I'm in the UK and want to upgrade my PC for modern games at 1440p. My current system has a Radeon RX 6600, Ryzen 5 5600X, 16GB of DDR4-3200 memory, an MSI B550-A Pro motherboard, and a Corsair CX600W power supply. I currently use a 23-inch 1080p ViewSonic monitor and am considering an AOC Q27G4XF 27-inch 1440p display for around £150. An RX 7800 XT or RTX 4070 Super was suggested previously, but both are difficult to find in stock. I can buy an RX 9070 for about £650, although its recommended power supply is higher than my current 600W unit. Some people say 600W should be sufficient, especially at 1440p. Would the RX 9070 be a sensible choice, and should I budget for a new PSU or more RAM as well?
4 Answers
I’d also consider moving to 32GB of RAM with a 2x16GB kit. Sixteen gigabytes is still usable, but newer games can benefit from the extra capacity and it’s a relatively inexpensive quality-of-life upgrade. Make sure the replacement kit is compatible with your motherboard and runs at a sensible DDR4 speed.
The RX 9070 should be an excellent 1440p card, but I wouldn’t deliberately pair a £650 GPU with a borderline power supply. A quality 650W or 750W unit would give you more headroom and reduce the risk of instability. You could potentially run the existing 600W unit, especially with an undervolt, but replacing it is the safer choice.
A used RX 7800 XT could be worth checking if it is substantially cheaper than the RX 9070. It’s still a strong 1440p card, but test it properly before buying and check the difference between core and hotspot temperatures. If the price gap is small, the newer RX 9070 is probably the better long-term purchase.
Before upgrading, try your current RX 6600 with a 1440p monitor if you can. Many games lose fewer frames than expected when moving from 1080p to 1440p, particularly if you adjust settings or use upscaling. It may be enough for some of the games you play, while more demanding titles can then justify a GPU upgrade.
That makes sense. I’ll compare the total cost of a 9070 plus a suitable PSU against a used 7800 XT, rather than choosing based only on the GPU price.