I'm putting together an inexpensive PC with a Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of RAM. I mainly want to play competitive shooters such as Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, and Titanfall 2, along with some older games, while also using the system for programming. I'm deciding between a used GTX 1080 Ti, RTX 2060, RX 5700 XT, or possibly another card. Are any of these better choices for this use case, and are the Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of memory still adequate?
3 Answers
The RTX 2070 is another good middle ground. It performs around the level of the RX 5700 XT, supports basic ray tracing, and continues to receive regular driver updates. The Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB of RAM should be fine for this build; upgrading to 32GB is only really necessary if you’ll be doing heavier multitasking or running demanding applications alongside your games.
Out of the cards you mentioned, I’d lean toward the RX 5700 XT. It offers plenty of performance for competitive shooters and older games, although you should compare the actual used prices and check the card’s condition before buying.
The RX 5700 XT is generally faster than the RTX 2060 in regular gaming, so it’s a strong choice if the prices are close. The RTX 2060 has newer driver support and basic ray tracing, but neither feature is especially important for the games you listed. A used RTX 2070 or 2070 Super could also be worth considering if you find one for a reasonable price, especially because of the extra VRAM.

Related Questions
Lenovo Thinkpad Stuck In Update Loop Install FilterDriverU2_Reload