Back to PC Gaming for me...need advice on GPU

[Kierstad]

For the last several years I've been gaming primarily on console.  Two months ago I realized how much I missed pc gaming and switched back.

Unfortunately I have been using an MSI gaming laptop (I travel for work quite a bit), and would prefer having a desktop rig to play on when I'm home.

I'm torn however, I can spend a decent chunk of change, but it's been so long since I've done a build, I'm overwhelmed by the options and whether or not to go SLI again or go big single.

I have been contemplating going with 2 RTX 2080ti's and SLI when it's supported, and when it's not just use it for physx or sit dormant (save power).

Or just bite it and buy a Titan RTX.

I typically use three screens with work/gaming, and ultimately would like to have consistent fps when I'm playing at higher resolutions.  Currently running 144mhz monitor which I love, but would also like to consider g-sync in a larger screen.

 

Bottom line: Would it be better to just buy the Titan RTX and move on, or do the RTX 2080ti's?  All in all I'm trying to keep my build under 7k, but I have wiggle room.

[xFluing]

There's two points worth discussing here:

 

1. Using a separate GPU as a physx dedicated card shows no impact on performance whatsoever (that is if you don't use something like a 750 ti for it)

2. I would hold off on buying anything new right now as AMD's Navi is due this year which, if it's good, it might drag down the prices of these overpriced RTX cards (if you wanna stick to Nvidia, alternatively get Navi if it's any good as it's rumoured to offer similar levels of performance to a 2070 but half the price)

[Majinhoju]

What resolution you gaming on or planning on gaming on?

I think a single RTX 2080 TI would be plenty.

[Kierstad]

@xFluing

Your point on the physx dedicated card showing no impact...what do you mean?  I would think that if you have a decent card that is offloading the work for engines like Havok, that it would be beneficial and free up your main GPU to handle the rest?

 

I've typically been an Intel/Nvidia consumer so wasn't even aware of the Navi, but am definitely open to suggestions.

Not really looking to do 8k gaming at 60hz, no need for that.

I just want to make sure I'm buying the right gpu/cpu that will support driving multiple displays (maybe sometimes in eyefinity/surround view or whatever it's called now), and be able to run at higher resolutions with consistent frames.

As for waiting, my problem is the gaming laptop I have right now is starting to show it's wear and tear.  The ssd I'm using is starting to have issues with completely disappearing from the system while I'm using it (thinking either it's failing or something happened to the connection) and I'm honestly not really looking to open the thing up and replace nvme on it.  Have also been running into issues with it randomly forcing itself to use the integrated intel gpu instead of the discrete 1070, which is annoying as all hell.  Not much of a fan of MSI laptops anymore

 

 

[xFluing]

4 minutes ago, Kierstad said:

Your point on the physx dedicated card showing no impact...what do you mean?  I would think that if you have a decent card that is offloading the work for engines like Havok, that it would be beneficial and free up your main GPU to handle the rest?

 

I've typically been an Intel/Nvidia consumer so wasn't even aware of the Navi, but am definitely open to suggestions.

Not really looking to do 8k gaming at 60hz, no need for that.

I just want to make sure I'm buying the right gpu/cpu that will support driving multiple displays (maybe sometimes in eyefinity/surround view or whatever it's called now), and be able to run at higher resolutions with consistent frames.

As for waiting, my problem is the gaming laptop I have right now is starting to show it's wear and tear.  The ssd I'm using is starting to have issues with completely disappearing from the system while I'm using it (thinking either it's failing or something happened to the connection) and I'm honestly not really looking to open the thing up and replace nvme on it.  Have also been running into issues with it randomly forcing itself to use the integrated intel gpu instead of the discrete 1070, which is annoying as all hell.  Not much of a fan of MSI laptops anymore

 

 

Luke has done some tests and there was no difference in performance.

 

And about the surround display thing, I'm not quite sure but given how stingy RTX cards are with VRAM, I'd still wait for a Navi launch as the 8GB on an RTX 2080(non-Ti) are already becoming a limiting factor at 4k Ultra.

[Kierstad]

@Majinhoju

resolution wise i've been pretty much 1080 for now since I've been travelling.  Now that I have more time at home, I'm in the market for monitor upgrades.

4k gaming is great if the system can support it, but 1440p would be preferable.

Other thing I should probably note is multiboxing...I do play some games where I tend to do that a lot, and I've noticed with just a single card (definitely not this laptop lol) I've had quite a few issues with frame stutter when I'm alternating between views.  Which I'm sure is probably more of an issue with what I'm using to multibox and probably CPU.

[Kierstad]

4 minutes ago, xFluing said:

Luke has done some tests and there was no difference in performance.

 

And about the surround display thing, I'm not quite sure but given how stingy RTX cards are with VRAM, I'd still wait for a Navi launch as the 8GB on an RTX 2080(non-Ti) are already becoming a limiting factor at 4k Ultra.

Thank you for linking that informative video...so really with that being said it boils down to whether or not i want to deal with SLI headaches or not.  I think I'll just stick with the single GPU for now and if I need to I can add to it.  I just can't see spending this astronomical amount of money on some of these freakish builds for something I won't really notice that much.

For me, having been gaming for so long, I can definitely see microstutters and screen tear, and then the obvious issue that you can run into with using a bad panel in your display of ghosting...those are the main things I want to avoid.

Kind of new to the forums here and not sure if there are recommended builds listed?  Someone had mentioned pc part picker to me before but when I looked, the search results were really misleading (i.e. showing they were for certain cards, but not including all of the parts used in the build with total price, etc).

[xFluing]

Just now, Kierstad said:

Thank you for linking that informative video...so really with that being said it boils down to whether or not i want to deal with SLI headaches or not.  I think I'll just stick with the single GPU for now and if I need to I can add to it.  I just can't see spending this astronomical amount of money on some of these freakish builds for something I won't really notice that much.

For me, having been gaming for so long, I can definitely see microstutters and screen tear, and then the obvious issue that you can run into with using a bad panel in your display of ghosting...those are the main things I want to avoid.

Kind of new to the forums here and not sure if there are recommended builds listed?  Someone had mentioned pc part picker to me before but when I looked, the search results were really misleading (i.e. showing they were for certain cards, but not including all of the parts used in the build with total price, etc).

If you want to avoid ghosting just look for panels with a 1ms response time.

 

Tearing can be easily fixed with a g-sync / freesync panel

 

Microstutters mostly happen if you've got an underpowered CPU (such as a dual core pentium), I have a Ryzen 5 2600 (way weaker than an i7 9900k) and haven't seen microstutters yet, however I built my PC with the idea of it being a better all rounder and good price to performance (the 2600s are actually outselling intel right now because of intel's shortages).