I'm currently running a Radeon RX 6700 XT with a Ryzen 9 5900X, 32GB of RAM, and a Super Flower 750W Gold power supply. I want a noticeable upgrade for 1440p gaming while keeping the total cost below 1,000 CAD. I found a used RX 6950 XT for 600 CAD, an RX 9070 GRE for about 805 CAD after tax, and an RX 9060 XT 16GB for roughly 750 CAD after tax. I mostly play AAA games, along with heavily modded Skyrim and Minecraft. I don't really care about ray tracing and mainly want better performance in current and upcoming games. Which card offers the best overall choice for my system and budget?
2 Answers
The RX 9070 GRE is probably the best middle ground. It should be around 20–30% faster than the RX 9060 XT, while offering newer architecture, better support for features such as FSR 4, and a warranty. For only about 55 CAD more than the 9060 XT, the extra performance is worthwhile. If you can stretch the budget to a regular RX 9070, that would be an even stronger option.
The RX 6950 XT is the best deal for raw performance at 600 CAD, especially since you don’t use ray tracing. It remains a very capable 1440p card and should handle AAA games well. However, it uses substantially more power than the newer cards, so your 750W PSU could be a concern depending on the specific model and how aggressive its power limit is. You may need to undervolt or reduce the power limit to avoid instability and excessive heat.
I’m not interested in ray tracing and never use it because of the performance hit. I mainly play AAA games and heavily modded Skyrim or Minecraft, so I’m mostly looking for a card that will give me a solid 1440p upgrade for upcoming releases.