[SOLVED] RTX 2070 vs GTX 1080 (non Ti)

DavidVioMC

Honorable
Apr 25, 2016
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I'm looking to upgrade my GPU because I want to get into VR and I'm currently running a Strix GTX 970 4GB OC which is the minimum required GPU for VR, I have no idea how VR and "minimum specs" hardware get along with each other but I don't want to get sick from VR because the FPS is low. I can only upgrade to either RTX 2070 or GTX 1080 (non Ti), those cards are withing my budget. On paper, both cards are very similar, same VRAM, similar cuda cores count ect. but I'm wondering which one would be better? For VR and general gaming. I'm leaning towards RTX 2070, not sure why, I think just because you get "RTX" bragging rights and it's newer architecture, not as if Pascal is old architecture. My specs are:

MSI P67A-GD55 B3
i5 2500k @ 5Ghz
Asus Strix GTX 970 4GB OC
4x4GB Kingston Fury HyperX DDR3 1600Mhz
CoolerMaster GX750W Bronze
Kingston 120GB SSD
Toshiba 1TB HDD
ThermalTake View 27 Case
Cooling;
Open loop with:
Freezemod UPR -2018 CPU Block
Freezemod PUB-FS6MA-14 Pump + 250mm reservoir
Freezemod SR-LF360G14 360mm Radiator + 4 x Corsair SP120 fans (3 radiator, 1 exhaust)

(I'm aware that my CPU will bottle neck the heck out of either GTX 1080 or RTX 2070, I plan to upgrade to i7-3770K temporarily because it's cheap and in a month or two, I plan to get new mobo and i7-8700k, I have bills to pay and I can only afford to upgrade one or two things a month.)
 
Solution
The RTX 2070 would be best as it is the very latest generation in Turing and will be much better supported going forward. If you can stretch to the RTX 2070 SUPER even better as that is quiet a bit faster than the standard 2070. More than understand on the CPU as I got worried when I saw the 2500K (great CPU in it's day!) and when you do upgrade to an 8700K or something similar, even better as it will drive the RTX 2070 to it's max. I have an 8700K and it overclocks so well...fingers crossed you can pick up a second hand one at some point..
The RTX 2070 would be best as it is the very latest generation in Turing and will be much better supported going forward. If you can stretch to the RTX 2070 SUPER even better as that is quiet a bit faster than the standard 2070. More than understand on the CPU as I got worried when I saw the 2500K (great CPU in it's day!) and when you do upgrade to an 8700K or something similar, even better as it will drive the RTX 2070 to it's max. I have an 8700K and it overclocks so well...fingers crossed you can pick up a second hand one at some point..
 
Solution

Barty1884

Retired Moderator
2070, or 2070 Super? The Super replaced the 2070, at the same pricepoint so, if considering new, the 2070 shouldn't really be on the table unless it's substantially cheaper.

A non-Super 2070 slightly outperforms a 1080 in most titles - but will depend on the specific title/resolution etc. The 2070S is out infront (it's basically a slightly downgraded 2080).
 

DavidVioMC

Honorable
Apr 25, 2016
403
1
10,865
The RTX 2070 would be best as it is the very latest generation in Turing and will be much better supported going forward. If you can stretch to the RTX 2070 SUPER even better as that is quiet a bit faster than the standard 2070. More than understand on the CPU as I got worried when I saw the 2500K (great CPU in it's day!) and when you do upgrade to an 8700K or something similar, even better as it will drive the RTX 2070 to it's max. I have an 8700K and it overclocks so well...fingers crossed you can pick up a second hand one at some point..
Thanks for your input, I have looked at RTX 2070 super and it's around the same price as a non-super so I will probably go with the Super variant, I'm not going to get a card for another week or two, so if a good deal pops up on a new RTX 2070 super, I will go for it. When it comes to the CPU, the 8700k is the minimum that I will go with, I'm considering an 9700k aswell because the price is basically identical and the 9700k has two more cores but from what I read, the 8700k is a better overclocker than 9700k, I still haven't made my mind which one I will go with but nothing older than a 8700k.
2070, or 2070 Super? The Super replaced the 2070, at the same pricepoint so, if considering new, the 2070 shouldn't really be on the table unless it's substantially cheaper.

A non-Super 2070 slightly outperforms a 1080 in most titles - but will depend on the specific title/resolution etc. The 2070S is out infront (it's basically a slightly downgraded 2080).
Thanks for your input, you're indeed correct, both cards are around the same price point so I will go with the Super variant, might aswell, I also totally forgot that most RTX cards have USB type-c for connecting VR headset with single cable, so that's another pro to get the RTX 2070 over the GTX 1080 since the biggest reason for the upgrade is to get into VR.
 
Thanks for your input, I have looked at RTX 2070 super and it's around the same price as a non-super so I will probably go with the Super variant, I'm not going to get a card for another week or two, so if a good deal pops up on a new RTX 2070 super, I will go for it. When it comes to the CPU, the 8700k is the minimum that I will go with, I'm considering an 9700k aswell because the price is basically identical and the 9700k has two more cores but from what I read, the 8700k is a better overclocker than 9700k, I still haven't made my mind which one I will go with but nothing older than a 8700k.

Thanks for your input, you're indeed correct, both cards are around the same price point so I will go with the Super variant, might aswell, I also totally forgot that most RTX cards have USB type-c for connecting VR headset with single cable, so that's another pro to get the RTX 2070 over the GTX 1080 since the biggest reason for the upgrade is to get into VR.

No problems at all...On the 8700K versus the 9700K, I would go the 9700K route (and I have a heavily overclocked 8700K which is great) as it has a couple of real additional cores and is just fractions behind the 9900K on the gaming front and the price is near enough the same...