Both the 1070 Ti and 1080 graphics cards pack a punch when it comes to the GPU market, but there are key differences between the two. Here’s a snapshot of the differences and what to keep in mind when deciding which one to get.
Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti
+ Affordable big-hitter
+ Quiet GPU
-Some partner cards as expensive as a 1080
Nvidia GTX 1080
+ Great OC capabilities
+ Fantastic performance
-More expensive than the 1070 Ti
When the 1070 and 1080 were launched by Nvidia in May 2016 they reclaimed a large portion of the upper-mid-range market for GPUs. For a while both these cards were the go-to choice for high-performance mid-range cards, but then came AMD’s Vega 56 and 64. Nvidia then looked to close the gap at this price point and the 1070 Ti was launched. The addition of the 1070 Ti is welcomed as it offers the ability to have a powerful graphics card that is cheaper than the 1080 and more powerful than the 1070. The main issue is which is better and which to go for. We’re here to address the pros and cons of both graphics cards to help you choose the right card.
Price
The 1070 Ti was launched by Nvidia to combat AMD’s move to try to dominate the upper-mid range price bracket for GPU’s and so comes in at an affordable £419 for the Founders Edition. On the other hand the 1080 comes in a little more expensive at £469 for its Founders Edition. Although these are their entry price points, partners have launched their own versions of the cards with tweaks to fans, OC speeds, RGB and much more, resulting in a wide range of prices for each respective card. But, as a rule of thumb the 1070 Ti does generally come in a little cheaper than the 1080. The reason for this is because the 1070 Ti is effectively a cut-down 1080, as it performs similarly but just lacks the higher-end memory – the 1080 has GDDR5X while the 1070 Ti sports GDDR5.
The 1070 we recommend is the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Amp Edition as you get the solid performance of the 1070 along with LED lighting and one-touch overclocking. If you have a bigger budget, we recommend the Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1 as it comes overclocked and has triple fan cooling.
Design and Cooling
In terms of the design of both graphics cards, it’s difficult to compare them given that partners such as Gigabyte, Asus, MSI and many more all have their own take on them. So when it comes to aesthetics it’s really up to you which you like the look of the most, but both the 1070 Ti and 1080 have eye-catching designs. Likewise, if you’re sporting a clean, sleek PC then there are plenty of GPUs that are no-nonsense and focus on performance.
Again, when it comes to cooling, it greatly depends on the partner that you go for. For example, the Gigabyte GTX 1080 comes with three fans to keep the overclocked GPU nice and cool while the ZOTAC 1070 Ti comes with two fans. The main thing to think about is whether or not overclocking is on your list of things to do on your PC. If you’re going to overclock then opting for a GPU with multiple fans and decent cooling is important.
A key point to note is that both the 1070 Ti and 1080 have a max power consumption of 180W. Therefore, we recommend having a 500W power supply unit (depending on what else you have in your rig) to ensure you’ve got enough juice to power each of the GPUs. Overall, there isn’t a big difference in design and cooling of both GPUs.
Performance
So far it has been difficult to differentiate the 1070 Ti from the 1080 and say which you should opt for, but now it will become clearer which one performs better. The short answer is the 1080 outperforms the 1070 Ti, but not by much.
Both cards feature Nvidia’s Pascal architecture so you can experience up to three-times-faster performance compared to the 900 series, and both support the latest gaming technologies such as VR. You’ll get a crisper picture with the 1080 as it has 2,560 CUDA cores while the 1070 Ti has 2,432, but to notice the difference with the naked eye is extremely difficult. One key difference between the two comes into play if you want to overclock your GPU. The 1080 has a boost clock speed of 1,733MHz while for the 1070 Ti it’s 1,683 MHz, so if you’re concerned with pushing your GPU to the limit then the 1080 is ideal. If overclocking isn’t on the agenda, they both have a core clock speed of 1,607 MHz.
As previously mentioned, the 1070 Ti is effectively a cut-back 1080 and the area that Nvidia has cut back on is the memory. The 1080 has 8GB of GDDR5X memory onboard, resulting in higher memory speed and bandwidth compared to the 1070 Ti. The 1070 Ti sports the older GDDR5, so although they both have 8GB of memory, the 1080 outperforms the 1070 Ti thanks to its newer kit. In numbers, it allows the 1080 to have a memory speed of 10Gbps compared to the 1070’s 8Gbps, resulting in the 1080 being faster and capable of handling high-spec games better.
Verdict
This comes down to which graphics card is best suited for you, as opposed to which one is better. If you’re after a big-hitting, powerful (but affordable) GPU then the 1070 Ti is the best option for you. You get similar performance as the 1080 by compromising on memory but all for a cheaper price. If you have a larger budget and overclocking is on your agenda then the 1080 is the best option for you. It has better overclocking potential than the 1070 Ti and has the advantage of GDDR5X memory meaning it does perform better than the 1070 Ti.