GTX 880 - Who Should Wait?

[johnstac]

I've been working on a build for the past few weeks and most everything has been ordered or is already sitting on my shop table. My biggest obstacle as of late was whether to go for the 780ti or possibly the less expensive 780 6GB. So what does this have to do with the new GTX 880? Let me tell you.

In contemplation over whether to purchase the GTX 780ti vs GTX 780 6GB, most of the opponents of the 6GB card argue that it is ridiculous to buy a card with 6GB of memory when most games aren't even using 3GB. I don't disagree. At present I cannot see the 6GB card being useful for anything other than maybe an SLI configuration at 4K. So having said all of that, here is my question. Why is the new GTX 880 going to be released with 4GB and rumored to also be coming out with an 8GB version? What do they know that we don't? I haven't heard any speculation as to why more memory but I am curious.

Reading forum posts back from May, June and July many were asking whether they should wait on the 780ti until this 880 is released. Now we are in the 3rd week of August and damm it, I want to know; Do I wait another few weeks with the announcement due in September or do I just finish the build with the 780ti? I had planned on the purchasing the EVGA 780ti SC, so I suppose I will have the step up option but that can cost a lot of money for a lack of patience. Am I too close now to buy? Do I just let the boxes of new equipment sit for another month? I'm also concerned that retailers generally give just 30 days on their return policy. What say you?

 

[legend001523]

Build your pc, play with integrated graphics, wait for 800 series to be released, see if it suits you or not, if not, get 780 or 780 ti as prices will drop, if yes, get the 880, that way, you will win whatever happens

 

[rmpumper]

If you do not need a new PC right away (no new games are out, so no rush I would think) you should wait. Even if 880 is not better than 780Ti, it will most definitely drop the prices on 700 series and you might be able to grab that 780Ti for the price of 780 (when 760 was released the prices of 670s dropped to 660Ti level).

 

[RobCrezz]

For years they have been selling cards with vram sizes that are way larger than needed, because the uninformed will pay extra for it.

See the 4gb ddr3 gt 640 - Hilariously more vram that it can ever use, with the kicker that its mega slow vram actually ends up bottlenecking a low performance card anyway!

 

[Delroy Monjo]

If I had waited for the next big computer gadget breakthrough, I'd still be looking at 1990.

 

[renz496]

what is your current GPU?

 

[johnstac]

Currently I have dual GTX580. I build a new rig every 3 years or so. The new motherboard is an Asus Maximus Hero VII and so I will have to check and see if that comes with any integrated video. That could be an option. I could also continue to use the old rig but could you imagine how that would feel?. Sitting there on an old i7-2600K with a brand new rig next to you that just needs a couple of video cards. The smell of new parts flows through the air.........Ah crap, maybe I will just buy and step up in a month! LOL. Kidding. I'll have to see. I still have to put everything together including a Kraken x61 and I've never used an AIO. Maybe it will take a little while.

 

[renz496]

Dual 580 is have plenty of raw performance even by today standards although the VRAM might be a bit lacking if you got the one with 1.5gb model. Even going for a single 780 might be it much of an upgrade. The only real advantage is you don't need to deal with scaling issue with 780. If I were you I will wait for the 800 series or even the big maxwell before making the jump.

 

[Gaidax]

I've been working on a build for the past few weeks and most everything has been ordered or is already sitting on my shop table. My biggest obstacle as of late was whether to go for the 780ti or possibly the less expensive 780 6GB. So what does this have to do with the new GTX 880? Let me tell you.

In contemplation over whether to purchase the GTX 780ti vs GTX 780 6GB, most of the opponents of the 6GB card argue that it is ridiculous to buy a card with 6GB of memory when most games aren't even using 3GB. I don't disagree. At present I cannot see the 6GB card being useful for anything other than maybe an SLI configuration at 4K. So having said all of that, here is my question. Why is the new GTX 880 going to be released with 4GB and rumored to also be coming out with an 8GB version? What do they know that we don't? I haven't heard any speculation as to why more memory but I am curious.

Reading forum posts back from May, June and July many were asking whether they should wait on the 780ti until this 880 is released. Now we are in the 3rd week of August and damm it, I want to know; Do I wait another few weeks with the announcement due in September or do I just finish the build with the 780ti? I had planned on the purchasing the EVGA 780ti SC, so I suppose I will have the step up option but that can cost a lot of money for a lack of patience. Am I too close now to buy? Do I just let the boxes of new equipment sit for another month? I'm also concerned that retailers generally give just 30 days on their return policy. What say you?

People back in the day claimed none will ever need more that 512KB RAM....

Anyway, 6GB is too much yes and will probably still be too much for 2-3 next years, however 3GB is pretty stingy and with a bit of an effort it can be used up (especially if you mod your games with higher quality textures). 3GB is fine in 2014, however in 2015 it will be a bare minimum for higher quality settings (since just about any mid-range video card in 2015 will sport at least 3GB VRAM) and in 2016 - 3GB simply won't be not enough if you will want quality.

So I suggest you wait for 880 and have your behind covered with a reasonable 4GB solution.

 

[legend001523]

A 6gb 780 Is already out and a 780 ti 6gb is due to be out soon

 

[17seconds]

Dual 580s are nearly as fast as a GTX 780 Ti.