Hey everyone! I'm in the process of building my first PC and I'm really stuck on which GPU to go for. My main use for it will be rendering images and animations in Blender, game development in Unity, and some casual gaming—mostly older titles like TF2 and Dark Souls but also some newer games like Elden Ring and Helldivers 2. I'm moving up from a pretty underpowered laptop with an RTX 3050 4GB.
Here's what I'm considering:
1. **RTX 5060 8GB** - £274
- **Pros:** Access to DLSS 4 and great for 3D rendering.
- **Cons:** Only 8GB of VRAM, hard to find in stock, and I've heard mixed reviews about its performance.
2. **RX 9060 XT 16GB** - £319
- **Pros:** 16GB of VRAM, better availability.
- **Cons:** Performance in 3D rendering isn't as strong, and it's the most expensive option.
3. **Intel Arc B580** - £259
- **Pros:** The cheapest option, good reviews, and 12GB VRAM.
- **Cons:** Intel's new to the GPU game, and there might be performance issues if the CPU isn't good enough.
Given my budget and intended use, I'm looking for advice on which GPU would be the best choice!
3 Answers
I'd recommend skipping the RTX 5060 8GB. If you can stretch your budget, go for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. It offers a lot more power for rendering in Blender and has enough VRAM to keep things running smoothly for a long time. If you're on a tighter budget, you might want to look for a used RTX 3060 with 12GB, which performs better and should fit in your price range.
Check out the Blender benchmark database if you haven't already. Nvidia cards generally outperform AMD when it comes to rendering speeds, which is a big plus for your use case. So if you're serious about Blender, that's something to consider.
The B580 should be okay for casual gaming and some basic editing, but it might not hold up for more intensive tasks compared to the higher-end options. Also, the overhead issue isn't something to worry about with newer Ryzen CPUs, so if you go for the B580, you should be fine on that front.
That's good to hear! Just keep in mind that while it does decent on older games, you might miss out on performance for more demanding titles.