I'm looking to upgrade my GPU and I'm currently using a 1080 Ti, paired with an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1920x on an x399 ASUS ROG EXTREME motherboard. I've recently become interested in switching from Nvidia due to some concerns about their practices and throttling issues from their 20-series cards. With possible price hikes on the horizon, I'm considering whether I should even make the jump. Also, is ray tracing actually worth it, or is it just overhyped?
5 Answers
I honestly believe Nvidia is a better option if you can find one at MSRP. They tend to perform really well overall.
I'd recommend looking at the AMD 9060XT with 16GB of memory; it's a solid choice. If you're willing to spend a bit more, you might want to check out the 9070 or 9070XT. They're well-reviewed and offer excellent performance for the price!
Honestly, ray tracing feels like more of a gimmick to me. I haven't seen games really utilize it well, aside from a couple here and there. If you're looking at AMD, the RX 7700 is good, or you might find a used 6800XT that holds up nicely. On the bright side, new features like frame generation and FSR on the latest cards do help boost performance significantly, even if ray tracing isn't a game-changer.
You should definitely try out ray tracing in Cyberpunk—it's quite a visual delight! But I get that it hasn't been super impressive in other games.
I heard AMD’s driver updates are on the way, which should make their cards even more appealing. Thanks a lot for the info!
If you're thinking about Intel options, keep in mind that you might need a full system upgrade to get the most out of them. The newer AMD cards also use resizable BAR, which I don't think your current motherboard supports. If you go Intel, check out the B570 or B580; they're pretty solid for their price. The older a770 also performs decently as it has 16GB VRAM.
Would upgrading your CPU even be on the table? I worry that your first-gen Threadripper won't work well with newer GPUs.
Yeah, upgrading would need a new chipset since the 1st and 2nd-gen Threadrippers are the only compatible ones. I can probably get a 2nd gen, but that's about it!
I've heard great things about the 9060XT too! It's supposed to be a fantastic value and comes with a big performance boost—like 24% over what I currently have. I'm also considering moving up to one of the 7000 series but feeling a bit lost since I'm quite behind on tech progression. Crazy times!