Hardware & Technical Need advice choosing between 2 systems, i9 and i7 CPU's

[AirBear]

I just got an RMA for my Zotac 2080Ti from Newegg. They're going to refund it. After 4 days it partially failed with a code 43 in device manager and everything Zotac support had me try didn't work, and it also cost me a fresh Win10 install so I was NOT a happy camper. I'm recovering all my files from backups but still have to install a lot of stuff so it's a good time to start over with a new system. The other 2080Ti cards have jacked up prices if you can find them at all. So I'm looking at a new system, or perhaps settling for a standard 2080 GPU rather than the Ti. I can get a 2080 at the BestBuy near my house for $799.

Here are the 2 systems I'm looking at. Both have the 2080Ti, but one has an i9 CPU with 16GB RAM, and the other has an i7 with 32GB RAM. The i9 has a bigger SSD but loses the larger standard drive the i7 has, but I have a 6TB I'd move over so that really doesn't matter. I can also move over my 980GB SSD so I'd have almost 2TB of SSD and 6TB standard drive.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberp...lid-state-drive-black/6315177.p?skuId=6315177

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberp...lid-state-drive-black/6306244.p?skuId=6306244

I've been very happy with my Cyberpowerpc I have now that's about 2.5 years old. It's an i7 so I'm not going to see a huge performance boost with a new system, the main difference will be with VR headsets. Playing ED with the 2080Ti I'd see FPS over 100 when inside a station and FPS's 200+ running around a system and that's with all the graphics at max settings. But my WMR VR headset did seem a bit better although it was hard to tell since I'm still learning the settings with that thing.

I'll link a photo of the error code the Zotac 2080Ti was giving me, Google search returned a number of fixes but none of them worked. Zotac tech support had me use a video driver removal app to clean out the old drivers and also had me update the BIOS (I pointed out the GPU worked fine for 4 days but they must have missed that). The BIOS update led to problems that required a clean install of Win10, even restoring my drive image didn't fix it.

https://i.imgur.com/zM6axGA.jpg

Thanks for any opinions folks.

 

[Zieman]

Either will be a killer.

Maybe it's just me, but I find it weird that the site "specifications" don't tell motherboard, PSU or GPU brand/model.

 

[Jon flint]

Maybe itäs just me, but I find it weird that the site "specifications" don't tell motherboard, PSU or GPU brand/model.

That's pre-builds for you, they don't list those things because they cheap out on them and use junk components, if they put that in the spec you wouldn't buy it!

@OP Looking at the pics, the poor cable management and strange case layout doesn't fill me with confidence. I mean who the hell puts a cheap generic 120mm aio on an i9 and then uses that as the sole case exhaust, not to mention using overclockable "k" CPUs with a cooling solution that'll barely manage them at stock settings, and motherboards that don't have sufficient power delivery to achieve any kind of stable OC anyway. Both rigs you posted also seem to be using the "cheapest" possible 2080ti's, neither have a backplate and the one on the i7 sys appears to be a blower card. While at first glance the specs seem fine, on closer inspection, i'd say they're both lemons worthy of being sold in Wal-Mart (sorry, but you did say you wanted opinions!).

Either way, @OP if your current pc is only 2.5 yrs old and was top end back then, don't expect much improvement with the new gen stuff, it'll be marginal at best.

If you really must go for a pre build, it might be worth looking at nzxt bld, they generally do it right.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[AirBear]

Thanks for the advice, since the performance of the CPU's won't be much different I think I'm just going to get a 2080 non-Ti card for now. Paying around $400-$500 more for maybe 20% better performance isn't worth it, I'd be better off putting that money towards a nicer VR rig sometime next year. And without wearing a VR headset I'll never see the difference between a Ti and non-Ti 2080, I could barely see the difference between my old 1070 GPU and the 2080Ti unless I turned on the FPS counter in ED. Plus the 2080 cards are in local stores so if I have a problem it's much easier to return it. Have to make a trip to FedEx today to return the 2080Ti to Newegg.

 

[The Chairmaker]

I would suggest going to a specialist pc retailer, rather than a normal store.

Specialist pc retailers are more likely to have build to order options, and are less likely to skimp on low grade parts eg PSU, Motherboard, cooling and Memory as they have a reputation to protect.

I know your not from the UK, however Scan in the UK show what a proper pc retailer should offer

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/custom/gaming

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Thanks for the advice, since the performance of the CPU's won't be much different I think I'm just going to get a 2080 non-Ti card for now. Paying around $400-$500 more for maybe 20% better performance isn't worth it, I'd be better off putting that money towards a nicer VR rig sometime next year. And without wearing a VR headset I'll never see the difference between a Ti and non-Ti 2080, I could barely see the difference between my old 1070 GPU and the 2080Ti unless I turned on the FPS counter in ED. Plus the 2080 cards are in local stores so if I have a problem it's much easier to return it. Have to make a trip to FedEx today to return the 2080Ti to Newegg.

You might actually be better off waiting on jumping into the RTX 20XX line regardless of model with all of the apparent manufacture issues they are having. Some of the reports are pretty brutal.

 

[Patrick_68000]

I prefer to buy the components individually and assemble them myself.

 

[AirBear]

The system previous to this one I built myself, in fact I drug it out of the closet after 2.5 years to test the 2080Ti GPU. It booted right up. Like to never got that huge 2080Ti crammed in the case thou, it's smaller than my current CyberpowerPC. The old system is Win7, and I wound up getting the exact same "Code 43" error I had with the Win10 system. I bought the last system from BestBuy as it wasn't cost effective to build another system. But you're right about using a specialty store, we used a have a couple in the area.

Most of the bad reports I've read are on the Ti series. I purchased a Founder's Edition RTX 2080 today at BestBuy and asked about an extended warranty when I checked out. They don't offer one. Things that make you go hmmmm...

I may hold off on installing the 2080 until I have my refund from Newegg. When I bought the Ti card from them it said RMA's only, no refunds but they're giving me a refund. Perhaps they're out of stock. I have screenshots and emails saying they'll give a refund so it should happen. I got on Newegg's chat support last night about 9pm Eastern USA time and I started out at #476 in que. About 2 hours later they got to me. Way too long to wait but I realize it was prime time and had I waited until this morning I'm sure it would have gone quicker. But the lady on chat was very good, she asked so few questions before sending an RMA email I wonder if they're getting a lot of these on the Ti cards.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

The 2070 dead card numbers are starting to pile up now too. Lots of reports of dead cards after a week or so across all the major manufacturers.

 

[AirBear]

That's why I bought my 2080 at the Bestbuy around the corner from my house. Any problems and it'll take me all of 5 minutes to get there and return it. Even had them email the receipt so I can't misplace it

Realistically when playing on my 32" 3440x1440 gaming monitor I can't tell much difference between my old 1070 and the 2080Ti (when it was working anyway). I bought it for future gaming, and higher end VR headsets that'll be coming out in the next year or two. The 2080 isn't as fast but it'll do until the next generation of GPU's come out. I'm wondering if AMD has given up on competing with Nvidia on higher end GPU's.