I currently have an i9-10900, 32GB of DDR4 memory, and a GTX 1660. I mostly play at 1080p and have been looking for a stronger graphics card, but an RTX 4070 Super is outside my budget. I found an EVGA RTX 3070 Ti XC3 Ultra listed as refurbished in excellent condition for $370 through Amazon Renewed. How much risk is there with the refurbished card, and would my CPU limit its performance at 1080p? Even with some CPU bottlenecking, should it still be a major improvement over the GTX 1660?
4 Answers
Performance-wise, it would be a major upgrade over the GTX 1660, and your i9-10900 should be perfectly usable with it. At 1080p you may run into a CPU limit in some high-refresh-rate games, but that does not make the upgrade pointless. The bigger concern is the price and the condition of the refurbished card.
If $370 is the best option available to you and the return policy is solid, it should work well and will be dramatically faster than the 1660. Still, I would not call it a particularly good deal; shop around for a used RTX 3080 or a less expensive 3070 Ti first.
I would be cautious with generic refurbished listings that do not show the exact card. Refurbished hardware can be fine, but it can also be a gamble if the seller only confirmed that it powers on. Local used prices for 3070 Ti and 3080 cards may be under $300, although availability varies by area.
That price is pretty high for a used or refurbished RTX 3070 Ti. Used RTX 3080 cards can often be found around the same price or less, and they offer better performance. I would compare several listings before buying rather than assuming the refurbished label guarantees that the card was thoroughly tested.
I would also check who is actually selling and shipping the specific listing. Some listings use the renewed label but come from an unrelated third-party seller, so the return policy and warranty details matter.