How do you buy a 4090?

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I don’t mean where from, you just stick it in your basket at amazon and click buy now, that’s easy, I mean how do you manage to click the pay now button, its £1600+ for a GPU. I’ve got as far as the basket on Scan and Overclockers but I just can’t do it, I can afford it no problem but I just think its madness to pay that much for something that I’ve paid £300 or so for the equivalent several years ago, sanity is preventing me from buying one.

How do you justify to yourselves that you should buy it and not look like a total crazy loon to friends and family who aren’t into computers.

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Chasing FPS is a dangerous game.

I look back at all of the upgrades I’ve done over the past couple years and sometimes ask myself if my sim-ing experience is really all that much better. Honestly, I think the answer is no.

If I would have kept my i7-10700, 3000 MHZ RAM, GTX 1080, and 60 Hz 1440p monitor and configured for a mid 40’s FPS experience, I’d get maybe 80% of the “experience” of what I have now with an i5-13600k, 3600 MHz RAM, RX 6800XT, and 3440x1440 120 Hz monitor. So did I really need to upgrade? No, I don’t think so.

Something like VR is a different conversation, but I rarely do VR.

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I used to do that sort of thing, but now I equate It to other things… new tyres for the car, a holiday etc. I have a 3080 and I really enjoy the sim. It does what I need. Sure I’m curious as to what a 4090 would play like, but not £1600 curious…

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I get your point. But I would argue that the ‘equivalent’ to a 4090 3 yrs. ago was a Quadro that cost at least as much in 2020 dollars (and probably a lot more.)

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you’d be shocked what people with disposable income will spend their money on.

I don’t look at people who spend $1600 on a graphics card differently. They can afford it, so why not buy it?

I think this happens regardless. When people ask how much a paintball gun can cost, they get very wide eyed when i say it can cost up to 2 grand and say “what?! I can buy a real gun for that price!” But you can only shoot your friends once with a real gun, Bob. That’s just being a hobbyist: no one you know will understand why you make those purchases unless you’re talking to someone faced with similar choices for similar reasons.

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I think what tends to happen when you upgrade is the settings you choose are also adjusted and at the end of the day you have the same FPS but with better visuals/graphics settings.
For example, if I went from my 6800XT/16GB Vram to a 4090, I would tend to adjust the LOD’s from 200 to like 400 and still be at the same fps but with better visuals/graphics.

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Simple answer to this: in no freaking way.
I could also easily afford one, BUT it’s not done with that:

  1. It’s still the first gen 4090 cards which will receive different RAM soon if not mistaken, so the current ones are basically already outdated.
  2. If I’d like to upgrade my GPU to that I would have up to 0 chances to keep my computer as is. It’s a 9th gen Intel on a board with DDR4 ram and PCI gen 3. It would not at all perform well with these components so I’d have to get a new board, oh and a new CPU, new RAM (as I’d go with DDR5) and new everything but the SSDs - to make everything play well together that might be an additional 3k+ in whatever western currency.
  3. I never hunted FPS. I was always aiming for a good balance of visuals and smoothness. My RTX 2080ti is trying hard to provide me 30FPS on 4k but still it won’t give up on MSFS. I’m not really interested (and never actually was interested) in most shooters and play more with simulations.
  4. More important things are hitting hard: Renovation of my future home, vacation somewhere, inviting friends and spending time with the loved ones is simply more important to me as a game. My car also needs to get into the workshop soon as the engine has some issues, so that’s likely were the next 4090 will go into :wink:

Usually I keep my computers until the next GTA drops on PC because this game usually is a benchmark. Until this point I may upgrade the existing computer once with a new GPU. If I’m going to upgrade mine I’d go with a used 3090ti, even if used for mining because it doesn’t have to live that long anymore on this system likely :wink:

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Similarly, the other day, I also had a 4080 in my basket which is a little cheaper, but not by much. I thought, “this is what I paid for a top of the line pre-built in 2008.” Like you, I can also afford it, but common sense always kicks in before I go to pay… I’m not saying anyone who buys one has no sense, you’ll have your reasons, new build, old GPU knackered etc. When I see someone going from a 3090ti to a 4090 and complaining about fps being invariably the same or a little better, it does blow my mind a little.

Also, aren’t these new cards just using trickery to increase fps such as FG and DLSS? Graphics cards these days are a whole new ball game. I doubt we’ll see the good old days anytime, if at all, soon…

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This is how I justified it:

  1. I can easily afford it.
  2. I will use it a lot.
  3. MSFS VR will perform and look much better.
  4. I don’t care what other people think.
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I personally also have the same chain of thought. It’s not a matter of “can i afford this?”. It’s a matter of “should i support this?”. An honestly, no one in their right senses should support such a malignant practice by nvidia. You want this to be the future of gpu market? Sure, go ahead support it. You want them to rethink their marketing strategies? Don’t buy it.

I don’t think historically any generation of GPU hardware was such a scam as 3xxx/4xxx series are. And no self respecting PC enthusiast should support Nvidia for such a blunt disregard and disrespect to customers, just because they have monopoly (more or less). I have a 3080ti which i very much regret buying at 1000 euros. My next GPU will almost surely be a Radeon, just out of principle. What really was the trigger point for me, was …3080ti was the top of the line card just a year ago…half a year later you release a new GPU line and you introduce new software features which DON’T apply to something you were marketing as top of the line just 6 months ago? I am refering to the DLSS 3.0 scam. This was the absolute LOW point from them. They lost me forever at that point. And now you want 2000 euros for your top of the line? LOL

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People pay in excess of $10,000 for one Live Steam scale model steam engine to run around a track in their back yard.

People pay over $1000 to upgrade a 12 month old iPhone to this year’s model.

There are numerous camera lenses worth well in excess of $10,000 commonly bought by hobbyists. (Google the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 800mm f/5.6E for example).

Depending on your area, joining a golf club can cost more per year than a 4090 will set you back.

Let us not even talk about the annual cost of owning a yacht.

Then there is real world aviation. Restoring warbirds has been stated as the fastest way known to mankind to turn a large fortune into a vastly smaller one.

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You don’t need one. I’m getting great performance with my Asus tuf 3080 12gb running between 300 and 350 tlod and dx12 and 5800x3d.

Just turn the fps counter off and enjoy get the 4090 when the 5000 series comes out if you “need” it :+1:

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For me it was a long and tough decision before I added my 4090 to the basket. Yes it is a lot of money, but you get a top of the line GPU with no (!) competition whatsoever for the time being.

Looking at what’s available among the Ada Lovelace architecture, there is nothing worth the money TBH. This whole generation is a massive letdown, except, well to me at least, the 4090 which is going to serve me for quite a long time. I expect it to last for at least as long as my 1070 which I had used up to recently. Longevity is the key point why I went with it.

If you only do flight simming though, I would say it is not worth all the cash. Just grab a 3070/3080 and be happy. The fans on my 4090 sometimes don’t even spin when MSFS is running, it’s just so much overkill for this hobby alone, except maybe if you are running 8k resolution.

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Let me start by the end. If you sre making yourself this question it means you won’t but it because some inner feeling is preventing you.

That is ok, don’t feel bad about it. You would need to come with your own reasons before buying or there is s chance you could regret. If you look at other reasons, as good as they might seem, there is a possibility that you don’t feel them as your own reasons and hence won’t be convinced.

That being said I will give you my thinking, maybe it works for you or maybe not, feel free to take it with a pinch of salt.

In my case, I am able to afford it, so starting from this point it wont be a financial problem. However, I have also other interests and in my case a 4090 would mean to change the whole rig probably. Therefore I went for a compromise solution. I got something more affordable which gave me enough to feel the difference and be smooth enough (I fly VR) but with a more restrictive budget (an amd 6800xt coming from a previous 1080)

This is fine for me, not too much money (of course should be cheaper…) and decent compromise between frame rate, visuals and smoothness experience. Now laking the time :sweat_smile:, but that is another story.

In sum, my advice is found your own answer from what people is telling, not blindfold any advice, and if required for financial reasons discuss it and agree it with your family (partner or similar)

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I have saved money for the past 4 years to afford me the 4090 when it came out. Total cost for new PC was around 4500usd…

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GPUs generally are more expensive, in real terms, than they were a few years ago. If you ignore the over-pricing of the ‘great GPU shortage’ years, the average price has still increased. But highest-end GPUs have always been absurdly expensive, because they are firmly aimed at people who want the best performance and are willing to spend whatever it takes to get it. It’s an opportunity for Nvidia and AMD to clean up versus the value-driven mid-market, and so they do. Because they can.

I bought a 4090 a few weeks ago. Why? Because I wanted a 4000 series card for the new capabilities, and I wanted 24GB VRAM. I didn’t want 16GB, or 12GB, or 8GB. I wanted the most I could get. If there were an otherwise lower-spec Nvidia card with 24GB VRAM that was cheaper, I would probably have bought that, but price was not my #1 consideration. Getting specifically what I wanted was. I went for a brand that I rate (Gigabyte) versus the absolute cheapest (Palit, Zotac etc), but I didn’t go for any bells or whistles that would increase the price further. It cost me around £1800. I’m happy with my purchase but I’m absolutely aware that it’s a lot of money.

Thing is, though, everyone puts a different value on money. That might sound odd, but a lot of factors determine your attitude toward money. Some people have it, but don’t want to spend it; some have it and are happy to spend it; some don’t have it, and can’t spend it; and some don’t have it, but find ways to spend it anyway and get into debt. When I was younger, before I started getting good jobs, I was the latter. Now I’m in the ‘have it, and happy to spend it’ camp. But I have no dependents, no-one to harm but myself if I make stupid financial decisions, and I have zero moral qualms about spending any amount of money if it gets me what I want. I like to think I’m now sensible enough not to waste money, but I also know that isn’t true because I regularly buy stuff and under-use it, like my expensive 3D printer that’s still in the box. I sometimes buy in haste and repent at leisure.

If people depended on me financially, I think I’d have a different outlook. I’m not a complete spendthrift. But I don’t hold on to money as a hedge against the future because, as they say, you can’t take it with you. I’m aware that I’m very privileged. I’m also aware that the day will eventually come when I don’t have money any more and I start to regret every penny I ever wasted, but short of being properly rich I think that happens to everyone eventually.

Long story short: if you want it, can afford it, and you aren’t putting anyone else at risk by spending your money, then spend it and enjoy the fruits of your labour. If not, don’t. Simples :slight_smile:

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I hadn’t thought to check in ages but I just noticed that Nvidia themselves have the 4090 available. I think this is the first time I have seen that since they launched, going for £1579. That’s about £1000 cheaper than some people are trying to get shot of them on eBay for.

At this point I might as well wait for the 5000 series, or at least see what it will have to offer. My 3090 is still good enough for MSFS, at least for now.

Whatever I get, from what I have read about the sim crashing, and GPU issues, it would be an Nvidia FE card that I get. No fancy addons, no overclocking, just a solid reference build for me.

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When it comes to VR, the 4090 is a no brainer if you want a solid experience imho. Only reason I switched from a 3090. I was on the fence for a while but just decided to go for it and haven’t regretted it at all.

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Sanity is completely overrated

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Bought one last week and justified it to myself as I don’t usually go more than 24 months between GPU purchases and I don’t have any other big spending plans this year.

Looking back at my purchase history (can’t remember further back than the 570), I used to be a 70 class buyer and then got taken in by the hype and bought the first Titan. But after that I stuck with being an 80 class gamer until I purchased a 4K OLED in May 21 and knew the 10GB vram in the 3080 wouldn’t be enough.

Card Bought Months Owned
GTX 570 Jan-11 26
GTX Titan Mar-13 24
GTX 980 Mar-15 6
GTX 980Ti Sep-15 20
RTX 2080 Jan-19 22
RTX 3080 Nov-20 6
RTX 3090 May-21 24
RTX 4090 May-23
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