Buy 30 Series Now or Wait for 40 Series Release

tommyowo · July 2, 2022

Budget (including currency): ~$2000 USD not including peripherals

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Next gen/AAA VR (for headsets like Meta's Cambria or Valve's Deckard, both expected within this year), and to push current gen game settings to max without worrying about frame dips at 1440p or 4k (though with DLSS)

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): I'm only particularly concerned as of now with GPU, once I select one I'll find the parts to pair with it to prevent bottlenecks.

My current PC has a 2070 Super that's served me extremely well, but as more AAA quality VR titles start to come out I think it'll finally start to show its age, and I'm hoping to build a new system to pair with the coming generation of VR headsets (Mainly Valve's Deckard)

Now that GPU prices are plummeting, I'm planning to get a top end card for my new system, likely a 3080 ti or a 3090 (especially considering that they're selling under MSRP second hand right now)

My question is whether I should go for one of those cards right now while prices are low, or if it would be better to wait and see what the 40 series has to offer first, and risk 30 series prices normalizing if 40 isn't compelling.

As a side note, tips for buying second hand, like through ebay, would be very appreciated. This will be my first PC build and I'm not sure what to look for when judging the legitimacy of a listing.

OddOod · July 3, 2022

Buy 30 series now.

MrMase · July 3, 2022

I would seriously consider getting an RTX 3080 TI now.

You mention that this is will be your first PC built, with that in mind I would suggest avoiding the likes of eBay where troubleshooting potentially defective parts can be a minefield.

As for what to combine the card with there seems to be some pretty good deals with the Ryzen CPU's at the moment as their new products are due soon so could potentially swipe an 5800X or above.

A friendly reminder when dealing with high value parts don't skimp on getting a reputable power supply, there is a Tier list on the LTT Forums so given your going for high end pair it with a A list part preferably a best in class model.