I have about $580 left from a work bonus and am considering upgrading the graphics card in my living-room gaming PC. My main workstation has an i7-13700K, RX 7800 XT, and 64GB of DDR4-3200, while the smaller gaming PC has an i5-14600, RX 6700 10GB, and 32GB of DDR4-3200.
The RX 6700 still handles most games well, but newer titles are starting to push it harder. My usual strategy is to upgrade the workstation first and then move its previous parts into the gaming PC. Ideally, I would buy an RX 9070 XT for the workstation and eventually move the RX 7800 XT into the other system, but I don't want to spend $800 or more on a graphics card. My personal limit is around $600.
Below that price, the RX 9070 GRE seems like one of the only meaningful options, although its 12GB of VRAM concerns me. I could either buy the GRE directly for the gaming PC now, or wait for a good deal on a 16GB RX 9070 for the workstation and then reuse the 7800 XT.
I mainly play at 1080p on high settings and occasionally use 1440p. Would 12GB be enough for the next four years, with the goal of keeping the card until around 2030? Should I buy the RX 9070 GRE now, consider a 16GB card such as the RX 9060 XT, or simply wait?
4 Answers
I would wait and save for the regular RX 9070. The 16GB of VRAM gives it a better chance of staying useful long-term, and it should be a more satisfying upgrade path than spending nearly $600 on a card that only modestly improves your overall setup.
At current pricing, the GRE can make sense if you can actually get it around $499. For 1080p high settings, 12GB should be usable for quite a while, and you are unlikely to run into serious VRAM limits immediately. The value depends heavily on the local price, though; if the gap to a 16GB RX 9070 is small, buy the 9070 instead.
A 16GB RX 9060 XT could be worth considering if it is priced close to the GRE. It will not be as fast as the 9070, but the extra VRAM is more comfortable for newer games and may be a better fit for a card you want to keep for several years. I would avoid used RTX 3080 Ti models unless the price is unusually low, since they are older, power-hungry, and still have only 12GB.
Honestly, waiting is probably the best move. Your RX 7800 XT is already strong, and the RX 6700 is still adequate for your current resolution. Neither system sounds desperate for an upgrade, so keeping the money until a genuinely good 16GB deal appears avoids paying for a relatively small improvement.
That is my concern—the GRE looks attractive at a discounted price, but I don't want to compromise on VRAM just to upgrade sooner.