Gpu upgrade options?

[Emjay86]

Hi folks,

It's that time again! Possibly need to get a new GPU, although realistically I can wait. What piqued my interest was the trade in deals with certain Nvidia cards...

Anyway, I'm currently gaming on a 1440p ultrawide with a 2070 super, 32GB RAM, Ryzen 9 3900 and a Corsair 750w Gold PSU.

Is it worth me looking to upgrade and if so, what should I be looking at?

Ta!

 

[Emjay86]

Thanks both, this is kinda what I was thinking.

With regards to your response sx_turbo, I don't really have a price in mind, but I dont want to be mugged off so to speak, which I suspect everyone is at the moment, I simply thought selling my 2070 super for £230 made the deal a little better!

My PSU is actually a platinum, but still a lowly 750w, which was fine when I changed it from my 1000w, I just needed something that would fit nicely in my case, but alas it has come to bite me in the arse I suspect!

Cheers both!

 

[Emjay86]

PSU is more than fine for the kind of cards that you should be considering for 1440p. It's only if you were thinking of 4k gaming that you'd be considering the top tier of cards that need really beefy PSUs. If you can wait, then by summer there should be some better competition in the 1440p and more efficient GPU class.

Cheers, that's a bit reassuring.

To clarify, if it makes a difference, I am running a resolution of 3440 x 1440 UWQHD.

I was feeling flashy at the time, but I honestly struggle to imagine paying the ridiculous GPU prices. I've kind of pushed myself into a needy GPU niche I feel! Don't get me wrong, my 2070 Super is running Darktide, Hogwarts: Legacy and anything prior to those with no issues, so I'm not desperate. It wont run raytracing which is a shame as I previewed Hogwarts with full RTX on (my FPS tanked accordingly) and it looked amazing, but hey ho! Can't live a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget!

Out of curiosity, to achieve some form of Raytracing with a high setting of graphics on current games, what kind of card would I be looking at for my resolution?

Cheers!

 

[Emjay86]

4070 Ti minimum.

Thats interesting as the 4070 ti was what I was looking at. I figured my £230 for my 2070 super made the price tag a little less insulting...

That said, I have the issue of having a 750w PSU, which I think is too low for a 4070 ti or anything above for that matter!

 

[Emjay86]

See... Now you two have made it all that bit more difficult, especially as I have already been given express permission from the wife... Oh dear...

Whatever shall I do?!

 

[Emjay86]

Nah, should be fine tbf. I'm running a high-clocked 13700k and a 4090 off of an RM850X with no issue.

Would it matter much that I have a custom cooling loop on my CPU that is running a D5 pump and a shed ton of RGB? All my fans are RGB, my CPU block is RGB and my reservoir is RGG... 9 fans in total (7 RGB).

 

[Emjay86]

Yeah I'm definitely more tempted by the 7900XT (especially at <£800) than the 4070ti!

It's still too much £ for me though...really hoping the 7800XT isn't as bad as I fear it will be....

I equally dislike the pricing and £800+ is ludicrous, however if they are gonna give me £230 for my 2070 super, it makes it a little easier. Unfortunately I wouldnt get the same deal on an AMD card, which in itself makes me feel a bit weird as ive been on Nvidia ever since I changed my Voodoo 2 out, god knows how long ago!

That said, I was intel until a few years ago too and ive had no issues with my ryzen...

 

[Emjay86]

Yeah I get that and tbh I'm surprised they're paying the same for your 2070S as they would for my 3060ti, not bad if you look at that in isolation, but then you have to pay the Asus brand tax on the 4070ti (£90-100), so kinda swings and roundabouts.

Looking at the MM it appears you'll easily get a similar amount selling your card yourself and then can spend it however you see fit......although if you just don't want the hassle of a private sale and you like the asus cards, by all means go for it, it'll be a decent upgrade whatever you decide at UW res

So, lets say that I take the plunge and get the 4070 ti TUF OC version wotsit.

Do I need any special connectors or anything to go with it? It looks like it just needs the standard cable...

 

[Emjay86]

Part of the reason why GPU pricing has gone mad is precisely because too many people with the same mentality sticking with Nvidia no matter what, and allowing them to dominate over the market to demand such ridiculous price

Too many people blinded by Nvidia "having the fastest card" (at the highest price power), but ignoring the fact for pretty much all other cards they generally offer lower performance and spec card than AMD at the same price points.

Had more people support and buy AMD in the past decade allowing for better competition instead of letting Nvidia reaching 85% market-share, we probably would not have reach the crazy pricing we see today

There's definitely something in what your saying, but wasn't it also AMD who were intentionally lowering supply of their cards to prop up the pricing?

I guess by that rationale we should all just ditch both and go Intel ARC?

 

[Emjay86]

Well shucks... I've placed my order for the 4070 ti OC thingy and it should be with me tomorrow at some point, courtesy of OCUK (of course) along with some Haribo hopefully (face it, this is what I'm really buying here).

Thanks all for the sage wisdom and help in getting me just shy of a grand poorer!

 

[Emjay86]

Had a look at the D5s on OCUK and they mostly seem to be rated at around 23W, which is max consumption at full speed.
Can't find current draw figures for RGB in fans but I would be surprised if they exceed around 4-5W on max brightness white lighting with the fan spinning at full speed (for most fans anyway, some high RPM fans can draw more!)

Regarding the cable for your new card, you'll need a 2 or 3x 8pin to 16pin adapter, but that should be suppleid in the box

Cheers, thanks a lot for doing that, very much appreciated.

Worst case scenario is I could always get a new PSU, but this one is 2 years old and I bought it as it was small (its one of their small factor models) as I was having a tough time fitting anything larger in the Corsair 5000D case. The length of a standard PSU along with the cables was just a nightmare, definitely not what I am used to having gone from a monolithic Corsair 800D case! The newer PSU's that have the ports on the side may have been a nice option at the time, but hey ho!

Thanks again!

 

[Emjay86]

Did you really spend nearly a grand on a 4070ti? - Which is in reality only really a 4060ti.

Too much for that card I'm afraid.

Yes? Although once I trade in my current card it will be more in the region of £800 ish and a further £300 reduction from a bit of spare cash I had on the side made it a smaller figure again... Yea, its crazy, but I feel better about getting rid of my old card in a useful way. My last card got thrown straight into the bin 3 years ago. Sure, I could try and sell them on somewhere, but thats a load of faf and a gamble anyway. Perhaps I'm just a fool...

Most likely I will be here again in the next 3 or 4 years, but such is the way of PC gaming...

Out of curiosity, why would you say its a 4060ti?

 

[Emjay86]

You could have got a 15% faster card for less.

It's a 4060ti, because this 4070ti is a cut-down card relative to cards of the last generation. Last gen's 60ti card cost around £400MSRP, NV are now selling you the same "class" card for a grand, dressed up as a 70 class card.

Fair enough.

I suspect you may be talking about the 7900xt for the extra 15%? I know it sounds daft, but then the pricing on that is pretty much the same too, albeit I'm getting the 4070ti for cheaper because of the trade-in.

Its entirely possible I've just made a bad decision, but time will only tell.

 

[Emjay86]

It's the same price? Kinda, but one had 8GB more VRAM for longevity and is 15% faster


I'd have gone through the faff of selling your old card and then bought the best option, already you're being advised in Hogwarts about insufficient VRAM and lowering settings, that's before you've even got the card! nevermind 3-4 years down the line.

1K for GPU with only 12GB VRAM is terrible value, plus the fact it's a cut-down card to begin with. However you factor in sold cards etc, it's still a grand you're spending on it there's no getting round that.

The 4070ti is a terrible terrible card for the money, it's better than the 7900XT only in RT, a gimmicky feature at best, and one which your 4070ti will struggle with in 2 years if the 3080 10GB is anything to go by. I say "2 years" but that's already happening with RT in Hogwart's...

A grand on a card that before you ever had it in your hands, is having its best selling point (RT) compromised already.

Oh for goodness sakes! Don't do this to me now!

I've taken the plunge and now you have me panicking with your common sense approach! Its likely too late as I believe I have just received an email to confirm it has been shipped...

So let's say I decided to change my mind and get the radeon instead. Which would I be going for?

 

[Emjay86]

If I was going to spend a grand on a 4070ti, then I'd have happily spent a grand on this - by all accounts the best 7900XT.

Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Nitro+ Vapor-X 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card

Order Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Nitro+ Vapor-X 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Thanks, I've managed to cancel my order, just need to wait for the cash to come back.

In the meantime, can I assume this will also be fine on a 750w PSU?

Anything I should know with radeon cards?

 

[Emjay86]

What monitor do you have? I just got the AW3423DGF, had originally planned to only spend upto £500 on a 27inch to replace the Dell u2711 but ended up spending like £300 over budget, I’m trying to decide on a new gpu as well as currently have a evga 1080ti ftw.

I have an Acer Predator Z35P 35inch curved ultrawide and its gorgeous.

After looking at it, does it matter that it only supports Nvidia Gsync? I mean, if I go radeon then I lose out on that feature right. Not that I think I've used it... isn't it just a form of v-sync?

 

[Emjay86]

Mines a Asus tuf....they are huge.

I had the ASUS tuf on order funny enough.

The comments regarding the VRAM made me think otherwise which is why I cancelled it. The Radeon 7900 seems superior, however I've also looked at various articles and benchmarking and it seems to state otherwise, or at least too close to tell.

The 4070 ti would at least allow Raytracing, which admittedly is a gimmick, but it's a nice gimmick to experience I would think. I've run hogwarts on ultra raytracing very briefly and it was amazing.

Of course, it comes down to the 12gb vs 20gb VRAM, which is a huge jump and potentially means the 4070ti will be out of fashion in a couple years whilst the radeon will be fine fore more. Wouldn't be so bad if it was just 2gb more, but 8?!

 

[Emjay86]

Went from 3060ti to a 4070ti, think next upgrade will be a 5080 in a couple of years.

Sounds similar to my initial plan of going from my 2070 super to 4070 ti. I figured the next jump would be a 60 series if not later...

Then all this business about the radeon 7900 being far superior cropped up and I'm well confused. Got a 4070 ti halfway to my house, albeit cancelled to return to OCUK and I still have no idea which way I should go!

 

[Emjay86]

If you are looking after raytracing performance I would have suggested saving a bit and getting the 4080 as a minimum.

The 4070ti is a ripoff plain and simple.

Otherwise it's the XtX train for me (Find More FPS > Raytracing everytime).

Oh yah, OP your 3900 will bottleneck the 4080.... Time to start saving for a 5800x3D.

I'm after a GPU that will allow me to play games on as high a setting as possible (preferably ultra right now) with raytracing enabled on a 1440p ultrawide resolution (21:9), all whilst running on a 750w PSU and Ryzen 9 3900.

I'm happy to upgrade my CPU later in the year and the PSU also, but I can't do all 3 right now.

 

[Emjay86]

I’d suggest you get the most gpu for your money if you need a card now (avoid the 7900XT as only £100 more gets you a better card) eg 7900XTX (agree get the Reference or Founders model at Overclockers UK: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/brands/sapphire) as it’s as fast at Raster as the 4090 sometimes and has over 20gb vram which should last ages at 1440p and even 4K. If you can lower settings and make the 2070 super last a bit longer ie 2024 Sept/Oct (lol next year!) when the 50 series or RX 8000 series launches then that would be better and most bang for buck. The latter is what I will be doing.

Cheers, this is good advice and gives me something to think on!