If You Were to Upgrade Right Now...Which GPU Would You Get?
Posted by UnusDeicide@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 68 comments
Here are my PC specs:
i5-10600K
z490 Board
32 GB 3600mHz RAM
3070 FE
850W EVGA PSU
I strictly game and they are practically all FPS (OW, Destiny, EFT, R6, etc.). I don't stream or video/photo edit at all. I play in 1440p and don't mind turning quality down for higher frames given the type of games I play. I want raw and stable FPS performance.
I was going to rebuild the entire PC but I don't think my CPU or RAM is holding me back quite yet but the 3070 is beginning to struggle in the frames department. I would prefer to not have to upgrade my PSU either as it is fairly new (1 year).
Was looking at the 7900 XTX, however it seems for 200 dollars less I can get a 7900 XT which seems to be pretty close in performance.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
psimwork@reddit
I think the answer should consider the post title - if I were to upgrade right now.
Well the post should stop right there. You have a 3070 FE. I get that you're wanting an upgrade, but especially with the market pricing of cards being vastly inflated due to the new launch craziness, I really WOULDN'T upgrade right now. I personally would wait a minimum of 3 months and ask again, preferably more like 6 months.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
I agree, however, I would be looking for close to MSRP prices on an in stock tracker i used to get my 3070. I wont pay scalper prices...so removing the pricing aspect of the equation, what would you buy?
diesel408@reddit
Is there a good site to track inventory across vendors?
Also, genuine question, are you sure the 3070 is the limiting factor in your setup? Just based off of the age I would imagine your CPU would be more likely to bottleneck you unless you're doing 4k or anything?
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
nowinstock.com is what I used to snag 3 3070's for me and my 2 friends at MSRP in the same month they dropped. You can turn on notifications and alerts and just chill at your computer. It has a previous list at the bottom to show when the last ones came in, and if you notice a trend, try to be on around that time.
I think based on that idea and a lot of others here, I am going to start with a CPU/RAM/Mobo upgrade. It will either fix it, or it will help when i inevitably upgrade the GPU down the road.
diesel408@reddit
Thanks for the tip on the site, will check it out. And best of luck on your upgrades!
TabularConferta@reddit
For me Im limited by budget. Maybe I could justify a 5070 at msrp but likely I'd be looking at either a second hand 4000 series or AMD.
strangedell123@reddit
Not OP here, what if my PSU imploded and due to it being an oem build, its less problems to just build new. It has an rtx 3060 and 5600g
akillaninja@reddit
An oem? So nothing can be replaced?
The cheapest build possible lol.
Or whatever you want!
Can anything be replaced?
Then get a 5700x3d and a new power supply. Or whatever am4 processor you can afford, because that 5600g is holding you back.
Pythonmsh@reddit
Its not getting better homie. Its just gonna get worse
sky_concept@reddit
????
3 months later you'll have increased tariffs... again. Likely recession, decoupling and a new pandemic to deal with.
It ain't getting cheaper.
But what you can as soon as you can. Used if you must.
hardrock527@reddit
If you get a new gpu that cpu will 100% hold you back
superamigo987@reddit
1. CPU Bottlneck for anything above the 3070
2. The GPU marker it screwed right now, and the 9070/XT is going to be launched soon
ajcolberg@reddit
If you want more rasterization performance, I'd go with a 6800XT for \~$350 used or a 7900GRE for \~$500.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
What is the benefit in the GRE over the XT? How much better or worse are we talking between the GRE, XT, or XTX?
What do we know about the new 9000 series from AMD? How long till those release?
ajcolberg@reddit
According to techpowerup, the GRE is 15% better than the 6800XT. The 7900GRE is newer tech and is known to have great overclocking/undervolting etc capabilities.
Since you're playing 1440p, you're more likely GPU bound than CPU bound. If you use rivatuner or Nvidia's OSD, you can check your CPU vs. GPU utilization to see what's limiting you in your favorite games. From there, you can decide which one you want to upgrade or if you want to upgrade both. The 10600k is definitely a usable CPU but you'll definitely get better FPS and improve your 1% and .1% lows with a ----X3D CPU like a 7800X3D or 9800X3D. The 9900/9950X3D are a bit more niche because they'll be intended for people who do both gaming and productivity. Since you mentioned focusing on gaming and not streaming etc, the _800X3D (7800X3D or 9800X3D) are the best options. Remember that with AM5 you'll need a new AM5 motherboard (B650 is great), new ram (typically 16gb x 2, 6000mhz, CL30 EXPO RAM is the sweet spot) and the 7000 or 9000 series CPU. 8000 series (ex 8700g) are AMD's new APU series and don't perform as well in gaming as the 7000 or 9000 series CPUs for the price.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
I was looking at doing a full rebuild, but after looking at utilizations a couple times, it is generally always my GPU bottlenecking. I was going to switch from Intel to AMD though if I did go that route but for the time being I think I am going to just get a new card.
In talking about the 9000 series, I was more referring to the 9070 GPU and other graphics card in that "class"? IDK how AMD labels their cards so I figured that 9070 was a part of their next gen to compete with the 50 series no?
damnination333@reddit
Yes, theoretically, the 9070 XT and 9070 are supposed to compete with the 5070 Ti and 5070, respectively. We basically know nothing about the performance of them and I've seen different articles saying that performance ranges from "between the 4070 Ti Super and 4080," to "the 5070 XT will come pretty damn close to the 5080." But like I said, no one knows shit for sure yet.
The official announcement for the 9070 series is next Friday, 2/28. I believe the cards are expected to launch the following week on 3/6, but we'll find out on the 28th. I'm assuming the review embargos are gonna follow the same "day before release" pattern, so we won't get those until 3/5 at earliest.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Interesting! Thanks for the info. I'm probably going to do the CPU and Mobo upgrade as others have suggested and wait for the market to calm down for GPUs and see where everything lands.
damnination333@reddit
Yeah, I'm trying to get a GPU to finish my build so I can play Monster Hunter Wilds. My current PC, with i7 9900X and 1080 Ti just isn't gonna cut it 😂 I've got the rest of the build assembled (new CPU is 9800X3D) and I've made sure it posts and updated the bios. Just need to get a GPU, throw it in, do some cable management, install Windows and everything else. If anything, I can throw my 1080 Ti in there and get everything else ready, so that all I need to do is swap out the GPU when I can.
Luckily, I have a gaming laptop I bought in 2022 that will run Wilds better than my desktop (though still not great,) so that'll hold me over for a while until it's easier to get a card. Probably looking to get a 5080, 5070 Ti, or 9070 XT, depending on how it performs.
ajcolberg@reddit
Hard to say for the 9070/XT because reviews haven't come out yet. Additionally, the Nvidia 5000 is in short supply so I'm going to guess that the 9070/XT will also be impacted.
ArchusKanzaki@reddit
Right now?
.....not on GPU at least. I would replace the motherboard and CPU, maybe taking advantage of Intel promotions (you can get Civ7 and AC Shadows right now), but definitely not GPU. 3070 can survive for at least another gen imo, but buying new GPU right now is basically impossible AND expensive. Maybe you can get 4070 Super... But its also dependant on your area and there's no point on getting 4060Ti. Even if you want to go to AMD, not much will probably be better than 3070 and stocks for 7900XT / XTX are also gone.
Formerruling1@reddit
I will echo the advice that your 3070 is definitely not the issue from your use case details. At 1440p, that should still be performing in the titles you play.
Your cpu and associated components are a better upgrade path. For probably much lower than you would pay for any GPU that would be a noticeable upgrade, you could get a Cpu mobo ram bundle that blows yours out of the water and is future proofed in tech.
UndeadWaffle12@reddit
I actually am upgrading right now from very similar specs to yours.
i5-11400f
B560 mobo
32 GB 3200 MHz ram
3070 MSI Ventus 3x
700 W PSU
I decided to do a whole new build with a 9800x3d, RTX 5080, x670e mobo, 32 gb ddr5 6000 MHz cl30 ram, and a 1000 W PSU
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Why the 9800 over the 7800?
UndeadWaffle12@reddit
The price difference was $50 CAD (~$35 USD). I’m not buying a last gen product for that measly of a cost savings.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
I could definitely see that making more sense. Why the x670e board? I only know intel...where in simple terms one allows overclocking and one doesn't. What do the different chipsets in AMD boards mean?
UndeadWaffle12@reddit
I went with x670e because I didn’t like the way most x870 boards split PCIE lanes when all the m.2 slots are populated. I wanted a board with PCIE 5 for both the GPU and the storage, while also having at least 3 m.2 slots populated. The only chipsets that comfortably support that are x670e and x870e, but x870e was quite a bit more expensive and didn’t add many benefits that I care about.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Did you have to flash that BIOS in order to get the chipset to properly read?
Thanks for the insight! Huge help for sure!
UndeadWaffle12@reddit
No, mine came with a 9000 series compatible bios. The box had a sticker on it confirming that. Your guess is right, all the newer boards will come with a new enough bios.
MarxistMan13@reddit
It's ~10-15% faster for ~10% more cost.
saypal18@reddit
3070 should be giving 100+ fps in high in all of the above mentioned games. Have you compared your performance against online 3070 benchmarks in those games?
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
I have played Squad, Arena Breakout, Tarkov, and Enshrouded recently and on low graphics settings I haven't reached 100+ FPS in any of them. OW and R6 I will get higher numbers but still not capping out my monitor at 144.
I have ran benchmarks and everything seems to be running correctly according to those. I also have 3 buddies I play with and they all get around the same frames as I do and also all have 3070's. I think the 100+ frames thing is BS at this point tbh.
akillaninja@reddit
Yeah, 3070 really only "qualifies" as a 1440 gaming card. But it doesn't thrive there. I upgraded to a 4080 super. I feel pretty good about my decision.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Damn that was a big jump. How much did it run you?
akillaninja@reddit
I bought the gigabyte for 999 at best buy. So whatever that is after tax and whatnot... about 1150ish?
Almost or did double my framerate at 1440p... ultra vs 1440 medium lol. Definitely worth it!
So if you're dedicated to amd. I'd say get the 7900xtx (equivalent to my 4080s) or wait until the 9070xt drops and see what that's about.
keblin86@reddit
Ohhhh, very curious what FPS do you get in Enshrouded? That is the only game I have really struggled with on my 3070. Not sure if it's bad optimisation or just because it's a new voxel based game.
I didn't buy the game yet based on this as I only got about 45 fps in the beta lol
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Ehhh it was a little better than that. I would say my settings were on overall "medium" and I got around 65 to 75, unless I was underground in the enshrouded area fighting a bunch of enemies it would drop into the 50s.
keblin86@reddit
Ah I was only around the start area and I think I had the settings on max but can't remember lol. I always do that at first to see what the game runs like then I start to turn things down. I seemed to of had trouble with this one though. I even set it to 1080p at one point and it still ran like crap but hoping it's just the beta based on the comment you just typed.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Yeah honestly I didn't notice any frame issues. It ran pretty good given the size of the map (especially since while flying it needs to render rather quickly). When there's a bunch of enemies (40+) it has problems and the last boss fight in the game it struggled pretty hard as well. Other than that, wonderful game and would highly recommend playing it with some friends.
saypal18@reddit
well, if you are not satisfied with your current system and you are sure its not some other problem and you also have the money to afford you should absolutely go ahead and buy a better GPU. Just that, the GPU market is kinda bad atm.
sakata_gintoki113@reddit
3090 ti, my zotac is a beast. im genuinly surprised by how much better it is than a 3080.
MarxistMan13@reddit
Given your use case, you'd probably benefit more from a CPU and platform upgrade. All the games you listed are CPU bound, and since you don't care about visuals, you're likely entirely CPU bound at low settings.
For the cost of a 7900XT, you can get a 9800X3D + B850 / B650E + 2x16GB DDR5 kit, and it'll likely provide more uplift than a GPU upgrade.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
10-4, thanks for the advice! I will look into it.
WinterNL@reddit
Don't just look into the purchase options, actually look into what is limiting your FPS.
Use something like MSI afterburner to check if you GPU is at/near 100% load all the time, if not you're very likely CPU limited. You can also check CPU load in there, just make sure to look at individual cores, they could be hitting 100% while overall CPU load is lower due to most games not utilising all cores.
This way you can actually make an informed decision and not be disappointed by an expensive upgrade.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
I will do this tonight while playing. Is task manager performance tab not a good indicator at all? I have MSI afterburner but was just curious.
WinterNL@reddit
Not as detailed but it works, just make sure to split the CPU usage into individual cores if you're using that.
tonallyawkword@reddit
7800x3D may be even better with ur 3070 depending on price.
Not sure the 7900xt would be an enticing jump to me, but u can get 360fps @ 1440p with a 3080.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Real quick...any reason to run a B850 over a B650E?
MarxistMan13@reddit
Not really. They should be pretty comparable.
maggotses@reddit
Rx 7900 xt or xtx
raptizild@reddit
7900 xt is very enticing
Rabiesalad@reddit
I upgraded right now and got a used 6900xt
Merrick222@reddit
If I had a nickle for every post like this.
I'd have like 10 five gallon buckets worth of nickles.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
You should be good at answering them then. Thanks for the input!
Merrick222@reddit
Determine what resolution you want to run, and what frame rates you want.
Then ask yourself in what games.
You’ll get your answer on how much GPU you need.
Cyber_Akuma@reddit
Me personally? Considering that I currently have a 2080Super, would not be able to afford a card in the quadruple digits, can't use a four-slot card because I have other components in my system, and have been experimenting with AI, the 5070 Ti. I am far from the typical use case however.
LordKamienneSerce@reddit
I am also upgrading from 3070 this year and... Tomorrow arrive new pads for my card. I need to hold for few more months, so do you. Btw dont buy 2mm pads, too thick. Dont ask how I know.
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Oooof that seems annoying. lol. My temps are well under control for the time being. I guess I could overclock to squeeze a little more performance while waiting.
LordKamienneSerce@reddit
nah, if temps are good, dont touch it. Mine was thermal throttling so I had no choice, instant 90 degrees
UnusDeicide@reddit (OP)
Yeah I feel that. I stay at a steady 68 - 72 C on mine no matter what. I also have a Lian Li case with 9 fans, so quite a bit of airflow.
xtra_clueless@reddit
Hard to tell and depends on your budget and use case. I do 3D rendering besides gaming so Nvidia is a must because CUDA. I got the 3080 first and then the 4090, with which I am more than happy. Given the problems with the 5090, I will probably not upgrade any time soon.
opensrcdev@reddit
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 for sure
keblin86@reddit
As a fellow 3070 FE owner I wouldn't.
You also said you are happy to to turn the quality down, so I would just do that for now. Which I plan to if I start struggling.
No-Pomegranate-69@reddit
None because i just upgraded my whole pc
Party-Yak9717@reddit
If possible a newer cpu could help make a difference in the mean time as well 10 series is a few years old now at this point and might give you a decent uplift for relatively cheap compared to brand new gpu
Upstairs-Size37@reddit
GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy 2025 - Graphics Card Rankings | Tom's Hardware compare average fps between cards. Note though, the higher fps cards may not see as much gains with your cpu
Il-2M230@reddit
Im planung on upgradung into an used 3090
DZCreeper@reddit
RX 6900XT I have seen used for $450-500.
7900XTX is a good card, but the current $1000+ pricing is absurd. Avoid they dip back to $850-900.
A 10600K is still relatively fast, but can become a bottleneck if you want to play above 60FPS in some games, or above 200 for e-sports titles.
https://youtu.be/98RR0FVQeqs
850 watt PSU is plenty for any single GPU, except an RTX 4090 or 5090.