I'm considering buying a friend's used RTX 2070 at a low price and hoping to use it for another 3–5 years. Assuming the rest of the PC is reasonably up to date, is it realistic to expect 1080p gaming at around 60 FPS on medium-to-high settings for newer releases? I'm mainly wondering when it might become too weak for modern games, especially with current GPU prices being so high. I'm located in Germany.
4 Answers
There isn’t a fixed expiration date. The card becomes obsolete when it no longer runs the games you actually want to play at settings and frame rates you find acceptable. For esports, older games, and well-optimized titles, it could remain useful for many years. New AAA games will increasingly require reduced settings, and ray tracing will be especially demanding on an RTX 2070.
For 1080p at 60 FPS, three more years is plausible if you’re willing to use medium or occasionally low settings. Games that target current consoles should generally remain playable, but the card’s 8 GB of VRAM may become a limitation in some newer titles. If the price is roughly €75–€125, it sounds much more attractive than paying a premium for a newer card.
Driver support probably won’t be the thing that makes it unusable. Even after regular driver updates end, existing games will still run. Actual hardware failure or disappointing performance in the games you play is more likely to determine when you replace it. I’d buy it based on the condition and price rather than a predicted retirement date.
A lot depends on your library. Someone playing competitive games at low settings could comfortably use a 2070 for a long time, while someone expecting every new AAA release at high settings and 60 FPS may already need compromises. If you mostly play games from the last several years or indie titles, 3–5 years is quite reasonable.
That helps. I hadn’t considered how much the answer depends on the type of games and whether I’m willing to lower settings. I’m mostly aiming for stable 60 FPS rather than ultra graphics.