I'm planning a few upgrades to make my PC capable of running games with ray tracing, especially DOOM: The Dark Ages. My current system has a Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, a 224 GB ADATA SU650 SSD, a GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB, and a 600W 80+ Gold power supply. I'm considering replacing the graphics card with a Dell RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB and upgrading the power supply to a Corsair RM750x 750W 80+ Gold unit. I couldn't identify my case, but a compatibility check didn't show any obvious problems. Would this setup be enough to play DOOM: The Dark Ages at very low settings with ray tracing, or should I consider different upgrades?
3 Answers
The system appears to be slightly above the game’s minimum requirements, but don’t expect high ray-traced settings. The Ryzen 5 3600 should work for now, although a future CPU upgrade could help with frame-time consistency once the GPU is replaced.
The RTX 3060 Ti should be a substantial upgrade over the GTX 1660 SUPER and is around the minimum recommended level for a demanding game like DOOM: The Dark Ages. It may run at low settings, but 8 GB of VRAM could become a limitation, especially with ray tracing. If the price difference is reasonable, a model with more VRAM or a stronger RTX card would give you more headroom.
No, running out of VRAM won’t damage the card. It can cause stuttering, texture problems, or lower performance, but it’s a performance limitation rather than a hardware danger.
The planned GPU upgrade makes sense, but the 750W power supply probably isn’t necessary for a 3060 Ti and Ryzen 5 3600. Your current 600W unit should be enough if it’s still healthy and from a reliable design. Replacing it is reasonable if it’s old or questionable, but additional storage or more memory may improve the overall experience more.
I was thinking about replacing the power supply because it’s fairly old and I’d rather avoid problems later. I may also need more storage since 224 GB will fill up quickly.
Could having only 8 GB of VRAM actually damage the graphics card?