11 hours ago, haskell said:

I posted this in the hardware forum, but since it is MSFS-specific hopefully it will be allowed here: 

I am looking to upgrade and am looking at the mid-high range GPUs. I have decided on a 3080 TI or a 6800 XT. They both benchmark about the same in MSFS but the 6800 is about $300 cheaper. Some have actually reported smoother performance in FS with the 6800. So it is the logical choice for value.

BUT, DLSS is Nvidia only. I hear mixed reviews on the quality vs. performance benefit of DLSS. I would hate to have a card that didn’t support it if it was a game-changer. Also, I have discovered VR and love it. That’s actually the primary reason for the upgrade. Thoughts?

Thanks! 

If you are looking into the NVidia 3080, wait for the 4080 or 4070 instead. The 3080 doesn't support DLSS 3. The 3080 only supports DLSS 2. And from the videos I have seen so far, some videos show DLSS 3 giving up to 2x more FPS than DLSS 2 in 4K.

3 hours ago, Mgard78 said:

Much larger share of the market?  It's 80-20.. hardly larger...

It shifted back and forth, but AMD had 25% at one point, but the bigger market share is in the higher-end cards. They had a very tiny amount of market share before in the higher-end, but because of the shortages and pricing issues, there are a lot more people with AMD's that are hardcore gamers than before. In Q1 of 2022, market share shifted towards AMD, with AMD now at 24% market share and Nvidia at 75%.

AMD may only currently have 20% to 25% OVERALL market share at the moment, but compared to 15% in the past (and a measley 8% of the higher-end), yes it's significantly higher. That said, of course anyone would rather have a 3090 if it were the same price, but it's not. It's double the price. You might have a few issues or have to use a certain driver, but it's really not very common anymore to have major game-breaking issues. The only reason I use an Nvidia is because I'm developing stuff, and AMD is a little finickier still with certain DEV tools.

 

Edited October 20, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

The low market share of AMD is partly due to the fact they have zero penetration in corporate and enterprise due to ongoing driver issues in the past, bearing in mind that a weekend spent mucking about sorting out drivers is often "fun" for the casual gamer but costs money for a business.

That and the fact that the enthusiast market is more like US politics than anything resembling sensible.  About the same percentage of enthusiasts swap from AMD to Nvidia or visa versa as the percentage of voters randomly switching from Republican or Democrat to the other side.

Yah, their GPU reputation is stained. They need one good year without too many major issues, and they may gain a significant amount of market share.

I really am not in favor of either company, but we need more competition. Right now NVIDIA is price fixing the market IMO, and AMD is going along with it because AMD doesn't have enough market share to implement a full blown price war. The 3090 is WAY overpriced considering the 4000 series is now out, Nvidia is using market control techniques to keep the prices artificially high. Nvidia knows if they allow the 3090's to go for too cheap, the sales on the 4000 series will suffer (especially the 4080 and lower). It's not in their interest to offer a reasonable price, not until AMD gains more market share.

 

Edited October 20, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery

Thanks for all the input! A 3090 is out of the question, as I’m not paying over $1,000 for a video card. So it’s between the 3080 ti and 6800 XT. I think I’ll try the 6800 and save the 300 for other upgrades (CPU, RAM, PSU.)

I really appreciate your perspectives! 

@haskell When you try it out give us an update. I am on the fence as well as I would like to upgrade from my 1080 since it is the only thing holding me back in MSFS. Nvidia has gotten ridiculous in price as of late.

On 10/20/2022 at 12:32 PM, haskell said:

Thanks for all the input! A 3090 is out of the question, as I’m not paying over $1,000 for a video card. So it’s between the 3080 ti and 6800 XT. I think I’ll try the 6800 and save the 300 for other upgrades (CPU, RAM, PSU.)

I really appreciate your perspectives! 

I would get the 3080 Ti without question. 

5 hours ago, Lotharen said:

@haskell When you try it out give us an update. I am on the fence as well as I would like to upgrade from my 1080 since it is the only thing holding me back in MSFS. Nvidia has gotten ridiculous in price as of late.

Be aware that AMD announces their new RDNA RX7000 series cards on November 3rd.
Just get at least a 6800xt, the 6900xt is better. Otherwise, get at least a 3070 TI, the 3080 12 GB is better, and the 3080 TI even better.

If I were buying a new card right now, this is what I would buy...
This is the best price I've ever seen on a 3080 TI and the performance is very close to the 3090.
https://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1204006&SRCCODE=3WGOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=mH4CjC7BBTkwCjCV1-CjCE&gclid=CjwKCAjwzNOaBhAcEiwAD7Tb6K2PAI6lT51FU9xlYhmP_e_mVXZCkAk9U4mfwSqgyjWd_JxLbMvBuBoCSiAQAvD_BwE

The same card is going for $1075 on Amazon, and only $840 on TigerDirect. I've rarely seen good prices on TD, so not sure how reliable TD is these days (ordered from them without issues years ago).

If you aren't worried about fan noise, I would get the 6900xt instead for less money.
Thinking back on my AMD experience, the only issue was having to custom set the fan curve software and the annoying refresh rate resetting whenever I launched the HP Mixed Reality (for the HP Reverb G2 VR). However, I'm sure I could have fixed the refresh rate eventually.

AMD makes great hardware, but their software is still behind NVIDIA, but it's very slight compared to before. Like now you have issues here and there, it's just not generally game breaking or across the board issues like it used to be. The one thing that was super annoying on the AMD was having to reset the fan curve settings (it would sometimes reset on its own), that was the worst part about the card (other than the fan noise).

Keep in mind I owned the Red Devil 6900xt, so other cards may have quieter fans. 

Edited October 23, 20223 yr by Alpine Scenery