Graphic card upgrade options.

[Mark TW]

Hi all, I'm currently using Substance Painter with is pretty GPU intensive. At the moment my specs are, moterboard: ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS, graphics card: 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti, CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU, RAM: 64GB DDR4 3200MHz, Power Supply: CORSAIR 550W CV.

So what graphics card should I update to. Userbench says: Nvidia RXT 3060, 3060 Ti, 3070, 3080 and the AMD RX 6700-XT.

All of those are possibilities for me. But if I go for one of the higher ones will I be bottlenecked by my cpu? Will the Ti version of the 3070 work? and do I need a better power supply if I get one of the higher end cards?

Thanks
Mark

 

[mickyflinn]

Hi.

What resolution are you gaming at and what's your max budget ?


5600x is fine.

 

[Rogueywon]

It'd be helpful to know your budget. I assume from the cards you list that you're looking at second-hand cards?

Your PSU is going to be a constraint here, more so than your CPU (the 5600X isn't cutting edge, but it's not obsolete either). I would not fancy trying a 3070 Ti on a 550W PSU. If you're looking at a new card, a 9060 XT 16GB would give you a decent upgrade over a 1050 Ti and would not require a new PSU.

If you're not willing to spend that much, then second hand cards will be a better option, but you will need to watch power carefully. Even the non-Ti 3070 is going to be a tight fit on your PSU.

 

[becks]

If you’re leaning 3060 Ti/3070, your 5600X won’t really bottleneck you in most cases – especially for Substance Painter, which loves more VRAM and CUDA cores. PSU might be the real limiter though: 550 W is fine for mid‑range, but 3070/3080 and up will want more headroom, especially under load spikes. Ti versions will work fine, but I’d check actual draw + connectors. What’s your gaming resolution when you’re not in Painter? And do you have a rough budget ceiling in mind?

 

[Mark TW]

It'd be helpful to know your budget. I assume from the cards you list that you're looking at second-hand cards?

Your PSU is going to be a constraint here, more so than your CPU (the 5600X isn't cutting edge, but it's not obsolete either). I would not fancy trying a 3070 Ti on a 550W PSU. If you're looking at a new card, a 9060 XT 16GB would give you a decent upgrade over a 1050 Ti and would not require a new PSU.

If you're not willing to spend that much, then second hand cards will be a better option, but you will need to watch power carefully. Even the non-Ti 3070 is going to be a tight fit on your PSU.

It'd be helpful to know your budget. I assume from the cards you list that you're looking at second-hand cards?

Your PSU is going to be a constraint here, more so than your CPU (the 5600X isn't cutting edge, but it's not obsolete either). I would not fancy trying a 3070 Ti on a 550W PSU. If you're looking at a new card, a 9060 XT 16GB would give you a decent upgrade over a 1050 Ti and would not require a new PSU.

If you're not willing to spend that much, then second hand cards will be a better option, but you will need to watch power carefully. Even the non-Ti 3070 is going to be a tight fit on your PSU.

Thanks for responding, I was looking to spend not much more than £300 if possible, yeah, looking 2nd hand at the moment.

Maybe I'll get a new PSU then, what would you recommend?

 

[Mark TW]

If you’re leaning 3060 Ti/3070, your 5600X won’t really bottleneck you in most cases – especially for Substance Painter, which loves more VRAM and CUDA cores. PSU might be the real limiter though: 550 W is fine for mid‑range, but 3070/3080 and up will want more headroom, especially under load spikes. Ti versions will work fine, but I’d check actual draw + connectors. What’s your gaming resolution when you’re not in Painter? And do you have a rough budget ceiling in mind?

Yeah, it's looking like I'll need a new PSU alright. Budget about £300 ish, I haven't played a game in a while Thanks for responding

 

[Mark TW]

although I'll probably increase my budget to get a new PSU

 

[becks]

Gotcha – with ~£300 plus PSU wiggle room, a 3060 Ti or used 3070 could hit the sweet spot. Plenty for Painter, headroom for games if you jump back in. Any brands you’ve had good luck with before?

 

[Mark TW]

Gotcha – with ~£300 plus PSU wiggle room, a 3060 Ti or used 3070 could hit the sweet spot. Plenty for Painter, headroom for games if you jump back in. Any brands you’ve had good luck with before?

Thanks, can't really say I know much about GPU brands, even though I've spend my whole professional life working with computers, I'm a newbie to this upgrading stuff really

 

[Disco_P]

40 series an option? Much more PSU friendly as they fixed the transient spikes of the 30 series.

Looking at the system requirements, AMD is an option as well which will be better value.

Anything will be a huge upgrade from the 1050ti which is decently below the minimum requirements.

 

[Mark TW]

40 series an option? Much more PSU friendly as they fixed the transient spikes of the 30 series.

Looking at the system requirements, AMD is an option as well which will be better value.

Anything will be a huge upgrade from the 1050ti which is decently below the minimum requirements.

Thanks, yeah, 40 series definitely an option, will it fit my motherboard? AMD deffo an option too.

 

[Disco_P]

Thanks, yeah, 40 series definitely an option, will it fit my motherboard? AMD deffo an option too.

Yep, might require a bios update, would recommend you do that when you upgrade regardless.

 

[Tetras]

Gotcha – with ~£300 plus PSU wiggle room, a 3060 Ti or used 3070 could hit the sweet spot. Plenty for Painter, headroom for games if you jump back in. Any brands you’ve had good luck with before?

If you’re leaning 3060 Ti/3070, your 5600X won’t really bottleneck you in most cases – especially for Substance Painter, which loves more VRAM and CUDA cores.

Do you have any benchmarks we could look at?

I wouldn't know where to go for that app.