I'm planning to build my PC within the next few days, with a maximum budget of about €1,800. I'm based in Portugal, where component prices are fairly high, and I'm not planning to change the other parts in my current build unless there's a particularly strong reason to do so.
I'm deciding whether to buy an RTX 5070 12GB, or save money with an RTX 5060 Ti 16GB or RX 9060 XT 16GB. I'll mainly be playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 at 1440p. I care more about smooth performance than running everything at maximum graphics settings, so I'd appreciate advice on which card offers the best value. The RTX 5070 costs around €629.90 in Portugal, while an RX 9070 XT is about €759.90. I'm also open to suggestions about the RAM in my planned build, since someone mentioned that I may be overspending on it.
3 Answers
The RTX 5070 should be noticeably faster than both the RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9060 XT. For 1440p gaming, especially if you want higher settings or ray tracing, it’s the stronger option, and DLSS can help with demanding games. That said, if your priority is simply smooth performance and you don’t mind lowering a few settings, one of the 16GB cards could be sufficient and may offer better value.
At the prices you listed, the RX 9070 XT is worth comparing seriously. It costs about €130 more than the RTX 5070 but offers a substantial performance increase and 16GB of VRAM. The 5070 makes more sense if you specifically value Nvidia features such as DLSS, while the 9070 XT may be the better choice for raw 1440p performance and longer-term VRAM headroom.
Flight Simulator 2024 can be demanding on both the GPU and the rest of the system, so the exact graphics settings and target frame rate matter more than the VRAM number alone. The RTX 5070 should be a comfortable 1440p choice, while the 16GB alternatives provide more memory for future games. I’d compare complete system prices rather than choosing based only on the graphics card, and consider moving some of the RAM budget toward the GPU if the memory kit is unusually expensive.
I’m mainly aiming for stable 1440p performance rather than maximum visual quality, so I’m not sure the extra cost for the 9070 XT would be necessary. I’ll also look again at the RAM pricing before buying.