You want to buy a GPU?

[the_matrix_guy]

Amazon has quite a few in stock, prices are
getting a little better too:

https://www.ign.com/articles/daily-d...-4k-gaming-tvs

Although it looks like we’ll never see the 3080 Founder’s at $699 ever, with the overclocked 3080 partner cards changing SKUs and the 4000 series around the corner. Hopefully, if Nvidia is feeling generous, they’ll give us something comparable for around 700-800 with the 4000 series.

[the_matrix_guy]

Seajay Look, this is the new PSU standard that I was telling you about: this article is brand new:

PC Gamer: Intel releases the ATX 3.0 power supply spec

[Seajay]

Uhh I don't like that at all honestly. That is expecting GPU's to use stupid amounts of power. So either GPU tech is hitting the power wall CPU's hit about 6 years ago, where the only way to get more performance was more juice. Or, this will turn out to be a more efficient power delivery?

I had to read back up on power delivery, and a high level understanding is that a single 8 pin PCIe cable (rail) can supply however much power the GPU is asking for.
The ATX spec is that a single 8 pin delivers 150W at about 70amps. However that is only the spec and not a limitation, so it is a safety factor.

Cards that use three 8 pin connectors then would only provide 450W per ATX spec. With the PCIe slot itself another 75W but high end cards tend to not use the slot for power for cleaner power management, or only in low power states.

That must be it... the current ATX SPECIFICATION doesn't safely allow for all these 500W - 900W graphics cards

Nothing to do with actually being able to power said cards.

So... I've got I think 4 PCIe cables (rails) available on my PSU, which if demanded of, would SAFELY power a 900W card (not that I would with a 850W PSU)

I think I just talked myself into understanding the change. Safety in specification only, and convenience. But a 250W card with a 12 pin plug on a 500W PSU is dumb... and asking for human stupidity.

I don't see any reason to change if you have a good one right now that meets your needs. An adapter or whatever won't hurt performance, and if there is any actual efficiency improvement it won't make your current PSU any worse than it is now.

[the_matrix_guy]

Seajay Yeah, either way these changes will take time to trickle down to the enthusiast/DIY segments. They want to introduce the new standard for OEM PC's first. I have a 750W Corsair from like 2018 that I still want to use for another 5 years or so myself, but we have plenty of time to use our current hardware for its intended life span. From what I hear, it will be a slightly more efficient power delivery and they also want to introduce a new rating for noise levels. So that will be a new performance metric that will be a differentiator for PSU manufactures in the aftermarket segment to compete in, going forward.

Also, in terms of TDP, my electric bill is already a kick in the balls every month, I cant imagine that TDP for the future cards being real, it's insane.

[Seajay]

Bit a small bullet. Picked up a 12600k, mobo, and ram when I had a chance to swing by a Microcenter.

Almost...almost bought a GPU. The urge to buy was strong, but I held off in hopes prices still come down some more. They had a 6700xt for $600, nearly pulled the trigger. They have a lot of stock, but I just can't spend $1k yet on a gpu.

[the_matrix_guy]

Bit a small bullet. Picked up a 12600k, mobo, and ram when I had a chance to swing by a Microcenter.

Almost...almost bought a GPU. The urge to buy was strong, but I held off in hopes prices still come down some more. They had a 6700xt for $600, nearly pulled the trigger. They have a lot of stock, but I just can't spend $1k yet on a gpu.

Nice scoop. The only reason I’ve held to my 1080ti for so long is simply cause 1) I game at 1440p and I’ve gotten away with murder with that card given how well it still handles games at that resolution. And 2) there aren’t that many cutting edge games that are using Ray Tracing to justify the crazy mark ups. But thats changing quickly, more and more developers have announced that they’re employing UE5 including the Dead Space remake which I’m very much looking forward to. Thankfully availability and pricing has gotten better, I think we’re almost there. Im also happy to see that all of those shitbag resellers got stuck with inventory cause the inflection point already passed where they could still break even given the crazy ebay fees (14%) and new tax rules (32% income)

[Seajay]

Prices finally hit a point I gave the green light. I guess I did wait an additional week to think it through too so now must be a good time to buy.

I picked up a Asus RTX 3080 12 GB TUF for $900 after some discount codes (discount codes!) Still expensive but I think this is going to be the competitive price ballpark.

12600k with a RTX 3080 is such a noticeable upgrade from my 3770k and GTX980, I capped my FPS to 68 since I'm using a TV to play on that only does 60 FPS, and it doesn't matter what graphics settings I use frame rate doesn't move, no hitching, it's lovely.

Metro Exodus with RayTracing on and it's just beautiful. I play at a 2560 x 1200 custom res to mimic an ultrawide resolution. The tv is 65" which is just too massive most of the time lol. I can't go back to little screens after trying it out.

[Siress]

I'll second that, Seajay. By my memory, the best time to buy a GPU over the past 10-20 years has been the best of the current gen OTS part during rumors of next-gen release. The top tier current gen will still be worth a lot when the mid/low tier current gen are practically worthless due to the excess availability of them when people have been upgrading. So, shell out a little extra for that 3090ti FTW3 edition to play the long game.

[Seajay]

I'm very happy with the Asus 3080 12GB TUF. Absolutely smashes everything aiming for that 60 fps mark (tv only does 60). This is every graphic setting as pretty as it will go at 4k, with RTX on. Metro Exodus actually was hitting 57fps which is expected as that is a demanding title with ray tracing. Gameplay was still silky smooth though, I didn't notice it at all since the frame rate was extremely consistent between 56 - 68 fps (set cap). With DLSS on fps is absolutely rock solid at the fps cap, what a neat technology.

That's honestly the biggest improvement with the 12600k and 3080, everything is just perfectly smooth. Definitely recommend any version of the 3080 if you can muster it for 1440 and higher resolutions.