I've finally settled on the rest of my compact PC build after around 18 months of changing parts: an SSUPD Meshlicious case, FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W PSU, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, ID-Cooling IS-55 with a Noctua A12 fan, Aorus Pro B550I motherboard, 32GB of 3200MHz Corsair LPX memory, a 2TB Crucial T500, and a 4TB Lexar NM790.
The only part I'm undecided about is the graphics card. I originally bought an RX 7700 XT for roughly £320. It handles 1080p gaming extremely well and should be capable of moving up to 1440p without needing to drop settings too far.
I've also acquired a used Asus Strix RTX 2070 Super for just £135. It was used as a workstation card and apparently never gamed on. It still looks nearly new, runs under 60°C in a 20°C room, and with an undervolt it uses around 160W while running a modest VRAM overclock. The hotspot temperature difference is only about 13°C.
I prefer the 2070 Super's appearance and premium build, and in the games I play I can't easily tell the difference between the two cards. I'm happy with anything above 70 FPS as long as I don't have to use low settings. I also don't think the 8GB VRAM will be a major issue for my use, since the card generally isn't fast enough to run the settings that demand more than that.
Given that the 2070 Super cost less than half as much, which card makes more sense to keep?
3 Answers
The NVIDIA card isn’t automatically the better option here. Its advantages are mainly features such as stronger ray tracing support and access to NVIDIA’s software ecosystem, while the older GPU is clearly behind in traditional rendering performance. Choose the 7700 XT if you want maximum performance and useful extra VRAM; choose the 2070 Super if lower cost, appearance, and current real-world performance matter more.
The RX 7700 XT is substantially faster overall, especially at 1440p, and has 12GB of VRAM instead of 8GB. If you want the strongest card and more longevity, it’s the clear choice. That said, the 2070 Super was an excellent £135 purchase, and the 7700 XT isn’t remotely more than twice as fast, so the value argument for keeping the cheaper card is completely reasonable if it already meets your 70 FPS target.
For this particular build and your stated preferences, I’d probably keep the RTX 2070 Super and sell the 7700 XT. You prefer its design, it runs efficiently, and you’re not noticing a meaningful performance difference in your games. The 7700 XT is objectively faster, but paying over twice as much only makes sense if you need its extra performance, 12GB of VRAM, or better headroom for future 1440p games.
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