2x RTX 2080 or single RTX 2080Ti ?

[Gripen90]

I a trying to figure out whether to cancel the MSI RTX 2080TI Duke OC I ordered about 4½months but still isn't in stock, and instead go for a pair of RTX 2080 in NVLink SLI instead ?

I cannot make up my mind which is the better long term solution so to speak. I am really temped to go with 2x RTX 2080's since I have seen their performance have improved over the GTX 1080Ti with the later driver releases and also NVLink-SLi does scale a bit better than High Bandwidth SLí. I am aware that not all games scale well but, I'm fortunate enough that my wife own's a couple of RTX 2080, so I pretty much know what to expect of them in the games I play, and I see in some titles they are running away from my own 2x Gigabyte GTX 1080Ti Gaming OC Black that run at their max stable OC in SLi.

The reason I haven't gone for another RTX 2080Ti model is because I ordered the card during a holiday sale, and it was and still is around £115 cheaper than other comparable RTX 2080Ti models.

However now I regularly see RTX 2080 on "sale" too and I would be able to get 2x RTX 2080 for the price of one RTX 2080Ti.

Should I hold out for my ordered RTX 2080Ti to get in stock, or should I cave in and cancel it and get 2x RTX 2080s instead

 

[phrases]

If you do go for x2 2080s let me know your thoughts got the duke myself but these days the cpu seems to be the bad guy holding things back so no matter what you do YMMV

 

[Cooler running]

The 2080 ti is the better buy. NVLink like setups are often unstable in lower budget games.

I'd always prefer stability over raw compute, especially when the 2080ti will outperform NVlink 2080's in many games.

 

[Apone70]

If you game in 1440p @ 144hz like your sig suggests then just stick with the 2080ti, SLI can be a hot mess and not all games support it.

 

[Gripen90]

If you do go for x2 2080s let me know your thoughts got the duke myself but these days the cpu seems to be the bad guy holding things back so no matter what you do YMMV

My wife has the MSI RTX 2080 Duke OC and a Palit RTX 2080 Gaming Pro OC and she is really happy with both of them. They are very low noise and are considerably quieter than her previous two EVGA GTX 1080 ACX SC cards in SLi.

The 2080 ti is the better buy. NVLink like setups are often unstable in lower budget games.

I'd always prefer stability over raw compute, especially when the 2080ti will outperform NVlink 2080's in many games.

If you game in 1440p @ 144hz like your sig suggests then just stick with the 2080ti, SLI can be a hot mess and not all games support it.

I am already running SLi and I am pretty happy with that - so telling me not to go SLi isn't really an option

The issue is that there are no real up to date NVLink SLi reviews or tests around. They are all from september/october last year, and the drivers and the scaling has matured quite I bit. I need to look no further than over to my wifes PC with RTX 2080 NVlink-SLi to see that they are starting to pull more away from my own GTX 1080Ti SLi setup in the games we play.

I suppose if that RTX 2080Ti isn't in stock may 8th (the shops latest update for when it should be in stock), then I'll go along with RTX 2080's.

 

[Kaapstad]

Go for the 2080 Ti as this leaves the door open to add a second later as you already know the pros and cons of SLI.

Maybe you should look at getting a different 2080 Ti as there are plenty of good ones freely available elsewhere.

As to NVLink I don't even think of it as any different to using SLI on older cards, the scaling is much the same with some games being very good while others are poor and lots have no SLI support at all.

Keep your eye on things like using DLSS with SLI as the average fps can be really good but the minimums really bad.

 

[BubbySoup]

Single card every time.

 

[Gripen90]

Go for the 2080 Ti as this leaves the door open to add a second later as you already know the pros and cons of SLI.

Maybe you should look at getting a different 2080 Ti as there are plenty of good ones freely available elsewhere.

As to NVLink I don't even think of it as any different to using SLI on older cards, the scaling is much the same with some games being very good while others are poor and lots have no SLI support at all.

Keep your eye on things like using DLSS with SLI as the average fps can be really good but the minimums really bad.

That's a good point... I have thought of the possibility of going RTX 2080Ti NVLink-SLi down the road later on perhaps.
The only annoying thing is that any other RTX 2080Ti is at least £100 more than the one I ordered... but they are in stock

 

[tyler_jrb]

Single 2080Ti. SLI isn’t what it used to be and for the most part especially with the cost of cards nowadays, isn’t worth it anymore.

 

[Cooler running]

I am already running SLi and I am pretty happy with that - so telling me not to go SLi isn't really an option

My point is always with stuff like SLI, that programmers who make games and such only have so much budget to test and try out new setups, and some old games predate the specifics of this all together.
It's not to say that it won't work, but only that it is more likely for there to be some sort of untested edge case with it over a single 2080ti.

If you've really got your heart set on the NvLink though, go for it. At the end of the day you being happy with it is what matters the most.

 

[Nasher]

Support for SLI has always been poor and there is even less now. Especially since Nvidia locked people out of it on the low/mid range cards.

 

[ArmitageShanks]

Support for SLI has always been poor and there is even less now. Especially since Nvidia locked people out of it on the low/mid range cards.

I'd counter this and say almost every major AAA title still supports SLI. I've not had any issues with it (other than I wish it was supported more in VR titles). It doesn't always scale well, at best you get an 80% bump on some titles, significantly less on others.

But if you have to choose between 2080Ti or 2x2080, go for the single 2080Ti. Add another later if you feel the need to.

 

[Scania]

Single 2080TI definitely, as already said you have the option of another later when (if?) the prices drop (I certainly wouldn’t pay full whack for a card for SLI given the hit & miss performance)

I’m planning this route eventually with another 1080ti, having previously (last year) had two 1070’s in SLI I found it worked well with the games I play so would consider it again.

 

[a66as]

I get 100fps this plus on 3440x1440p on high with my rtx 2080TI. For 2560x1440p an rtx 2080 or 1080ti should kill it

 

[Calin Banc]

I'd counter this and say almost every major AAA title still supports SLI. I've not had any issues with it (other than I wish it was supported more in VR titles). It doesn't always scale well, at best you get an 80% bump on some titles, significantly less on others.

But if you have to choose between 2080Ti or 2x2080, go for the single 2080Ti. Add another later if you feel the need to.

Out of curiosity, how's the GPU usage in games that don't scale well? Even a 3440x1440 is not that big of a resolution for a couple of 1080tis.

 

[Gripen90]

I'd counter this and say almost every major AAA title still supports SLI. I've not had any issues with it (other than I wish it was supported more in VR titles). It doesn't always scale well, at best you get an 80% bump on some titles, significantly less on others.

But if you have to choose between 2080Ti or 2x2080, go for the single 2080Ti. Add another later if you feel the need to.

Ditto same experience here. I've been running SLi (nvidia's version of it) permanently since 2006 in my main PC's, and I'd say that 2016 and 2017 were the worst years with SLi, due to lack of both support and scaling. This mostly due to DX 12, and everone thought the new API would make cross multipgu platforms supported and the API would support multiGPU's pr standard. Something that never really came to be.

 

[Kirby Wurm]

I'd say single 2080 Ti of the two, I can't speak from experience but SLI (and multi-GPU in general) doesn't seem to be supported as well in recent times.

 

[ArmitageShanks]

Out of curiosity, how's the GPU usage in games that don't scale well? Even a 3440x1440 is not that big of a resolution for a couple of 1080tis.

I need to check. As long as I'm hitting my max monitor refresh rate or in upper end of the gsync range, I'm generally happy. Can't say I'm in a rush to get another 2080ti after the failures I had with them, so my dual 1080 cards will have to last till the next overpriced nVidia or AMD disappointment is released.

 

[Gripen90]

So 5 days of use and still going strong (7-9-13 knocking on wood), and I am really happy with the card. Just like the MSI RTX 2080 Duke OC the MSI RTX 2080Ti Duke OC is a really nice big and well built cards with excellent cooling and quiet.

I am really tempted to get yet another. Unfortunately I don't think another MSI RTX 2080Ti Duke OC will fit in the lower slot since it's a 2'7 slot card and could interfere with the front audio and case power connectors. I did try to "dry fit" it the slot but didn't push it all the way down since it seemed the front audio connector was blocking on the fan shroud.
May find a 2 slot based RTX 2080Ti for NVLink.

 

[Grim5]

1500w psu?

I think you need a few more gpus in there