I'm considering upgrading my GPU to improve my 1440p gaming experience. My original plan was an RX 7800 XT, but it uses more power and would likely require replacing my current 650W power supply. Electricity is expensive where I live, so I'm also trying to keep long-term power costs down.
The RX 9060 XT caught my attention because it has 16GB of VRAM, lower power consumption, and a lower overall cost than a 7800 XT once electricity and a new PSU are considered. However, I've read that its performance is only slightly better than an RTX 3070, making it more of a sidegrade than a real upgrade.
Would the 9060 XT be worthwhile given my focus on power efficiency, or should I keep the 3070 and save for something faster? Is the RTX 4070 Super a better alternative? I'd also appreciate suggestions around a similar price range.
5 Answers
Consider the RX 9070 instead of the 9060 XT. It offers a much bigger performance increase for 1440p while reportedly drawing power in the same general range as the RTX 3070. The RX 9070 XT is another option if you can afford it, but the regular 9070 may be a better balance between performance and efficiency.
I’d keep the RTX 3070 for now unless you can sell it for a good price. The 9060 XT isn’t a large enough performance jump to justify upgrading, and used 3070 cards may only bring in around $200–$300 depending on the local market. Saving for a stronger future upgrade would probably be the better move.
The 9060 XT is closer to an RTX 3070 Ti-class card than a major generational upgrade from the 3070. For 1440p, the extra VRAM is useful, but I’d wait and save for a card that delivers a clearly noticeable performance increase rather than replacing the 3070 with a near-sidegrade.
The RX 9060 XT is only around 7% faster than the RTX 3070, although it may use roughly 60W less while gaming. That is a meaningful efficiency improvement, but the electricity savings alone probably won’t justify buying a new card for a long time. Even at an unusually high electricity price of $1 per kWh, saving 60W works out to about six cents per hour of gaming. At a $450 GPU price, you’d need roughly 7,500 gaming hours to recover that cost through electricity savings alone.
The RTX 4070 Super can be worthwhile, but it depends heavily on its price in your area. It is a more substantial upgrade than the 9060 XT and has good efficiency, though newer Nvidia cards can be overpriced. The RX 9070, RX 9070 GRE, and RX 9070 XT are also worth comparing before deciding.
That comparison makes sense. The savings would take much longer to recover than I expected.