Best upgrade from a RTX 2080 Ti?

[mulox]

Current Rig:

i9-10900K 3.7 GHz (5.3 OC)
ASRock Taichi Z490
64GB DDR 3200 - Corsair Vengance Pro 2x32
Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti
NVMe 2TB Adata SX8200 PRO
LG Ultragear 38" curved 3840x1600 175 Hz
Windows 10 Pro (upgrading to 11 this weekend)

 

I am a casual gamer and finished Cyberpunk 2077 last year - I was very happy with the performance of my 2080 Ti.  All other games I play don't have the same demands as Cyberpunk. Unfortunately, I think my 2080 just died on me (still troubleshooting to confirm).  It is getting power, but none of the ports are outputting anything.  I am going to install it in another PC, which will confirm one way or the other.

 

In anticipation of it being dead, I am starting to look at new cards, and I have shortlisted these because my budget is $500:

3070 Ti $325
4060 Ti $350
4070 Super 12GB $500
4070 Ti $540

 

Initially, I was really leaning towards the 4060 Ti because of the price point and the power savings vs the 3070 Ti.  But I heard that 12GB or VRAM is highly desired for some reason (future-proofing?), so I threw in the 4070 Super, since it meets my budget.  And the 4070 Ti is slightly over my budget, but I could make a case for it - if the performance per $ is justified.  What are your thoughts?

 

Also another thought... if my overall performance gains are going to be 15% or less (or not noticeable) with any of those cards, I may just opt to buy another 2080 Ti and wait for prices to fall on more powerful cards, to make the upgrade worthwhile/practical.

 

[SkilledRebuilds]

I also have the similar setup..

10850K OC platform with a 2080Ti OC the last 4-5 years..

 

2080Ti (300w model) power limit can match and beat the 4060ti already..

2080ti is a great GPU..

Bandwidth concerned 1440p the gap lengthens more over 1080p.

 

A sidegrade but a worthy replacement.

 

But if you want more performance (that's actually a gain) you'd want a 4070 or above...

2080/2080ti/4060/4060ti

 

2080Ti vs 4060ti

 

300w+ models hold 1920-2025mhz boost at stock 1.05v when kept cool enough. (Every 5*c = 15Mhz drop) from 30*c and up.

I have a 370w vbios on mine to scale clocks up and no clock drop at 4K when typically power limited at 300w.. Mine is on the NZXT Kraken AIO adapter and water-cooled with 240mm radiator to reduce temps/clock drops due to temp.

A lot different to most peoples but I love the 2080ti for what it can still do these last 4-5 years.

 

2080Ti even at 300w on air cooling can definetly hold its own vs the memory bandwidth crippled midrange today.. it sucks they offer little value over existing GPUs like 2080Ti/3070Ti/3080.

 

I'd say you'd want a 4070/Super/Ti or better.

Chasing a deal/good price on a 4070 or better would be an upgrade of sorts, but a 4060Ti not so much..

[porina]

2080 Ti is near enough same performance as 3070, as long as the VRAM doesn't get in the way. To make more of a gap I'd suggest 4070 as a minimum, as that is comparable to a 3080 so about a tier higher. 4070S would meet that. Don't know if OG 4070 is still around for less that could be considered.

 

BTW I did go 2080 Ti > 3070 > 4070 myself. The move from 2080 Ti to 3070, given it is same performance, was in part because I needed a newer feature for VRR with my TV.

[Salted Spinach]

Go straight for the 4070 Super then.

Personally I would not settle for anything less than 16GB for a card to last long at your native resolution (almost 4K) without having to rely on upscaling.

 

If you are not averse to AMD graphics, consider the 7900 GRE

 

08:15 of the video

I trust you are able to research its power consumption and not base on assumptions. Although it might not seem to matter much to you if you were considering running 2x 2080Ti

[mulox]

13 hours ago, SkilledRebuilds said:

I also have the similar setup..

10850K OC platform with a 2080Ti OC the last 4-5 years..

 

2080Ti (300w model) power limit can match and beat the 4060ti already..

2080ti is a great GPU..

Bandwidth concerned 1440p the gap lengthens more over 1080p.

 

A sidegrade but a worthy replacement.

 

But if you want more performance (that's actually a gain) you'd want a 4070 or above...

2080/2080ti/4060/4060ti

 

2080Ti vs 4060ti

 

300w+ models hold 1920-2025mhz boost at stock 1.05v when kept cool enough. (Every 5*c = 15Mhz drop) from 30*c and up.

I have a 370w vbios on mine to scale clocks up and no clock drop at 4K when typically power limited at 300w.. Mine is on the NZXT Kraken AIO adapter and water-cooled with 240mm radiator to reduce temps/clock drops due to temp.

A lot different to most peoples but I love the 2080ti for what it can still do these last 4-5 years.

 

2080Ti even at 300w on air cooling can definetly hold its own vs the memory bandwidth crippled midrange today.. it sucks they offer little value over existing GPUs like 2080Ti/3070Ti/3080.

 

I'd say you'd want a 4070/Super/Ti or better.

Chasing a deal/good price on a 4070 or better would be an upgrade of sorts, but a 4060Ti not so much..

 

A few more questions...

 

I had no idea the 2080 Ti came in different watt versions - how would I find out which one I have?

Does the 2080 Ti only come in 11gb and 22gb versions?

Also what is the deal with 12GB VRAM - why is that amount important?  

 

Thanks for the detailed info and videos, very helpful. That's just crazy how the 2080 Ti compares to the 4060 Ti - the only test it lost was Forza 5 out of 15 top games tested.  What the hell is Nvidia doing here??

 

So if I go with a 4070 Super...
1. What are the odds that my CPU will become a bottleneck, essentially reducing possible improvement?
2. Would I realize a least 15% or more increase in overall performance (not just fps)?
3. Would I actually be able to see the difference?

 

My preferred max spend is 350, but I would consider going up to 500 only if I can truly justify it - meaning I would actually notice a huge difference.  Even then, I am still leaning towards just getting another 2080 Ti, wait for the other cards to drop in price, and time it with my next PC build.

 

[MadAnt250]

5 hours ago, mulox said:

 

My preferred max spend is 350, but I would consider going up to 500 only if I can truly justify it

As of right now, just stick with what you have. Your budget is too low, unless you can get a deal on a used higher end GPU.

[SkilledRebuilds]

 

7 hours ago, mulox said:

 

A few more questions...

 

I had no idea the 2080 Ti came in different watt versions - how would I find out which one I have?

Does the 2080 Ti only come in 11gb and 22gb versions?

Also what is the deal with 12GB VRAM - why is that amount important?  

 

Thanks for the detailed info and videos, very helpful. That's just crazy how the 2080 Ti compares to the 4060 Ti - the only test it lost was Forza 5 out of 15 top games tested.  What the hell is Nvidia doing here??

 

So if I go with a 4070 Super...
1. What are the odds that my CPU will become a bottleneck, essentially reducing possible improvement?
2. Would I realize a least 15% or more increase in overall performance (not just fps)?
3. Would I actually be able to see the difference?

 

My preferred max spend is 350, but I would consider going up to 500 only if I can truly justify it - meaning I would actually notice a huge difference.  Even then, I am still leaning towards just getting another 2080 Ti, wait for the other cards to drop in price, and time it with my next PC build.

 

15% - If you start with low fps it doesn't seem like much, if you start high it does seem like something, even though it's the same gain.

 

100FPS-->115FPS (So you can see the difference)

30FPS--> 34.5FPS (Difference is there, less pronounced, worth it? up to you really)

It might allow for a better demanding experience (2080Ti pathtracing at 30-35fps with a controller, without it you might be dropping to sub 30fps)

Worth it is up to each individual..

 

Power limits - By default out of the box it will be set to 100%, cards with higher power limits can extend further but not enabled out of the box..

This is my 4080 Super in pictures below.

But my 2080Ti has a 126% vbios and goes from 300w to 375watts

 

You can check it with GPUZ - the advanced TAB, and in the drop down list, the second option is NVIDIA BIOS which tells you more information inc power limits.

You'd need a program like or similar to MSI Afterburner that allows you to enable the higher power limit slider (if available to you) and you can slide it further to the right for more power, at expense of temps/noise.

 

My 4080 Super is 320watt, I could flash a new vbios but I have no need just yet.. plus it might gain me another 5-10% is all (dependant of clockspeeds it can pull off), but at cost of temps/noise/power usage.

 

I did it to my 2080Ti and with an overclock, squeezed another 13% out of it. 300w to 377 watts (not always at 377 watts, more of an UP TO) depending on scene demand. in games with my 2100Mhz clockspeed on 2080Ti it would range from 300-350watts, if I kept the clocks at 2130-2160Mhz at 1.05volts it could bump up against the power limit and then drop clocks (affecting frametimes slightly) so I kept it at 2100Mhz at 1.0volts and it held that all day even in demanding 4K loads due to having enough power, and cooling with my radiator knowing every 5*c gain it lowers 15Mhz.

 

Flashing a vbios onto a card without dual bios is risky enough, but you can recover it if you have an integrated gpu to still load windows on, and then recover. Plus running a diff cards vbios can mess with display outputs and fan speeds, sometimes it's just fine, it varies bios to bios, but if familiar with bios updating you just run through a few...

But dualbios is less risky due to having a backup than single vbios.

 

If you ARE looking for a gain, not just a replacement product, I would go with 4070 GPU with 16GB RAM, the 8-10GB cards are getting close to their limits or being exceeded. esp if you tap into Raytracing with higher VRAM demands, or texture packs in some games.

 

Sorry everyone for the wall of text It just how I roll.

 

[mulox]

Cool, thanks for the info, very helpful!  I am narrowing my choice between another 2080 Ti and a 4070, but may also consider an AMD card now, as I have seen great reviews on performance and more importantly better values for that performance.

 

If I can get a 4070 at a decent price used, like 400-450 I may bite.  I just found a used 2080 TI for $200, so that's still an option as well.  Need to spend a lot more time researching AMD cards/reviews, as I have not looked at any in over 5 years now.  It would have to be an upgrade with performance similar or better to a 4070, for less money for me to consider.

[Salted Spinach]

6 hours ago, SkilledRebuilds said:

If you ARE looking for a gain, not just a replacement product, I would go with 4070 GPU with 16GB RAM...

 

...esp if you tap into Raytracing with higher VRAM demands, or texture packs in some games.

He's not going to turn on raytracing with a $500 card when using a 3840x1600 175 Hz display...

 

And there is no 16GB 4070 for $500

 

6 hours ago, mulox said:

...It would have to be an upgrade with performance similar or better to a 4070, for less money for me to consider.

If the 7900GRE is not within reach, look for the 7800XT which also has 16GB of VRAM and won't take as much of a performance hit at high resolutions

 

Recent comparison video including 7800XT and 4070. Your display resolution is between 1440p and 4k. Look at the corresponding framerate which are all without raytracing enabled

 

[SkilledRebuilds]

59 minutes ago, Salted Spinach said:

He's not going to turn on raytracing with a $500 card when using a 3840x1600 175 Hz display...

And there is no 16GB 4070 for $500

Anyone can/should sacrifice resolution for playable RT frames, it's on the individual, not everyone is like you, not everyone is like me.

The total user choice via various technologies that enable such things is what matters, it's up to him.

He doesn't have to play at Native Res 175Hz he has all the refresh rates in between 60-175Hz to work with in any given game, he can use 3840 @with DLSS or FSR. ^I'm not saying he SHOULD, just that he has the option depending on HIS specific wants and needs.

 

He said he'd be willing to up his budget if it was worth it, which is up to him, and deals can be found all over the place, depending on his buying options/location.

I'd would also recommend 16GB at a nicer price point as well just like you recommended. Be it AMD or Nvidia.

[mulox]

Good points about what resolution to play in - I have always played in native cause it just feels weird playing anything less, but I would certainly try anything once or twice. I vaguely recall trying Cyberpunk with ray tracing on at native and it actually was not as bad as I expected - it was playable except for a few scenes when it wasn't, lol.

 

Fortunately, I resolved the issue with my 2080 Ti card, so hopefully I can squeeze 2-3 more years out of it before upgrading to a higher-end 4000 Series 16GB card for $350 or less.

 

Btw I did find a 4070 used for $450, but being a casual gamer, I have zero motivation to overspend for only a fractional boost.

[Salted Spinach]

3 hours ago, mulox said:

...before upgrading to a higher-end 4000 Series 16GB card for $350 or less.

The cheapest 4000 series card with 16GB of VRAM that is not the 4060Ti, is the 4070 Ti Super, which currently retailing for about $830 in the US. Its going to be quite a while before you can find one for $350...

 

Meanwhile the 7900 GRE can match the 4070 Ti Super with a memory overclock

 

3 hours ago, mulox said:

Btw I did find a 4070 used for $525...

Wait... did you not already say at the beginning...

On 5/19/2024 at 1:08 PM, mulox said:

...I have shortlisted these because my budget is $500:

3070 Ti $325
4060 Ti $350
4070 Super 12GB $500
4070 Ti $540

???

[jaslion]

Id say a 7900gre is also very much up for consideration here.

 

Else well a 3070 and 2080ti go about the same performance wise but the 3070 is usually worse due to have only 8gb of vram.

 

Dont bother with a 4060ti its just a 3060ti which is a downgrade.

 

 

[Jaw709]

Not sure if you're still looking, but if I were in the market I would go on NewEgg and look at their refurbished section and see what the most FPS for the dollar you could get for $500. Echoing others, I would definitely target 16GB minimum too

[mulox]

As I mentioned above, I was able to resolve the issue with my 2080 Ti, so life is good again, whew!  

 

Thanks for all of this awesome information - at the very least I am now much more knowledgable for when I am ready to upgrade, which hopefully won't be for another 2-3 more years.  By then I should be able to get a 4070 Ti Super 16GB for under $500 (or similar challenger from AMD for even less?)

[jaslion]

12 minutes ago, mulox said:

As I mentioned above, I was able to resolve the issue with my 2080 Ti, so life is good again, whew!  

 

Thanks for all of this awesome information - at the very least I am now much more knowledgable for when I am ready to upgrade, which hopefully won't be for another 2-3 more years.  By then I should be able to get a 4070 Ti Super 16GB for under $500 (or similar challenger from AMD for even less?)

I mean the 7900xt is already falling under 600 and some sales have had it at 550. Since we'll most likely see a new gpu gen this year already it would be safe to say that that level of performance should very easily be availble under 500 in a year or 2-3 as long as gaming gpu's dont once again get use for some compute farming task

[Ebony Falcon]

I went to a 4070ti super from 2080ti, it’s probs to much for 1440p the 4070 super would be fine 

[mulox]

17 minutes ago, Ebony Falcon said:

I went to a 4070ti super from 2080ti, it’s probs to much for 1440p the 4070 super would be fine 

How many GB Vram?

[Ebony Falcon]

10 minutes ago, mulox said:

How many GB Vram?

16

[mulox]

Yea that's the thing I was really confused about... a lot of people say "make sure you get at least 12GB vram" and then others "you gotta get 16GB"

But... why??  I imagine the real answer is "it depends on what game you play"

[daygeckoart]

I have one of these and I would only upgrade to the 4070 Ti Super because it has a 256bit memory bus which make a big difference for 4K gaming. The 4070 Ti and 4070 Super are midrange cards with 192 bit memory at high end prices!

[daygeckoart]

2 hours ago, mulox said:

Yea that's the thing I was really confused about... a lot of people say "make sure you get at least 12GB vram" and then others "you gotta get 16GB"

But... why??  I imagine the real answer is "it depends on what game you play"

VRAM amount you need depends on the game you play but the memory bus width 192 vs 256 bit makes a difference in every game. The 2080 Ti has a 352 bit memory bus which is why it has a weird 11gb of RAM why it performs well at 4K still

[mulox]

4 hours ago, daygeckoart said:

VRAM amount you need depends on the game you play but the memory bus width 192 vs 256 bit makes a difference in every game. The 2080 Ti has a 352 bit memory bus which is why it has a weird 11gb of RAM why it performs well at 4K still

Thanks, that makes a lot more sense now!

[Dedayog]

On 5/24/2024 at 5:33 PM, jaslion said:

I mean the 7900xt is already falling under 600 and some sales have had it at 550. Since we'll most likely see a new gpu gen this year already it would be safe to say that that level of performance should very easily be availble under 500 in a year or 2-3 as long as gaming gpu's dont once again get use for some compute farming task

Where are you seeing the 7900xt for $600, let alone $550?  Will grab one 

 

Pcpartpicker shows it still at $699 from what I see 

 

The GRE is down to $519 tho.

[jaslion]

4 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Where are you seeing the 7900xt for $600, let alone $550?  Will grab one 

 

Pcpartpicker shows it still at $699 from what I see 

 

The GRE is down to $519 tho.

Was a temporary rebate thing it seems. However the mere fact it happened yo be 599 does mean that its not unreasonable to see it go for that in the near future