Question are video card prices headed down yet?

[Aapje]

Intel has already shown the capability of fusing off, or subscription license key fusing, of certain CPU features. Why hasn't Nvidia done this on their consumer GPUs for the parts of it you consider professional?

I guess my point is, you say Nvidia can only do this once they go to chiplets. But it seems to the casual observer that they could do this with existing technology.

The difference is that without chiplets, that silicon is still on the chip and thus increases the BOM. If they then don't use it to provide value to gamers, the price/performance will be bad, or the margins will be poor.

By using RT for DLSS, they've probably gained a lot of sales compared to just disabling the RT cores, because many people were and are willing to pay a premium for it.

No one is paying 1k for an AMD card that matches or loses to an Nvidia card with the same price.

Yes, so AMD is being saved by Nvidia's need to sell the 3000-cards, but the party can end any day.

This is why I think/hope that AMD's Oompa Loompas are being chained to their desks to get a respin done, so they can put a N32 card up against the 4080, while the 7950 XTX will take on the 4090. If no respin is coming, AMD might be in trouble.

 

[DooKey]

Don't settle for less than a 12GB frame buffer if you are buying on that timeline

LOL. What are you talking about? 12GB isn't going to be sufficient in 10 years. The lemming stuff around here is funny as heck.

 

[CP5670]

That's the one! And yeah it'll be a huge upgrade - about 4-5x the fps and 6x the VRAM from my estimates. 290 was definitely a workhorse. About the time I decided to upgrade a few years back is when the market went insane. Been biding my time since but figure I'll never really good a good deal on Nvidia and lots of VRAM anyway. 4090 is the only alternative/upgrade for what I need and waiting for that to be <$1000 will be a long long time.

You will love it. I got more use out of it than several previous cards I had, and it handled every non-RT game smoothly at 4K. The extra vram is useful for content creation if you do that.

Is it possible to see vRAM usage divided for used vs buffer? On Linux we can see how the memory is being used, but in task manager it will show as barely any free. Not exactly comparable to vRAM.

Launching KSP with a 16k texture pack will use all my vRAM right away. But launching Cyberpunk and having them run simultaneously doesn't show GPU performance degradation. I am not feeling confident trusting vRAM usage as a bottleneck.

The latest MSI afterburner shows the actual usage, not the commit charge. The highest usage I've seen is in some VR games, which can go over 20GB.

 

[blckgrffn]

LOL. What are you talking about? 12GB isn't going to be sufficient in 10 years. The lemming stuff around here is funny as heck.

lol, wut? I was attempting to dissuade him on settling for a 10GB 3080 FE which is a lot of GPU and not enough ram imo. Not sure how that is lemming talk?

Yeah, 10 years is a long time. That long ago now we were laughing at 8GB cards. If 24 is the 8GB of those discussions and 12GB is the 4GB, then maybe 12GB is still usable then. Having a 4GB card now is table stakes where a 2GB card would be a real compromise but not unusable.

 

[DooKey]

lol, wut? I was attempting to dissuade him on settling for a 10GB 3080 FE which is a lot of GPU and not enough ram imo. Not sure how that is lemming talk?

Yeah, 10 years is a long time. That long ago now we were laughing at 8GB cards. If 24 is the 8GB of those discussions and 12GB is the 4GB, then maybe 12GB is still usable then. Having a 4GB card now is table stakes where a 2GB card would be a real compromise but not unusable.

2GB more VRAM in 10 years will be worthless. It doesn't matter whether he buys a 10GB or 12GB card at this time for use over that period of time.

Any current card will be mostly useless in 10 years no matter the VRAM amount for that matter.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Any current card will be mostly useless in 10 years no matter the VRAM amount for that matter.

Even the RTX A6000 48GB?

 

[sze5003]

Vram is important specifically if you care for or work with VR and high resolution headsets like the G2. The 1080ti lasted me a really long time but it showed it's age with that headset, for example in flight sims. Also more and more games are coming out less optimized.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Also more and more games are coming out less optimized.

I think there might be a reason for game developers to intentionally overwhelm GPUs with Ultra settings. If a game does 4K 120 fps at launch, it may run at 200 fps a year or two later on more powerful hardware. That might lead to review websites excluding that game from their benchmarks and turn to something a bit more "taxing". What the game developers lose then is publicity (never mind that it's bad) for their AAA game. It also prevents curious gamers from picking up the game on sale to see how their new PC years later handles the game they heard was punishing on hardware.

Crysis is the most notoriously unoptimized game in PC gaming history. That must have really helped the sales of Crysis 2 and 3, for gamers would have loaded those games onto their PCs with trembling hearts to see if their PC could "take it". I have a suspicion that PC gamers have been fooled by some very smart developers.

 

[ZGR]

Yeah, 10 years is a long time. That long ago now we were laughing at 8GB cards. If 24 is the 8GB of those discussions and 12GB is the 4GB, then maybe 12GB is still usable then. Having a 4GB card now is table stakes where a 2GB card would be a real compromise but not unusable.

10 years is a long time for a GPU, but as we know hardware is aging far more gracefully. The R9 290 I bought in 2013 is still running strong almost 10 years later! Still viable for some 1080p gaming at OK framerate.

I wouldn't wanna spend more than $100 extra for the 3080 12GB vs the 10GB; but there are some decent sold prices for the 12GB on eBay. Once the price is above $600, I feel like waiting for RX 7900 is the better bang for buck.

The latest MSI afterburner shows the actual usage, not the commit charge. The highest usage I've seen is in some VR games, which can go over 20GB.

I am monitoring with MSI Afterburner as well. I do see there is a 4.6.5 beta though. It certainly seems like some titles can use more VRAM then they need to maintain performance. It would be nice if we could only allow software to use a certain amount of VRAM to see what the hard limit is.

Kinda like this 2015 GN article with Call of Duty and its quirky high VRAM usage: https://www.gamersnexus.net/game-be...ck-ops-iii-vram-consumption-benchmark-titan-x

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Hell i couldn't even get one at launch as they were all sold out, and i really do not mind waiting it out for the 4090ti, after all the scalpers get burned hardcore on the 4080 and learn there lesson that GPU's are not profitable anymore, and to go back to scalping PS5's along with nike shoes.

Nah PS5 isn't very profitable to scalp and hasn't been for months, at least in the US. But scalper douchebags will always have Nike I guess.

 

[CP5670]

I think there might be a reason for game developers to intentionally overwhelm GPUs with Ultra settings. If a game does 4K 120 fps at launch, it may run at 200 fps a year or two later on more powerful hardware. That might lead to review websites excluding that game from their benchmarks and turn to something a bit more "taxing". What the game developers lose then is publicity (never mind that it's bad) for their AAA game. It also prevents curious gamers from picking up the game on sale to see how their new PC years later handles the game they heard was punishing on hardware.

Not to mention selling more video cards. I have often wondered if NV/AMD pay off AAA developers to make ultra settings as taxing as possible, so they can sell more cards. Ultra settings (with a few exceptions like textures) don't do much visually in most games but can hurt performance a lot.

 

[Heartbreaker]

10 years is a long time for a GPU, but as we know hardware is aging far more gracefully. The R9 290 I bought in 2013 is still running strong almost 10 years later! Still viable for some 1080p gaming at OK framerate.

I wouldn't wanna spend more than $100 extra for the 3080 12GB vs the 10GB; but there are some decent sold prices for the 12GB on eBay. Once the price is above $600, I feel like waiting for RX 7900 is the better bang for buck.

It's not like you'll be expecting leading edge performance in 10 years. You also have to remember the most popular cards are low end, so developers aren't going to ignore setting for lower end.

The GTX 1060, has finally been displaced on Steam HW survey.

The new most popular card is the GTX 1650 which is slower, and has less VRAM (4 GB).

At this rate in ten years, the most popular car on Steam will be an RTX 9030 with maybe 6GB... A 3080 10GB will smoke it.

 

[mastertech01]

Nah PS5 isn't very profitable to scalp and hasn't been for months, at least in the US. But scalper douchebags will always have Nike I guess.

Some guy was selling Nike shoes on Market Place the other day for 3090 prices.

 

[Semi-fiend]

I'm still on a 1080 Ti and my god, seeing the prices of modern GPUs makes me kind of upset at the state of market, it feels like I got my 1080 Ti for an absolute steal at the time. I think Nvidia won't be making that mistake again.

 

[sze5003]

I'm still on a 1080 Ti and my god, seeing the prices of modern GPUs makes me kind of upset at the state of market, it feels like I got my 1080 Ti for an absolute steal at the time. I think Nvidia won't be making that mistake again.

We did get it for a steal at the time. I sold mine last year for nearly the same price I originally purchased it. Which reminds me now that my 4090 didn't burn up because I plugged it in forcefully correctly, I should probably put up my 3080ti for sale while I still can.

 

[mastertech01]

We did get it for a steal at the time. I sold mine last year for nearly the same price I originally purchased it. Which reminds me now that my 4090 didn't burn up because I plugged it in forcefully correctly, I should probably put up my 3080ti for sale while I still can.

As long as you didnt smoke it taking it out J/K

 

[moonbogg]

Not to mention selling more video cards. I have often wondered if NV/AMD pay off AAA developers to make ultra settings as taxing as possible, so they can sell more cards. Ultra settings (with a few exceptions like textures) don't do much visually in most games but can hurt performance a lot.

That's why Nvidia has to invent reasons to keep buying a new GPU, because gaming isn't it. PhysX, tessellation, and ray tracing are all gimmicky checkmarks to watch for while running the latest benchmarking program or on those 1 or 2 games that actually use the tech in a way that's noticeable. I saw my kid playing some old scrolling game on a 1660 super at 1080p yesterday and I thought "damn, that looks awesome." The rest of the time they're playing Roblox, Trailmakers or Fortnite, all of which run perfectly fine. I bought them several triple A games and they mostly ignore them all and play those easy to run games by choice. They did love Gears of War 4 and 5 though, both of which ran great.
So, this technology has matured for what it is. For most people there just isn't much juice left in those lemons. It's really the 4K snobs and other enthusiasts who care about video cards anymore. Everyone else can play whatever they want on something way less expensive, which is why the 4080 is the most over-engineered door stop the world has ever seen.

 

[amenx]

--

Not to mention selling more video cards. I have often wondered if NV/AMD pay off AAA developers to make ultra settings as taxing as possible, so they can sell more cards. Ultra settings (with a few exceptions like textures) don't do much visually in most games but can hurt performance a lot.

They would go out of business if they didnt.

 

[VirtualLarry]

RXD coin (Radiant) currently profitable for 30-series GPUs.

 

[mastertech01]

RXD coin (Radiant) currently profitable for 30-series GPUs.

nickel dime or real profit?

 

[VirtualLarry]

nickel dime or real profit?

$1/day, per 12-card rig? Profit's profit, my man .

 

[mastertech01]

$1/day, per 12-card rig? Profit's profit, my man .

Its only profit after the equipment and utilities consumed are paid.

 

[maddie]

$1/day, per 12-card rig? Profit's profit, my man .

Is depreciation still a thing?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Its only profit after the equipment and utilities consumed are paid.

That's after electric is paid for, and somewhat assuming that your cards already broke even during the bull run of 2021.

Profit's profit, better to heat your home and make some latte money, than sell your GPUs at a loss to some worthless gamer. (*)

(*) Bryan, if you're reading this, I don't mean you. Referring to bogons that would sell their firstborn for NVidia's "new shiny".

 

[mastertech01]

That's after electric is paid for, and somewhat assuming that your cards already broke even during the bull run of 2021.

Profit's profit, better to heat your home and make some latte money, than sell your GPUs at a loss to some worthless gamer.

Its not a loss if they are already paid for during the bull run and you sell high compared to winter spring flood.