Help with GPU for VR and 165hz @ 1440

Run your monitor at a lower refresh rate for now, 120 is plenty smooth, and I think that is the max refresh rate WOW will allow you to set. Then wait for the next gen cards if you are worried about the 1080 being replaced. A 980Ti is still a very fast card.

For VR a 980 Ti by itself won't cut it. You'll want to upgrade.

As far as a custom loop I think I can talk you out of it.

I also fiddled with the idea and decided it was just not worth the time, effort, or expense on a single GPU setup, and a single GPU is really the best way to go, except in the most extreme cases.

I have a 6700k OC'd at @4.7Ghz and my H115i AIO cooler keeps it under 60C for the most part. That was only $100.

For a custom loop even on a one card system, assuming no motherboard or RAM cooling, is going to be $500-600 for a good quality one, including the block for the GPU. Another block is going to be a good $200 more.

So you're going to spend about $1200 on this upgrade.

Change mindset; Get a good AIO liquid cooler and some high quality fans for your whole system: $350 tops. Solid Air cooled 1080 Ti: $750. Total cost: $1100. Plus a 1080 Ti is roughly 20% more performance than a 980 Ti SLI, cools just fine on air, and doesn't have those pesky SLI issues.

Which brings the point of SLI. When it works it's great... when it doesn't, its worse than only have one card, meaning to play at all you need to disable one of your cards and your system is basically neutered until SLI support is either released or improved, meaning a long wait usually.


Having said all that if you're already happy with your CPU performance, another 980 Ti will cost about as much as a 1080 would, and will be a little bit faster. however, the 1080 should have no issues running VR, it should be nearly flawless, and will have the added benefit of being a single card solution.

The 1080 Ti is also not a bad option but costs significantly more.

having said THAT: Volta is around the corner. Nvidia has already announced its new Titan with Volta technology so the 20 or 11 series is around the corner as well. If I had to guess I'd say March-May. So it's really up to you if you want to wait. I personally would get the 1080 Ti, but that's what I actually did lol. As far as them releasing something "the next day" that's not going to happen, it's close but it's not going to surprise you. Nvidia doesn't release their big next gen stuff without a bunch of hype. The only things they do that with are weird things like the 1070 Ti, and their Titan stuff. The next gen. will not come out before you hear about it.



I was in the EXACT same boat as you except I was questioning wether or not to do a 1080 SLI custom loop or a single 1080 Ti, I decided the custom loop wasn't worth it on a single card setup, and that the custom loop would cost too much for very little gain in cooling performance. My 1080 Ti is one of the "louder" ones, however I can't hear it at all and it doesn't go over 60C. My CPU stays always under 65C (and only gets that hot in extreme situations, goes to 90C in stress tests but that's another story) but the cooler is the loudest part of my rig, however it is still plenty silent, and it's only loud because to keep it under 65C (because the OC requires 1.4v) I had to crank the fans up, once I upgrade to the 8700k I'm hoping that will be dead silent once again.