1080ti replacement?

[Muel]

I built my last system in between lockdowns in Covid, and bought a used 1080ti for £300, with the intention of upgrading it at some point. Fast forward 6 years and I've not kept up with hardware at all, only occasionally gaming. Prices are even more of a joke than they were then, I thought the obvious upgrade would be a 5070ti, but they're around £900, That's Titan money in my eyes. What I don't know is what are the good value cards these days? Even a used 4070ti is £500 used by the looks of it. For just casual gaming I might as well stick with the 1080ti, but I'm getting the itch to tinker again...

 

[AMDPower]

the value option is the 9070XT which is roughly similar performance as the 5070ti but £200 cheaper, FSR4 has for most part caught up with DLSS on nvidia at this point if you buy nvidia card you are just paying nvidia tax. Having said that the problem with FSR4 is that its not very widely implemented although this will improve over time.

next option is 5080 and its almost £500+ over some 9070xt models and its just not worth the price for what is 10-15% performance uplift, an argument made for 5080 is that they overclock very well and come close to performance of a 4090 but albeit with 8GB less VRAM.

the next thing is just all the way to the 5090 and although the performance is good the prices are just very inflated unless you are a hard core 4k gamer with no compromise on framerates/eye candy then 9070XT is most sensible option, I would not class the 9070xt as a true 4k card but its close and will play most games at 4k with some setting adjustments and FSR but it will do 1440p gaming no sweat.

to summarise, get 9070xt or 5090 if you can afford it, the 5080 is not worth it.

 

[something daft already!!]

I went 1080 - 2080 - 7900XTX.

Maybe look at:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-quicksilver-radeon-rx-9070-xt-gaming-edition-16gb-gddr6-gra-xfx-05452.html

 

[Muel]

Thanks for the advice, will have a think. Sounds like it's clearly either drop ~£650ish on a new 7900XT, or look at used cards again (but would have to be around £300 or less).

Just in time for GTA6.

 

[G J]

Not sure if a 7900XT and maybe a 9700/9700XT will still be getting driver/software updates by the time GTA6 comes out.

 

[Muel]

Not sure if a 7900XT and maybe a 9700/9700XT will still be getting driver/software updates by the time GTA6 comes out.

True. The wise thing to do is probably just invest the money, then build a full new system and retire with the money after it comes to PC, so I've got time to play it.

 

[AMDPower]

Thanks for the advice, will have a think. Sounds like it's clearly either drop ~£650ish on a new 7900XT, or look at used cards again (but would have to be around £300 or less).

Just in time for GTA6.

do not buy a 7900xt, not for £650 you can get 9070xt for that price or even lower, there are usually deals on them every now and then also its about ~25% faster in raytracing and that will make a big difference in games, some games now will not work without raytracing functionality built into the cards. the new DOOM the dark ages and Indiana jones games both require hardware raytracing for the games to run. I would not take anything less than 9070xt at this point not if you are spending £650.

 

[freddie64]

If you have the cash then get a 9070XT.

If you want cheaper, what about a 9070 none XT or even a 9060XT 16GB.

What is the spec of your PC and what monitor resolution?

 

[Rroff]

do not buy a 7900xt, not for £650 you can get 9070xt for that price or even lower, there are usually deals on them every now and then also its about ~25% faster in raytracing and that will make a big difference in games, some games now will not work without raytracing functionality built into the cards. the new DOOM the dark ages and Indiana jones games both require hardware raytracing for the games to run. I would not take anything less than 9070xt at this point not if you are spending £650.

Yeah the difference in ray tracing performance can be huge with the newer AMD cards over the older stuff - in some situations you are looking at a ~40% difference even vs a card which otherwise matches the newer card for raster.

 

[Scania]

I was in exactly the same boat, trusty 1080ti, casual gaming and reluctant to spend a fortune.

I got a 3080ti from the members market here for £285, it’s suited my needs perfectly without the ludicrous outlay.

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

I have a 7900XT and it is excellent.
If buying new I would grab a 9070XT.

 

[Tetras]

5070 non-Ti or 9070 non-XT are over twice as fast as the 1080 Ti and around £500.

I wouldn't buy a 4070 Ti used for £500, because the 5070 would have a warranty and performs much the same.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

£300 would get you a used 3080ti
In MM
But you'll have no warranty
A new 9070xt would be my choice

And welcome to the world of ai data centers
Buying everything in sight with
Memory on it
And nvidia having no Competition
In the highest end gpu market
Even a second hand 3090 is £600 because of
The vram

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

5070 non-Ti or 9070 non-XT are over twice as fast as the 1080 Ti and around £500.

I wouldn't buy a 4070 Ti used for £500, because the 5070 would have a warranty and performs much the same.

Before my 9700XT I had a 1080Ti (used) and it was excellent.
I'm after the best value I can get regardless of brand.
I wouldn't be buying a 5070 though. 12GB really is no good in 2026 for >£500 new.

 

[TrojanWhore]

My recent history is 1070 > 3060ti >7900XT, roughly doubling performance each time (although the 7900XT cost roughly double the 3060ti... fps/£ hasn't shifted much since )

In roughly equivilent performance terms (ignoring the 11GB VRAM, which is a factor), 1080ti = 2070S, 2080S = 3060ti, 2080ti = 3070, 3080 = 4070. (as you can see, that relationship is declining!)

If buying new, I'd definitely get a 9070XT over a 7900XT, the improved features (RT, FSR4) and longer support will more than make up for the missing 4GB. If used, a £300 or less 3080ti would seem a good buy.

If the 1080ti is working for what you play now, I'd stick with it, I expect GTA6 PC release will likely be at least 12-18 months after console.

 

[Toasty]

GPU Market sucks and so does the gaming market in general with most games being rather poor. If you are not playing much and are really waiting for GTA 6 then probably best to hold off until concrete date for PC release as will likely be into 2027.

 

[Kaapstad]

As said above if the 1080ti is still running your games okay stick with it.

I do a lot of gaming but all the stuff I play would run easy on a 1080ti even at 2160p.

There is another little bonus with the 1080ti, it uses a lot less power than some of the more modern cards.

 

[D1craig]

There is another little bonus with the 1080ti, it uses a lot less power than some of the more modern cards.

Yea until recently upgrading your gpu would always use less power but thry seem to have lost that ability now and just increase power usage for more performance.

EDIT - oh wow just realised who i quoted. I remember a while ago people asking where you was cos you hadn't posted in ages.

 

[Scania]

Yea until recently upgrading your gpu would always use less power but thry seem to have lost that ability now and just increase power usage for more performance.

EDIT - oh wow just realised who i quoted. I remember a while ago people asking where you was cos you hadn't posted in ages.

The man is busy on the Dalek Flagship, I'm surprised he found your post worthy of a response!

 

[Muel]

Thanks for all the info everyone, lots to think about but these two replies -

As said above if the 1080ti is still running your games okay stick with it.

I do a lot of gaming but all the stuff I play would run easy on a 1080ti even at 2160p.

There is another little bonus with the 1080ti, it uses a lot less power than some of the more modern cards.

Yea until recently upgrading your gpu would always use less power but thry seem to have lost that ability now and just increase power usage for more performance.

- reminded me that my 1080ti system actually runs too hot for comfort. It's a little ITX based thing with those Alphacool server radiators with 80mm fans, so they can't cool quite as much as normal 120mm rads. Water temp reaches 40-50C, which is too much for my liking. The loop is only cooling the 1080ti and my AMD 5600X.

My current GPU is an Asus ROG Strix 1080ti OC, which apparently can pull upto 280W. I can't fit any more radiator space in the case unfortunately, so ideally what I need is a GPU that's more modern, a bit quicker (quick enough that I can play GTA6 or similar at 1440p around 100fps happily), but with a lower power draw if possible, and there must be a waterblock available for it, which it appears narrows it down a lot these days? What happened to the water cooling crowd in the last 5 years or so?