Would appreciate opinions on going from 980ti SLI to single GTX 1080?

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Neon01

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My current rig is in the sig. I've not been entirely happy with my SLI setup, but I don't want to sacrifice too much in performance for some games. Truth be told, most of the time I find myself playing games that don't really tax my hardware anyway, like Diablo 3, FFXIV or indy games like Inside or something similar.

I also plan to play The Witcher 3 when the GoTY release comes, since I only got about 10 hours into it the first time. I didn't finish it previously because my hardware just couldn't handle 4k very well, and it was quite a choppy experience, perhaps due to SLI, but I don't know. Granted, it's unlikely that a single 1080 will even do as well as my 980ti SLI, but I've read that it's not far off for this particular game.

I figure I can get about $800 for my current setup on ebay (with the blocks), so with the new 1080 gpu block that would put me about even on price.

So, given that background, does this switch make sense?

edit: also, I'm down to either the Asus Strix A8G model or the Gigabyte G1 Gaming. The former seems the better performing card, but the latter can be water cooled without impact to warranty. Any thoughts on this are appreciated too.
 
I would get a Titan X if you are replacing two 980 Tis. 980 Ti is about on par with 1070, a 1080 is a step up over the 980 Ti but it will definitely perform worse in any games that support SLI.
 
A single 1080 from 980 Ti SLI?

It will perform about 15 to 30% better in titles that don't support SLI. In games that support SLI, and support it well, you'll lose a lot of performance with a single 1080.

As the previous poster said - a TitanXP is a much better choice, and you'd not be losing nearly as much performance (but still some) in titles that support SLI well.
 
Two card SLI support isn't that bad with NVIDIA cards so I really don't think it's worth spending the money to upgrade right now from your current setup. I only upgraded to a Titan XP because my girlfriend needed an upgrade so I could gift her the 980 Ti, and then upgrade my single card setup to the Titan XP. It's rare for a major game to not get SLI support and most of the games that don't run under SLI aren't titles that will require that type of horsepower. My 2 cents, anyway.
 
Thanks. I had thought about that, but a) it's pricey (it's really more the lacking value it represents rather than overall cost), and b) I don't even know how to get one. Only sold through Nvidia and they don't even have a back order system/wait list. I guess I just have to spam check Nvidia's site in the hopes that I can snag one?
 
Yeah, basically. You can only buy it through NVIDIA. I just camped the page on my work PC and refreshed every 15-20 minutes or so until it came into stock. They usually get a stock update every day.
 
Neon01 said:
Thanks. I had thought about that, but a) it's pricey (it's really more the lacking value it represents rather than overall cost), and b) I don't even know how to get one. Only sold through Nvidia and they don't even have a back order system/wait list. I guess I just have to spam check Nvidia's site in the hopes that I can snag one?
Click to expand...

Yeah, unless you can buy the card from an OEM, which is extremely doubtful since they usually package them with a whole PC build.
 
Going from a 980Ti SLI setup to a single 1080 is a significant (make that huge) step backwards where all SLI capable games are concerned, especially if you are gaming at high resolutions where all that power can be put to use.

If you don't care about SLI capable games or are just looking into VR, it's a very small gain to be had and if your 980Ti's are OC'ed and dialed in properly, even less so. (Mine were heavily OC'ed and I was seeing less than a 5% advantage of jumping to a 1080, even when it also was OC'ed.)

I'd wait for a 1080Ti to materialize by year's end or go for broke with a new Titan X now. A single 1080 over what you currently have will be.... well, underwhelming to say the least and feel like very little noticeable gain for all the money/time/effort spent.

And a 980Ti SLI setup will handle Witcher 3 at 4k much, much better than a single 1080. Just need to make sure you have your profile/settings dialed in correctly for the game.
 
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Rizen said:
Yeah, basically. You can only buy it through NVIDIA. I just camped the page on my work PC and refreshed every 15-20 minutes or so until it came into stock. They usually get a stock update every day.
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Great tip, I just snagged one using this technique. Thanks!

Pretty stoked for it. How long did it take to receive yours? I just used the standard 3-7 day shipping and I'm east coast, so I'm figuring sometime next week.
 
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Not sure, since I used 2 day shipping. Ordered mine on a Thursday and received it Monday.
 
Yup, received mine the day after I received the shipping confirmation, also used standard shipping, but it seems one of their shipping/distribution centers is here in Minnesota (Lino Lakes) which must have helped. Getting yours by early next week would be a safe bet.
 
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