Is the RX 9070 GRE worth upgrading to from an RTX 3070 for a 4K living room PC?
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MellowCedar42
I'm putting together a budget living room gaming PC using a mix of parts I already had and secondhand purchases. I'm planning to pick up a Ryzen 5 5600X3D and motherboard bundle to finish the build. I already have an RTX 3070 from my previous system, but I noticed the RX 9070 GRE is on sale for about $480, with the RX 9060 XT available for a similar price. The PC will be connected to a 4K 60Hz TV, possibly upgraded to 120Hz later, and I play everything from older games and indies to newer AAA titles. Would either AMD card be a worthwhile purchase over reusing the RTX 3070, or should I keep the 3070 and save the money?
Answers
The 9070 GRE should be around 25–30% faster than the 9060 XT, so it’s the clear choice between those two. Check for open-box pricing, since some models may be closer to $400. For 4K gaming, the GRE’s additional VRAM is useful, but keep in mind that a 4K 60Hz TV doesn’t require you to chase extremely high frame rates. The 3070 is fine if you’re willing to lower settings or use upscaling.
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I’d personally reuse the RTX 3070 unless you’re unhappy with its performance right now. It’s still a capable card, especially with DLSS, and the 9060 XT isn’t a large enough raw-performance jump to justify replacing it. The 9070 GRE is faster, but the difference may not feel worth spending nearly $480 on a budget build. Consider selling the 3070 and moving to a regular RX 9070 if you want a more substantial upgrade.
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The best answer depends on the operating system as well. An AMD card can be a particularly nice fit for a Linux or SteamOS living room setup, while the 3070 still has advantages from DLSS and Nvidia’s feature support. For a typical Windows setup, I’d keep the 3070 for now unless you can find the 9070 GRE at a strong discount or offset the cost by selling your old card.
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For a 4K TV, the RX 9070 GRE is the only option here that feels like a meaningful upgrade. It has more VRAM than the 3070 and roughly 40% more performance, which should help with newer AAA games at higher settings. The extra memory also gives it more breathing room as games become more demanding. If you can sell the 3070 afterward, the effective upgrade cost may be reasonable.
MellowCedar42: That’s what I was wondering about. Since I’ll be using a 4K TV instead of a 1080p monitor, I’m more concerned about the 8GB VRAM becoming a limitation.
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BrightMango6: I agree that the 9060 XT would be a poor upgrade here. If buying anything, I’d either keep the 3070 or jump to the 9070 GRE rather than spending money for a small improvement.