Question Upgrade now or wait? RTX 2070S to ...

[PaddyMcpadington]

Hey everyone,

Just an easy discussion, and would like some food for thought.

I've currently got the RTX 2070 Super, I game on a 1440p Monitor and I just find its lacking now and not providing what I want.
I would have bought a 40 series card when they first launched but never had the availability and now I'm back to looking.
I bought my RTX 2070 Super for around £400 new 3/4 years ago and ideally want to stay around the same price / performance. I know costs have naturally gone up since, So I'm happy around the £500 range.

I'm split between the RX 7800XT for £505, or there is the RTX 4070 for £570 at most places.
It seems the AMD card is significantly better value for money; more performance, more vram and wider memory bus.

Nvidia is releasing the new super cards soon, But I suspect demand will be high, so price will still be high and it'll only be nvidia reference cards at the RRP and even with the 4070 expected to drop in price. I still can't see it better than the RX 7800XT for value But my worry is could the AMD cards drop in price anymore!?

So split on whether to just buy now or wait and see what happens, even Intel battleImage is looking interesting but it's release date is unknown? Big year for GPU and pricing.

 

[palladinoandrea]

At around the £500 price-point, there are three cards to choose from. These are the Radeon RX 7800 XT, the GeForce RTX 4070 and the RX 7900 GRE and here are their prices from least expensive to most:

RX 7800 XT:
XFX Radeon RX 7800 XT Speedster QICK 319 Core 16GB: £485 at eBuyer.com
RTX 4070:
Palit GeForce RTX 4070 Dual 12GB: £498 at neocomputers.co.uk
RX 7900 GRE:
ASRock Radeon RX 7900 GRE Challenger Gaming 16GB: £510 at overclockers.co.uk

I've been paying close attention to video cards for years and I would definitely recommend the RX 7900 GRE out of those three for its superior performance, value and 16GB of VRAM.

Here are reviews for it from well-known hardware reviewers:
Gamers Nexus:

Hardware Unboxed:

Level1Techs:

TechPowerUp:

Digital Foundry:

PC World:

And the OG nVidia fanboy himself, JayzTwoCents:

Here's a video by ScatterVolt who specialises in video card buying guides. This is the March 2024 buying guide and I've cued it up to the <$600 segment which is the American equivalent of the £500 price category:

Yeah, it's a lot of information but you're looking to spend a lot of money. It definitely pays to be informed about the product(s) that you want to spend ~£500 on.

but unfortunately I'm not in the American market but the Italian one which is a little more expensive.
These are the prices:

1. 600 4070 Super
2. 730 4070 Ti
3. 840 4070 Super ti
4. 750 7900xt
5. 560 7900 gree

 

[Avro Arrow]

but unfortunately I'm not in the American market but the Italian one which is a little more expensive.
These are the prices:

1. 600 4070 Super
2. 730 4070 Ti
3. 840 4070 Super ti
4. 750 7900xt
5. 560 7900 gree

Hmmm, let me do some math for you then...

The RTX 4070 Super costs €600 while the RX 7900 GRE costs €560.
The RTX 4070 Super is therefore 7% more expensive than the RX 7900 GRE while the RX 7900 GRE is 2% faster and has 33% more VRAM.

The RTX 4070 Ti is the least competitive of these cards, with the RX 7900 XT being 12% faster but only 3% more expensive and having 67% more VRAM.

The RTX 4070 Ti Super costs €840 while the RX 7900 XT costs €750.
The RTX 4070 Ti Super is therefore 12% more expensive while the RX 7900 XT is 3% faster and has 25% more VRAM.

The RX 7900 XT costs €750 while the RX 7900 GRE costs €560.
The RX 7900 XT is therefore 34% more expensive while being 18% faster and having 25% more VRAM.

The Radeon cards have the GeForce cards beat in performance, price and amount of VRAM. The GeForce cards draw less power but the difference is not nearly enough to make up for the lack of performance and VRAM for their very high prices.

Based on what you were originally looking at, I think the RX 7900 GRE for €560 is best for you.

 

[palladinoandrea]

Hmmm, let me do some math for you then...

The RTX 4070 Super costs €600 while the RX 7900 GRE costs €560.
The RTX 4070 Super is therefore 7% more expensive than the RX 7900 GRE while the RX 7900 GRE is 2% faster and has 33% more VRAM.

The RTX 4070 Ti is the least competitive of these cards, with the RX 7900 XT being 12% faster but only 3% more expensive and having 67% more VRAM.

The RTX 4070 Ti Super costs €840 while the RX 7900 XT costs €750.
The RTX 4070 Ti Super is therefore 12% more expensive while the RX 7900 XT is 3% faster and has 25% more VRAM.

The RX 7900 XT costs €750 while the RX 7900 GRE costs €560.
The RX 7900 XT is therefore 34% more expensive while being 18% faster and having 25% more VRAM.

The Radeon cards have the GeForce cards beat in performance, price and amount of VRAM. The GeForce cards draw less power but the difference is not nearly enough to make up for the lack of performance and VRAM for their very high prices.

Based on what you were originally looking at, I think the RX 7900 GRE for €560 is best for you.

mind with the 7800xt at a cost of 521 euros?

 

[Avro Arrow]

mind with the 7800xt at a cost of 521 euros?

Of course, I don't mind at all.

I'll compare it to the RTX 4070 Super and RX 7900 GRE because the RTX 4070 Ti is a "forget it" card and anything above is a different performance tier.

The RTX 4070 Super costs €600 and the RX 7800 XT costs €521.

Therefore, the RTX 4070 Super costs 15% more but is only 8% faster on average while the RX 7800 XT has a 33% advantage in VRAM.

The RX 7800 XT is a better value than the RTX 4070 Super but I get the feeling that the RX 7900 GRE at €560 is a better value than the RX 7800 XT so I'll compare them as well.

The RX 7900 GRE costs 7% more than the RX 7800 XT but is 10% faster with both cards having 16GB of VRAM. That makes the RX 7900 GRE the better choice between the two.

I would definitely recommend using DDU in safe mode to remove the old drivers when changing or updating driver packages. All of the instructions for its use can be found in that link.

 

[palladinoandrea]

Of course, I don't mind at all.

I'll compare it to the RTX 4070 Super and RX 7900 GRE because the RTX 4070 Ti is a "forget it" card and anything above is a different performance tier.

The RTX 4070 Super costs €600 and the RX 7800 XT costs €521.

Therefore, the RTX 4070 Super costs 15% more but is only 8% faster on average while the RX 7800 XT has a 33% advantage in VRAM.

The RX 7800 XT is a better value than the RTX 4070 Super but I get the feeling that the RX 7900 GRE at €560 is a better value than the RX 7800 XT so I'll compare them as well.

The RX 7900 GRE costs 7% more than the RX 7800 XT but is 10% faster with both cards having 16GB of VRAM. That makes the RX 7900 GRE the better choice between the two.

I would definitely recommend using DDU in safe mode to remove the old drivers when changing or updating driver packages. All of the instructions for its use can be found in that link.

So is the gre version better than the xt? I'm talking about the 7900. Your reasoning is absolutely right. So 18% +25 don't justify the 34% higher expense? I found the power color at 725, I think it doesn't change one iota per game in performance?