Need new Graphics card, I Think

[RussD]

At moment I have the "Palit GeForce 1660 Storm X 6Gb GDDR5 Graphics Card" in a MSI pro Z690-A DDR4 Mobo. + I7-12700K CPU + Seasonic Focus GX-750 W 80+ Gold Modular PSU, + 32GB Ram. + Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler. Below the 1660 GPU I have a PCIe USB card. Today my Photoshop updated to vs 26.2 and It said I can't use my 1660 with it, So I downgraded Photoshop to vs26.1.0 so that it keeps working...What I need to know is this--
Should I upgrade my GPU to a MSi GeForce RTX 4060Ti with 16gb Ram GDDR6x. My Case is a Lian Li Lancool II Mesh C RGB Midi tower. Will it fit with the PCIe card underneath it. I think it will but not sure. THANKS.

 

[HeavenAC]

The 4060ti will demolish your 1660 without a doubt, it's a good upgrade if it's in your price range.

As for fitting it with a pcie card beneath, the depends entirely on the card you choose and the motherboard you have. From what you've said, the MSI board you're using should be absolutely fine **IF** you plug it into one of the lower x16 slots.

I'm assuming your USB card is a pcie X1 card (smallest possible pcie slot size) and looking at the board, it may be a struggle to fit it under the GPU if you put it in the "correct" slot. However, "up-plugging" is acceptable within the pcie standard and, while I have never tried it, you should be completely fine to plug the usb card into a full size slot.

Before you do any of that, if you don't want to spend any money, try updating the drivers using the Nvidia app, and make sure you're using the creative drivers.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The RTX4060TI 8GB is terrible worse price/performance if over £300. If you need a basic dGPU for software,get an RTX3050,RTX3060 or RTX4060. Also I would look at some of the Intel Arc cards if they are supported.

 

[RussD]

Thanks ALL..I was thinking of the RTX 4060 Ti 16gb. Which I think is the better card.
As for the 5 slot usb-A with two slots usb-C I could slot it into a lower larger PCIe slot and All would be OK.
What is messing me up is that VERY HUGE Cooler, the Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler.
So far I have rolled back my Photoshop to Version 26.1.0 and that is where it will stay until i decide to buy that New GPU. After All, I do NOT need these AI updates as not allowed to use in Club Comps. Thanks All.

 

[arknor]

I'm assuming your USB card is a pcie X1 card (smallest possible pcie slot size) and looking at the board, it may be a struggle to fit it under the GPU if you put it in the "correct" slot. However, "up-plugging" is acceptable within the pcie standard and, while I have never tried it, you should be completely fine to plug the usb card into a full size slot.

there#s no such thing as the correct slot.
but as said you can plug them into a long slot and they work fine.

I've done it with sound cards

What is messing me up is that VERY HUGE Cooler, the Noctua NH-D15 Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler.

I use the same cooler with a 4090 no probs and I'm guessing its 1-2 slots thicker than a 4060 ... actually have the same cpu as you

I have a short sound card in the very bottom slot too,

different mobo but I doubt the spacing is much different than yours.

 

[mahius]

I was going to suggest waiting till the end of Jan/mid-Feb to see what the new generation brings.

Even if none of the newer cards are worth buying, existing options could get cheaper to make way.
Doesn't always happen nowadays, but a short wait to be sure doesn't hurt.

 

[Bodom]

If you can wait a couple more months for the mid range cards but if not go for the rx7800xt it's around the same price and a good chunk faster than the 4060ti

 

[Octoplex7]

If you can wait a couple more months for the mid range cards but if not go for the rx7800xt it's around the same price and a good chunk faster than the 4060ti

Definitely worth holding out a little longer if you can.

 

[kute]

I was going to suggest waiting till the end of Jan/mid-Feb to see what the new generation brings.

Even if none of the newer cards are worth buying, existing options could get cheaper to make way.
Doesn't always happen nowadays, but a short wait to be sure doesn't hurt.

Yea, buying a GPU on the eve of a flood of new stock would be an odd choice for sure.

1660 is pretty outdated, essentially any 8 GB card beyond those old rx 580'ish AMD cards is going to be an upgrade.

Like just as an example I saw newegg selling a refurbished 500 dollar CAD 3080 a few days ago(it's gone now) that would be like triple a 1660's performance I bet, and that's a 4 year old card itself.

But there might be a lot of people selling decent cards for cheap to upgrade, or prices on lik 4070's might plummet or something. I'd wait and figure out what you think you'd like in the meantime

 

[RussD]

Thank You ALL...Looks like I'll stick with the first 2025 Photoshop Upgrade and wait a month or two before buying then, Cheers.