I can't decide if I should buy a reference or aftermarket GPU

[BNWilliams007]

Hello, with the launch of the GTX 1080 in a few hours, I'm beginning to have second thoughts of whether or not if I should buy the reference (Founder's Edition) card or wait until some reviews for the aftermarket versions are released. Prior to the announcement of the Gtx 1080, I had my eyes set on the Gigabyte Xtreme 980 ti due to the well built cooler and benchmarks, and now that the Gtx 1080 version of that design has been announced, I'm thinking about just waiting for that. However, I heard that aftermarket cards aren't good to run in SLI. I'm thinking about sometime in the near future to get a VR headset and with Nvidia's announcement of being able to render VR imagery for each eye in an SLI set up, that two founder's edition 1080s would be a wise investment. Then again though, I'd be loosing the better cooling and OCing capabilities than if I went with two aftermarket cards. Also is it not a good idea to run a reference and aftermarket card in SLI? I was thinking about having the Aftermarket on top and a reference card on the bottom to protect it from the exhausting heat from the other card.

Here is my current build in progress: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/fxDDCJ

I currently have the Corsair 750D Airflow Edition case and plan to add more case fans soon, so as you can see I have very good airflow and a lot of space. Judging by this, would you recommend on buying a reference 1080 or wait for the aftermarket cards. Aside from that, would two reference 1080s be a better SLI configuration than two aftermarket cards in my case? Or would it be effective to run a reference and aftermarket card in SLI? Thank you for your time.

 

[rhelmar1]

The founder edition does not have better cooling. In fact it suffers from thermal throttling. Here is a video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXUo1S55ZUM
The aftermarkte cards will have better cooling, meaning more overclocking headroom. My advice would be to wait for the aftermarket cards and buy the one with the best cooling.
Besides that 1300w PSU is way overkill. Even for 2 cards.

 

[BNWilliams007]

Oh ok, my 1300 watt PSU isn't a danger to my components is it? I was originally going to get the 1000 watt version but then I found a deal for the 1300 watt for nearly the same price so I just went with that.

Would it be a problem for my other components regarding heat if I were to sli two aftermarket 1080's?

 

[Zerk2012]

The GTX 1080 is only a 180 Watt video card I would think the aftermarket versions will be factory overclocked a bit drawing in the 200 Watt area.
Everything you have is fine you can drop all those fans you have listed their not needed.
It really don't matter got up this morning and all the GTX 1080's are gone.

 

[Wayfall]

Well reference cards suck air in from inside the case into card then out the back of your GPU which is the back of the case so they run slightly hot, the GTX 1080 seems to be having issues with overheating and throttling at the moment.

My current GPU is an MSI GTX 970 4Gb and has the twin frozr cooler which is a blower cooler. Its silent and never goes above 60C.

 

[Eximo]

A decent 850W should be fine.

1300W is good for four GPUs or so.

 

[rhelmar1]

Oh ok, my 1300 watt PSU isn't a danger to my components is it? I was originally going to get the 1000 watt version but then I found a deal for the 1300 watt for nearly the same price so I just went with that.

Would it be a problem for my other components regarding heat if I were to sli two aftermarket 1080's?

If you have a big case with good airflow (which you have), you won't really run into problems using aftermarket cards. Having a bigger power supply is never a problem, however it's unnecessary. For 2 1080s an 850w PSU is enough. Like Zerk2012 said above, you don't really need all of those case fans. This video looks at how many case fans you really need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OmkmluAYAQ

 

[mlga91]

A decent 850W should be fine.

1300W is good for four GPUs or so.

Those new cards dont support three way sli, 800W+ PSUs will be useless if you do a nvidia build.

 

[rhelmar1]

A decent 850W should be fine.

1300W is good for four GPUs or so.

Those new cards dont support three way sli, 800W+ PSUs will be useless if you do a nvidia build.

They do support 3 and 4 way SLI, you just have to unlock it by using the enthusiast key from nvidia.

 

[Eximo]

Not a recommendation to use 4 GPUs. Just a comment on what a 1300W supply is for. That or a truly massive array of drives.

1300W supply comes with its own problems. You have to be careful with the wiring on the circuit it is plugged into. If it is close to being fully loaded it is using nearly 1500W. That is over 80% what a standard 115AC 15amp circuit is capable of. Don't expect much more then lights for the room and power for the monitor...

My understanding is that 3 and 4 way SLI isn't officially supported with Pascal, but there is already a work around to get it working.

I've had an SLI setup for about 3 or 4 years now. Most of the new game engines are not bothering to support it and are holding out for DX12 and Async mode, so I may not bother with it this go around and just get one of the latest cards.

 

[BNWilliams007]

Thank you for your feedback everyone, well due to all the news of the reference gtx 1080 having thermal throttling issues, I've decided that I'll just wait for the after market cards with better coolers to release. I currently have my eyes on the Asus ROG Strix and the Gigabyte Extreme Gaming Editions.

 

[Plumboby]

go aftermarket refrence means refrence they dont last & lackluster in preformance wait for the proper aftermarkets cards u be happier u be diapointwed using refrence