Can't decide 1070 or cf 480 for VR?

bluesynk

Limp Gawd
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Oct 5, 2014
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I'm almost ready to jump into vr. I built my pc with it in mind (6600k z170mx) just needed some graphics. I was pretty sure I wanted to go with a 1070. Right price range on top of a Vive. Price on the 480s have dropped to where i can get 2 for $300 (4 gig) or $400 (8 gig). I'm thinking 8 gig for when CF wont work. Any desktop gaming is 1080p So that shouldn't be much of an issue.

Never had a dual card. Kinda want to try. Matx board after all. Not afraid of tweaking stuff and loading drivers, that's about as good fun as gaming to me.

Best single card and all but still for VR specific? at least serious sam (Big series fan) has mgpu but haven't seen anything else in the works. Do any of the racing sims work well with crossfire? If i know it works with at least a few things I want I'll be happy enough.

I know there are many drawbacks to cf (frame time and such) are there enough benefits? Do VR and CF play well together or does it make the CF and VR issues even worse?

I had to talk the kid and wife out of a PSVR. Can't screw this one up.
 
Personally I would go with a 1080 if you can afford it. I max out my 980ti. I do have the settings turned up. The 1080/1080ti will be much better than the 1070, IMO.
 
I could probably hold off until the ti drops and pick up a used 1080 then. I have about a month to go and i change my mind every 3-4 days.
 
I could probably hold off until the ti drops and pick up a used 1080 then. I have about a month to go and i change my mind every 3-4 days.
Good call. I've only been playing Elite Dangerous, but my 1080 seems to be "plenty" for it, without being "Way more than necessary." I haven't figured out how to duplicate Kyle's performance metrics with my Rift (the steamvr performance logger just shows the system idling), but GPU utilization hits 95% occasionally for just a second or two.

If you read Hardocp's performance reviews, even high-end AMD cards do not perform well. I'd stick with the fastest nVidia card I could get my hands on for VR applications, for now. This could conceivably change with Vega, but that's far enough off that I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I personally wouldn't go the 2 GPU route. The biggest problem is going to be support of a pretty niche combination in an already niche area. AFAIK Serious Sam is the only one that really supports mgpu in VR. Right now I think the best bet is the most powerful single card you can get that is holding up well in VR and that is really only the 1070 for your list. If you wait for the 1080Ti release then the 1080 will probably be within your price range but no one really knows when the 1080Ti will drop. Guessing based only on when the 980Ti came out I would say Summer of this year because that's exactly 2 years from the release date of the 980Ti so Nvidia will want their 980Ti buyers to get the upgrade itch and buy one. :)
 
I hadn't even considered a 980ti. they fall in there somewhere too don't they?
 
You could 980ti, but more power, more heat, more noise. For around the same price, 1070 is the way to go.
But whatever you do, nVidia is the way to go for VR.
 
You could 980ti, but more power, more heat, more noise. For around the same price, 1070 is the way to go.
But whatever you do, nVidia is the way to go for VR.
The 980ti and 1070 are pretty close and performance aren't they?
I still say the 1080 is your best bet.
 
You could 980ti, but more power, more heat, more noise. For around the same price, 1070 is the way to go.
But whatever you do, nVidia is the way to go for VR.
There are also some architecture advantages to Pascal-based cards vs. Maxwell. Pascal has a feature called 'simultaneous multi-projection' that mitigates the penalty of rendering the same geometry multiple times from different viewpoints. This is directly applicable to the VR scenario where every frame involves rendering two separate images.
 
You can't depend on multiple GPUs for VR anymore than conventional gaming so that is not a good route.
 
'simultaneous multi-projection' sound like a biggie for vr. Any linkage?
There are also some architecture advantages to Pascal-based cards vs. Maxwell. Pascal has a feature called 'simultaneous multi-projection' that mitigates the penalty of rendering the same geometry multiple times from different viewpoints. This is directly applicable to the VR scenario where every frame involves rendering two separate images.
 
id avoid any dual gpu setup right now and go with the most powerful single card you can afford.
 
do not get crossfire 480s, better off with a $239 fury after rebate. I picked up an oculus last friday and shocked how demanding it is. my framerates dropped from 215fps at 1080p on an lcd to 70fps in VR. Your goal in vr is to maintain 90fps+ and i am using an R9 390 8gb nitro. I have not played with my 480s but i have no reason to believe they are much better if at all then my 390, I have a fury showing up tomorrow so ill comment more after that.

Personally i was leaning towards a $349 1070 after rebate, but some games like project cars that i want to play can crush a 1080 in VR so i thought, fury now, vega later maybe.
 
Ok 480s are out. I think I have myself talked into a 1080 for now but that is a good chunk of change on top of a vive on top of a credit card not quite paid off from the pc build. (I peaked at a titan but ran away crying) This is tough. It is a pretty big investment. I hope there will be a few free demos, im gonna be broke.
 
Ok 480s are out. I think I have myself talked into a 1080 for now but that is a good chunk of change on top of a vive on top of a credit card not quite paid off from the pc build. (I peaked at a titan but ran away crying) This is tough. It is a pretty big investment. I hope there will be a few free demos, im gonna be broke.

I would never want to encourage some to spend money they shouldn't, and I've certainly been guilty of doing that. But I've had a blast with the Vive. It's certainly not for everyone, from cost to motion sickness, but this is technology that's not going away. For me so far it's been the simple things I've enjoyed the most. VR Hoops, a basketball free throw shooting arcade game, if that makes sense, I'm hooked on that stupid thing now. Basketball hoops come out in random positions for a number period and you try to make as many shots as you can by "shooting" the controller like a basketball.

I know these kinds of games wouldn't make most people spend this kind of money, and certainly the more notable titles can be great as well, it's just the physical interaction even for basic stuff like I've described that makes it fun to me. I've been into PC gaming for 25 years, the Vive is the single coolest piece of hardware I've ever bought for PC gaming.
 
Just to chum on in, I have two 1070's in SLI, Vive and for Serious Same VR and First Encounter I have everything closed to maxed out (Ultra + settings) and they run smooth as butter, fun as hell. I recommend you read HardOCP VR reviews -> the 480 is not what will give you a good experience. Minimum I say for VR is a 1070 for a good experience.
 
I second SomeGuy133 suggestion. Multi-card solutions tend to come with their own set of problems (and varied level of support across the library of potential games). Go with the fastest single card solution you can afford.
 
additionally i am all for VR but i am waiting for StarVR or a better Vive/Rift because res is total shit and i feel its lack luster as of now.

If you are stretched on case wait for next gen VR that are more supported, better specs, and work better. Thats what i am doing.
 
I kept telling myself wait for second gen and cards to catch up (ie midrange cards supporting vr). Unfortunately I tried a gear vr. Haven't enjoyed a regular game since.
 
Well I definitely enjoy VR games and they really feel different but I still enjoy regular gaming as well. For me it is almost two separate ways of playing games that don't conflict.
 
multi card no.
AMD no.
AMD multi card... what was the question?

I agree 1070+
I'm on a 980ti (similar performer) with Rift and it is ace.
 
Well I definitely enjoy VR games and they really feel different but I still enjoy regular gaming as well. For me it is almost two separate ways of playing games that don't conflict.

VR ruined gaming for me. I was completely happy playing overwatch a few hours a week and now that I have VR my old game collection just dont do it for me. The sad part is, the VR selection is pretty much garbage -- but you just know its going to be huge and having that immersion is great.
 
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