I'm shopping the Swedish used market for a GPU upgrade from my GTX 1660 Super. My goal is around 120 FPS at 1080p with medium-to-high settings in both older and newer games. Battlefield 2042 and Black Ops 6 struggle somewhat now, and I'd also like to play demanding titles such as Alan Wake 2. How much VRAM should I target for a good experience over the next couple of years? I've seen used RTX 2080 Ti and RTX 3070 cards around €250, while newer cards can cost considerably more. This system is connected to a BenQ W2720i projector, which supports 1080p at up to 240Hz, although I haven't managed to get that refresh rate working through my Denon X3800H receiver.
4 Answers
Good used-value options include the RX 6700 XT, RX 6800, RTX 3070, or RTX 3070 Ti. The RX 6700 XT’s 12GB and the RX 6800’s 16GB give them more breathing room for high-resolution textures than an 8GB 3070. For standard 1080p rasterized gaming, those AMD cards can be excellent bargains, especially if ray tracing isn’t a priority. I’d avoid paying too much for a 2080 Ti unless it is clearly cheaper than newer alternatives.
A used RTX 3070 would be a major jump from the 1660 Super and should work well with the Ryzen 5 5600 at 1080p. Its 8GB of VRAM is generally fine today, though it may require lowering texture quality in some future games. A 6800 XT or RTX 3080 would be a stronger long-term choice if you find one at a reasonable price. The AMD card has more VRAM, while the 3080 tends to be better for ray tracing.
I’d look for an RTX 3080, preferably around the €300 range if one appears locally. The 10GB model offers a worthwhile performance increase over the 3070 and is better suited to demanding games. At 1080p, the 5600 may limit frame rates in some competitive or CPU-heavy games, but it should still pair nicely with a 3080 for your target settings. Upscaling below DLSS Quality usually isn’t very attractive at 1080p, although DLDSR combined with DLSS can improve image quality if the GPU has enough headroom.
Check auction listings for pricing rather than treating the first asking price as the market rate. Used examples can sometimes be found around 2,000 SEK for a 2080 Ti, 2,500 SEK for a 3070, or roughly 3,000 SEK for a 16GB 4060 Ti. The 4060 Ti is not always the fastest option for the money, but its lower power use and extra VRAM may be useful. You can also recover some of the upgrade cost by selling the GTX 1660 Super, which might bring in around 800 SEK.
I’ll sell the 1660 Super once the replacement arrives, so that should help offset the final cost.