2 ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX *OC Edition* in SLI vs. The *NEW* 1080 Titan X

[terablaze]

I'd like to know the opinions from some experts on what my best option here is. Mind you, I'm looking to use these cards for gaming, specifically running a 4K resolution at a *solid* 60fps. I have two 2 ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX *OC Edition* cards currently on their way, and one of them was purchased by someone else as a gift. They cost $724 each with tax and shipping. The new Titan X was just announced yesterday, and retails for $1200. The specs do not seem to be worth the price tag however. Yes, it's sufficient for running 4k at a stable 60fps, but It looks like my 2 cards in SLI could potentially do the same. The specs of my two cards doubled seems to be considerably superior to the Titan(if it works that way). However, I have some concerns about the actual benefits of SLI from past experience. For one, in order to take advantage of SLI performance, games need to support it. Now, this may be more common than it was 5 years ago. If a game supports SLI, will it ultimately double the resources of a single card? (clock speed, ram etc.) Secondly, How many future AAA titles do you think will support SLI?

If you check the specs, the Titan X does not seem to double the performance of a single GTX1080. I believe I read something like a 20-24% increase. Enough to get 4k @ 60fps, but definitely not worth the $1200 price tag. If i didn't receive one of these cards as a gift, and couldn't sell them on ebay(potentially for a nice profit as they're sold out all over), I wouldn't even be considering it. However, if it's more likely to get me 4k @ 60fps with a majority of games, then I am willing to fork out the extra.

Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks.

[Godlygamer23]

Referencing the title, the new Titan X is not called "1080 Titan X," though I understand why you're saying it due to the Pascal architecture.

 

SLI doesn't double VRAM ever. Contents in one card will automatically go into the other card(s) - that's the way it works currently with SLI and Crossfire. Support for SLI doesn't mean 100% extra performance at all times. It may not even mean 50% - it depends on the title and how well the drivers are optimized for it, and how well the game and its engine support multi-GPU configurations.

 

And therefore, it can make it difficult to compare an SLI configuration versus a single GPU configuration.

[roblesaturcamilo]

do whatever you have to do, and get a titan... simple as that...

[stealth80]

8 minutes ago, terablaze said:

I'd like to know the opinions from some experts on what my best option here is. Mind you, I'm looking to use these cards for gaming, specifically running a 4K resolution at a *solid* 60fps. I have two 2 ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX *OC Edition* cards currently on their way, and one of them was purchased by someone else as a gift. They cost $724 each with tax and shipping. The new Titan X was just announced yesterday, and retails for $1200. The specs do not seem to be worth the price tag however. Yes, it's sufficient for running 4k at a stable 60fps, but It looks like my 2 cards in SLI could potentially do the same. The specs of my two cards doubled seems to be considerably superior to the Titan(if it works that way). However, I have some concerns about the actual benefits of SLI from past experience. For one, in order to take advantage of SLI performance, games need to support it. Now, this may be more common than it was 5 years ago. If a game supports SLI, will it ultimately double the resources of a single card? (clock speed, ram etc.) Secondly, How many future AAA titles do you think will support SLI?

If you check the specs, the Titan X does not seem to double the performance of a single GTX1080. I believe I read something like a 20-24% increase. Enough to get 4k @ 60fps, but definitely not worth the $1200 price tag. If i didn't receive one of these cards as a gift, and couldn't sell them on ebay(potentially for a nice profit as they're sold out all over), I wouldn't even be considering it. However, if it's more likely to get me 4k @ 60fps with a majority of games, then I am willing to fork out the extra.

Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks.

the 1080s will more than likely outperform it by a quite a margin if previous trends are to be used as a baseline, however, that's only in games that fully support SLI and at the expense of more heat and higher power consumption. 2x 970s beat a 980ti (not min fps but average/max) 980s were way ahead.

[terablaze]

Also, judging by the past, how long after nvidia titan reference cards are released, do third-party titan cards become available?

[cc143]

30 minutes ago, terablaze said:

Also, judging by the past, how long after nvidia titan reference cards are released, do third-party titan cards become available?

They don't I believe, Only nvidia makes titans, othe manufacturers can't amend the design, so even if evga and asus made a titan it would essentially be the same card in a different box at best. 

 

If the titan is cheaper than /close to the price of 2 1080s get the titan, cards in sli tend to not scale well and you can always add another one if you ever need to, 2 1080s means you've maxed out your graphics setup, unless you toss them and get another card. 

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, cc143 said:

They don't I believe, Only nvidia makes titans, othe manufacturers can't amend the design, so even if evga and asus made a titan it would essentially be the same card in a different box at best.

Gigabyte and EVGA created a workaround last time, while still using the reference PCB and cooler.

 

They included their aftermarket coolers with the card for the user to install.

[App4that]

Depends on what you're doing. But the SLI configuration will cost more than the Titan X, so I vote Titan X.

[cc143]

1 minute ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Gigabyte and EVGA created a workaround last time, while still using the reference PCB and cooler.

 

They included their aftermarket coolers with the card for the user to install.

I am not aware of that but I would imagine they also charged the price of an EK waterblock for the titan above everyone else for that, plus realistically, on the reference pcb, the temps (I would imagine) wouldn;t be that better, especially on the Titan which used to throttle quite a lot from what I understand. (I also suspecy the warranty would still be void). 

 

Perhaps the 1080ti would be an option when and if it is released if the 980ti vs titan x is to be taken as an example of relevant performance, but that release should take a while.

[demonaii]

56 minutes ago, terablaze said:

If a game supports SLI, will it ultimately double the resources of a single card? (clock speed, ram etc.) Secondly, How many future AAA titles do you think will support SLI?

In a nutshell: SLI splits the load on 2 cards

I'm not sure of the future but I'm certain that AMD could potentially dominate the games developers create IF they play they cards right.

[App4that]

8 minutes ago, demonaii said:

In a nutshell: SLI splits the load on 2 cards

I'm not sure of the future but I'm certain that AMD could potentially dominate the games developers create IF they play they cards right.

Both are kinda screwed when it comes to proprietary multi card configurations. Games have changed and it's even harder  to code for SLI and Crossfire. Not saying multi config is dead, just that support from the manufacturer won't matter as much as from the developer. 

[gilang01]

The Titan will throttle like crazy. 

[Mk7-Golf-R]

I'm within $150 of the price of a Titan. I have 2 MSi armor 1080 in SLI.

 

im still within the return/exchange period. I'm wondering what would be best in my situation. 

 

I do do know if I were to drop $1200 for that one card, I couldn't stomach the cost of another one for SLI. Over $1k is insane.

[terablaze]

2 hours ago, App4that said:

Depends on what you're doing. But the SLI configuration will cost more than the Titan X, so I vote Titan X.

I'm doing high end gaming. As of now two cards = around 1400, the titan x is 1200.

[App4that]

20 hours ago, terablaze said:

I'm doing high end gaming. As of now two cards = around 1400, the titan x is 1200.

And if you really need the power later on you can SLI the Titan