[SOLVED] Should I keep my Titan RTX?

[pcptheorem]

Hi,

I've been building a system over the past month with a Founders Edition Titan RTX. I have the option of returning it for a full refund by Sept 24. Should I do it? The reason I'm in two minds is --

(1) 3090 is 3 slots while RTX is 2. So I could have 3 Founders Edition 3080 + 1 24 GB RTX. But this may be negated by non-Founders Edition 3080s (which I'm planning to get regardless) being 2.2ish slots if those are much better in 4 card configs. Also if I miss out on buying 3080s on Sept 17 due to demand, I may not be able to get one for months.

(2) I could just get 1 3090 and 2 3080. Also maybe Titan RTX would be much cheaper in a few months anyway so I could get it again then?

 

[iiSlashr]

Wait, what ? You can't run 1 3090 and 2 3080 in the same build, they'd have to all be the same card and even then only the 3090 supports 2-way NVLink. If you're looking at the 3090 over the Titan RTX, I would say absolutely yes, it has much better performance for significantly cheaper. A "4 card config" isn't plausible, and hasn't been for years, because cards quite simply don't need it. The concept of diminishing returns applies perfectly here, even if you could run quad-SLI with 3080s it would likely roughly equal the performance of one 3090.

 

[pcptheorem]

Wait, what ? You can't run 1 3090 and 2 3080 in the same build, they'd have to all be the same card and even then only the 3090 supports 2-way NVLink. If you're looking at the 3090 over the Titan RTX, I would say absolutely yes, it has much better performance for significantly cheaper. A "4 card config" isn't plausible, and hasn't been for years, because cards quite simply don't need it. The concept of diminishing returns applies perfectly here, even if you could run quad-SLI with 3080s it would likely roughly equal the performance of one 3090.

So the build is partly for deep learning which is why I want 4 cards. I understand that I can't have NVLink across diff cards. But I should be able to have different type cards in the same build right?

 

[iiSlashr]

But I should be able to have different type cards in the same build right?

No. NVLink or SLI is how multi-card setups work, and the 3070/80 don't support either. The 3090 supports up to two-card NVLink. Those two both require that you use the exact same card to work.

 

[pcptheorem]

No. NVLink or SLI is how multi-card setups work, and the 3070/80 don't support either. The 3090 supports up to two-card NVLink. Those two both require that you use the exact same card to work.

I agree they won't be able to function together for a game but I can still use them independently -- https://superuser.com/questions/129... technically work,to render graphics in games.

Though I do not know if 2 of the same type can be used together if there's a third that's of a different type.

 

[rcald2000]

pcptheorem Hello. I know nothing about deep learning, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that the RTX 3090 is the generational replacement for the RTX Titan. And I'm assuming that the 24GB of VRAM is needed for your application, otherwise you probably would have originally purchased a RTX 2080 Ti. Since the cost of the RTX Titan is $2,500 USD, could you not return it and purchase two RTX 3090's for $3,000 instead? If the additional VRAM is not needed then perhaps three RTX 3080's might be indicated. Your thoughts?

Addendum: I re-read your original question and noticed that I didn't really answer your question. It's a tough question to answer without knowing your motherboard, since your main concern is slot spacing. I'm honestly not sure if there is any motherboard on the market that'll support two 3 slot GPUs, and allow sufficient spacing between the cards. I have friends that use multi-gpu rigs for graphics applications, such as blender. I know a few of them have previously built multi-GPU rigs with AIO water cooling, such as EVGA's hybrid GPUs (e.g. EVGA GTX 980 Ti Hybrid, EVGA GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid, etc). Those cards have traditionally been no more than 2.0 slots in width. For example I knew someone that built a new system with four EVGA GTX 1080 Hybrid GPU's. On behalf of your post, I perused the EVGA site and found the listing for the future product (below):

 

[pcptheorem]

pcptheorem Hello. I know nothing about deep learning, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding that the RTX 3090 is the generational replacement for the RTX Titan. And I'm assuming that the 24GB of VRAM is needed for your application, otherwise you probably would have originally purchased a RTX 2080 Ti. Since the cost of the RTX Titan is $2,500 USD, could you not return it and purchase two RTX 3090's for $3,000 instead? If the additional VRAM is not needed then perhaps three RTX 3080's might be indicated. Your thoughts?

Thanks. I was wary as a 3090 would take 3 slots but since then I found out that I can use PCIe extenders to accomodate the GPUs so I will return my Titan RTX yea.

 

[rcald2000]

Please view my addendum above your last post. I do not know whether the Hybrid model will be two or three slots in width. However, on behalf of your posting, I just emailed the questions below to EVGA. I will let you know what their response is when they send me one.

Hello. I have a few questions about the new Hybrid card:

(1) Is it double or triple width?

(2) Is the connected radiator 120 or 240mm (one or two fans)?

(3) When does this card go on sale in the U.S.?

(4) What will be the price of this card?

 

[pcptheorem]

Please view my addendum above your last post. I do not know whether the Hybrid model will be two or three slots in width. However, on behalf of your posting, I just emailed the questions below to EVGA. I will let you know what their response is when they send me one.

Hello. I have a few questions about the new Hybrid card:

(1) Is it double or triple width?

(2) Is the connected radiator 120 or 240mm (one or two fans)?

(3) When does this card go on sale in the U.S.?

(4) What will be the price of this card?

Thank you so much! Even if the Hybrid is <3 slots, if it's >2 slots it will still be impossible to accomodate 4 GPUs in the machine without a PCIe extender tho.