Please recommend a GTX 1080 Ti card for DL

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frozen

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Jul 29, 2017
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Hello, there are several companies selling cards of different variants using the GTX 1080 Ti, which brand and variant do you recommend? I plan to buy one card first and if needed, add more later.

Somewhere I read a recommendation to stay away from the reference edition which I read is also called the Founders Edition. Shall we follow this advice? Do overclocked 1080 Ti performance significantly better? In the past, overclocked systems tended to fail sooner. Not sure if it is worth.

I have not seen the motherboard for the Threadripper or Intel i9/X series. Do I have to worry that having a large cooling system on the GPU may not allow me to put several in the computer.
 

frozen

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Patrick

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I know saying "they all perform the same" is not popular at all.

Some of the big differences:
  • Size - cards like the ASUS STRIX use larger PCB. It can make for better cooling, but it can also cause fit issues in some chassis
  • Warranty
  • Clock speeds - if you are using Linux - it is harder to overclock and keep fans going
  • Fans/ cooling - if you are running them at home, it makes sense to get something quiet
  • Utilities - if you are using Windows
Others may have different opinions, but they look similar in Linux.
 

frozen

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Thanks. Which card are you using?

I am worrying that liquid from the liquid cooling system may leak out to damage the expensive computer. How likely does that happen?
 

Axion

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Aug 18, 2017
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What type of deep learning are you doing? I would also recommend the EVGA FE 1080TI; I use them in my workstation x4 for light ML/DL computing for TF with image classification.
 
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frozen

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What type of deep learning are you doing? I would also recommend the EVGA FE 1080TI; I use them in my workstation x4 for light ML/DL computing for TF with image classification.
I just started learning DL. Does it come with water cooling?
 

_alex

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If you are going to pack several in a rackmount chassis, get the Founders Edition and not the cheaper blower versions.
Still no GPU for my Intel 2u, would like to pull the trigger on a Asus GTX 1070 Ti Turbo as no FE are available.
As i got it this card's design is quite similar to the FE, but just to make sure - are there any problems i can expect with the asus 'turbo' design ?
 

funkywizard

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Still no GPU for my Intel 2u, would like to pull the trigger on a Asus GTX 1070 Ti Turbo as no FE are available.
As i got it this card's design is quite similar to the FE, but just to make sure - are there any problems i can expect with the asus 'turbo' design ?
Should be pretty good, has a blower fan. Certainly easier to keep a 1070 cool than a 1080ti.
 

_alex

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Yes, should exhaust warm air through the slot out of the chassis.
I just wondered why @Patrick mentioned the 'cheaper blower versions', maybe would head for a 1070 Ti Founders Edition but haven't found a single one available in Germany.
 

Patrick

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A lot of the non-FE blower versions are not using the nicer blower coolers and do not have backside heatsinks for example. If you want to run at 300W power limit on a 1080 Ti, that is what I would watch out for.

On the 1070 Ti, it is a much lower power card (180W) in essentially the same form factor so you are probably ok.
 

funkywizard

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I find that a 190-200w power limit is optimal for efficiency. You can increase the cpu clock offset +100mhz on just about any 1080ti at a 200w power limit, which should yield performance nearly identical to stock clocks at stock 250w power limit. That obviously puts a lot less pressure on the cooling for the card.

If you do want to squeeze a couple percent more out of the cards and don't care about power use, I would agree with Patrick's assessment about cooling being essential. I haven't been lucky enough to get ahold of a founders edition card thus far. I can say, the other blowers had been better than typical "open air" cards, when used in servers.

My favorite card is definitely the EVGA Hybrid SC2.