolt or overclock or downclock or something). Keep in mind that your first and your last goal has to be a rockstable system. So start small.

[Hiob]

12 hours ago, Bossco82 said:

Nvidia drivers only and MSI afterburner as often a custom undervolt can actually provide more stable performance. Finding a steady clock speed and voltage can sometimes be the best way to go.

That's true. One doesn't need to, but the 3080 profits quite well from undervolting. Mine runs at 950mV and 2100 MHz.*

*watercooled that is

Edited April 8, 2022 by Hiob