Upgrading a 3080 to 40x

[Boozy]

Hello clever computer folks!!

So, I currently have a 3080 with an i9-9900k and a Prime Z390B motherboard, looking to upgrade to a 40x (no real reason other than I like shiny things and the option to max out 2k or play 4k games at a decent frame rate.)

I have a 2060 super downstairs so was thinking of moving this system board and components to that PC and upgrading this to a better spec, I'm based out of the US and wondered what ideas you had for me to upgrade, or is there no point and keep the money for something sensible....

[Baldchap]

The sensible answer is don't bother as the performance gains won't be anything like they were moving from 20 series cards to 30 series cards, but I'm thinking of sorting a super spec PC just because I can, so I say go for it!

[Sixsixtysix]

I think it will depend on what screen you are using. If you have a 4k 144Hz monitor and want to play at that resolution and/or you want to take advantage of ray tracing, an upgrade could be worth it but if you are gaming at 1080p it won't be.

There's some good comparision videos on Youtube that look at 3XXX vs 4XXX differences in performance so worth taking a look at those too. Of course, it will depend on what games you like to play too!

[Digby]

I got myself a 4090 after using a 3080 for some time on a 10900k, DDR4 system and the difference was great. I then upgraded everything and went for a 14900, DDR5, Z790 system with the 4090 and the difference was minimal for 4k gaming (as expected)

Personally, I would just get the best GPU you can afford for now and keep the rest of the system. It still has life left in it and the GPU will do all the work at 4k and certainly allow more bells and whistles at 2k.

[Boozy]

Digby said:

I got myself a 4090 after using a 3080 for some time on a 10900k, DDR4 system and the difference was great. I then upgraded everything and went for a 14900, DDR5, Z790 system with the 4090 and the difference was minimal for 4k gaming (as expected)

Personally, I would just get the best GPU you can afford for now and keep the rest of the system. It still has life left in it and the GPU will do all the work at 4k and certainly allow more bells and whistles at 2k.

Thanks Digby! so I could just do a straight swap on the GPU then? I'm mostly going to use the PC for work stuff (virtual so moot point) and playing DCS in VR, with a sprinking of COD/BF but as I'm getting older I'm getting worse at those!

[Digby]

Boozy said:

Thanks Digby! so I could just do a straight swap on the GPU then? I'm mostly going to use the PC for work stuff (virtual so moot point) and playing DCS in VR, with a sprinking of COD/BF but as I'm getting older I'm getting worse at those!

Don't get me wrong, everything gets a nice boost with the new toys, but unless there are specific things other than games you are unhappy with, a graphics card upgrade would be the route I would take for now. You may need to look into your power supply (PSU) depending on which route you go down.

If you look at gaming benchmarks online relating to CPUs, they rarely test at 4k and not quite so often at 2k resolutions, simply because it's all mostly GPU based. At 1080p, the CPU / Processor plays a bigger part. Subsequently, it's not uncommon to see several year old systems, not too far off the scores of top end current machines when testing in 4k, due to said GPU doing the work.

I should add here that my upgrade was to a 4090. I can't comment on the lower spec 40 series card, so budget is probably the biggest factor here. IF you were about to spend quite a lot on an entire new system, then perhaps the price of a 4090 or AMD equivalent could be justified. If not going for the top GPUs, I would suggest looking at a few videos of how the lower spec cards compare to the 3080 and make a decision that way.

Edited by Digby on Tuesday 9th January 17:12

[Boozy]

Digby said:

Don't get me wrong, everything gets a nice boost with the new toys, but unless there are specific things other than games you are unhappy with, a graphics card upgrade would be the route I would take for now. You may need to look into your power supply (PSU) depending on which route you go down.

If you look at gaming benchmarks online relating to CPUs, they rarely test at 4k and not quite so often at 2k resolutions, simply because it's all mostly GPU based. At 1080p, the CPU / Processor plays a bigger part. Subsequently, it's not uncommon to see several year old systems, not too far off the scores of top end current machines when testing in 4k, due to said GPU doing the work.

I should add here that my upgrade was to a 4090. I can't comment on the lower spec 40 series card, so budget is probably the biggest factor here. IF you were about to spend quite a lot on an entire new system, then perhaps the price of a 4090 or AMD equivalent could be justified. If not going for the top GPUs, I would suggest looking at a few videos of how the lower spec cards compare to the 3080 and make a decision that way.

Edited by Digby on Tuesday 9th January 17:12

I have a new distraction on YouTube it seems! thanks!

[Digby]

Boozy said:

I have a new distraction on YouTube it seems! thanks!

Also worth mentioning, there are new cards just about to hit the market. You may or may not have been aware, but worth mentioning.

"RTX 3080 vs RTX / AMD...." (insert card name here) usually offers up the best youtube results.

New cards (I just picked a random link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7U0CeTjuok

[Boozy]

Digby said:

Also worth mentioning, there are new cards just about to hit the market. You may or may not have been aware, but worth mentioning.

"RTX 3080 vs RTX / AMD...." (insert card name here) usually offers up the best youtube results.

New cards (I just picked a random link)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7U0CeTjuok

Thanks Digby!! Side note, awesome profile picture and I'm a HUGE fan of Volvo Rs, keep waiting for their price to drop here so I can get one as the family wagon, think I missed that ship unfortunately!

[J4CKO]

I wouldnt mind a new card, have a 2070 Super and it lags a bit in MSFS but no idea what to get, look at some benchmarks and it doesnt look that say a 3060 is night and day better for the £400 or so it would cost.


Rest of the system is some 12 core AMD from a few years back and 32 GB ram, was quite good at the time I think,

Found the details,

ADMI CPU Motherboard Bundle: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 cores, 4.6GHz boost, ASUS Prime B450 PLUS Motherboard, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB 3000Mhz DDR4 RAM

Would a 3060 make much difference on that ?

Suspect I need a new PSU as well as its noisy.

[mmm-five]

J4CKO said:

Would a 3060 make much difference on that ?

No.

To see any significant improvement on a 2070S you would need a 3060Ti, 3070, 4060 or 4070.

What resolution are you running at, as the 3060/4060 are 1080p cards.

Plus you could probably get a pre-loved RTX3080 from CEX for £450 with a 2-year warranty.

Here's a quick benchmark video (0:48 for MSFS) comparing RTX2070 to RTX4060...

Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 10th January 13:48

[J4CKO]

mmm-five said:

J4CKO said:

Would a 3060 make much difference on that ?

No.

To see any significant improvement on a 2070S you would need a 3060Ti, 3070, 4060 or 4070.

What resolution are you running at, as the 3060/4060 are 1080p cards.

Plus you could probably get a pre-loved RTX3080 from CEX for £450 with a 2-year warranty.

Here's a quick benchmark video (0:48 for MSFS) comparing RTX2070 to RTX4060...

Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 10th January 13:48

Sorry, meant a 2060 Super, not 2070 Super.

Not running 4k, its a 34 inch ultra wide screen plus a couple of other smaller ones for gauges and maps.

Thinking some flavour of 4060Ti for £450 ish, then sell the 2060 Super and get what, £100 back ?

[Boozy]

J4CKO said:

mmm-five said:

J4CKO said:

Would a 3060 make much difference on that ?

No.

To see any significant improvement on a 2070S you would need a 3060Ti, 3070, 4060 or 4070.

What resolution are you running at, as the 3060/4060 are 1080p cards.

Plus you could probably get a pre-loved RTX3080 from CEX for £450 with a 2-year warranty.

Here's a quick benchmark video (0:48 for MSFS) comparing RTX2070 to RTX4060...

Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 10th January 13:48

Sorry, meant a 2060 Super, not 2070 Super.

Not running 4k, its a 34 inch ultra wide screen plus a couple of other smaller ones for gauges and maps.

Thinking some flavour of 4060Ti for £450 ish, then sell the 2060 Super and get what, £100 back ?

Interested on this as well - I might upgrade the 2060 super we have in our PC downstairs!

[mmm-five]

J4CKO said:

Sorry, meant a 2060 Super, not 2070 Super.

Not running 4k, its a 34 inch ultra wide screen plus a couple of other smaller ones for gauges and maps.

Thinking some flavour of 4060Ti for £450 ish, then sell the 2060 Super and get what, £100 back ?

Damn those fat fingers!!!

£100-£150 max I'd say...unless it's some weird/unique/rare model.

Would have to be a 16GB 4060Ti at a minimum I'd say, otherwise you're crippled with the miserly 8GB VRAM.

Scan is listing a Zotac Twin-Fan 4060Ti for £440. I'm not recommending the Zotac specifically, only had a Zotac 3070 and it never gave me any problems, and I sold it on here when I upgraded.

Here's another video comparing 8GB versions of the 2060S / 3060Ti / 4060Ti (2m02s for MSFS - all at 1440p with DLSS/RT on by the looks of it)...

Edited by mmm-five on Wednesday 10th January 14:59

[J4CKO]

Are the AMD cards worth a look ?

[mmm-five]

J4CKO said:

Are the AMD cards worth a look ?

Everything is worth a look, and at the higher end the AMD options can be good VFM (until these new 40-series supers come out).

Don't think their RT or VR capabilities are as advanced, but in pure raster performance they seem to compare well.

Would have to find some comparisons for specific games to check...but in general a 7700XT produced more rasterised (i.e. no ray tracing) FPS than the 4060Ti at a similar price. Once RT comes in the Nvidia tends to come to the fore.

In MSFS the 7700XT 12GB performs slightly better than a 16GB 4060Ti (4m45 for MSFS)...


Even with my 4090FE, I tend to run a game with RT on for a few hours and then turn if off as it usually seem OTT / unrealistically glossy to me.

[J4CKO]

Going to do some more research and get one when I get paid, just had to get a new power supply as its probably not up to the job and the fan screeches and rumbles so needed to sort that out first.

[J4CKO]

Ordered a new Corsair modular 850W PSU last night, arrived today at 11 AM, will fit it this evening and then see about a new card.

[mmm-five]

J4CKO said:

Ordered a new Corsair modular 850W PSU last night, arrived today at 11 AM, will fit it this evening and then see about a new card.

Did you go for the new ATX3.0 Shift models that have the outputs on the side instead of the back of the PSU?

Forget that, they use Type 5 cables, so wouldn't be compatible

[J4CKO]

mmm-five said:

J4CKO said:

Ordered a new Corsair modular 850W PSU last night, arrived today at 11 AM, will fit it this evening and then see about a new card.

Did you go for the new ATX3.0 Shift models that have the outputs on the side instead of the back of the PSU?

Forget that, they use Type 5 cables, so wouldn't be compatible

Its this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BYKT9SNJ?psc=1&r...