My 2019 gaming PC no longer meets the listed minimum requirements for the new Ace Combat game, so I'm considering replacing only the graphics card. The rest of the system has a Ryzen 5 3600X, B450 motherboard, 32GB of DDR4-3600 memory, and a 650W Corsair CX650M power supply. I currently use an RX 5700 XT.
I'd like to stay below $600 if possible. I'm mainly comparing cards such as the RTX 5060 Ti and Radeon RX 9060 XT, but the RX 9070 GRE may also fit my budget locally. I play at 1440p and regularly use Microsoft Flight Simulator and X-Plane, so good performance in flight simulators matters. A nearby Micro Center may have better pricing. Should I stick with AMD for features such as Smart Access Memory, or would another option make more sense?
3 Answers
Before buying anything, I’d try the new game with the existing 5700 XT. Minimum requirements are often conservative, and the card may still deliver an acceptable experience with adjusted settings. If you do upgrade, the 9070 GRE is the better 1440p choice, while the 9060 XT 16GB is the safer value option. Also keep in mind that the Ryzen 5 3600X can become a slight bottleneck in CPU-heavy simulation scenarios, especially at lower resolutions, though it should be fine for a 1440p-focused setup.
The RX 9070 GRE looks like the strongest option if you can find it around $500. It’s considerably faster than the RX 9060 XT, especially for 1440p, while still fitting your budget. At some local-store prices, the difference is small enough that the extra performance is well worth it. Your 650W PSU is a little below some recommended specifications, but the card’s actual power draw should be manageable if the supply is in good condition.
For a lower-cost upgrade, I’d choose the RX 9060 XT with 16GB of VRAM. It uses the full PCIe x16 interface, which is a better match for your PCIe 3.0 motherboard than an RTX 5060 Ti running with only eight lanes. AMD also tends to be a good fit for Linux, and Smart Access Memory can provide a modest benefit in some games. The 3600X may limit performance a bit at 1080p, but at 1440p the pairing should be reasonable.
I upgraded from an RX 5700 to an RX 9060 XT and found it to be a worthwhile performance-per-dollar improvement. The 16GB version makes more sense for newer games and flight simulators than an 8GB model.
I’m also using a 3600X with a newer midrange Radeon card. The CPU limitation is mostly noticeable at 1080p or when chasing very high frame rates; at 1440p, the GPU is usually doing most of the work.