Is it worth me spending a LOT of money on a 1080TI from a 1070

Paulusw · Dec 31, 2017

I have a Nvidia 1070 at the moment. I love VR and I love Elite in VR.

Would I really notice a big difference from my 1070? It's a lot of money for me to spend, of course I can sell my 1070 to offset the cost a little but it's still a huge investment for me.

If you advise me it WOULD make a big difference, nicer, smoother graphics, better overall experience - I will invest and get one.

If you advise me it will make a difference - but not hugely different then I will save my money and spend it more sensibly.

So - it's up to you guys - convince me either way.

MickyG1982 · Dec 31, 2017

That all depends on the rest of your system. If the 1070 is already limited by the rest of your pc then you would see little to no benefit when upgrading to a 1080ti.

TorTorden_VR · Dec 31, 2017

I wouldn't now. Wait and see what is announced over the new years.
I'm sure nvidia is gearing up for a launch of "something".

I don't regret going from aa 980ti to a 1080ti, but instill want more.
But was going like going from low to medium settings to high and ultra.
And not using SS I get pretty much 90fps everywhere .

But that was also after upgrading from a i7 4790k to a i7 8700k.

Jon flint · Dec 31, 2017

Given the recent appearance of the new Volta architecture with the Titan V, I'd expect to see some gtx variants of Volta released around march/April.

It may be worthwhile holding fire on buying anything new right now. Remembering the launch of the 10 series cards, the 1070 was as fast as the previous top dog (980ti), so there's reasonable hope that the new xx70 series may be performance equivalent to the 1080ti at a much lower price.

(That being said, I haven't followed my own advice and recently went from a 1070 to sli 1080ti's!)

-VR- Max Factor · Dec 31, 2017

Jon flint said:
Given the recent appearance of the new Volta architecture with the Titan V, I'd expect to see some gtx variants of Volta released around march/April.

It may be worthwhile holding fire on buying anything new right now. Remembering the launch of the 10 series cards, the 1070 was as fast as the previous top dog (980ti), so there's reasonable hope that the new xx70 series may be performance equivalent to the 1080ti at a much lower price.

(That being said, I haven't followed my own advice and recently went from a 1070 to sli 1080ti's!)

This. If you can play with your current gpu which you should be able to, hold fire until we know what is coming round the corner. I have an AMD Fury so your 1070 should be fine.

shadow133 · Dec 31, 2017

On the same boat here, I am holding on till next year. Either volta or a price drop on 1080 ti is worth the wait. Keep in mind new VR technology may require a lot more than a 1080 ti, so it may be obsolete in another year, if seeking the best vr experience.

GJ51 · Dec 31, 2017

shadow133 said:
On the same boat here, I am holding on till next year. Either volta or a price drop on 1080 ti is worth the wait. Keep in mind new VR technology may require a lot more than a 1080 ti, so it may be obsolete in another year, if seeking the best vr experience.

Good advice

I generally buy high end hardware and then get a lot out of it in terms of useful life. This just isn't the best time in the cycle to buy a video card unless you really need one now. VR changes the equation quite a bit as it's still rapidly evolving technology. I have a 980Ti that I've now had for a couple years and it's fine for desktop running a 34" and 24" monitor at full res and with great frame rates.

I'm holding off on trying VR for a bit until there is a bit more maturity, stabilization, and affordability. I'm particularly hoping to see better resolution become common.

I had planned to do a gaming rig build last summer, but as it happened, it just seemed to make more sense to hold off. I think 2018 may be the year to build a new gaming rig for me, but I'll wait until I see how things evolve.

VR Jay Le Chardon · Jan 1, 2018

In the passmark benchmarks, which runs Direct X baserd benchmarks, the TitanV (Volta) only punches 5.3% better than the 1080ti, with 14,440 vs 13,701. So mild overclock of the 1080ti should even things up?

Taken From: https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

And the above screenshot is from a benchmark I ran a couple of days ago on my machine with a 1080ti to see how the fresh copy of windows was running. I run my GFX card on the quietest " Silent mode" with 0dB fan on in Asus GPU Tweak 2 util, which offers a 4% overclock. See screenshot below)

I struggle with thermal loads in my current setup so I dont have the thermal headroom to overclock it further (yet), When I try pushing the envelope with the overclocking the card hits thermal limit and throttles back and actually becomes slower than stock so theres no point. I'm going to change my case later this month and go with an AIO water cooler for the CPU which should give the machine much more room to play with pushing the GFX card

Back to your original question, from the videocard benchmarks website (first screenshot in this post) you can see the 1080ti has a 35% hike in performance on the 1070, but its twice the price. It is also snapping at the heels of the Titan V, which costs 4 times as much as the 1080ti. And as I've demonstrated it can be brought within spitting distance of the TitanV's performance with even a mild overclock. It will come down to a personal decision on how much you want that extra 35% performance and how much you are willing to spend to get it?

My balls are big but they arent made of crystal, so so I cannot accurately foretell what new models NVIDIA will be releasing, however I'd be reticent not to point out that the titanV was pitched at and designed towards AI (aka Machine Learning or Deep Learning) so the benchmarks don't play to its strong suit. Were I you I'd look for January sales / special offers on an aftermarket cooler equipped GTX1080Ti such as one of the MSI / EVGA / Asus Strix models. But if in the summer NVIDIA release GTX1180Ti with another 30% performance on offer for the same money, please dont get angsty with me about it.

dogbite · Jan 1, 2018

It might be advisable to wait till after CES and sniff the air. Then again one could make the "wait for the next gen and see" argument. Eventually want will win over need when the wallet weighs more heavily than the question does.

HeavyGroovez · Jan 1, 2018

I just upgraded from a 1080 to a 1080Ti and I am happy I did. Its a big boost in performance for 4K and VR.

VR Jay Le Chardon · Jan 1, 2018

The GTX1080Ti is a stonkingly good card, and I'm not just saying that as I have one, look at the benchmarks, its a £800 card that performs within a spitting distance of the next generation and model above it £3000 card. If I had slightly better PC cooling I could UP the OC from 4% to 7% and surpass the stock Titan Volta with my GTX1080Ti.

I'm not going to lie to you, I did feel like someone had kicked me in the nuts when I read that there was a new Titan on the go before the GTX1080Ti I'd recently bought was even dusty inside my case. There were some salty posts by me in here on one or more of the Titan Volta threads, that might be worth looking at to get to laugh at me.

But when I looked at the benchmarks instead of feeling betrayed by NVIDIA, I felt vindicated in my £830 purchasing decision as I can achieve Titan Volta levels of GAMING performance with my current card, and they cannot release another Titan Volta so soon. But you will find when the launch the 11 series cards they will be a step forward, 970 to 1070 was about 35% of a leap, less so for 980ti to 1080ti which was about a 21% leap.

ebbrell · Jan 1, 2018

No. I need a new card no point. By April or may the new cards will he out. Maybe a volta NVidia, there are 2070 2080 models coming also

Not paying 900 quid for 4 months
I will wait, I want good 4k performance. current cards are not there yet

dmulligan · Jan 1, 2018

The OP hasn't shared his remaining system specs with us yet. The 1070 is a capable card so it's easy enough to believe his CPU or memory are his limiting factors.

I recently had an i5-3450 and a factory overclocked GTX1080 and my CPU was definitely my limiter. I was able to use reasonably high settings but I had significant performance problems in combat zones and driving on planetary surfaces. Upgrading my CPU solved these problems.

ebbrell · Jan 1, 2018

dmulligan said:
The OP hasn't shared his remaining system specs with us yet. The 1070 is a capable card so it's easy enough to believe his CPU or memory are his limiting factors.

I recently had an i5-3450 and a factory overclocked GTX1080 and my CPU was definitely my limiter. I was able to use reasonably high settings but I had significant performance problems in 9combat zones and driving on planetary surfaces. Upgrading my CPU solved these problems.

You are right CPU makes a hell of a difference, networking can hit it hard when many players are about

A D · Jan 1, 2018

Recently upgraded from a GTX 1070 to a 1080ti. Happy that I did, but would not say it was necessary.

On my rig ED performed reasonably well with the 1070. The 1080ti has meant that I can turn up the game settings and it handles graphics better in some areas (like stations), but I couldn't say it has transformed the appearance or performance of the game. The fact is, both Oculus and Vive have a fixed resolutions and minimum performance requirements. If your graphics card is already meeting these, then upgrading the graphics card only produces a modest improvement in VR (e.g. better frame rate). If your card is struggling, then of course the improvement would be dramatic, but I didn't find this with the 1070 which meets the recommended specs for Oculus and Vive.

So the bottom line IMO is that, if your 1070 is handing ED VR on your rig without struggling, then no real need to upgrade. Basically, optional to get a modest improvement at best. Probably notice graphic improvements in some areas (e.g. less terrain pop in). This may well change as VR develops, but right now its more one size fits all. I also agree with the earlier posts in this thread i.e. it is worth checking that your rig doesn't have bottlenecks in other areas, such as your CPU, before putting the cash into a 1080ti.

To be clear, my comments are only directed towards ED in VR. True native 4k gaming on a HD monitor is a different kettle of fish and no doubt the 1080ti comes into its own with 4k gaming.

Just my 2 cents.

CMDR ATIMO · Jan 2, 2018

Jayridium said:
In the passmark benchmarks, which runs Direct X baserd benchmarks, the TitanV (Volta) only punches 5.3% better than the 1080ti, with 14,440 vs 13,701. So mild overclock of the 1080ti should even things up?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397339381515681802/unknown.png
Taken From: https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397338807705403393/unknown.png

And the above screenshot is from a benchmark I ran a couple of days ago on my machine with a 1080ti to see how the fresh copy of windows was running. I run my GFX card on the quietest " Silent mode" with 0dB fan on in Asus GPU Tweak 2 util, which offers a 4% overclock. See screenshot below)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397340658085396490/unknown.png

I struggle with thermal loads in my current setup so I dont have the thermal headroom to overclock it further (yet), When I try pushing the envelope with the overclocking the card hits thermal limit and throttles back and actually becomes slower than stock so theres no point. I'm going to change my case later this month and go with an AIO water cooler for the CPU which should give the machine much more room to play with pushing the GFX card

Back to your original question, from the videocard benchmarks website (first screenshot in this post) you can see the 1080ti has a 35% hike in performance on the 1070, but its twice the price. It is also snapping at the heels of the Titan V, which costs 4 times as much as the 1080ti. And as I've demonstrated it can be brought within spitting distance of the TitanV's performance with even a mild overclock. It will come down to a personal decision on how much you want that extra 35% performance and how much you are willing to spend to get it?

My balls are big but they arent made of crystal, so so I cannot accurately foretell what new models NVIDIA will be releasing, however I'd be reticent not to point out that the titanV was pitched at and designed towards AI (aka Machine Learning or Deep Learning) so the benchmarks don't play to its strong suit. Were I you I'd look for January sales / special offers on an aftermarket cooler equipped GTX1080Ti such as one of the MSI / EVGA / Asus Strix models. But if in the summer NVIDIA release GTX1180Ti with another 30% performance on offer for the same money, please dont get angsty with me about it.

Water helps a lot thanks for this bench tool I have been using other benching tools now I can play with this one, my card is an FE 1080Ti EK water cooled temps for this test 44c and it 36c here in Aus, Core clock +150 Memory Clock +500 and that's 100% stable, haven't hit any limits so far so could push more but think I would hit a power limit on the FE edition card.

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zarrazee · Jan 2, 2018

OP. I'm in the same boat. I'm going to wait and see what nvidia release this year.

NeilF · Jan 2, 2018

Paulusw said:
I have a Nvidia 1070 at the moment. I love VR and I love Elite in VR.

Would I really notice a big difference from my 1070? It's a lot of money for me to spend, of course I can sell my 1070 to offset the cost a little but it's still a huge investment for me.

If you advise me it WOULD make a big difference, nicer, smoother graphics, better overall experience - I will invest and get one.

If you advise me it will make a difference - but not hugely different then I will save my money and spend it more sensibly.

So - it's up to you guys - convince me either way.

I have a 1070 and can't imagine why you'd need to upgrade unless you're trying to run a 4K monitor?

Even on my Oculus, at high detail, the worse that happens for me is AWS kicks in, and I'm running at a still silky smooth 45fps (rendered by the Oculus as 90fps still)...

Save your money for a while and get more for it in the future IMHO.

StiTch · Jan 2, 2018

Jayridium said:
In the passmark benchmarks, which runs Direct X baserd benchmarks, the TitanV (Volta) only punches 5.3% better than the 1080ti, with 14,440 vs 13,701. So mild overclock of the 1080ti should even things up?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397339381515681802/unknown.png
Taken From: https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397338807705403393/unknown.png

And the above screenshot is from a benchmark I ran a couple of days ago on my machine with a 1080ti to see how the fresh copy of windows was running. I run my GFX card on the quietest " Silent mode" with 0dB fan on in Asus GPU Tweak 2 util, which offers a 4% overclock. See screenshot below)

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/339810774501294087/397340658085396490/unknown.png

I struggle with thermal loads in my current setup so I dont have the thermal headroom to overclock it further (yet), When I try pushing the envelope with the overclocking the card hits thermal limit and throttles back and actually becomes slower than stock so theres no point. I'm going to change my case later this month and go with an AIO water cooler for the CPU which should give the machine much more room to play with pushing the GFX card

Back to your original question, from the videocard benchmarks website (first screenshot in this post) you can see the 1080ti has a 35% hike in performance on the 1070, but its twice the price. It is also snapping at the heels of the Titan V, which costs 4 times as much as the 1080ti. And as I've demonstrated it can be brought within spitting distance of the TitanV's performance with even a mild overclock. It will come down to a personal decision on how much you want that extra 35% performance and how much you are willing to spend to get it?

My balls are big but they arent made of crystal, so so I cannot accurately foretell what new models NVIDIA will be releasing, however I'd be reticent not to point out that the titanV was pitched at and designed towards AI (aka Machine Learning or Deep Learning) so the benchmarks don't play to its strong suit. Were I you I'd look for January sales / special offers on an aftermarket cooler equipped GTX1080Ti such as one of the MSI / EVGA / Asus Strix models. But if in the summer NVIDIA release GTX1180Ti with another 30% performance on offer for the same money, please dont get angsty with me about it.

OP, it's worth potentially giving credence to the notion the volta won't actually be worth it in its own right. I haven't actually been keeping up with hardware like I used to but I have heard things that suggest not only does the volta punch little above the 1080ti "on paper", but its performance seems less tuned to gaming. Remember that GPU rendering stretches way outside the realms of games.

Of course either way if the 1080 ti hits a price drop, that might be the justification needed to hold off. At the end of the day 1070 is hardly unusable.