GTX 1070 & 1080 Madness.

[Seanoog]

Long story short.
I have two Nvidia cards ordered with Overclockers, and unsure which to keep?
MSI GTX1070 Gaming X G8 £420 ETA Tuesday (Shipped).
Palit GTX1080 Jet Stream £570 ETA Friday (Not Shipped Yet.)

Please consider I will be installing it in the following system, listed below.
With the intention of upgrading to Volta or Vega in March-April.

System Specs:
Dell U3014 (2560x1600 @60hz)
Intel i5 2500K (4.6GHz)
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 (Bios v2.3)
Corsair XMS 1333 DDR3 16GB (4x4GB)
OCZ ZX Series 850W 80 Plus Gold
OCZ Vertex4 256GB SSD x2
WD 4TB Green x4
Cooler Master CM-690 II
- I will be replacing 2x ATI 6970 Toxic Graphics Cards.

Demanding games I play/will play:
GTA5, Hitman (2016), Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, Battlefront, KSP.


I know the 1080 is 20-25% faster than the 1070.
But my biggest concern will be my older system. I am concerned the Motherboard wont like either card with its age. But I have secured a beta Bios to flash in an emergency.
I initially planned on benching and overclocking both, and keeping the highest clocked (1080 potentially?) but that's unfair to overclockers, who will have to sell on, the used card
(I work in sales, and hate customers buying + trying products, to return 2 weeks later.)
And then there is the issue, will my CPU + RAM, be able to properly feed the chosen card enough information in demanding games, too max the card?
I have confidence, however that the PSU will be sufficient to power the 1080. As each 6970 draws 280~Watts.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my thread of madness.
And I appreciate all feedback.

 

[Cleeecooo]

I don't see why the mobo wouldn't like either card - it's not that old, and PCIe hasn't changed significantly for compatibility to be an issue. Edit: Turns out there are some with issues with Pascal and older mobos. I assume your 1070's arriving tomorrow, in which case there's no harm trying to see if it works as expected!

In your position I'd got for the 1070 seeing as this is just a stop gap for you. You'd expect to see quite an increase in performance and a huge decrease in noise and temps. I don't think the extra £150 is worth it for a temporary solution, up to you ofcourse!

I initially planned on benching and overclocking both, and keeping the highest clocked (1080 potentially?) but that's unfair to overclockers, who will have to sell on, the used card
(I work in sales, and hate customers buying + trying products, to return 2 weeks later.)

You'd hate me - I have the decision making ability of a dim-witted pebble so I need to order 4 of the same thing and try them out to find 'the one'

 

[Seanoog]

Thank you Cleeecooo for the opinion, and too every one else for taking a minute to read the thread.

I have to admit I like the aesthetics of the MSI card more.
But the larger and potentially more capable cooler on the Palit is also an attractive prospect.
As for the extra £150, I can easily afford it, for an increase in 25-30% performance.
However I wont lie, £420 will be easier to sell to the parents, when the postman calls Monday/Tuesday.

I am hoping in the short term, the MSI card will fetch a better resale price
as it's a more popular brand. Then with a small increase buy Big Vega or Big Volta next year.
In the short term, a new card will allow me to play games, that I haven't been able too. The 6970 have the power to render modern games, just not enough VRAM for newer games.

 

[Jono8]

I was tempted by a 1080 but opted for a 1070 and saved myself £200. Like you it is likely only going to be a stop gap till vega/volta.

The 1080 will likely lose more money than a 1070 when you come to sell it (ie you could barely get more for a 980 than a 970, second hand. You will be able to get more but not £200 more)

A 1070 should manage WQHD at 60fps decently until next year.

 

[Cleeecooo]

The 1080 will likely lose more money than a 1070 when you come to sell it (ie you could barely get more for a 980 than a 970, second hand. You will be able to get more but not £200 more)

That's the main reason I'd advocate against going 1080. But hey, if money's not an issue, go for the best

As for the MSI vs Palit coolers, don't let the pictures fool you. The MSI cooler is absolutely humongous - I wouldn't be shocked if they could power a light aircraft

The performance of the MSI and Palit coolers will be virtually identical.

 

[jonww74]

Turns out there are some with issues with Pascal and older mobos.

After I read this I tried to find some more details on it but without luck, would you mind pointing me to any info about it? cheers.

 

[Cleeecooo]

After I read this I tried to find some more details on it but without luck, would you mind pointing me to any info about it? cheers.

I'm afraid I don't have any details either. It's a user-reported issue that I've seen cropping up enough to mention it, but it doesn't seem to be prevalent enough to recommend not buying the card.

Updating to the latest BIOS for motherboards seems to have fixed issues for all of the issues I've read about.

 

[Seanoog]

After I read this I tried to find some more details on it but without luck, would you mind pointing me to any info about it? cheers.

Officially from Nvidia, there is no issue's with Pascal and older motherboards.
But when you initially read threads like this, it makes you wonder is Pascal temperamental? Ultimately it was a faulty graphics card, but I remember it sticking with me, when considering an upgrade.
@ https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18736998

As for my purchasing dilemma.
I phoned overclockers this morning and cancelled the older of the Palit 1080.
When everything was considered, the cheaper MSI 1070 and potentially easier card to sell later on, was the best option for me.
Still no delivery man yet. And I can't for see him arriving until Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[Cleeecooo]

Isn't it cming via DPD? They should give you a 1 hour window

 

[RanxZy]

Definitely 1070 all day when you're at 60Hz 1600p. You won't be able to literally see any difference between 60fps abd 80fps for example. Will be a major increase on your dual 6970s. Use the money saved to put towards a better system when Volta comes out. The 1070 will serve you well and is less likely to depreciate as much as the 1080 when the next consumer high end card comes out.

 

[Doogles]

I think the 1070 as we have the same setup and I've noticed some bottlenecking in some games. It's not that bad but I don't think I'll be upgrading my GPU again until I have a new CPU and motherboard. Hate a GPU to be held back by other stuff.

 

[Seanoog]

Isn't it cming via DPD? They should give you a 1 hour window

I always knew today was wishful thinking.
DPD have it listed on reute to local depot in Ireland, with expected delivery of Wednesday.
I am hoping late tomorrow..

I think the 1070 as we have the same setup and I've noticed some bottlenecking in some games. It's not that bad but I don't think I'll be upgrading my GPU again until I have a new CPU and motherboard. Hate a GPU to be held back by other stuff.

Doogles can you expand on what AAA games are CPU limited, that you have observed?
I know RTS games, and physics heavy games like Kerbal Space Program will also limit performance.

Makes me wish I bought the more expensive i7 2700k.
But Hyperthreading back then was a liability in games.