Question 4070 Ti vs 7900XT

[BurningSoul]

Hi guys,
looking to upgrade my PC which is now 6 years old (1080 and 6 core Ryzen 1600), looking to build something like this:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/guide/jzLrxr/magnificent-amd-gamingstreaming-build

Question - in the UK, the 4070 Ti and 7900 XT are pretty much same price and I don't know which one to get.
I am concerned that the 4070 does not have enough vRAM, but at the same time the 4070 is better for Raytracing. Badly optimized titles (Diablo 4, ....?) already need more than 12 GB of vRAM.
I have decent gaming monitor (Asus VG27A) so will be gaming in 1440p and would ideally like to use RT, but the 7900 seems like a better idea for long term because of more RAM.
Any thoughts? I only ask because I don't want to upgrade my PC every year, and want to future proof as much as I can.
Thx

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I’d think the 7900xt also. If you look you may find the xtx for not a lot more. A good friend of mine went from a 3090 to the 7900xtx and has been happy with it so far.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I am concerned that the 4070 does not have enough vRAM, but at the same time the 4070 is better for Raytracing.

The RX 7900 XT is not exactly a slouch in RT either. Sure, the 4070 is better but I think that the 7900 XT is similar to the RTX 3080 Ti IIRC. Besides, the only people who are eager to use RT are people who never have before (like people with pre-RTX or pre-RX 6000 cards).

Believe me, it's going to be a serious letdown because it really doesn't make much difference at all. In fact, most GeForce RTX owners never bother with it because the performance hit is too big and the visual impact is usually imperceptible.

Badly optimized titles (Diablo 4, ....?) already need more than 12 GB of vRAM.

Diablo 4 doesn't even need that. It's not a graphically-intensive game. The minimum is something like an R9 280X (aka HD 7970) and that only has 3GB of VRAM.

I have decent gaming monitor (Asus VG27A) so will be gaming in 1440p and would ideally like to use RT, but the 7900 seems like a better idea for long term because of more RAM.
Any thoughts? I only ask because I don't want to upgrade my PC every year, and want to future proof as much as I can.
Thx

If you want to future-proof as much as you can, then the RX 7900 XT is the clear choice because of its 20GB. However, I would point out that, from what I understand, GeForce cards have been historically better at streaming.

I don't know for certain myself because I haven't purchased a GeForce card in about 16 years and I don't stream. From what I understand however, the AV1 encoder in the new generation of both Radeon and GeForce cards should function as an equaliser between them.

There is one thing that is non-negotiable however. If you choose the RX 7900 XT, you must use DDU before installing the Adrenalin Driver Package. If you don't, the GeForce drivers that you currently have will leave remnants that will cause havoc with the Adrenalin drivers. Just click on "DDU" for the latest version and instructions.

 

[BurningSoul]

The RX 7900 XT is not exactly a slouch in RT either. Sure, the 4070 is better but I think that the 7900 XT is similar to the RTX 3080 Ti IIRC. Besides, the only people who are eager to use RT are people who never have before (like people with pre-RTX or pre-RX 6000 cards).

Believe me, it's going to be a serious letdown because it really doesn't make much difference at all. In fact, most GeForce RTX owners never bother with it because the performance hit is too big and the visual impact is usually imperceptible.

Diablo 4 doesn't even need that. It's not a graphically-intensive game. The minimum is something like an R9 280X (aka HD 7970) and that only has 3GB of VRAM.

If you want to future-proof as much as you can, then the RX 7900 XT is the clear choice because of its 20GB. However, I would point out that, from what I understand, GeForce cards have been historically better at streaming.

I don't know for certain myself because I haven't purchased a GeForce card in about 16 years and I don't stream. From what I understand however, the AV1 encoder in the new generation of both Radeon and GeForce cards should function as an equaliser between them.

There is one thing that is non-negotiable however. If you choose the RX 7900 XT, you must use DDU before installing the Adrenalin Driver Package. If you don't, the GeForce drivers that you currently have will leave remnants that will cause havoc with the Adrenalin drivers. Just click on "DDU" for the latest version and instructions.

Thank you for that, very helpful.

On some further research, I am leaning towards the 4070 for 2 reasons:
1. DLSS - seems to be current industry standard, whereas AMD's implementation of this (FSR??) is nowhere to be seen. Once the 4070 will be a couple years old, DLSS might help me still run games on my native resolution
2. My current 1080 with 8 GB RAM has lasted me a good 5-6 years without much trouble with games, so that makes me a bit more comfortable that 12 GB might last a good while too.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Thank you for that, very helpful.

On some further research, I am leaning towards the 4070 for 2 reasons:
1. DLSS - seems to be current industry standard, whereas AMD's implementation of this (FSR??) is nowhere to be seen. Once the 4070 will be a couple years old, DLSS might help me still run games on my native resolution

The RTX 4070 is a high-end card and you won't need DLSS for many years from now. By the time you need upscaling, DLSS, XeSS and FSR as we currently know them might be considered quaint and obsolete. There's no point in considering upscaling technology on a high-end card because chances are, it'll have been replaced with something different and better by the time you actually need it.

What I would point out to you is that whenever I buy a video card, I am most concerned with the hardware because that's what I'm buying, hardware. Since the hardware cannot change but the software most assuredly will, I don't concern myself so much with the software involved. This is especially true for upscaling technology that I probably won't use for at least three or four years. That's an eternity in PC tech and the landscape will be completely different by then.

2. My current 1080 with 8 GB RAM has lasted me a good 5-6 years without much trouble with games, so that makes me a bit more comfortable that 12 GB might last a good while too.

It will last longer than 8 or 10GB to be sure but I don't know how long 12GB will last. I'm not worried for myself because my card is an RX 6800 XT with 16GB. As far as I'm concerned, everyone who bought an RX 6800 XT dodged a major bullet called the RTX 3080. 😉👍