Question Look what came in the mail!

[lakedude]

The same friend that sent me his used 3950x just sent this*:

 

[sdifox]

Did you turn gigolo for video card?

 

[lakedude]

*I might not be keeping the 3080. I was wanting to see what a powerful card could do with Alyx, to see if it is even worth getting a better card than the 1070. So this is a test.

My buddy will most likely take the 3080 when he comes to visit, so I just have first use of the card.

 

[sdifox]

*I might not be keeping the 3080. I was wanting to see what a powerful card could do with Alyx, to see if it is even worth getting a better card than the 1070. So this is a test.

Why wouldn't it be better?

 

[lakedude]

Did you turn gigolo for video card?

Back when I had a good job and no kids I'd buy him stuff. He had funny requirements, like he refused to buy 2 slot cards because he was waiting for powerful single slot cards. I couldn't stand it so I just sent him a video card back in the 6800GT days.

Now I'm married with children and retired so the situation has flipped.

 

[Ajay]

Did you turn gigolo for video card?

I wonder how many ppl remember that. Hilarious story.

 

[lakedude]

Why wouldn't it be better?

$800 better?

Also the headset, controller tracking or network could be the bottleneck that causes jerkyness.

Also also Alyx looks pretty darn good on low/med settings. Not sure how noticeable any improvement might be.

 

[lakedude]

Well this is turning out to be a bit of work.
My PS isn't up for the job and the case is going to need a little help fitting this beast.

Pretty funny because this is a 2.5 slot card. It takes up 2 slots but it hangs over into the 3rd slot. My dude was holding out for single slot cards back in the day. Haha!

I don't mean to sound ungrateful but I'm tempted to give up. The system is awesome but has not been 100% stable and now it looks like I need a new PS and the case needs to be modified.

Meanwhile my 1660ti laptop has been rock solid with just an occasional understandable jitter.

I'd be happier if the system was broken so I could fix it. The intermittent nature of the problems is really frustrating.

 

[moonbogg]

Why wouldn't it be better?

VR operates at a fixed refresh rate. It either works or it doesn't. Increased super sampling or graphics settings is nice, but honestly not a game changer.

 

[CP5670]

Alyx scales pretty well on older cards with its dynamic resolution, but you will be able to see further in the distance with the 3080. It will make a bigger difference in sim type games.

 

[lakedude]

Maybe this just to get me going?

I mean we are using zero molex 4 pins with the SSD on M.2 and the DVD on SATA power.

Bought

I'll buy a real PS if I need to after my dude decides which parts I get to keep.

 

[lakedude]

 

[Stuka87]

What power supply do you have? Typically if it only has two 8 pins, it may not have the current supply for a 3rd.

 

[sdifox]

VR operates at a fixed refresh rate. It either works or it doesn't. Increased super sampling or graphics settings is nice, but honestly not a game changer.

You can get better depth with more computational power

 

[Shmee]

Yikes, I don't think I would trust that setup with that PSU / adapter.

 

[UsandThem]

Yikes, I don't think I would trust that setup with that PSU / adapter.

You and me both.

 

[lakedude]

What power supply do you have? Typically if it only has two 8 pins, it may not have the current supply for a 3rd.

Antec EA-650

 

[lakedude]

Yikes, I don't think I would trust that setup with that PSU / adapter.

It is temporary. The RTX 3080 is not mine to keep.

HWMonitor says the card draws 350 watts. The Kill-A-Watt showed a 490 watt peak but closer to 400 watts average in game.

I have 750 watt PS but the connectors on it are worse and it is in use so less convenient than the 650..

 

[lakedude]

You and me both.

I just finished up about an hour on the Quest 2 playing Alyx on high with ultra textures. Nothing caught on fire 🔥.

Everything did look better but exactly how is hard to put a finger on. The resin eating gun upgrade stations were much smoother. Still there was occasional jitter that might be the network or the tracking.

Thinking about buying an Index with external tracking.

Oh the 3080 is pretty when it is powered.

 

[Aapje]

If you want to be safe, you can lower the power limit of the card a little. Supposedly, the loss of performance is fairly limited even with a substantially lower power limit.

 

[lakedude]

If you want to be safe, you can lower the power limit of the card a little. Supposedly, the loss of performance is fairly limited even with a substantially lower power limit.

How? MSI Afterburner? Works with EVGA?

 

[Aapje]

How? MSI Afterburner? Works with EVGA?

Yes, Afterburner works with all Nvidia cards. Lots of people just use it instead of the software that the AIB provides.

 

[lakedude]

Thanks!

OMG I was pulling 617 watts out of a 650 watt PS! That 2nd graphics test on Timespy is a bit more stressful than the first...

Definitely going to dial back the wattage...

 

[lakedude]

100% power vs 85%:

100%




85%

 

[Fanatical Meat]

100% power vs 85%:

100%
View attachment 61719



85%
View attachment 61720

obviously you need to over clock.
Should be illegal to use that much more power for a one percent-ish performance bump