What GPU upgrade will work for my system? Do I need a new PSU?
Posted by cosmoscrazy@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 45 comments
I need to upgrade my pc to be able to play Subnautica 2 with my friends. Unfortunately, the launch is tomorrow and they won't wait for long, 1 maybe 2 weeks, because we're all huge Subnautica fans and want to dive in as soon as possible.
I'm hoping that upgrading my GPU will work, but I'm unsure about it.
- Budget
340 € - 500 €
- Use-Case
Subnautica 2 specifically at good quality if possible. Gaming, working. 2k on at least 3440x1440. I am not gaming a lot these days, because I have so much work to do, so when I do, I really want to enjoy that bit of an escape.
- Country of purchase
Germany
- Peripherals needed
None. Question remains whether or not my PSU can handle it or whether I need a new one.
- Any other requirements / preferences
I have read over and over again that a bigger VRAM size of GDDR6 or GDDR7 is a lot better and more future proof. So if possible, I would try to go for that.
Current specs:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core Processor, 3600 MHz, 8 Kern(e), 16 logische(r) Prozessor(en) |
|---|---|
| Motherboard | B550-A PRO (MS-7C56) |
| Current GPU | GTX 1050 Ti |
| OS | Win11 |
| Monitor | Xiaomi Mi Curved Gaming Monitor, 34", 3440x1440 (UWQHD), Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium, 2x DisplayPort, 2x HDMI |
| PSU | Seasonic Focus GX 550W ATX 2.4 |
| RAM | 16GB Patriot Viper Steel DDR4-3200 DIMM CL16 Dual Kit |
| CPU cooler | Noctua NH-U14S (because RAM thingies were too high for my older cooler to be mounted). |
| Storage | M.2 Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 500GB, some random Seasonic HDD and another SSD. |
If you need any more information, please let me know.
Times are a bit rough for me in terms of budget, because I have a lot of necessary expenses for my education and not a lot of income. So the budget can't be raised. The maximum is really the maximum here.
Oh and THANK YOU for any advice in advance!
FrootyPulp@reddit
I agree. Thats one of the major reasons I try not to go for new parts as much as possible. Its just better value for money to buy second hand gpus. If I had bought a 4070 last year, I would have spent 250% more money than the 6800 and gotten a very small performance uplift.
Vaxtez@reddit
Used 3080 + 750W psu might be doable?
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Used is always risky, because there is no guarantee that it's without issues and will keep working for 2+ years.
FrootyPulp@reddit
I bought an RX6800 on ebay last year for £230 including shipping. One of my best investments. Totally worth it because of eBay's buy back guarantee! You should look at them, some of the deals are surprisingly good!!!
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
What's the buy back guarantee? Haven't bought stuff from eBay for a while now.
FrootyPulp@reddit
So if the product sold to you has been described as working and when you try it and it doesnt work, then you are entitled to a return even if the seller doesnt want to accept it. You just have to make sure to check the listing and description carefully and make sure that they havent mentioned or described the item as "not working", "damaged", etc.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
I'm sorry, but I didn't do it.
eBay wants my phone number and I don't want eBay to have my phone number.
FrootyPulp@reddit
Hey, not an issue at all. What ever feels comfortable and safe is the way you should go! Congrats on your new card BTW, which one did you get?
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
(see update above in the original post)
I'm torn though.
Should I send it back and buy this one instead?
https://www.ebay.de/itm/178037154944?_skw=9060+xt+16gb&itmmeta=01KRJNPTWK64BNM8KGNEGDPRHQ&hash=item2973d76480:g:0AgAAeSwFO1p2KLd&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA8GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCwkE%2Bh7ZPNzty7YpNeoXG6xUahbDJbZLIALziC9QWfE1%2Fd03ONULIHGXf98xnMI21Pp%2B3j--paATIztMzXssElDR4sZvwtoWfHTVMEWAVTL1K3T%2B8srJc9r0LagSCY6MY0SpOaJZm79XySkLkQW5x1E7SOFcyqgj7eug6s%2F2oad1V5k%2BekBLduYWPVuelBgIbLJDhFb%2FHkZhyeZUgLrSejW6yRNKI%2Bo2%2FJ3zY31qOHLLnnOCOPBlHm5pRnxk%2FzYy5zMEv5GvUvL5IMJPRhOOPgf2rMvFXoIEpROaA29fDzLA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8iu29XEZw
The cooling performance on that one looks way better, it's only 20 € more...
Or this one...
https://www.ebay.de/itm/116941211306?_skw=9060+xt+16gb&epid=13080307396&itmmeta=01KRJNPTWKS97BY1MFMNSVZES2&hash=item1b3a3d46aa:g:DmEAAeSw99lpSRUx&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xDe6SAw3WfOgSQmhwn8RYfcNDj%2FUD3y%2BhGl%2BlCyWEn0EAngo7OU37YpCR8g74LdZlUpZkBxcJmbg5fcCrWIcA7q%2Fi02LbthjgOaGtIHdIjQGflD1Viiarra2CTsyySgLxHnNQAgwSf4mAx%2F1--2biweVibdBCKUyzQVbjfj9wRVD%2BRTb%2BWXB3bhVnfStFnuzHMNFNTUkaIDJMS0Xu%2F1L6fzxzWm2eYN2lh2WlA6JM7aL3FjcxXJ3V6GfkbUtdsm4hU%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8iu29XEZw
I have no idea what the Nitro+ means though and how they compare performance-wise.
FrootyPulp@reddit
Do you have enough space in your Case? Also I have heard that you can expect around 2% better performance on factory overclocking. Also 3 fans are usually chunkier and louder too. Its just tradeoffs. What is more important to you and what is feasible? If both are necessary then you can go for the 3 fan gpus. As far as cooling is concerned, the card is quite efficient and takes just 160-175w at max which can be handles quite well with 2 fans. I have a spare 1070 which draws similar around 150ish and stays quite cool. You shouldn't be too worried about temps if you have enough ventilation.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Okay.
Regarding internal space, I'm not too sure, because I don't know which values I have to look at, since my old system upgrade has been ages in the past (I mean... I'm still running a 1050 Ti...).
The values should be mentioned in the site I linked regarding my pc case in the specs section.
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cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
maximum GPU length: 420 / 300 mm (without / with HDD-holder)
FrootyPulp@reddit
On a side note, I too am a subnautica fan and sadly Im in a different country and dont have my pc with me, I did get my 6800 if I make a pc here. But I won't be able to play it now. Have been following subnautica since OG's early access. Enjoy the game with you friends, hopefully I too will get the chance to play it.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
I don't know if 200% the price for a 6800 XT makes sense if you only get 25% more performance...
https://technical.city/de/video/Radeon-RX-6800-XT-vs-Radeon-RX-9060-XT
I would probably check out NVIDIA cards at that point to have more memory bandwith - which is apparently better for larger resolutions (see the other comments, someone explains it).
A 4070 Super has almost 50% more performance.
https://technical.city/de/video/GeForce-RTX-4070-SUPER-vs-Radeon-RX-9060-XT
A 5060 Ti 16GB has GDDR7 and about 11,5% more performance, but doesn't cost as much.
https://technical.city/de/video/Radeon-RX-9060-XT-vs-GeForce-RTX-5060-Ti-16-GB
It's better if you don't play it now. It will be full of bugs that will be ironed out in the upcoming months. If my friends wouldn't push me, I would wait for a few months.
Because of Subnautica, prices for GPUs seem to be even higher than usual. You can look at camelcamelcamel.com to compare Amazon prices now and a few months ago. I don't buy from Amazon if I can avoid it, but it's still a great website that allows for good price tracking.
JayPac666@reddit
AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB (\~350-450€)
Strong alternative but more expensive: NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16GB (\~450-550€, hunt for deals under 500€)
Your GTX 1050 Ti is ancient by comparison, any of these will feel like a massive upgrade (4-6x+ performance in modern titles)
And to whether you should or not upgrade PSU is yes, strongly recommended to upgrade the PSU for safety and headroom, look for a good 750W 80+ Gold modular unit (e.g., another Seasonic Focus/Corsair RMx) for \~80-120€. Don't cheap out on no-name PSUs.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti 16GB start at 537 € on the usual comparison sites.
May I ask where you can find a deal for 450 € for that GPU?
I know my 1050 Ti is absolutely ancient, but it actually works really reliable, doesn't need a lot of power and I can just plug it into the Mo-bo without any cables which is some comfort I will really miss and it's the reason why I have held onto it for so long. It's one hell of a good soldier.
JayPac666@reddit
could be that im still in my brain living couple months back when the prices were lower, currently here in Finland cheapest 5060ti (MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G VENTUS 2X OC PLUS) on sale is 479€ normal price 529€
gaming wise the difference is really minimal between 5060ti and 9060xt
9060xt TDP 160W-170W drawing slightly less power than 5060ti TDP 180W
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Why would anyone opt to go for an 5060 Ti then?
JayPac666@reddit
Ray tracing. This is the biggest one
Upscaling quality. DLSS 4 generally produces better visual results than FSR 4
Memory bandwidth. Both cards have 16GB VRAM but Nvidia's GDDR7 running at 28Gb/s comfortably outpaces AMD's 20Gb/s GDDR6. That's a \~40% bandwidth advantage, which shows up in high-resolution and memory-intensive workloads
Creative workloads. noticeably improved GPU-accelerated editing performance compared to the 9060 XT
For a pure gamer who doesn't use ray tracing, doesn't care about DLSS vs FSR differences, and isn't doing AI orcreative work, the 9060 XT is the smarter buy at its price point.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
What kind of high resolution?
4k or 2k?
JayPac666@reddit
anything above 1080p
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
ffffffffff
S4luk4s@reddit
I recommend a 9060xt 16gb, and you don't even need a new power supply. I don't know why everyone here keeps saying this, but the actual minimal recommended power supply wattage is 450 watts, so you're pretty good.
BoogieBear-Fr@reddit
I second this OP.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Thanks!
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
For just the GPU or the entire system?
S4luk4s@reddit
The card itself is pulling up to 160 watts, the minimum recommend power supply for the whole pc is 450 watts. You can read it on the official 9060xt amd website.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Thanks!
Is this a good deal?
https://www.mindfactory.de/product_info.php/16GB-PowerColor-Radeon-RX-9060-XT-Reaper-Aktiv-PCIe-5-0-x16--Retail-_1617334.html
It doesn't seem to be OC though.
S4luk4s@reddit
Yes that's good, and don't worry if it says "oc" I or something like that. They are all equally strong, and you can just oc it yourself with the official amd adrenaline software, it's very easy.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
What about the fan count? Some have 3, others only 2.
S4luk4s@reddit
3 fans is generally better, but with the Gpu using such little power/watts, it's not going to heat up that much anyway.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Okay. You've been so helpful! Thank you so much!
_you_need_jesus_@reddit
Looking a Amazon deutschland the 9060xt 16gb seem to hover around €400 and it should play do just fine at high res with some frame gen.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Which version though? There seem to be soooo many variants.
katzengoldgott@reddit
Doesn’t matter as long as you measure the space inside your case beforehand so you don’t buy a GPU too large for your case.
But brands are really not that important.
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Ah, right, I forgot to mention the case type for the specs.
Have to fix that... Thanks!
Exciting_Depression@reddit
Upgraded GPU would help but I wouldn't upgrade that without a higher watt PSU
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
I think that's possible. I've laid back another 150 € as an emergency reserve (broken ATMs et cetera) that I could use for that and replenish within a month or two.
Exciting_Depression@reddit
If you upgrade both I think you'll notice a nice improvement for your games and if you sold your current GPU on eBay or something you'd atleast make a little cash back
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
There is an improvement in pc performance with a higher capacity PSU?
Exciting_Depression@reddit
PSU only, no but you'd have to upgrade it if you're getting a newer GPU due to it only being 550w
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
I'm sorry that I have to ask, but some other commenters below have mentioned that it might not be necessary at all, because the GPUs in question supposedly "only" draw up to 180 Watts.
Exciting_Depression@reddit
Power draw depends on the model so it can vary but take into account the power requirements of the other items in your build plus an added margin for any peaks/spikes during gameplay and you're on the 500/550 line so although it would work the upgraded PSU is for safety and stability during those moments
cosmoscrazy@reddit (OP)
Oh okay!
Can you help me figure the numbers out so that I can calculate it on my own in the future, please?
My PSU has a maximum power draw capacity of 550w.
My CPU apparently usually draws 65W and 100W at the absolute maximum.
So that leaves 450W.
If the GPU draws up to 200W in maximum usage situations that leaves me with... 250W.
How do I figure out how much power my other hardware draws and how much of a safety capacity margin do I need?