Were you able to get a new GPU (Nvidia 3xxx/AMD 6xxx) and what you are using it for?

[05032-Mendicant-Bias]

I'm one of the lucky few who got a RTX3080 for MSRP.

Several friends advised me to resell my card immediately for a huge profit (>500$...), which I'm not going to do because I'm actually gaiming on it and the jump in gaming experience from my GTX1070 is very noticable.

I also got the advice of running cryptomining on my GPU when not in use, I did some math and the GPU might be able to repay itself in about 90 days doing so, with about 8$/day of profit at current prices (!!!) I'm not doing this either because I personally dislike cryptos and the e-waste/hardware shortage/CO2 emission/gambling they cause and I don't want to be a part of it.

 

It's been months, and the GPU price/availability seems to be actually getting worse, so I got curious... What was your experience with the current generation of GPU?

[podkall]

6 minutes ago, 05032-Mendicant-Bias said:

CO2 emission

Is your GPU powered by gas? Even if you mined for 24 hours straight the only emissions you get are in your wallet, because it's gonna draw some huge power off of the wall.

[Stahlmann]

I bought mine off a scalper for 900€ back in september. The loss of warranty was not an issue for me as i installed a waterblock anyway. And i simply didn't want to wait until everything normalizes again. (Which i doubt will happen this year.) And seeing as it has only gotten worse, i'm still glad i bought it back then tbh. The performance uplift compared to my 1080Ti is huge and i can finally play games @4K on my HDMI 2.1 TV. I have never looked into mining, but i might in the future. (Albeit only with my single card. Not planning to build a mining rig...)

[Eigenvektor]

20 minutes ago, podkall said:

[…] because it's gonna draw some huge power off of the wall.

And that power comes from a power plant which emits CO2, either directly or indirectly (supply chain). Increased power draw = increased CO2 emissions.

[BetteBalterZen]

Actually, I purchased my 3090 ROG STRIX for 10.000DKK from Komplett.dk when it released back in september. The retail price in september was actually 13.499DKK but I got a free giftcard from Komplett 1.5 years back which I saved for a new GPU. So glad I did. 

And now, the price is 16.999DKK at Komplett.dk, and I bought mine for 10.000DKK I'm so happy

The price in Denmark is automatically nearly 25% higher than in other countries because of taxes, so thinking about I bought my 3090 ROG STRIX for 10.000DKK, man, I feel so lucky.  

And no, I will not sell it, even though I can make a lot of money. Not because I'm against scalping; yes it's annoying but "Hate the game, not the player", I just want to keep it. I know it works. It undervolts well.

[podkall]

3 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

And that power comes from a power plant which emits CO2, either directly or indirectly (supply chain). Increased power draw = increased CO2 emissions.

It's not 1:1 ratio, your GPU no matter how strong and powerful it is it is just a drop in the ocean

[Eigenvektor]

Just now, podkall said:

It's not 1:1 ratio, your GPU no matter how strong and powerful it is it is just a drop in the ocean

An individual person's power draw is a drop in the ocean, true. But e.g. Bitcoin mining's power draw in total isn't. If a person says they don't want to be part of this, I don't think ridiculing them is the correct response. You can't influence anyone's use of energy but your own. "The others do it too, so I don't matter" is a convenient excuse for doing nothing.

[Analog]

I tried to get my hands on a RTX 3080 in September, when they came out, but was out of luck. Still, managed to snag one RTX 3080 directly from a distributor in mid November. As there were very few cards available, we managed to come an understanding regarding the price and I was pre-allocated a card before the shipment had arrived.  

 

 

[podkall]

11 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

You can't influence anyone's use of energy but your own. "The others do it too, so I don't matter" is a convenient excuse for doing nothing.

If others stopped bitcoin mining than maybe the power plants would have to reduce the power for like 1% but I'm not forcing you to bitcoin mining lol, I'm just saying that it doesn't matter if you mine or not for the air..

[05032-Mendicant-Bias]

Half respondent were able to get one of the new cards near MSRP, if that number is representative of the gaming audience, it's a lot better than I thought! I'm happy for that, the new cards are really a big step forward compared to previous gen.

 

16 hours ago, podkall said:

If others stopped bitcoin mining than maybe the power plants would have to reduce the power for like 1% but I'm not forcing you to bitcoin mining lol, I'm just saying that it doesn't matter if you mine or not for the air..

Crypto mining makes for about 1/300 of our total CO2 emissions (1% of electricity which makes up for about 30% of total CO2 emissions). My RTX3080 is a drop in the ocean, but in the end the ocean is made of drops. Since it's so profitable I can see why miners wish to partake and get a passive revenue stream. I don't need that, so I just choose to pass.

[podkall]

45 minutes ago, 05032-Mendicant-Bias said:

Half respondent were able to get one of the new cards near MSRP, if that number is representative of the gaming audience, it's a lot better than I thought! I'm happy for that, the new cards are really a big step forward compared to previous gen.

 

Crypto mining makes for about 1/300 of our total CO2 emissions (1% of electricity which makes up for about 30% of total CO2 emissions). My RTX3080 is a drop in the ocean, but in the end the ocean is made of drops. Since it's so profitable I can see why miners wish to partake and get a passive revenue stream. I don't need that, so I just choose to pass.

I'm pretty certain a huger punch would do if everyone stopped using any kind of cars, unfortunately these things are just essential for the most of us..

45 minutes ago, 05032-Mendicant-Bias said:

Crypto mining makes for about 1/300 of our total CO2 emissions

I never knew that, is that a lot though? Good to know.

 

You know. I'm not here to argue with you or convince you about what makes significant amount of CO2 emissions, it's just that yeah Crypto mining might cause some amount of emissions, but certainly there are bigger things that if stopped or dealt with had a much bigger impact..

I'd like a world where the emmisions aren't so huge too.

Edited February 18, 2021 by podkall

[GamerDude]

Got a locally distributed (and hence local warranty) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6900XT for a fair bit above MSRP (RTX3080, RTX3090, RX6800/6800XT/6900XT) are just crazily priced locally when the few that are allotted here turn up. Most are snatched away in a matter of hours, if not minutes. Oddly enough, one is more likely to find a 3090 or 6900XT then their smaller siblings. Most are dead set on snagging the RX 6800 XT or the RTX 3080.

 

As for me, had I waited for an XFX Speedster MERC319 RX 6900XT, it'd have cost me 150USD less than the Nitro+ RX 6900 XT I had gotten, but the former being from Amazon USA, would NOT come with local warranty, so IF I were to RMA the card, it'd be a hassle since I'm in Asia. I figured that since the MERC319 and Nitro+ RX 6900 XT's were about equal, paying about 150USD more for local warranty (and peace of mind) was a better fit for me. I use mine for gaming on my Freesync 2 monitor (3840x1080, 144Hz)...

[Eigenvektor]

11 hours ago, podkall said:

I'm pretty certain a huger punch would do if everyone stopped using any kind of cars, unfortunately these things are just essential for the most of us..

Right. There are a lot of things we can do, some of which are inconvenient. As you said, cars are essential for a lot of people. Nevertheless, several countries are already taking steps to reduce their CO2 footprint, for example by subsidizing electric cars and adding taxes on a car's CO2 emissions or even mandating sales of electric cars going forward. There are also efforts underway to reduce waste produced by several other industries.

 

All of these efforts are drawn into ridicule when you look at miners wasting huge amounts of energy to generate random numbers that have some speculative value (right now). These are definitely not essential and something we could limit fairly easy right now.

 

11 hours ago, podkall said:

I never knew that, is that a lot though? Good to know.

Here's the link I already posted above: https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/

 

Based on this, Bitcoin mining alone consumes about as much energy as Chile and has the CO2 footprint of New Zealand. Ethereum adds another 20-30% on top of that. Meaning we could be saving an entire country's worth of energy and CO2.

[CT854]

I lucked out on a Best Buy drop on a 3070 FE for an upgrade from my 4670K/970 Strix rig (which i gave to my mom).  It felt so good to be able to run max settings on AC Odyssey butter smooth, and the feeling of triumph was honestly amazing, getting it for Nvidia's MSRP.  The drop I got was the first BB drop of the year so that was good lucky fun, right before the AIBs announced their price hikes (though the FE isn't affected still).

 

Honestly?  Right now I'm just trying to pay it forward.  I've got a friend who works long hours and can't keep tabs on stock drops, and he wants a 3080 (or a 3070 at least).  I'm offering to try and scoop one up and sell it to him at cost.  I also work inconvenient hours but I have the flexibility to keep tabs on things at work.  It's the least I could do for someone.