If you could have one of these 2 cards, water-cooled, which would you pick and why?? 6800xt or 3080fe

Video card choice, for water-cooling

  • Built by AMD 6800 xt

    Votes: 37 59.7%
  • RTX 3080 FE

    Votes: 25 40.3%

  • Total voters
    62

Digital Viper-X-

[H]F Junkie
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Dec 9, 2000
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If you were to get one of these 2 GPUs going in a custom loop, which would you pick and why?

Monitor being driven is either 2560*1440 or 3440*1440
 
Going on just looks of the available/upcoming blocks, nothing else the Bitspower FE block https://shop.bitspower.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_102_364&product_id=7898 and especially the EK vector blocks for FE https://www.techpowerup.com/274366/...-blocks-for-nvidia-rtx-3080-fe-graphics-cards look more modern/innovative than the 6800 special edish blocks https://www.overclock3d.net/news/ca...zen_and_radeon_series_water_blocks_and_aios/1 The 6800 blocks are a black rectangle with a logo, not exciting to me personally. I have hopes for a Powercolor Liquid Devil. I own this one https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1573110646 and think it is beautiful, but that Vector FE block looks very sleek.

EDIT: I misunderstood your post, sorry.
 
Going on just looks of the available/upcoming blocks, nothing else the Bitspower FE block https://shop.bitspower.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_102_364&product_id=7898 and especially the EK vector blocks for FE https://www.techpowerup.com/274366/...-blocks-for-nvidia-rtx-3080-fe-graphics-cards look more modern/innovative than the 6800 special edish blocks https://www.overclock3d.net/news/ca...zen_and_radeon_series_water_blocks_and_aios/1 The 6800 blocks are a black rectangle with a logo, not exciting to me personally. I have hopes for a Powercolor Liquid Devil. I own this one https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1573110646 and think it is beautiful, but that Vector FE block looks very sleek.

EDIT: I misunderstood your post, sorry.

I think you got it well enough, btw, one more block choice for the 6800xt https://videocardz.com/newz/bykski-reveals-water-blocks-for-amd-radeon-rx-6900-xt-and-rx-6800-xt
 
I think you got it well enough, btw, one more block choice for the 6800xt https://videocardz.com/newz/bykski-reveals-water-blocks-for-amd-radeon-rx-6900-xt-and-rx-6800-xt
Right, I know about the bykski block, but it looks basically the same as last seasons blocks. I thought, because you mentioned the FE specifically you were referring to the "specialty" blocks for these cards. The FE has that short pcb hence the special edition blocks, and EK made that special edition kit for the 6800's.
 
6800xt seems more fun to tinker with. If you'rte going to be interested in raytracing at all, go 3080.
It does apear that the 6800's have more overclocking headroom, however, that does not seem to scale in terms of performance.
6800 XT

They seem like they have more OC headroom. And the reference PCBs seem really solidly engineered.
I agree that the pcb is solid but it is still the same form factor. All things being equal if you are doing a custom loop, and aesthetics matter, the 3080 fe is more compelling than the same old pcb.
 
It does apear that the 6800's have more overclocking headroom, however, that does not seem to scale in terms of performance.

I agree that the pcb is solid but it is still the same form factor. All things being equal if you are doing a custom loop, and aesthetics matter, the 3080 fe is more compelling than the same old pcb.

3080 does not seem to scale well with overclocks either. Unless something has changed since launch. Some games show a 15% gain with the red devil. IIRC 3080 oc is 5-10% gains.
 
I would say 6900 XT, more ram for longevity but 6800 XT is fine as well water cooled. I may water cool GPU this time around.
 
Which are based on the RDNA2 of the AMD card...

The choice between the two cards is largely personal preference, but consoles are obviously AMD based.
So? It didn't affect anything for them last gen to be based on amd for the consoles, as far as desktop perf ;). RDNA2 is 30 percent slower at raytracing now... Nvidia is the only smart choice for anyone who will be playing new games the next few years.
 
So? It didn't affect anything for them last gen to be based on amd for the consoles, as far as desktop perf ;). RDNA2 is 30 percent slower at raytracing now... Nvidia is the only smart choice for anyone who will be playing new games the next few years.

Well... if they do DXR on the consoles... they can do it on the bigger beefier same tech versions of the desktop cards??? :)
 
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So? It didn't affect anything for them last gen to be based on amd for the consoles, as far as desktop perf ;). RDNA2 is 30 percent slower at raytracing now... Nvidia is the only smart choice for anyone who will be playing new games the next few years.

I get it you are a well-established Nvidia apologist. But never underestimate coding to the least common denominator. Desktop performance and graphic performance are two completely different things. Both on the console and on the desktop.

I said before that it mostly comes down to personal preference. What games you play, whether or not you need more VRAM, and your preferences for rasterized performance versus DXR, etc. All should play into a decision rather than blindly picking one company or the other.
 
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3080, why? Gotta support the underdog.

Honestly, I would use either card (including 6900/3090), but haven’t been able to pickup anything up. Even with AMD shipping far more than Nvidia.

Evga queue will probably come though for the 3080/3090 before I can get my hand on an AMD card though.
 
I’d honestly be happy with either one and whichever one you can get your hands on first. Typically from what I’ve seen the Nvidia cards have wider selections of waterblocks in general across various cards. But that might change with the RX 6000 series, who knows?
 
Time to find a water block!

20201130_172302.jpg
 
All i could get my hands on was a 3070 on boxing day, sold out in an hour, havent seen 3080 ever, and not paying for 3090.

I looked forvthe amd cards, never saw one.

Bought the alpha cool ref block
 
I got super lucky, so msrp.

AMD really stepped up the packaging and display! A+ for presentation, even include a "R" styled in the same font as the R in Radeon keycap.
I dont care if it came wrapped in shit paper in a garbage bag, all the nicest packaging doesnt mean shit if the GPUs are as rare as unicorns.

Im running 2 amazon bots around the clock, pulling 18GB a day of data just from back and forth tcp traffic as well as going and waiting in line at Microcenter every 2 to 3 days and I cant find or get a GPU for shit.

Im inches away from just going on ebay and giving a scum sucking piece of shit scalper 1200 and being done with it. Id did get a 3070 but I dont want a 3070 at all so its brand new in box.

In order to answer your question, id water cool thebAMD, sell the nVidia. AMD is faster overall.
 
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I dont care if it came wrapped in shit paper in a garbage bag, all the nicest packaging doesnt mean shit if the GPUs are as rare as unicorns.

Im running 2 amazon bots around the clock, pulling 18GB a day of data just from back and forth tcp traffic as well as going and waiting in line at Microcenter every 2 to 3 days and I cant find or get a GPU for shit.

Im inches away from just going on ebay and giving a scum sucking piece of shit scalper 1200 and being done with it. Id did get a 3070 but I dont want a 3070 at all so its brand new in box.

In order to answer your question, id water cool thebAMD, sell the nVidia. AMD is faster overall.

Yeah I Got super lucky on timing, not going to lie, I have not been able to reproduce.
 
Man...don't do that. Might as well just flush $500 bucks down the toilet.
I dont care if it came wrapped in shit paper in a garbage bag, all the nicest packaging doesnt mean shit if the GPUs are as rare as unicorns.

Im running 2 amazon bots around the clock, pulling 18GB a day of data just from back and forth tcp traffic as well as going and waiting in line at Microcenter every 2 to 3 days and I cant find or get a GPU for shit.

Im inches away from just going on ebay and giving a scum sucking piece of shit scalper 1200 and being done with it. Id did get a 3070 but I dont want a 3070 at all so its brand new in box.

In order to answer your question, id water cool thebAMD, sell the nVidia. AMD is faster overall.

Or better yet, Use the 3070 to trade up with someone selling a 3080? some people will do MSRP trades.

If nothing else, use it until this shit clears up
 
nVIDIA 3080. DXR. The 6K series do not scale as well as I hoped given the largish clock jumps that can be pulled from them,look at Gamers Nexus for evidence of this, and the 6k series SUB par DXR Performance. Better drivers over all from my exp ,using both over 21 years. When one gets 310 FPS in a game and team red gets 320,what TF difference does Raster performance really mean anymore as BOTH are KILLER in that dept,but, one has DLSS 2.0 to boot ? I do not see AMD competing with DLSS,WHY you ask ? nVIDIA has Tensor cores to do that extra compute,AMD has no extra 'cores' to run that on without negatively affecting performance in other areas. FACT.
 
Or better yet, Use the 3070 to trade up with someone selling a 3080? some people will do MSRP trades.

If nothing else, use it until this shit clears up


True,or.... just wait for the inevitable mass layoffs coming very very soon and the ones caught up in it, that will soon need to sell that newly acquired 3070/3080/6800/3090/etc to pay the rent.Right after xmas many sell newly acquired hardware in the FSFT.
 
nVIDIA 3080. DXR. The 6K series do not scale as well as I hoped given the largish clock jumps that can be pulled from them,look at Gamers Nexus for evidence of this, and the 6k series SUB par DXR Performance. Better drivers over all from my exp ,using both over 21 years. When one gets 310 FPS in a game and team red gets 320,what TF difference does Raster performance really mean anymore as BOTH are KILLER in that dept,but, one has DLSS 2.0 to boot ? I do not see AMD competing with DLSS,WHY you ask ? nVIDIA has Tensor cores to do that extra compute,AMD has no extra 'cores' to run that on without negatively affecting performance in other areas. FACT.

You just cited two examples of niche implementations of features. When DXR and DLSS are in 75%+ of games, then you might have a point. Right now, and for likely the lifespan of these cards, it's just a bonus. Raster performance is still king for most applications.

Plus, if you have an application that uses more than 10GB of VRAM, you only have one option, and it isn't the card with all those other features unless you go over $1500.
 
Or better yet, Use the 3070 to trade up with someone selling a 3080? some people will do MSRP trades.

If nothing else, use it until this shit clears up

I just did a MSRP trade with someone trading my 3080 for a 5950x. There are people willing to do it. I have a 3060Ti I'd be willing to trade up to a 3070 with a MSRP trade.
 
You just cited two examples of niche implementations of features. When DXR and DLSS are in 75%+ of games, then you might have a point. Right now, and for likely the lifespan of these cards, it's just a bonus. Raster performance is still king for most applications.

Plus, if you have an application that uses more than 10GB of VRAM, you only have one option, and it isn't the card with all those other features unless you go over $1500.



The extra vram like the 'extra' overclocking headroom has done nothing except in niche cases,see Gamers Nexus. As I said Raster on both is killer,one is a hair faster in raster in a few titles,but both are insanely fast as is at all resolutions.
if all you say is true,why did you go green ?
 
The extra vram like the 'extra' overclocking headroom has done nothing except in niche cases,see Gamers Nexus. As I said Raster on both is killer,one is a hair faster in raster in a few titles,but both are insanely fast as is at all resolutions.
if all you say is true,why did you go green ?

DX in some titles is performing better on AMD cards, I don't think AMDS DX is lacking at the moment, I do think given the nature of how DX rolled out (NV had it exclusively for a couple of years now) that most games that currently support it, are optimized for NV cards.
 
I wouldn't take a reference AMD gpu to put a block on it. Reviews are showing AiB cards are clocking a lot higher then AMD's cards. I am in the waiting for a 3080ti to be released and will put a block on it.
 
I wouldn't take a reference AMD gpu to put a block on it. Reviews are showing AiB cards are clocking a lot higher then AMD's cards. I am in the waiting for a 3080ti to be released and will put a block on it.
Yeah, I'm thinking of waiting a bit to see if I can snag a 6900xt. This card is actually clocking pretty well already. AMDs fan profile is focused on silent operation, ramp it up a bit and it sits happily at around ~2500mhz (without overclocking)

Plus, the AIBs are charging way too much IMO. I'd rather get a BBAMD 6900XT over a Red Devil 6800XT for an extra $150 :p
 
I just did a MSRP trade with someone trading my 3080 for a 5950x. There are people willing to do it. I have a 3060Ti I'd be willing to trade up to a 3070 with a MSRP trade.
Where did you do the trade and how did you trust the other party to follow through?
 
DX in some titles is performing better on AMD cards, I don't think AMDS DX is lacking at the moment, I do think given the nature of how DX rolled out (NV had it exclusively for a couple of years now) that most games that currently support it, are optimized for NV cards.


True,in a few titles,that are AMD sponsored that use a single DXR effect. AMD is working on a DLSS 2.0 alternative as far as we know,but has no dedicated extra silicon real estate like nv's Tensor cores to run it on. Like AMD's DXR implementation it will have to run on what Shaders AMD can afford it,while its literally juggling everything else in the pipeline. AMD has abandoned the streaming market one which is growing in leaps and bounds,and the extra ram is a waste as a hard rule,Game Devs program for the lowest common denominator and or the avg ram amount on a card,not outliers,they also go even moreso by installed user base. Green also has a bigger and
better overall software eco-system. In the end though imho folks should be happy to have a card from either team as both are fantastic pieces of hardware,and as kirbyrj pointed out its for the most part user personal preference. We are,imo,a few generations away before Game Devs even start thinking of programming for 16Gb or larger frame buffers,by which time we'll all need and want far faster ASIC's pushing those pixels then what a 6800 or 3080 can manage.
 
I think it really depends on what you want out of it.

1440p, raster gaming, 6800XT I think.

4k, ray tracing, probably the 3080.

And then there are other feature/software options that could influence one over the other.
 
I'd have to personally go with the 6800 XT. I most likely wouldn't utilize Nvidia's ray tracing and all that fancy stuff, I'm just going for maxed settings 1440P 144Hz so I think the 6800 is a better fit for me.
 
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