NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 PCI-Express Scaling

[Jay_ombie]

If it's the system in your specs, it'll run, but you will experience some CPU bottlenecking. Not in all games or at all resolutions, but it's going to happen.

you'll lose a few/several/double digit percent at 1080p, sure. Between the couple % from pcie 2.0 and the notably lower IPC of the sandybridge cpu (even with it overclocked), it will make a difference in most titles. That said, surely you'll still reach 144hz/fps id imagine.

It depends on the game; Some games are just fine with an old 2600K but many are not. Even if the average FPS on old Intel quad cores looks okay, the minimum framerates are really bad compared to newer higher-core count CPUs with more cache and faster RAM. I moved one of my machines from a i7-3770K on DDR3-1600 to an R7 3700X on DDR4-3200 when they came out over a year ago and games that I thought were running okay suddenly ran much more smoothly when the action started getting busy.

Thanks guys,

I been thinking the computer route but there is a big difference (for me) in buying the £700 card compared to buying a whole new computer system plus the 3080 card which knocks it close to approx £1800.

The computer is old yet still plays exceedingly adequately the games I play at 1080p. Comparing my system with friends computers that were brought earlier this year or late 2019 using UserBenchmark my system is beating theirs hands down. Largely due to the 1080ti (oc) but nevertheless its doing the job still but it will certainly depend on the games I choose to play and eventually I will need to throw in the towel and just get a new system.

Meantime my focus is for VR which requires a lot of GPU horse power above all else. I use a RIFT CV1 at present, so my thinking is all I need is like an extra 30/40% increase in FPS and I can play at 90fps which my current VR set is designed to max out at rather than the 45 FPS is tends to default to due to the taxing games (heavy modded SKyrim).

I checked the CPU whilst playing and the cores hover around the 60/70% max mark so I still have some head room plus I helped my cause by over clocking my CPU to 4498.95MHz as well, its been at this clock speed for years (I overclock everything).

I am glad to at least hear that the limitation of the PCIe isn't going to hamper me as much as I was first worried about. Its just about balancing what I need minimum like compared to simply getting a new computer system for the sake of new tech and how many more frames I get over my old tech when I could technically just use a new GPU with old stuff and still gloriously sail in the fast lane with the games I play.

 

[lexluthermiester]

The computer is old yet still plays exceedingly adequately the games I play at 1080p

If you're only going to play at 1080p, your 1080ti is still an excellent card unless you want the RTX features. So for your situation, waiting for the 3060/3070 cards to come out would be a better idea, especially if you plan on upgrading the rest of your system later.

 

[Jay_ombie]

If you're only going to play at 1080p, your 1080ti is still an excellent card unless you want the RTX features. So for your situation, waiting for the 3060/3070 cards to come out would be a better idea, especially if you plan on upgrading the rest of your system later.

Thats my thinking, if I can at least grab the card - hack my case to squeeze it in and get some use from its booster clocks until I am able to commit to a full upgraded system.
I also over clocked the overclock on the 1080ti so that's performing like the clappers to keep my VR bearable.

 

[Chrispy_]

Thats my thinking, if I can at least grab the card - hack my case to squeeze it in and get some use from its booster clocks until I am able to commit to a full upgraded system.
I also over clocked the overclock on the 1080ti so that's performing like the clappers to keep my VR bearable.

So you don't have the budget to upgrade the CPU and GPU at the same time? You now have to decide if you want to upgrade the GPU or the CPU first.

IMO, a new CPU with the existing 1080Ti will be faster/better than your old 2600K and an RTX3080.

Buying a 3080 right now is a bad idea anyway - it's extremely hard to get one at all, and you're likely to be price-gouged. You will definitely need to spend another $150 on a power supply as you're going to want a new one for a 3080 with at least 60A on a single 12V rail (and I'd be surprised if your 9-year-old OCZ unit can still do that). Once you get it all sorted you'll fire up a game and the fps counter will show higher numbers but when it felt bad due to CPU slowdowns before, it'll still feel exactly as bad now and you'll have about a $1000 hole in your wallet and a small space heater burning through your power bills.

Unless you have a 4K montor (or high-refresh 1440p monitor) there's literally zero point in buying a 3080. Get the monitor and CPU first, then upgrade the 1080Ti with whatever's best at that point in time. Second-guessing what you'll want in the distant future but paying a premium up front for it right now is a choice you're entitled to make but not one I can recommend. Let's say the 3080's 10GB is relevant for the next 24 months. Are you going to have a 4K monitor and new CPU in the next 12 months? If not, you can bet that the 3080 won't cost $700 and won't have availability/stability issues 12 months from now, and there's a non-zero chance that the 3080 won't even be the best choice of graphics card by then.

 

[Jay_ombie]

So you don't have the budget to upgrade the CPU and GPU at the same time? You now have to decide if you want to upgrade the GPU or the CPU first.

IMO, a new CPU with the existing 1080Ti will be faster/better than your old 2600K and an RTX3080.

Yeah, a new CPU would be a good direction except it would have to be Motherboard + CPU + Ram + PSU(maybe) + Case(as old one had it) so whole computer. The more I contemplate my options the more I will now probably have to go this route though.


Buying a 3080 right now is a bad idea anyway - it's extremely hard to get one at all, and you're likely to be price-gouged. You will definitely need to spend another $150 on a power supply as you're going to want a new one for a 3080 with at least 60A on a single 12V rail (and I'd be surprised if your 9-year-old OCZ unit can still do that). Once you get it all sorted you'll fire up a game and the fps counter will show higher numbers but when it felt bad due to CPU slowdowns before, it'll still feel exactly as bad now and you'll have about a $1000 hole in your wallet and a small space heater burning through your power bills.

Valid view, I am reading up on issues with the first batch of 3080, assuming you can actually get one. My PSU is a 850W so possibly could be okay but I would need to review the rails.

Unless you have a 4K montor (or high-refresh 1440p monitor) there's literally zero point in buying a 3080. Get the monitor and CPU first, then upgrade the 1080Ti with whatever's best at that point in time. Second-guessing what you'll want in the distant future but paying a premium up front for it right now is a choice you're entitled to make but not one I can recommend. Let's say the 3080's 10GB is relevant for the next 24 months. Are you going to have a 4K monitor and new CPU in the next 12 months? If not, you can bet that the 3080 won't cost $700 and won't have availability/stability issues 12 months from now, and there's a non-zero chance that the 3080 won't even be the best choice of graphics card by then.

My main aim is to use the 3080 for VR... My Monitor VG278Q 144Hz is fine for the games I play on flat screen but I need the added power of the 3080 solely for my VR pleasure.

But with the views you guys on here have shed and with the current supply and demand on the 3080 going AWOL I can see my next step will be a new computer.
I will carry on using my 1080ti until late 2020 but probably early 2021 more likely when the 3080 is only then fully in stock and has an established driver support.

Its a big financial step for me, but passions of the PC is worth it in the end..

 

[Chrispy_]

For the record, I have a Rift DK2 and a Samsung Odyssey HMD and my 2070S is more than up to the job. The problem with VR is minimum framerates, something that your 1080Ti is not to blame for.

Without a doubt, the 1080Ti is fine for current VR titles, it's your ancient DDR3 and Sandy Bridge platform holding everything up.

 

[Rebe1]

I somehow missed this article. @W1zzard question to you: if you could guess / estimate general performance difference (roughly) in games between pcie 3.0 x16 vs pcie 3.0 x4 using RTX 3080 - what would it be? I have rx 6800 nonXT and with R5 5600x @B550 motherboard it is ~3000 pts on TimeSpy (graphics score)...

 

[W1zzard]

X4 3.0 is pretty much equal to x16 1.1, you can use those results from the review