UK BOINC Team Forum

Now that the 3XXX series of graphics cards are out I was wondering if it would be a good time to upgrade.
I can't afford the newest cards so I usually stay a generation behind to get better value for money.
My current PC is approaching 4 years old and has an MSI 1070 card.
I was thinking of one of the 2080 range, maybe the GTX?
Just wondered if anyone had any experience with that range of cards.

I think that quite a few of us have 2080s, 2080 supers, or 2080Tis. What's you're budget? Although they aren't out as yet, I'm wondering if you'd be better looking at a 3060 or possibly even 3070 if the budget can stretch that far.

Due to the large demand and low supply of the 3080 cards, the previous generation haven't dropped in price much. That should change when availability of the 3000 series improves but that may be a couple of months at least. You may be better off waiting just a little bit longer to upgrade.

New 2080tis are still going for around the £1,000 mark, new 2080S are about £650 - £700 and a new 2080 is roughly £600. The new 3080s should be £650 unless companies price gouge.

At those prices the 3080 is actually the better option, slightly faster than the 2080ti (3 - 8%), ~30% faster than the super and ~60% faster than the 2080. The drawback is the power consumption, the 2080 is ~215W, the 2080S is ~250W, the 2080ti is 250W and the 3080 is 320W.

If you're thinking specifically of a 2080, you should also consider a 2070 Super. It's only ~10% slower than a 2080 and costs £380 at the same power.

The only 2000 series cards I have are two 2080 supers and I've never had any problems with them. They run reasonably warm 70 - 80 degrees at 24/7 but are both in the same case and are completely silent.

I have a 1070 as well if you'd like any comparisons running with a 2080 Super?

Jeffers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:02 pm Now that the 3XXX series of graphics cards are out I was wondering if it would be a good time to upgrade.
I can't afford the newest cards so I usually stay a generation behind to get better value for money.

Hiya

I'm sort of in the same boat...."oldish-but still good enough for me" PCs and I still regard BOINC as a hobby - so as I don't need an expensive "gaming rig" with high frame rates and high CPU speeds and cutting edge numbers of cores, so I "upgrade" as and when I see something that will improve what I have and isn't going to cost a lot.

So, I've been thinking that maybe I need to get on the "upgrade bandwagon" and maybe improve the GPU side of things - as I'm still using GTX970's which are fine, but they do not really compete with the newer gen GPUs crunching tasks.

A refresh of NVidias model range always means that older generation GPUs will come down in price...and that means some good deals can be had from people wanting to get the latest new and "shiny" product.

Jeffers wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:02 pm My current PC is approaching 4 years old and has an MSI 1070 card.
I was thinking of one of the 2080 range, maybe the GTX?
Just wondered if anyone had any experience with that range of cards.

I'm not able to give a "real" comparison but from what has been said on various websites, the new GTX 30x0 range seems to have been pitched very competitively against the outgoing 20x0 series...and initial views of the outgoing range was that it wasn't a big step forwards compared to the higher end 10x0 series that they replaced.

So, my thoughts are that a real step up would be a lower end 30x0 GPU - maybe a 3060 given it's likely price of around $349 and a TDP of 180W...that's from one source:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-Ge ... 892.0.html

Of course, the older 20x0 series will presumably drop in price, both on the new and the second-user markets...so it depends on what budget you might have?

regards
Tim

Thanks guys. I paid £435 for my 1070 back in 2016.
I'm looking at spending around £500 this time, my spend on PC stuff has been very low of late. I got the current PC built to a pretty good spec as it was my 65th birthday present to myself.
My birthday is in December so I might hang on a little longer and get myself a pressie again.

There seems to be a bit of a gap (money not performance) between the 2070S @ £380 and the 2080 @ £600, you may need to spend a bit more (or save some money )

The new AMD cards are out on 28th October, they may make a suitable alternative or push the prices of the NVidia new/old cards down?

Waiting until December is probably a good thing, they'll be more information about the boards and there might even be some available!

Woodles wrote: ↑Thu Sep 24, 2020 9:32 am Waiting until December is probably a good thing, they'll be more information about the boards and there might even be some available!

Hiya

But just be aware that what with Xmas, Covid-19 and Brexit, supplies could easily become difficult to obtain and/or available but only at a "hiked up" price (due to import tariffs and major exchange rate fluctuations...) as we approach the end of the year.

(In my business, I'm already ordering stock now, so I have a good buffer of products available for my customers in the perdiod from end October through to maybe February...so, there's less need for me to be importing stock when everything is all "up in the air" or "grinding to a halt"...)

regards
Tim

I've taken the plunge.
My local component shop, CCL in Bradford, has a promotion on a 2070 RTX Super for £419.99, so I've grabbed one.
From benchmarks I've looked at, this gives around a 50% increase in performance over my current card, so that should keep me going for a while.
Anybody want a 1070?

Congratulations, both my 2080S installed with no issues and have performed flawlessly ever since, I'm sure you'll have no problems with it.

Leave the 1070 in the box with the 2070 Super?