Performance of a lower power 3080Ti vs higher power model

[Bobbysixjp]

Is there that much of a difference between a low power model  (365W) vs a high power model (400W+). I currently have a Palit Gaming Pro 3080Ti (max 365W) vs the Gamerock model (max 440W). I can return the Gaming Pro and buy the Gamerock for 80 USD difference. Is it worth it? 

[WereCat]

No, its not worth it. The performance does not scale linearly with power, you get miniscule improvement for huge power requirements.

 

Also, the clcoks scale with temperature, so at higher power you may achieve higher clocks but also higher temperature which will result in diminishing returns since the clocks won't be actually sustainable that much higher.

 

You're more likely to get as much performance by optimising your cooling and playing with the clock/voltage curve in MSI Afterburner.

[SkilledRebuilds]

Its a couple fps, from having some higher clockspeeds...you can flash your existing GPU with a higher power target vbios as long as you do your research and find an appropriate one.

My 290w 2080Ti has a 360w vbios on it for example.

 

If flashing sounds too iffy, you could just save the $80 and leave it be..

A few FPS isn't game changing in my opinion.

 

Rough calculation based off just clock differences. 4%...

[PDifolco]

365w should already squeeze all the possible OC on your GPU with a slight undervolt, no need for more

[Bobbysixjp]

9 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

365w should already squeeze all the possible OC on your GPU with a slight undervolt, no need for more

The FE version is 400W, isn’t it?

[PDifolco]

39 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

The FE version is 400W, isn’t it?

Nah it's 350W

Going to 450W may give you max +8% *if* the GPU can maintain 2000MHz clock, but with +10C as well...think you need watercooling for this power level

[BetteBalterZen]

These are my profiles for my ROG STRIX 3080 Ti OC LC:

1 - 1830MHz on the core, no memory overclock - pulls around 250 watt [undervolt via Voltage curve]

2 - 1930MHz on the core, +500 on the memory - pulls around 300 watt (and give around ~ 5 FPS more in all games) [undervolt via Voltage curve]

3 - 2130MHz on the core, +500 on the memory - pulls around 430 watt (and gives ~ 5 FPS more than profile 2, or ~ 10 FPS more than profile 1, in all games) [pure overclock from increase core clock without touching Voltage curve; outputs more steady Effective clock]

So a 5FPS improve requires 50 watt more, 10FPS improvement requires 130 watt more (when comparing to optimized undervolts) 

These maxed out overclocked 3080 Ti's are not worth it IMO. A small, moderate OC via undervolt profile, makes much more sense. 

So no, upgrading to a higher wattage variant is not worth it, if you ask me.

[jones177]

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Is there that much of a difference between a low power model  (365W) vs a high power model (400W+). I currently have a Palit Gaming Pro 3080Ti (max 365W) vs the Gamerock model (max 440W). I can return the Gaming Pro and buy the Gamerock for 80 USD difference. Is it worth it? 

Hard to say since I don't know the brands but with EVGA it is definitely worth it.

 

I have an EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350 watts stock) and a FTW3 Ultra 3080 ti(400 watts stock).

Both have been in my i9 9900k computer.

 

Time Spy.

XC3 Ultra    = 17180, Graphic 18871, CPU 11397

FTW3 Ultra = 18144, Graphic  20425, CPU 11112

 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

SOTTR highest preset                                   1080p      1440p        4k.

EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350/366 watts)        168fps      143fps      83fps     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)                 169fps      154fps      96fps

 

Horizon Zero Dawn

HZD at Ultra                                                  1080p      1440p        4k.

EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350/366 watts)        147fps      128fps      79fps     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)                 155fps      138fps      88fps

 

With the 20 series the difference between my XC 2080 ti and my FTW3 Ultra 2080 ti was the cooling. 

With the 30 series at least with EVGA I think they are also binned. I only have one sample so I don't know for sure.
 

[Bobbysixjp]

38 minutes ago, jones177 said:

Hard to say since I don't know the brands but with EVGA it is definitely worth it.

 

I have an EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350 watts stock) and a FTW3 Ultra 3080 ti(400 watts stock).

Both have been in my i9 9900k computer.

 

Time Spy.

XC3 Ultra    = 17180, Graphic 18871, CPU 11397

FTW3 Ultra = 18144, Graphic  20425, CPU 11112

 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

SOTTR highest preset                                   1080p      1440p        4k.

EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350/366 watts)        168fps      143fps      83fps     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)                 169fps      154fps      96fps

 

Horizon Zero Dawn

HZD at Ultra                                                  1080p      1440p        4k.

EVGA XC3 Ultra 3080 ti(350/366 watts)        147fps      128fps      79fps     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)                 155fps      138fps      88fps

 

With the 20 series the difference between my XC 2080 ti and my FTW3 Ultra 2080 ti was the cooling. 

With the 30 series at least with EVGA I think they are also binned. I only have one sample so I don't know for sure.
 

Palit Gamerock 3080Ti (power limit 440W) vs Palit Gaming pro 3080 Ti (power limit 365W). Could you let me know the difference in power draw between the two cards (XC3 vs FTW3)? 

[Bobbysixjp]

1 hour ago, BetteBalterZen said:

These are my profiles for my ROG STRIX 3080 Ti OC LC:

1 - 1830MHz on the core, no memory overclock - pulls around 250 watt [undervolt via Voltage curve]

2 - 1930MHz on the core, +500 on the memory - pulls around 300 watt (and give around ~ 5 FPS more in all games) [undervolt via Voltage curve]

3 - 2130MHz on the core, +500 on the memory - pulls around 430 watt (and gives ~ 5 FPS more than profile 2, or ~ 10 FPS more than profile 1, in all games) [pure overclock from increase core clock without touching Voltage curve; outputs more steady Effective clock]

So a 5FPS improve requires 50 watt more, 10FPS improvement requires 130 watt more (when comparing to optimized undervolts) 

These maxed out overclocked 3080 Ti's are not worth it IMO. A small, moderate OC via undervolt profile, makes much more sense. 

So no, upgrading to a higher wattage variant is not worth it, if you ask me.

So you are saying that for an extra 10 FPS, it needs an additional 130W?

[jones177]

 

10 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Palit Gamerock 3080Ti (power limit 440W) vs Palit Gaming pro 3080 Ti (power limit 365W). Could you let me know the difference in power draw between the two cards (XC3 vs FTW3)? 

I posted it.

 

EVGA XC3 Ultra(350/366 watts)     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)  

 

[BetteBalterZen]

6 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

So you are saying that for an extra 10 FPS, it needs an additional 130W?

Yes, over an optimized undervolt targeting 250w at 100% load under gaming. And my profile at 430w, that is how far my GPU is stable, that's why I figure it as the maximum possible clock, and that saying 10FPS more requires 130w is fair.

[jones177]

8 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

So you are saying that for an extra 10 FPS, it needs an additional 130W?

Edited August 15, 2022 by jones177
Clicked on the wrong post.

[BetteBalterZen]

5 minutes ago, jones177 said:

I am saying that with the EVGAs there seems to be binning going on. 

That may be

[Bobbysixjp]

12 minutes ago, jones177 said:

 

I posted it.

 

EVGA XC3 Ultra(350/366 watts)     

EVGA FTW3 Ultra(400/450 watts)  

 

Sorry, I didn't notice it before - so do you think an extra 10 FPS is worth an extra 100W? 

[xg32]

27 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Sorry, I didn't notice it before - so do you think an extra 10 FPS is worth an extra 100W? 

if you don't care about powerdraw or extra heat in ur room, then yes.

 

if you care about either one of those, then no, the clock speed or power draw do not scale linearly out of the box, 30% power is about 10% more performance, and 4% higher core clock is about 2-2.5% more performance

[jones177]

4 minutes ago, BetteBalterZen said:

That may be

Most gens I buy 2 to 3 of the same EVGA cards and there is usually 2 to 3 frame difference between them. So I don't know if I have a good FTW3 and a bad XC3 or if they are both average. 

It is just hard to say with GPUs and CPUs.

[jones177]

25 minutes ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Sorry, I didn't notice it before - so do you think an extra 10 FPS is worth an extra 100W? 

Yes and no.

The FTW3 is smoother overclocked.

The XC3 can be rough overclocked. It stuttered in some benches.

 

The FTW3 is hotter and harder to manage.

It is too hot for the Cooler Master H500 ARGB that the XC3 is in so it is in its box. It did fine with the Lian Li O11 Dynamic.

 

If I was buying another 3080 ti it would be the Strix. It is bigger than the EVGAs and much cooler.

I had the 3080 version. Even using 450 watts it was cooler than the FTW3 at stock.

 

[Bobbysixjp]

1 hour ago, BetteBalterZen said:

Yes, over an optimized undervolt targeting 250w at 100% load under gaming. And my profile at 430w, that is how far my GPU is stable, that's why I figure it as the maximum possible clock, and that saying 10FPS more requires 130w is fair.

Pardon my ignorance but if you run your 3080Ti at 250W does it then perform like a lower tier card? In that case, why not just buy the lower tier card in the first place?

[BetteBalterZen]

1 hour ago, Bobbysixjp said:

Pardon my ignorance but if you run your 3080Ti at 250W does it then perform like a lower tier card? In that case, why not just buy the lower tier card in the first place?

The 250W profile removes around 5-7 FPS, depends on the game. 

Take a 3080Ti and remove 5-7 FPS from it's achivable performance / FPS; is it suddently a low tier card? No. It probably still performs like a 3080 but at much lower power usage. Example: if money isn't an issue and you want the best performance per watt, buy the 3090 Ti and undervolt it. You can get stock 3080Ti performance at ~300 watts. That's pretty dope if you ask me. 

That said, I do mainly run with the 300 watt optimized profile which runs at 1930/1950MHz, which is were the card naturally sits. It just now use much less power but still perform the same as stock / out of the box.

But if I play a game with huge FPS numbers, I don't mind lowering my FPS to save a lot of power, this is where I use the profile 1, the 250W profile. My main monitor is 120Hz anyway, so no real need to push more when I'm not playing competitive games. Games run responsive enough as is. I have bound my 3 profiles to ALT + 1, ALT + 2, and ALT + 3, so I can easily switch between them.