My RX 6800 XT has started lagging and occasionally crashing during some Premiere Pro projects. It also feels slow for 4K editing and gaming. I'm interested in trying newer NVIDIA features such as DLSS, but I'm not sure whether the RTX 5070 Ti is worth choosing over the similarly priced RX 9070 XT. I'm also concerned about whether my Xigmatek Thor T750 V3 750W power supply can handle either card. My current system has a Ryzen 7 3700X, a Gigabyte B450 Aorus motherboard, an Asus ROG Strix LC RX 6800 XT, 16GB of DDR4-3200 CL16 in a single stick, and SATA SSDs for Windows, games, and editing. I mainly edit at 1080p and occasionally 4K, and my total upgrade budget is about $1,200. What upgrade path would give me the best overall performance?
3 Answers
The RX 9070 XT is probably the better value choice. It performs close to the RTX 5070 Ti in many games while usually costing less, and a good 750W supply should be enough for either card. Some power spikes are possible, but you can undervolt the GPU if necessary without giving up much performance. DLSS-style features should not be the deciding factor unless you specifically want NVIDIA’s software and creator-app support. Before replacing the GPU, also try a clean driver installation to rule out software-related crashes.
If you care about NVIDIA-specific features or Premiere acceleration more than value, the RTX 5070 Ti is the safer pick. Otherwise, the RX 9070 XT offers better performance per dollar and should be a substantial upgrade over the RX 6800 XT, especially at ultrawide or 4K resolutions. Keep in mind that newer frame-generation or image-enhancement features can add visual artifacts and may reduce real responsiveness, so they are not automatically a free performance boost. Also verify that your power supply is in good condition; 750W is sufficient on paper, but a lower-quality or aging unit is worth replacing before installing a power-hungry GPU.
The biggest immediate problem in your system is the single 16GB memory stick. Moving to 2x16GB would give you dual-channel bandwidth, more capacity, and noticeably better minimum frame rates. The Ryzen 7 3700X can also limit a high-end GPU, especially at lower resolutions, so consider an AM4 CPU upgrade such as a Ryzen 7 5700X3D if your motherboard BIOS supports it. With the remaining budget, an RX 9070 XT plus a CPU and RAM upgrade would likely be a stronger overall improvement than spending everything on the most expensive graphics card.
A Ryzen 7 5700X paired with an RX 9070 XT would be a solid combination, although the 5700X3D is preferable for gaming if the price difference is reasonable.
DLSS isn’t essential for me. I mostly edit at 1080p, with some 4K work, and the 6800 XT is mainly struggling with 4K projects and occasional crashes.