Wilson is back with itchy fingers

[MrWilson]

Good Evening folks,

It's been a while since I've been on here, hope everyone has had a nice Christmas!

I've been enjoying all the CES reveals, and this combined with having a bit more cash to splash has got me considering an upgrade for my PCS rig.

My main issue at the moment is what I believe to be VRAM limitations on the 8GB 3070, as I've had some game crashes while playing a couple of fairly old games: Saints Row 3 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, so going for a 16GB GPU is definitely where I'm considering. I'll be waiting for third party benchmarks, but will ideally like to be ready to make the plunge on either a 5070ti or 5080 once they are available. If the HUB review for the 5080 looks favourable I will probably try and grab a Founders Edition at the end of January, otherwise I will wait with baited breath to see if the 5070ti is a better value pick.

My main concern is whether my PSU will be able to handle a beefier GPU, as I am vaguely aware of the transient spikes issue from the 40 series that I would assume would also be present in the 50 series. I'm hoping that speccing up from 850W to 1000W back in 2021 means I have the headroom to mitigate this issue, but I also respect that I may need to swap out my PSU as well to be sure, which isn't a huge expenditure compared to a new GPU and monitor.

Which leads me onto the monitor. Happy with my 1440p Ultrawide (AOC CU34G2X), but pushing for a new GPU means I should be packing a monitor to make the most of it, and 2025 definitely seems like the year to make the switch to OLED to me. Debating between sticking with 1440p Ultrawide and going with the usual suspects from Alienware, Gigabyte and Samsung for around £700-800 and enjoying that immersion, or going for a 4k display for that next step above, but 4k OLEDs seem to be starting from £900 and while I'll technically have more pixels I do like the utility of the Ultrawide for multitasking and easily laying out multiple programs. I did see a 5k2k (5120x2160p) monitor being advertised from LG at CES which would be the best of both worlds, but I imagine that would not be cheap, and would probably not be out until the summer.

PC specs below, appreciative of all comments including those telling me to just enjoy what I have already!

Big Love,
Wilson

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
4GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 4GB) 32GB 3600MHz (2x16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR H115i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[TonyCarter]

The estimated price I saw for the fixed-curve LG (45GX950A) was $2000, and the electronically-adjustable version (45GX990A) is obviously going to cost more.

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Nvidia recommended PSU for the 5080 is 850w, 750w for the 5070Ti, but I’d assume that’s with an ATX3 spec PSU, so 1000w ATX2.4 should still suffice.

 

[Martinr36]

Welcome back

 

[SpyderTracks]

Big welcome from arachnid boy too, nice to see you!

 

[MrWilson]

Welcome back

Big welcome from arachnid boy too, nice to see you!

Cheers lads, great to see you're still hear providing guidance for the masses.

The estimated price I saw for the fixed-curve LG (45GX950A) was $2000, and the electronically-adjustable version (45GX990A) is obviously going to cost more.

LG UltraGear Gaming Monitors at CES 2025 | Explore the Future of Gaming

Discover LG UltraGear Gaming Monitors at CES 2025! Sign up for updates on cutting-edge visuals, ultra-fast response times, and pro-level gaming features. Don’t miss out!

www.lg.com

Nvidia recommended PSU for the 5080 is 850w, 750w for the 5070Ti, but I’d assume that’s with an ATX3 spec PSU, so 1000w ATX2.4 should still suffice.

Yikes, I'm sure the monitors will be fantastic but that's just a bit outside of my budget!

Looking at the HUB reviews, the Alienware seems to still be the gold standard, although their only real criticism on the Gigabyte panel was its pricing, and as it's the cheaper of the two in the UK at present it may well be the better pick.

I suppose the safest thing to do would be to go for the 5070ti to stay within power limits, but the desire for more power is hard to resist

Fingers cross we see decent performance gains once reviews come out.

 

[sck451]

Nice to see you back!

I really strongly doubt a high-quality 1000W power supply like that Corsair one will be a problem for the 5080, or even realistically for the 5090. I'm not saying I'd design a system around that level, but I also don't think replacing it will be at all necessary. By all means wait and see what reviews etc say, but I'd strongly doubt you'll actually have a problem with it.

 

[Scott]

Welcome back

TBH I would more than likely look at a 4080. I don't think this 50 series is going to be much to write home about outside of AI frame generation (DLSS4.0). Even a 4090 could be a bargain.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Welcome back

TBH I would more than likely look at a 4080. I don't think this 50 series is going to be much to write home about outside of AI frame generation (DLSS4.0). Even a 4090 could be a bargain.

What, you're saying the claims the 5070 outperforms the 4090 are misleading in some way??? NVidia would never lie would they????

 

[Scott]

I guess I'm being a little cynical, but it's not without merit.

	Cuda Cores	vRAM	DLSS4.0	Cost
5080	10752	16GB	Yes	£1000
4080	9728	16GB	Yes (minus multi frame)	£800 (second Hand)
4080 Super	10240	16GB	Yes (minus multi frame)	£1000 (New)

If you look at the above, the CUDA cores are where the power is. The DLSS4.0 is where the wool pulling is going to happen. The only real world difference between these cards is going to be the multi-frame generation. Multi-frame gen will be limited to certain titles and only really be relevant in making you feel better about frame count. The actual frames themselves will be fairly pointless as they can't be used for proper FPS reasons.

I only use my 4080 for proper raster. I disable all DLSS nonsense as the experience isn't good for me (VR). It makes things blurry even when on quality mode and the ghosting is distracting. On flat panel it likely wouldn't be anywhere near as much of an issue but at the same time the £ isn't going towards performance, it's going towards software.

The fact that NVidia are locking down the multi-frame to the 50 series tells me all I need to know. They have no real reason to and could open it up to at least the 40 series, but they aren't as it's the only way they can show a true performance gain. The card doesn't have the performance gains outside of AI.

My thinking with purchasing a 4080 isn't to get it now, hold off till Jan the 31st when the market will be flooded and get yourself a bargain. I think you might even get a 4090 for very good money. I'm considering selling my 4080 Founders right now (going rate seems to be about £900 for this card) and then buying a 4090 Founders second hand once the market is saturated with them.

What I do really like about the 50 series is the design though, it looks fantastic and the dual fan pass through is going to work wonders IMO.

 

[Scott]

Just an addon. The only card I think worth talking about as an actual performance gain is the 5090. Notice that it's the card where the price actually goes up though.

IMO Nvidia are doing the old 4070 becomes a 5080 trick. Reducing the price to cover the tracks.

It's like what's happening with everything nowadays. Keep the price the same (or lower it) while the product reduces. Look at the size of a chocolate bar now

 

[Diem]

My thinking with purchasing a 4080 isn't to get it now, hold off till Jan the 31st when the market will be flooded and get yourself a bargain. I think you might even get a 4090 for very good money. I'm considering selling my 4080 Founders right now (going rate seems to be about £900 for this card) and then buying a 4090 Founders second hand once the market is saturated with them.

Where would you buy from? Are there specialist sites or do you take a punt on eBay?

 

[Scott]

I would want a face to face transaction personally, I would want to see the card working and do a couple of quick checks on a working system. There's no way I would take a punt on second hand with delivery.

I sold my 3070 Ti Founders edition and prior to that my 2080 without any issues. Always demo'd the cards working though.

I had a look on FB Marketplace and there's one 4090 Founders for sale, seller looks legit and it's fairly close to me. The price is £1300 which is far too much for a second hand card but I'm pretty sure that price is going to nose dive after the 30th. I'll keep an eye at least, I don't think the 4080 will fall as fast as the 4090, the only saving grace for them will be I want a founders edition which I know I'll have to pay extra for.

 

[TonyCarter]

I really think Nvidia needs to release a gaming version that does away with the AI cores and concentrates on what gamers want. Could be called 'Gamers Edition' instead of 'Founders Edition' and knock 10-20% off the RRP.

From what I've seen, the pure pixel/texture uplift of the 5080 is in the region on 10% over the 4080 Super, and has 5% more Shading Units and TMUs over the 4080 Super, much like the 4080 Super 5% more over the 4080, so we could assume a similar performance uplift.

It's also got some newer generation cores, 4nm process, and newer revisions of NVENC, Vulkan and CUDA, and memory bandwidth has gone up 30%, which may all add to the gaming/rendering performance...even without the extra 'fake' frames software.

 

[Scott]

I really think Nvidia needs to release a gaming version that does away with the AI cores and concentrates on what gamers want. Could be called 'Gamers Edition' instead of 'Founders Edition' and knock 10-20% off the RRP.

From what I've seen, the pure pixel/texture uplift of the 5080 is in the region on 10% over the 4080 Super, and has 5% more Shading Units and TMUs over the 4080 Super, much like the 4080 Super 5% more over the 4080, so we could assume a similar performance uplift.

It's also got some newer generation cores, 4nm process, and newer revisions of NVENC, Vulkan and CUDA, and memory bandwidth has gone up 30%, which may all add to the gaming/rendering performance...even without the extra 'fake' frames software.

I don't think you're too far off with that tbh. With the reduction in price considered it's not half bad value looking at performance to £. I don't see a generational leap though, hence why I think we're seeing the 5080 actually being a 5070 (or Ti) lift. If those numbers were next to a 5070 we would be applauding. The 5080 should be a 24GB vRAM card with ITRO 14000 cuda cores IMO. The gulf between the 5080 and 5090 is just too great to make any sense.

Below is the charting data supplied by Nvidia. The first thing to note is that they only show the 4080, and not the Super. This immediately jumps out at me as they're trying their best to show a real performance uplift. If the AI stuff is ignored, only the first 2 titles can be considered:

 

[SpyderTracks]

I really think Nvidia needs to release a gaming version that does away with the AI cores and concentrates on what gamers want. Could be called 'Gamers Edition' instead of 'Founders Edition' and knock 10-20% off the RRP.

From what I've seen, the pure pixel/texture uplift of the 5080 is in the region on 10% over the 4080 Super, and has 5% more Shading Units and TMUs over the 4080 Super, much like the 4080 Super 5% more over the 4080, so we could assume a similar performance uplift.

It's also got some newer generation cores, 4nm process, and newer revisions of NVENC, Vulkan and CUDA, and memory bandwidth has gone up 30%, which may all add to the gaming/rendering performance...even without the extra 'fake' frames software.

There’s also some weird listings from MSI and others where the 5080 is actually seen as having 24gb.
I don’t think they’ll land a 5080 now with that config but does make me wonder if perhaps that’s earmarked for the Super refresh.

The fact they retained the same VRAM config below the 5090 just beggars belief imho

 

[Scott]

There’s also some weird listings from MSI and others where the 5080 is actually seen as having 24gb.
I don’t think they’ll land a 5080 now with that config but does make me wonder if perhaps that’s earmarked for the Super refresh.

The fact they retained the same VRAM config below the 5090 just beggars belief imho

As above, I'm almost positive that the 5080 is a 5070, etc. That's the only way the numbers make any sense to me (talking hardware numbers, Cuda & vRAM).

I'm not going to research all the cards but a quick google sees the following:

2080 - 2944 Cuda, 8GB vRAM, £750
3080 - 8704 Cuda (+195%), 10GB vRAM (+25%) , £650 (-15%)
4080 - 9728 Cuda (+11%), 16GB vRAM (+60%) , £1200 (+85%)
5080 - 10752 Cuda (+10%), 16GB vRAM (0%), £1000 (-17%)

I would have expected the 5080 to have a bare minimum of 12500 Cuda & 24GB of vRAM. The price staying around £1200 wouldn't have been upsetting.

The 3080 is still the very clear jewel in the crown in past releases.

 

[TonyCarter]

Don't forget that the 4080 Super had/has a £949 RRP, and you Gainward/Palit/Inno3D ones had RRPs for the same or less than that...although they're all sold out

So we're getting slightly better performance for the same RRP.

 

[Scott]

Don't forget that the 4080 Super had/has a £949 RRP, and you Gainward/Palit/Inno3D ones had RRPs for the same or less than that...although they're all sold out

So we're getting slightly better performance for the same RRP.

View attachment 43374

Which in my mind isn't really a good thing.

If we rewind back a bit the xx70 card typically had previous xx90 performance, at the very least the xx80 card would match. Now it's a play on numbers. The same £ would typically net a decent performance boost. 3080 to 4080 was pretty poor (mostly down to how good the 3080 actually was, there wasn't a gulf between it, the Ti and the 3090), 4080 to 5080 jump is even worse considering there's zero vRAM upgrade. I genuinely think we're being hoodwinked.

But...... if starting from no GPU then the 5080 is a fair value for money option. It's just not really an upgrade from current gen.

 

[MrWilson]

Getting torn now.

Think I'm ready to press send on the monitor upgrade now, and still torn between the Gigabyte and Alienware options.

Points in favour of the Gigabyte:
~£50 cheaper
Newer panel, 2024 vs 2022 release
Less flashy design, although once it's mounted somewhat of a moot point

Points against:
Fewer reviews compared to the Alienware
No real need for the higher refresh rate

Points in favour of the Alienware
Well supported on the firmware side
Good reviews from a selection of good sources
Dell are very solid on the warranty side in case of issues

Points against:
Concern about text clarity as I will use the monitor for Microsoft Office, discord and multiplayer games with chats and text. Unsure if that has been fixed in more recent Firmware patches, or is just a generic shortcoming with QD-OLED as a whole.

Current Ultrawide will be an unorthodox wedding gift to my sister.

Keen for people to weigh in, and then we go back to waiting for 5080 reviews next week.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Getting torn now.

Think I'm ready to press send on the monitor upgrade now, and still torn between the Gigabyte and Alienware options.

Points in favour of the Gigabyte:
~£50 cheaper
Newer panel, 2024 vs 2022 release
Less flashy design, although once it's mounted somewhat of a moot point

Points against:
Fewer reviews compared to the Alienware
No real need for the higher refresh rate

Points in favour of the Alienware
Well supported on the firmware side
Good reviews from a selection of good sources
Dell are very solid on the warranty side in case of issues

Points against:
Concern about text clarity as I will use the monitor for Microsoft Office, discord and multiplayer games with chats and text. Unsure if that has been fixed in more recent Firmware patches, or is just a generic shortcoming with QD-OLED as a whole.

Current Ultrawide will be an unorthodox wedding gift to my sister.

Keen for people to weigh in, and then we go back to waiting for 5080 reviews next week.

I think the gigabyte is a better all rounder, newer protective OLED measures and better text clarity.

The Alienware is still the winner for pure gaming.