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Graphic card upgrade options.

Mark TW

Mark TW

Mark TW

Associate
Joined
16 Jun 2021
Posts
21
Location
Rowlands Gill
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
 
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.
 
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?
 
Rogueywon said:
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.
Click to expand...
Rogueywon said:
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.
Click to expand...
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?
 
becks said:
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?
Click to expand...
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
 
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?
 
becks said:
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?
Click to expand...
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 :-)
 
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.
 
Disco_P said:
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.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah, 40 series definitely an option, will it fit my motherboard? AMD deffo an option too.
 
becks said:
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?
Click to expand...
becks said:
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.
Click to expand...
Do you have any benchmarks we could look at?

I wouldn't know where to go for that app.
 
9060XT might be a good play here instead of a 3060Ti or 3070, as @Rogueywon suggests. Cheapest one I think is £329.99. That 16GB VRAM is going to be really helpful and it has quite a low power draw (160-180w). So it should work fine with your current PSU.
 
Thanks, I've sort of discounted the AMD cards though as apparently they don't work as well as Nvidia when it comes to Substance Painter, I read the SP baking works better with those Nvidia CUDA cores. Otherwise I think I deffo would go AMD considering the bang for buck you get!
 
The 5060ti 16GB can be had for £350-380 currently new, should be fine on your current PSU.

I don't know much about the app other than it apparently favouring Nvidia and liking VRAM, opting for a several generations old 8gb card for close to £300 seems like a poor investment considering.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £387.98 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

This for example.

Just make sure to measure up and check whatever you get will fit your case.
 
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Gray2233 said:
The 5060ti 16GB can be had for £350-380 currently new, should be fine on your current PSU.

I don't know much about the app other than it apparently favouring Nvidia and liking VRAM, opting for a several generations old 8gb card for close to £300 seems like a poor investment considering.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £387.98 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

This for example.

Just make sure to measure up and check whatever you get will fit your case.
Click to expand...
Yep, I agree about the cost/value benefit of going for an older card, I'll do a bit more research over the weekend. Thanks
 
@Mark TW: Since you’re open on brands, second-hand deals could stretch your budget further. Do you want a long-term Painter workhorse or a solid mid-range card now and upgrade later?

@Tetras: Would real-world Painter test times help more than synthetic scores?
 
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