How is the GTX 1080 handling games almost a year after its debut?

[Legolas8181]

It's been 11 months since the 1080 was released, how does it handle games now compared to when it was first released? And how do you think it'll cope a year from now when the next series is being released? I am intending to buy a 1080 for my rig next month and wondering if I'll have to look at upgrading next year or not

 

[feelinfroggy777]

That really depends on what resolution you are playing at. If you play at 1080p, then the 1080 will be a viable card for years. I play on a 3440 x 1440p ultra wide monitor and only found 2 games that could not stay above 60fps at max settings. Those were Deus Ex and Ghost Recon, both were not optimized very well.

The only issue that I see that could come up over the next couple years would be the 1080 performance on DX 12 or Vulcan titles. It is not really an issue right now as there are not many DX 12 titles out, so it is not an issue at the moment, but as time passes more DX12 titles will release and if Nvidia cant solve the issue with driver updates then it could become a problem.

Vega should be launching soon, so maybe AMD can pull another rabbit out of its hat, so waiting may not be a bad idea. However, if you consistently wait till the next card comes out, then you will wait forever.

 

[Legolas8181]

That really depends on what resolution you are playing at. If you play at 1080p, then the 1080 will be a viable card for years. I play on a 3440 x 1440p ultra wide monitor and only found 2 games that could not stay above 60fps at max settings. Those were Deus Ex and Ghost Recon, both were not optimized very well.

The only issue that I see that could come up over the next couple years would be the 1080 performance on DX 12 or Vulcan titles. It is not really an issue right now as there are not many DX 12 titles out, so it is not an issue at the moment, but as time passes more DX12 titles will release and if Nvidia cant solve the issue with driver updates then it could become a problem.

Vega should be launching soon, so maybe AMD can pull another rabbit out of its hat, so waiting may not be a bad idea. However, if you consistently wait till the next card comes out, then you will wait forever.

I plat at 2560x1440 but when the time comes, I'll have no problem dialing it back to 1920x1080

 

[photonboy]

great.
No matter how great the hardware is, if you don't know how to TWEAK game settings you'll have a sub-optimal experience with demanding titles.

*The game ECOSYSTEM does not change very quickly. Games take years to make... not only is the GTX1080 great, but my GTX680 was doing great with careful game tweaking for most titles but was starting to struggle with demanding ones.*

1) Adaptive VSYNC
- very handy to use. It auto turns off VSYNC.
- in AC Brotherhood for example, I kept getting stuttering (GTX680). very annoying. I tried turning off VSYNC but the screen tear was too much. I tried dropping the game QUALITY but that wasn't desirable.

- finally, I used Adaptive VSYNC then adjusted the game settings so I rarely dropped below 60FPS (for 60Hz monitor)

a) run game and close
b) Open NVidia Control Panel
c) manage 3d settings
d) ... add game
e) half vsync (named differently)
f) save

3) Adaptive HALF VSYNC (similar to above but FPS is halved. Useful for 144Hz monitors where gaming at 72FPS VSYNC ON makes the most sense. Otherwise you turn VSYNC ON but fall below 144FPS you get stuttering, but no VSYNC means screen tearing).

2) GSYNC monitor
- too much to discuss here, but it makes a HUGE difference in game smoothness. Still quite expensive though.

OTHER EXAMPLES of tweaking:
- a couple games like Max Payne 3 drop from 60FPS to 30FPS (60Hz then drops to HALF the refresh if you can't hit 60FPS) and that's pretty jarring. I use Adaptive VSYNC in Max Payne 3 which means if I drop to say 55FPS then VSYNC is now off and I get some screen tearing for a second or even less but not the sudden lowered responsiveness.

- game issues can be tweaked (or bugs fixed) with PCGAMINGWIKI and other places.

- play with anti-aliasing, RESOLUTION (i.e. avoid 4K if FPS is too low), shadows etc for the best balance.

SUMMARY:
Again, the question of the GTX1080 lasting well is yes, but it's more about understanding how to tweak.

Many people just crank to HIGH or ULTRA and just deal with whatever they get. Stuttering? Oh well, just buy a new card in a year. Guess what, chances are the difference in quality will be MINOR and you'd likely get the same issue in a demanding title anyway.

(Some game settings are crazy high and even the best machines struggle)

Again... SET GOAL then TWEAK to get to that goal.

 

[photonboy]

Fallout 4 and other Bethesda also are a bit quirky to use.

1) F4 - had to end up forcing "61FPS" (I think it says 60.7FPS) using NVInspector or else it had a severe micro-stutter. I tried to disable VSYNC but the screen tearing was so horrible I couldn't tell if it was otherwise smooth or not.

GTX1080 yes, but upgrading to the new HD Texture Pack (the massive one) would drop me below 61FPS so I'd get stuttering again. Most games aren't this bad.

2) F3 and F NV - similar issue (something quirky in the game engine I guess). I forced with "ifpsclamp=60" and the vanilla game went from massive stuttering to almost buttery smooth. Only issue was dropping below 60FPS it would be horrible, unplayable really but my GTX680 almost never dropped even with some mods.

(F3 also needed the dual-core fix).

Just pointing out again that it's more than just your hardware. You'll be happy to know however that STARDEW VALLEY runs excellent on the GTX1080.. seriously, I bought the GTX1080 then played around with it for several weeks only to play games for about THREE MONTHS that didn't need more than my GTX680 anyway. sigh.

 

[photonboy]

Forgot to say...
DX12 was a big concern for a lot of people. I'm not concerned anymore. NVidia Pascal can handle DX12 just fine. It's a very complicated topic so I don't want to eat up too much time here.

Even if AMD can pull ahead (relatively) they don't currently have anything that can compete.

And if VR like the VIVE is something you'll consider at some point then currently NVidia is the best solution hands down. It's also confusing such as SMP (Simultaneous Multi-Projection) in future titles and so on.

The GTX1080 is a safe bet. Buy it. Enjoy it, and stop looking at the next big thing like a salivating Pavlovian dog. I'll shut up now.