Is it time for a new GPU?

pyrius omega

pyrius omega
Hi,

I've been out of the loop on gpu standards and industry requirements. Recently, I read an article on DirectX feature levels. My cards are the 780 ti kingpins. Their feature levels are 11_0. I can play games like ED, GW2(guildwars 2), eve online, etc... Last night, I downloaded RSI's Star Citizen. Wow, what a surprise I got. They require a directx feature level of 11_1. Is the gaming industry across board going to the newer standard of Microsoft's directx 12_2? I'm wondering what video cards are even at that feature level. I was looking up on how to edit/change the feature level of a card if those elements were 'turned off' in the hardware. I don't know if that is even possible. I'm trying to get the last ounce out of my video cards if possible. If not, I'm wondering which way to go with my video cards. My current basis system specs are as follows:

Windows 10, ver 21H2 (OS build 19044.1826)
Asus Crosshair VIII forumula - H20 cooled
AMD 3900x, H20 cooled
2x 780ti KPs, H20 cooled
I have very good ram, hdds, etc for everything else.

Since I haven't bought any cards for a very long time, I don't know which to go in the vid market (AMD or NVIDIA)? I'm opened to suggestions.
 

Dragsham

Dragsham
Well. Assuming your flatscreen ie not VR
The game would run well in 1440p using just an nvidia 2080ti. Even a 2060ti would cope.
But once you step into the ultra settings eye candy or VR your looking at a higher spec namely 3000 rtx series.
Just my opinion not based on fact.
I'd also add that the 4000 rtx series are due out soon...but stupidly expensive. Scalpers will have a field day.
 

DeckerSolo

DeckerSolo
The only thing to consider between AMD or NVIDIA at the moment is the game has issues with the latest AMD driver, something Frontier are looking into and will resolve, so use of an earlier AMD driver is the way round this otherwise there is not much in it between the two manufacturers (I have both). The more you pay the better, just depends upon your budget.

The higher end cards (NVIDIA 3090, 3080 or AMD 6950, 6900, 6800) mean you can play at maximum resolutions and quality settings + you'll need cards like this to play VR at any reasonable settings. One thing I would recommend is a card with the highest VRAM, minimum 8GB.

NVIDIA will be launching their 40 series cards soonish, but prices will be very high and cards difficult to get. So a good strategy for NVIDIA may be to try an bag a high end 30 card at a more reasonable price. Beware of second hand cards that may have been used for mining with prices that seem too good to be true.

Is you PSU upto the job many higher end cards recommend/need a 750w PSU.

On PC1 I use H20 cooled NVIDIA RTX 3090 and play in VR, on PC2 use AMD RX 6900XT air cooled. The AMD 6900 is more than enough for EDO and less expensive than NVIDIA, but I like the H20 cooled 3090, much more expensive when water cooled but can easily handle EDO in VR at Maximum settings and resolution.
 
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Morbad

Morbad
The GTX 780 Ti is quite long in the tooth at this point, so yeah, probably time to consider an upgrade.

GPU prices have fallen considerably in recent months due to oversupply, but we are also only a few months from the the release of a new GPU generation.
 

Dragsham

Dragsham
If you do opt for a eBay 2nd hand check the cards date of release which indicates HHr or LHr the former being what miners used.
There's no proof that mining damages gpus but I'd err on the side of caution and I bought a gpu with a low hash rate so defo not used for mining. Provenance of a used gpu Is important. Was it over clocked for ages etc.
2nd hand gpus are fraught with danger. But you could get a bargain.
 

pyrius omega

pyrius omega
The power supply shouldn't be a problem. I'm currently using a Corsair AX1200i PSU. I won't be able to go with the AMD 7000 series cards due to PCIe 5. My board is only PCIe 4.0. The newer nvidia 4000 cards might work. They most likely be based on PCIe 4.0. I was wondering since I have an AMD board and processor would there be any difference in having an AMD 6900 type card vs an Nvidia 3800 / 3900 type card. Would there be any significant difference in AMD RDNA 2 vs Nvidia's RTX? My video cards are PCIe 3 which I know are bottlenecking my current system. I'm looking at opening up on the PCIe 4 slots and taking a greater advantage for video flow on the system. Let it start screaming so to speak. I also have other video stuff on my rig like Tobii eye tracker and TrackIR.
 

Gibbon

Gibbon
Dragsham said:
Well. Assuming your flatscreen ie not VR
The game would run well in 1440p using just an nvidia 2080ti. Even a 2060ti would cope.
But once you step into the ultra settings eye candy or VR your looking at a higher spec namely 3000 rtx series.
Just my opinion not based on fact.
I'd also add that the 4000 rtx series are due out soon...but stupidly expensive. Scalpers will have a field day.
Click to expand...
It runs quite happily on a 1080ti, at 1080p over 200fps, more than enough. At higher settings i'm still getting around 150fps with about 85 in stations. That's on Horizons. In Oddity which i hardly use, still getting around 150fps in space and around 60 on stations.

@OP i have GTX1070 i can let you have at a decent price if you're in the UK
 
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