Which card to upgrade too - Do I stick with Nvidia...

[DJ_Bucho]

Definitely don't go buying anything until the RTX Super cards are launched, at least that's what I'd do

 

[CuriousTomCat]

It's not a question of sticking with a brand or moving away from a brand. Check reviews/benchmarks and buy the best bang for your buck. I've been doing that for over 20 years. It doesn't matter whether it's a GPU, an electric kettle or a lawn mower. The principle is the same. Bang for buck.

 

[MCFC_ANDY]

can see AMD cutting prices pretty sharpish after the nvidia rehash, i mean refresh so hold on

 

[D-Ranged]

I would highly advise against RDNA 3 at this budget. They are simply too weak in the top-end aspects. Stick to Nvidia for sure. And I say that as someone who has only bought Radeon GPUs since the 3dfx days.

As for RT, a fav gif of mine I've been using for a long time to show the differences (particularly for lighting):

But the really obvious difference during normal gameplay is for sure anything water related (and that applies to all games with RT reflections):

And those are regular RT examples. No Pathtracing (which tbh I'd avoid even on a 4090; too many issues imo but it's a longer discussion and a bit subjective).

Thanks, that's pretty cool. Certainly looking forward to trying it out with what ever card I end up with.

 

[D-Ranged]

I have just checked what card i have in my machine, thinking it was a 1080, but its actually a 980 . What ever i get next is certainly going to be an upgrade!

 

[Clearcut]

Wow, I can honestly say, I've never not known what card I have in my PC.

 

[Bill Turnip]

Oh, I have. I had an HD radeon of some sort a while ago (4670?). Literally forgot the number everytime.

 

[tommybhoy]

And those are regular RT examples.

CP isn't a regular example of RT'ing, it's the very best example of RT'ing imo and arguably it keeps improving visually due to continued NV funding.

AW2 is the only other example of high quality R/PT, but imo CP is in the no.1 spot.

My problem with most other RT'ing titles is there isn't much point unless you have top end NV GPUs as the RT'ing as the visual difference isn't worth the FPS hit.

The difference is generally lost with me and unnoticeable in gameplay, therefore I'd either disable and run non RT'ing, or at most enable the lowest RT'ing setting regardless whether I'm gaming on my 4070/79XTX systems.

But to reiterate what I originally said, if it's RT'ing you want go NV, but bear in mind their lower stacked GPUs can't achieve the visual fidelity of RT'ing we see in the 4K marketing vids due to upscaler limitations at lower res especially@1080p.

 

[Poneros]

[...]

By regular RT I meant as opposed to PT (because the game allows both), not a judgement on quality.
Personally I don't agree that RT isn't worth the performance hit for lower GPUs because I use it plenty with my RX 6800, but I'd agree that during gameplay its worth is quite subjective (particularly various shadow effects). In fact, was just enjoying it now in WD:L which has imo still the most gorgeous RT reflections in any game. It helps that there was a focus on high poly geo & high res textures, so the RT reflections are the nice cherry on top to make the cake spectacular. Plus it's a match made in heaven for a modern London environment. Something like CP2077 still has it beat overall (due to the many more effects available & other things) but for a single effect, those Ubi (Toronto?) graphics guys sure delivered.

 

[Borsch]

DLSS is another ace up Nvidia's sleeve, it's not purely about RT. That's not to say that AMD doesn't have an ace of its own - VRAM. Unless you get crème de la crème of Nvidia cards like the 3090 or 4090, VRAM is not just a ticking bomb, but a short fuse. I had to replace a 3080 with a 3090 after a year of ownership as VRAM shortage became an actual issue with horrible stuttering in my main game.
In a nutshell, Nvidia is cool if you get the best or update often. AMD is like a Toyota Corolla - not so great, but lasts a good while.