$600 conundrum, 1080ti vs 3060

For $600 what is the better buy: 3060 or 1080Ti

  • 3060

    Votes: 29 42.6%
  • 1080Ti

    Votes: 15 22.1%
  • Wait 1+ years for prices to drop

    Votes: 24 35.3%

  • Total voters
    68

chimera991

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Sep 4, 2010
Messages
1,170
Currently have a 6700k rig and want to put in a decent GPU.

What would be the better choice:
A card that has no warranty or maybe what's left of it vs a new card with fresh warranty but less performance specs?

That's basically how I'm looking at the 3060, less performance in comparison to the 1080Ti. I dont care about RT since this will be in a Windows 7 rig meant for old games like Civ II and cd-rom based games that can't run on Win 10.

Someone please suggest a card thats in the $600 range that can perform as good as a 1080ti and may have a warranty left.
 
So if it is for old games in win7, why do you even need a card with that much oomph? Civ II doesn't need much. Why not just an rx 460 or less?
 
I want to pick the 1080ti because it's a fucking beast and I love it, but the 3060 will work fine for those older games as well AND do it for less power and heat AND have a warranty, just in case.
 
If you're on top of things you can get a 3060/3060Ti at a reasonable deal. Picked up a Zotac Twin Edge OC 3060Ti from Amazon for my son. He's upgrading from a 1080Ti and it was a noticeable upgrade. I got the 3060Ti for $400 after taxes- brand new. I was shocked myself. The 1080Ti has served us very well for the last 4 years and it's till able to play alot current games at 1440p. But the 3060Ti with DLSS and Raytracing is just worth it over the 1080Ti.
 
$600 dollars for a 3060 is outrageous. I would wait and just build a Ryzen 5700G for older games for that kind of money.
Trust me, I wasnt on the up and up, I bought a 3080 back in December for like $834. I see that theyre now something like 1200-1300. The 3060 was around $400 or even less, is now pushing almost $600, prob 600 after tax. I sold my 1080ti back when I got my 3080, insane right now.

So if it is for old games in win7, why do you even need a card with that much oomph? Civ II doesn't need much. Why not just an rx 460 or less?
I want to be able to play like all the games in the highest settings, basically games from the 90's up until Win 7 lost official support. I have a main rig that has a 3080.

If you're on top of things you can get a 3060/3060Ti at a reasonable deal. Picked up a Zotac Twin Edge OC 3060Ti from Amazon for my son. He's upgrading from a 1080Ti and it was a noticeable upgrade. I got the 3060Ti for $400 after taxes- brand new. I was shocked myself. The 1080Ti has served us very well for the last 4 years and it's till able to play alot current games at 1440p. But the 3060Ti with DLSS and Raytracing is just worth it over the 1080Ti.
Dang everywhere I've looked the 3060 are at least $575

Its really fucking insane, I used to have a 1080ti I sold back in December for $350. Got a 3080 in my main rig, but all of this is for my 2nd rig.
 
Well, if you decide to go the Pascal direction I could be persuaded to sell you my my Titan for $600.

Not sure if you water cool though.
 
I have a Titan air cooler sitting here collecting dust if needed for that card if ya wanna pay shipping it's not doing me any good sitting here.
 
RTX 3060 with DLSS easily, don't bother with the old cards especially for $600.

 
does a 3060 even have W7 drivers?

1080 ti is undoubtedly better in W7 and in older games.

In most modern games, the 3060 and 1080ti are more or less matched. There are a few games here or there, in which the 1080ti's superior bandwidth helps push it ahead a fair amount. But for the most part.....a modern gamer should go with the 3060 for similar performance with a newer feature set and also new/warranty.
 
$600 is hefty for a used GPU (unless you have a source where you can get a new 1080ti)
... i wouldn't take a chance on something that has been out for nearly 5 years now at that price point
 
Man, a very good friend sold me his 1080 Ti for $300 earlier this year. GPU prices are stupid.
 
If it's between a 3060 and 1080 ti, I'd go with the one that does higher traditional performance -- so the 1080 ti. DLSS can improve performance, but it can also look like hot, steamed ass; a 3060 isn't going to get you much in terms of raytracing performance.

But this is a moot point. You don't need to be spending $600 on a mid-tier card (geez, prices are bananas nowadays...), and you certainly don't need to spend that to play civ II. Get a used 1050 ti for $125.
 
If it's between a 3060 and 1080 ti, I'd go with the one that does higher traditional performance -- so the 1080 ti. DLSS can improve performance, but it can also look like hot, steamed ass; a 3060 isn't going to get you much in terms of raytracing performance.

But this is a moot point. You don't need to be spending $600 on a mid-tier card (geez, prices are bananas nowadays...), and you certainly don't need to spend that to play civ II. Get a used 1050 ti for $125.

You can't find a 1050ti for $125. Jesus I'd do anything for a 1050ti and yes I mean anything.
 
If it's between a 3060 and 1080 ti, I'd go with the one that does higher traditional performance -- so the 1080 ti. DLSS can improve performance, but it can also look like hot, steamed ass; a 3060 isn't going to get you much in terms of raytracing performance.

But this is a moot point. You don't need to be spending $600 on a mid-tier card (geez, prices are bananas nowadays...), and you certainly don't need to spend that to play civ II. Get a used 1050 ti for $125.
That's what I said! It totally doesn't make sense to fork out a bunch of money for something those games can't utilize. Maybe just get ahold of an older GPU and try everything. If it doesn't work, just sell it. crazycrave was just asking yesterday about the value of older GPUs. There also are several 4gb AMD models on the buy sell section here. I played many hours of Civ II. An APU could handle that game. Same with Sim City. I don't know what other games you've got, but a 4gb RX 470/570 would probably have been pretty hot shit when they were mainstream...heck, the RX 470 was released after win 10.

OR

just make your current machine dual boot and play them there.
 
I've got a ton of older games, even dos games, but I'd probably use dos box for that. I basically want a max effort rig that had one of the best CPU and GPU combos you can throw at it, Civ II is just skimming the performance of this rig.

Again, its a 6700k, ITX, 32gb ram, 256 nvme (i purchased the combo from ebay). The ITX mobo has an nvme slot, I will probably upgrade the 256gb it came with to a 2tb. But I want to play games like CS:GO and old fps games like Bad Company 2 and all on the highest settings, while still being a win 7 rig. Basically I want flexibility. A win 7 rig that can play 90s games and games up until 2017 I guess.

I have a 3950x/3080 win10 rig, for all the latest and greatest games, but honestly don't play any of them! Only Forza 7 and MS Flight Sim.
 
I think for 2017 and below games, if you can find a 6600/XT for a lot cheaper, you'd be fine too I guess, although a check on the AMD website says that there seems to be one release driver for Windows 7 and nothing else. What monitor resolution are you using?
 
For $600 in today's money, the 3060 for the warranty alone.

Yes, the 3060 does have W7 drivers, but only for 64 bit.

They have released drivers for the 3060 for Win 7, but my understanding is that the last driver release for Windows 7 for Nvidia for any GPU was 472.12, released on September 20th.

As of October 14th Nvidia has dropped all support for any Windows release prior to 10. You can still download the old drivers, but don't expect any updates, or support for GPU's launched after that date.

This affects the 3060 and anything Pascal based equally though.

And in all honestly, it is a pretty bad idea to continue using Windows 7 which went EOL over a year and a half ago.
 
So, here's my take on your original question.

If what you say is accurate, and you really only play older games don't spend money on a GPU right now.

Right now (and for the last year or so) has been the worst time ever to buy a GPU. If you are playing older titles, you just don't need one right now.

Regardless of which way you go, new GPU's are in high demand which is driving up their prices to insane levels, and people who can't get their hands on new GPU's are spilling over to used GPU's, and driving up the prices on those as well.

I just bought a GPU a few weeks ago, but that's because there were lots of titles I was interested in that my old one just couldn't keep up with in 4k. If you are not in that situation, where you need a new GPU to run titles, I would just sit tight until this "worst time in history to buy GPU's" is over.

I am currently selling my Pascal Titan. A year ago I would probably have gotten half of what I am asking for it now. Only way I am justifying my asking price is that it is what the market is right now. I had to overpay to upgrade, so I don't feel terrible offsetting some of that cost by selling my old GPU at market price.

I know the itch to upgrade can be strong, but in this situation it doesn't sound like it is really worth it to you.

My recommendations for GPU shoppers is the same as my recommendation for car shoppers right now. If you don't really need one, don't buy one right now. The market is insane.
 
^ Great advice, I have a GTS 250 laying around, this is going be in, in the mean time.
 
So, here's my take on your original question.

If what you say is accurate, and you really only play older games don't spend money on a GPU right now.

Right now (and for the last year or so) has been the worst time ever to buy a GPU. If you are playing older titles, you just don't need one right now.

Regardless of which way you go, new GPU's are in high demand which is driving up their prices to insane levels, and people who can't get their hands on new GPU's are spilling over to used GPU's, and driving up the prices on those as well.

I just bought a GPU a few weeks ago, but that's because there were lots of titles I was interested in that my old one just couldn't keep up with in 4k. If you are not in that situation, where you need a new GPU to run titles, I would just sit tight until this "worst time in history to buy GPU's" is over.

I am currently selling my Pascal Titan. A year ago I would probably have gotten half of what I am asking for it now. Only way I am justifying my asking price is that it is what the market is right now. I had to overpay to upgrade, so I don't feel terrible offsetting some of that cost by selling my old GPU at market price.

I know the itch to upgrade can be strong, but in this situation it doesn't sound like it is really worth it to you.

My recommendations for GPU shoppers is the same as my recommendation for car shoppers right now. If you don't really need one, don't buy one right now. The market is insane.

What you say sounds hyperbolic, but now is literally the worst time EVER in the history of GPUs to purchase a GPU. For the past year, I wake up thinking the situation will improve, but it continues to go further and further down the crapper.

I was lucky and bought my 3080 early. Had I not, I probably wouldn't still be reading/posting at [H] and would have moved on to one of my other hobbies.

To reiterate, don't buy a GPU now. And if you absolutely need to, buy the absolute base for your needs.
 
Currently have a 6700k rig and want to put in a decent GPU.
What do you currently have
My recommendations for GPU shoppers is the same as my recommendation for car shoppers right now. If you don't really need one, don't buy one right now. The market is insane.
Best advice right there by Zara.
I sold a 1080Ti Duke to buy either the RTX3080 or the 6800XT at release.
Neither was available at the prices I deemed reasonable.
My money went to something else.
I'll use my stand-in GTX770 until the cows come home, before I'd pay those rip-off prices.
Nvidia, AMD, their AIBs and retail partners can go pound sand.
 
What do you currently have

Best advice right there by Zara.
I sold a 1080Ti Duke to buy either the RTX3080 or the 6800XT at release.
Neither was available at the prices I deemed reasonable.
My money went to something else.
I'll use my stand-in GTX770 until the cows come home, before I'd pay those rip-off prices.
Nvidia, AMD, their AIBs and retail partners can go pound sand.
Except with inflation being what it is, consumers will be pounding sand. Just look at home prices, which is arguably one of the most 'essential' things you will buy in your life.
 
Except with inflation being what it is, consumers will be pounding sand. Just look at home prices, which is arguably one of the most 'essential' things you will buy in your life.
That's not a good comparison. Housing shortage has been going on for a long time now and the pandemic made it worse. Also takes a lot longer to build a house...
 
Except with inflation being what it is, consumers will be pounding sand. Just look at home prices, which is arguably one of the most 'essential' things you will buy in your life.
They'll 'pound sand' only if they want to so far as videocards are concerned.
You need a house for shelter....you don't necessarily need a videocard.
People can only be taken advantage of, if they let it happen.
 
Deals on GPU's are out there. Many retailers are getting stock in. No they don't last long but they are getting them in. Recently I picked up a 3060ti for $500 shipped to me. Bought on the EVGA notification system by the seller and he had no use for it. So he passed the savings AKA not scalped to me. Best bet keep an eye open. Check Best Buy if you have one local. Buy what they have and make a deal to down grade to a 3060/3060ti. Other than that. Do as suggested and pick up a older card. FB market place has a few every now and then that are not scalped.
 
I bought three GPUs at msrp for me and family within the first three months of launch. Screw the scalpers. Of course now the manufacturers are charging more so you snooze you lose.
 
What even you do make sure it has 8Gb or more .. Just started Ghost Recon Breakpoint again and it can eat 7.5Gb at 1080p Ultra
 
Deals on GPU's are out there. Many retailers are getting stock in. No they don't last long but they are getting them in. Recently I picked up a 3060ti for $500 shipped to me. Bought on the EVGA notification system by the seller and he had no use for it. So he passed the savings AKA not scalped to me. Best bet keep an eye open. Check Best Buy if you have one local. Buy what they have and make a deal to down grade to a 3060/3060ti. Other than that. Do as suggested and pick up a older card. FB market place has a few every now and then that are not scalped.

Deals? what deals and what are you smoking.. please pass the joint dude 🤣
 
Yeah, not sure... I haven't seen a "deal" on a graphics card now for 6 months. Retailers have categorically priced their cards according to the market at this point, which is 20-40% above MSRP (now actually meaning as "Marketing Suggested Retail Price") depending on the model. The closest are the FE versions which you can find if you are prepared to set up alerts and jump at a gnat's whisker before scalpers get in.
 
Back
Top