PoE with high/ max GI-settings - which gpu to choose as an upgrade?

...
as black friday is around the corner and my current gpu can't handle PoE with GI settings (Global Illumination) well, i would love to hear from ppl actually owning the cards i consider to purchase about real ingame performance. <3

--------------------

My system:

i7 5820k (so far non OC as bored to death, but DR3 cooler, so an option)
16GB 2133mhz RAM
samsung 950 pro ssd (NVMe) -> Win 10 64bit and PoE on there.

GTX 960 (medium hard OCed)

[EDIT]
Bought a 2560x1440 144hz Gsync monitor.

1920x1200 (60 hz) monitor will become 2nd screen for browser etc.

--------------------


-> currently with GI on (low shadow settings, rest medium - high) i am with some auras / Hidout FXs already ~95% GPU usage. So fancy shadows or everything maxed out is really no option for now with GI enabled. Which i luv and honestly thats my very reason to upgrade my GPU - to be able to play 2560x1440 @60+ fps with GI + high / max settings.

As GTX 1080 TIs are getting freaking rare these days and almost every seller seems out of stock - at least with imho interesting 3rd party models or "reasonable" (in terms of my budget) prices...

...i did kinda settle on 3 candidates:

Nvidia GTX 1080 (kinda obvious to me)

Nvidia GTX 1070 TI (maybe sufficient)

AMD Vega 64 died as gsync monitor^^

EDIT: maybe RTX 2080 (?)

My question towards owners of these cards: At wut settings / framerates / resolution can you play with high / max settings and GI? And do you have any Feedback / suggestions regarding my choices? Any tweaks / software you use to optimize?

Thx a lot in advance! (:
Am so hyped about finlly upgrading but as PoE is my main (only) game i want to make a choice i won't regret...


PS: Any RTX owner out there? (If yes...) Product quality issues? Performace on the RTX 2070? ANything else noteworthy?

Truth is no matter the GPU you have even in top tier form it's still going to lag that's how badly optimized this game is. Even with titan card

Right now your setup is basically fine the real possible god tier performance upgrade an an SSD for real which you have right there your core and everything else is fine.

I_NO is right, your hardware is pretty good.
I run a GTX 650 Ti on an i5 and can run GI.
However, I am upgrading my video card on Black Friday for sure.

Honestly, for gaming I would never go with AMD cards. Nvidia quickly fixes issues and some games have stutter issues with amd gpu's.

With your resolution I doubt you would even need to upgrade from your 960. You can basically run PoE on the highest settings if you lower shadows to the minimum. Shadows always strain the gpu's power in almost every game.

If you want to run PoE on your current monitor smoothly, I'd say go for a 1080 atleast. And if it is only used for gaming, get a gaming specific gpu like gaming x versions. It truly makes a difference.
If you will upgrade to a new monitor(4k) any time, I'd hold off on buying a new gpu till you can get a 1080 ti or a 2080 ti.

Myself I am playing poe on 4k without any issues at all with all settings on high, except shadows. With a 1080 ti gaming x trio. So the statement that poe will always have issues is not true. For those that do have some issues, try to play around with settings a bit, sometimes one or two settings just strain your gpu for whatever reason.

PS: I'm currently looking at the 2080 ti gaming x trio cards to upgrade my old pc with a 980 gaming gpu in it. (not getting one yet, because the price is wtf yikes! And it is barely an upgrade from 1080 ti gaming x trio card.)

Buy 120/144hz monitor, much better upgrade than expensive GPU.

i have a gaming laptop that uses 1070 and can run GI fine, but its all about settings. i can't have all the GI settings on high or else i drop too many frames in places like delve, but a full size 1070 card would also be better.

though i agree you probably should still be able to play with GI on your current 960, you say you can't so i have to respect that information unlike everyone else commenting above me.

so whatever reason why you can't run gi, if a new GPU is the fix (960 could be faltering in some way) then i'd say anything 1070 and up. just look for the best deal and price/performance in the black friday sales at all cards 1070 and up and that should be plenty great for running poe with GI.

if you want to more future proof for further expansions and newer effects etc then just get a 1080/1080 ti

"

xMustard wrote:

i have a gaming laptop that uses 1070 and can run GI fine, but its all about settings. i can't have all the GI settings on high or else i drop too many frames in places like delve, but a full size 1070 card would also be better.

though i agree you probably should still be able to play with GI on your current 960, you say you can't so i have to respect that information unlike everyone else commenting above me.

so whatever reason why you can't run gi, if a new GPU is the fix (960 could be faltering in some way) then i'd say anything 1070 and up. just look for the best deal and price/performance in the black friday sales at all cards 1070 and up and that should be plenty great for running poe with GI.

if you want to more future proof for further expansions and newer effects etc then just get a 1080/1080 ti

Thx for your (and all others) fast replies!

Well, i can run with GI on, but with low (shadow + light) settings and stuff. it's most likely just not as shiny as it could be... (which i want). And i am really curious to hear about performance on a vega 64 as it would open up the future option of a freesync disply (if i ever want one / can find space on my desk for it)

1050 TI is enough for poe

For playing other games however yea go for the 1080.

Let´s talk facts now,

POE is CPU locked, this has a lot to do with the thread management, core usage and the way how textures, effects and sound are handled. Opening a chest, spawming beyond mobs... will tear any system apart at times.

You can improve those things with a very fast single core clock, an SSD or a RAMDisk.

For reference, one of my PC´s is from 2011, with a very old 280 and a 2500 Sandy Bridge. I can run the game in WQHD or Full HD, with everything on or off, it does not change anything.

As for your question about GPU´s.

If we exclude POE from the list and look for playing in general, then you have basically two options. Said options will depend on your budget and monitor.

You did not write if you have a G-sync or Freesync monitor, nor how much you want to invest.


Let´s say you have a G-sync monitor, in that case you would need to go for an Nvidia card. Right now the 1080s would be the best, unfortunately are they running out of stock and I would never, ever buy a used one off Ebay. There is a lot of fraud going on with these cards right now.

If you still find one in a shop, for a reasonable price, go ahead and enjoy it. There is a thing, however. Under Dx12, Nvidia performs significantly weaker than AMD. Your System is DX12, so that if you play DX12 games, you will get less for your money.


If you have a freesync monitor, then AMD offers you two choices. 580 / 590 refresh or Vega. The 580 by Sapphire, Nitro + is the best midrange card currently available. In Full HD, you will be able to max everything, if the rest of your system is up to date. In WQHD, there won´t be many issues either, but some games like Star Citizen or Tomb Raider, might demand a tiny downgrade if we talk shadows.

If you want to wait a week longer, the 590 refresh is highly recommended. It will have an increased clock speed by round about 15%, while keeping the same power consumption.

With AMD it´s important to note though, that DX11 is not AMD´s strongest horse in the stable. But if you play DX12 and or Vulkan games, you will gain an edge and more performance for your money than with Nvidia in the same price segment.


Since you also listed Vega,

I personally would not go for Vega, as these cards run very hot. In Winter this might be less problematic, you will safe the costs for your heater. But in summer months, you will run into huge problems, especially with the current climate changes.

Since I don´t know how urgent your upgrade is (fried the last card???), I would either go for the 590 refresh or wait for AMD´s new cards next year. This especially applies if you run other games, especially under DX12 or Vulkan.

If you don´t play anything but POE, the 1080 sounds plausible, it´s a DX11 game after all. Just make sure you buy a real one and not one of the fakes, offered on Amazon, Ebay and Co. A true 1080 does cost over 500 Euro.
But as I said above, your are not limited by your GPU, but the engine and client of POE. It might improve a bit, but you can forget the dream of running POE maxed out with 60fps at all times.

buy an 82 inch tv hdmi link it from ur pc buy a 1080 shit is dope