Will I regret a 9060 XT instead of spending extra for a better card?

Posted by rice_caresser@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 101 comments

Currently running: i5-10600K, GTX 1060 6GB, 32GB DDR4 @2666MHz, 500w PSU. It does a decent job at 1080p because I don't play many demanding games. However I bought a 4K monitor, for general productivity as well as gaming, and realised this GPU is not cutting it at all.

I could make do with a marginally better but much newer GPU, because then I'd be able to play in 1080p with integer scaling, which I can't do at the moment. But if I have to get a newer GPU, then I think I might as well get something that can handle 4K or at least 1440p with upscaling.

The significant issue is that any large upgrade would need a PSU upgrade as well. A 9060 XT will be possible to swap in without doing so, so I could spend roughly £320. Whereas if I get a 9070 XT, for example, it would cost more like £700 in total.

I don't play a lot of new games; the most demanding titles I expect to play on it are Elden Ring and Doom Eternal, and I would like to play these in native 4K. On my current 1060, Doom Eternal is perfectly playable at native 4K medium settings but I like 1440p which gets about 90fps. However I've seen benchmarks for Elden Ring (haven't actually played it yet) and they look poor on the 9060 XT. Other game examples: Minecraft, Hollow Knight Silksong, Dolphin Emulator (Metroid Prime atm, NFS Most Wanted), MGSV, Sonic Unleashed.

The less intense games are my argument for why a 9060 XT would probably be sufficient. I do think it would be overkill (but funny) to use a current-gen 4K-capable card to play Final Fantasy VII. But then I can also see how I might regret it if I want to play more demanding games down the line. However in the case of Elden Ring, it would be fairly cheaper for me to buy a 9060 XT and then a PS5 just to play that.

And then if I get a much better GPU I should probably upgrade my CPU as well. I've had this PC for 8 years and none of the internals are the same as they originally were.

Thanks for reading, any advice is appreciated.