A major earthquake in Colombia damaged my PC, and unfortunately my Radeon RX 9070 XT was the only component that failed. My family and two cats are safe, but I'm temporarily using the integrated graphics on my Ryzen 5 9600X with a damaged 1080p 180Hz monitor.
My system has a Ryzen 5 9600X, 16GB of DDR5-6000 memory, a Gigabyte B850M Gaming X WiFi motherboard, and an ASUS ROG Strix 1000W Gold PSU. I have roughly $750 available, although local prices are inflated. The options I've found are:
- Used, boxless Zotac RTX 5070 Solid OC — $786
- Used Radeon RX 9070 GRE Steel Legend — $606
- Used MSI RTX 4070 Super 12GB Ventus 3X — $707
- Used XFX RX 9060 XT 16GB Mercury White — $606
Which card would be the smartest purchase for high-refresh gaming now, while still offering good value?
5 Answers
Before choosing a card, checking the power supply would be important, but your 1000W ASUS ROG Strix Gold unit is more than sufficient for all four options. You could also investigate a standard RX 9070 if it were close to the GRE in price, but at about $850 it is outside your stated budget and not worth dipping heavily into savings.
If you want maximum performance and can stretch to $786, the RTX 5070 is the best-performing option listed. The newer architecture and features make the $80 premium over the used 4070 Super more reasonable. Otherwise, save the $180 and buy the 9070 GRE; that money could go toward a new 1440p monitor.
The RX 9070 GRE looks like the standout value here. It is only around 10% behind the RTX 5070 in many rasterized games, yet costs $180 less. The RTX 5070 is the fastest option listed and would be the closest replacement for your old 9070 XT, but the extra cost is hard to justify when the GRE is available for $606.
I’d skip the RX 9060 XT at this price. Paying the same $606 for it as the 9070 GRE doesn’t make sense because the GRE is considerably faster. The RTX 4070 Super is still a reasonable choice, but at $707 it is older and more expensive than the GRE, so it doesn’t offer much value in this lineup.
The best answer depends on whether you need the absolute highest frame rates or better overall value. I’d choose the 9070 GRE at $606, especially since your current monitor is already damaged. The RTX 5070 is a fine choice if you want to spend more for the extra performance, but the GRE should handle high-refresh 1080p very well and leave funds for a future monitor upgrade.
The monitor still works reasonably well despite the damage, so I’ll probably keep it as a secondary display and move to 1440p later. The GRE seems like the most sensible balance for now.
That’s where I’m leaning too. The other cards cost considerably more for a relatively small improvement, while the GRE leaves some money available for replacing my damaged monitor later.