So before you all rush out and buy the 1080ti worth checking out what else is happening this year …like these guys https://www.graphcore.ai/
Hardware is following the same trajectory as it did with bit coin miners…So the take away is “buyer beware”.
Yeah I’m returning mine! Very easy with amazon. 
It’s going to be a while before GPUs hit the level of bitcoin miners. There is an immediate benefit for a local GPU as most users of this course will spend the equivalent cost of a decent GPU in about 2 months or less of AWS usage and be at 1/3rd the performance.
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My order for a 1070 on Feb 28 got cancelled by Amazon on the next day. Looks like their AI is smart at predicting a probable return.
One 1080 ti or two 1070, which is better?
One 1080Ti by far. It’s significantly faster and more memory than the 1070 ( 1080 wasn’t a huge improvement, but the 1080 Ti changes that). Also you are unlikely to be able to utilize 2+ GPU most of the time or get true 100% improvement (think more like 50-70% with a second GPU).
This gpu is amazing, by the way, do anyone know how long before gpu hit the performance bottleneck like cpu did? Thanks
The 1080Ti looks great! I will setup an Ubuntu box with it. Just wondering, does someone know if there are any differences between the different vendors (MSI, Asus, etc), in terms of driver support in Ubuntu?
Driver-wise, there is no difference at all. You want to use the driver directly from nVidia in all cases.
Performance-wise, there is a difference unless you use founder cards (I highly recommend avoiding them). Founder cards are the first generation GPU for that model with the stock heat-sink/cooling, nVidia has a track record of very poor cooling and that’s the biggest difference when you start getting into editions like the MSI Gamer X. They all replace nVidia’s cooling with a much larger heat sink, much better fans and typically two fans instead of one. The Founder editions will be a poor choice for ML where you are running at 100% for long periods of time, much more demanding than gaming. The non-Founder editions are generally overclocked at the factory so you have higher clock speeds and can overclock even higher.
tl-dr: you nvidia drivers for all cards, founder cards suck, especially for ML tasks
Cool, thanks for the info! That’s what I was assuming. In my case I mainly want a low noise setup; I don’t care about the last 5-10% of performance unless the difference in fan noise is minimal. So I guess I should be looking into the bulkiest versions of the card then.
Low noise will be water cooling at that point you can get founder cards as you are just going to pull off heat sink and fan. The better cards have Silent mode that runs quieter and you can get something like the fractal designs r5 case that has noise dampening that helps a lot as well.
Why do you need water cooling? Wouldn’t regular cooling with a high end (triple fan) card also work, if I run at somewhat slower clock speed?
Don’t need water cooling, but fans are where the noise come from. You want the least amount of noise that means water cooling. But I wouldn’t suggest it for most, air cooling is fine but if you really want to eliminate noise you need to look at water cooling.
That being said my MSI Gaming X with Fractal Design R5 (lined noise dampening) is quite quiet. You can hear it at 100% though.
Interesting. Can you hear it much even when running at lower clock speed?
I don’t hear much as I wear headphones all the time, but I have listened and it is really only noticeable at 100% usage and even then with the sound dampening it is not loud at all, in fact, I have to really listen for it.
Hey! I’m planning to get a 1080ti founders edition (much lower cost). I’m worried about the sound levels, given my pc is in my bedroom, right next to my bed.
Anyone with an fe card give their inputs on this thread Making your own server?
@jeff?
Is it really that much lower? When I bought my 1080 Ti (Asus ROG-STRIX), the difference was perhaps $100. If you will be using the machine regularly over the next year or so, it might help your decision process to ask yourself how much you would pay for a better sleep per night. If you are willing to pay 30cents for a better nights’ sleep, that’s already more than $100 in one year. 
@shreeyak I have a GTX1080Ti FE in my bedroom, too. When I train it, the card itself is quieter than my power supply and case fans. But the sound of the rig is audible. I live next to a busy road and I must say the street is much louder than my PC.
I also sleep with earplugs and they kill all the noise, but this is a matter of personal taste.
@msp the Asus strix costs $1100+ here 
I finally went ahead and got the FE after much consideration. I see myself having multiple GPUs in the near future. It’s quite! While on Ubuntu, stock settings, the fans run at 40% and I can barely hear them! It’s a great card! I got it for 920$
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