I'm feeling a little like being caught between a rock & a hard place.
Currently I have a GTX 1080 in my Gaming rig, which I bought for $549 in 2016. It replaced an old GTX 760. All of my Gaming is on a 55" 4K TV (TCL 55R617) which supports both HDR & Dolby Vision. The machine has a 6-Core Intel & 16 GB DDR4, with an NVMe HDD & other HDDs.
When I built the system in 2016, I had built it with GTX 1080 SLI in mind. I was going to wait for a couple of years when GTX 1080 was around $350 to install a 2nd one. I already have the SLI Bridge which came with the ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080.
With the announcement of RTX Series, the prices of GTX 1080 are coming down. Just a couple weeks ago, a fresh GTX 1080 could be had for $350 on eBay using a coupon. They are around $400 or so easily right now.
Two other strong points to note here:
- The entire 31 page list of Games listed as supporting SLI on Nvidia's page here (https://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli) is essentially my entire Gaming library. In other words. Over 90% of the games I play support SLI, and even with upcoming games, I don't believe that percentage will change.
- I've already spent an enormous amount of time deep rooted into the SLI discussions and communicated with people who actually have an SLI setup, have opted for one, or in some shape or form experienced SLI first hand; not hearsay, opinions or second hand information. I have yet to meet one individual who would trade it for a non-SLI setup, and am extremely convinced of SLI's benefits, at least in my given situation.
However, now enter RTX 2080.
The thing with GTX 1080 is, while it's an amazing GPU and was a big upgrade for me coming from GTX 760, it does fall short of excelling at full 4K. I'm not able to max out most of the AAA games. Some or the other setting has to be brought down for smooth game play. Secondly, frame rates hover between 30 fps & 60 fps. If you're standing in a closed up room with maybe one other AI, you'll get 60 fps. But if you go out into the streets with expansive world around you, frame rates drop to 30 fps.
I'm looking to max out Settings and achieve a higher frame rate during action scenes, open worlds and large number of moving objects on screen.
This has been achieved by almost everyone who has GTX 1080 SLI setup.
I don't know for sure if RTX 2080 will deliver the same (And I will be waiting for reviews before making my decision), but let's assume it does.
RTX 2080 sounds great, the thing is, economically I'm not sure of it's viability.
RTX 2080 is not the same leap from GTX 1080, as say, GTX 1080 from GTX 760.
I can get away with $350 - $420 for a GTX 1080; but around $700 at the very least for RTX 2080. From everything I've read, RTX 2080 doesn't appear to be DOUBLE the performance & benefits of GTX 1080, yet it's demanding DOUBLE the price.
The other issue with RTX 2080 is, then I'll need to sell my GTX 1080 as it becomes a $549 Coaster in the house. Selling on eBay, CL etc might come easier for some who sell online often - I don't. Which makes it a very cumbersome effort for me.
While all of this might favor GTX 1080 SLI in my head - I need opinions of others. Some people are more knowledgeable about GPU's then I am. I might be missing some great big advantage of RTX 2080. Or not looking at all points.
Would seriously like some serious advice.
One note, the "SLI is dead" proclaimers can stay away from this thread. You have no idea how wrong you are and I don't have the time to bother debating with you.
I'm not planning to purchase one way or another until after Sep 20th when real world RTX 2080 reviews come out, UNLESS, I'm totally convinced I won't be going with RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 SLI is a better deal.
Thanks all.
Currently I have a GTX 1080 in my Gaming rig, which I bought for $549 in 2016. It replaced an old GTX 760. All of my Gaming is on a 55" 4K TV (TCL 55R617) which supports both HDR & Dolby Vision. The machine has a 6-Core Intel & 16 GB DDR4, with an NVMe HDD & other HDDs.
When I built the system in 2016, I had built it with GTX 1080 SLI in mind. I was going to wait for a couple of years when GTX 1080 was around $350 to install a 2nd one. I already have the SLI Bridge which came with the ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080.
With the announcement of RTX Series, the prices of GTX 1080 are coming down. Just a couple weeks ago, a fresh GTX 1080 could be had for $350 on eBay using a coupon. They are around $400 or so easily right now.
Two other strong points to note here:
- The entire 31 page list of Games listed as supporting SLI on Nvidia's page here (https://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli) is essentially my entire Gaming library. In other words. Over 90% of the games I play support SLI, and even with upcoming games, I don't believe that percentage will change.
- I've already spent an enormous amount of time deep rooted into the SLI discussions and communicated with people who actually have an SLI setup, have opted for one, or in some shape or form experienced SLI first hand; not hearsay, opinions or second hand information. I have yet to meet one individual who would trade it for a non-SLI setup, and am extremely convinced of SLI's benefits, at least in my given situation.
However, now enter RTX 2080.
The thing with GTX 1080 is, while it's an amazing GPU and was a big upgrade for me coming from GTX 760, it does fall short of excelling at full 4K. I'm not able to max out most of the AAA games. Some or the other setting has to be brought down for smooth game play. Secondly, frame rates hover between 30 fps & 60 fps. If you're standing in a closed up room with maybe one other AI, you'll get 60 fps. But if you go out into the streets with expansive world around you, frame rates drop to 30 fps.
I'm looking to max out Settings and achieve a higher frame rate during action scenes, open worlds and large number of moving objects on screen.
This has been achieved by almost everyone who has GTX 1080 SLI setup.
I don't know for sure if RTX 2080 will deliver the same (And I will be waiting for reviews before making my decision), but let's assume it does.
RTX 2080 sounds great, the thing is, economically I'm not sure of it's viability.
RTX 2080 is not the same leap from GTX 1080, as say, GTX 1080 from GTX 760.
I can get away with $350 - $420 for a GTX 1080; but around $700 at the very least for RTX 2080. From everything I've read, RTX 2080 doesn't appear to be DOUBLE the performance & benefits of GTX 1080, yet it's demanding DOUBLE the price.
The other issue with RTX 2080 is, then I'll need to sell my GTX 1080 as it becomes a $549 Coaster in the house. Selling on eBay, CL etc might come easier for some who sell online often - I don't. Which makes it a very cumbersome effort for me.
While all of this might favor GTX 1080 SLI in my head - I need opinions of others. Some people are more knowledgeable about GPU's then I am. I might be missing some great big advantage of RTX 2080. Or not looking at all points.
Would seriously like some serious advice.
One note, the "SLI is dead" proclaimers can stay away from this thread. You have no idea how wrong you are and I don't have the time to bother debating with you.
I'm not planning to purchase one way or another until after Sep 20th when real world RTX 2080 reviews come out, UNLESS, I'm totally convinced I won't be going with RTX 2080 and GTX 1080 SLI is a better deal.
Thanks all.