Question Do I need a new GPU and PSU

[Aljosa59265]

Hello. I currently have a 5600x paired with RTX 3070. I’ve been playing at 4K mostly and now with these new games needing more vram I’m a little concerned. I found a good deal on RX 6950 XT, but I’m not sure if it’s a worthy upgrade outside of the amount of VRAM. My current PSU is a Seasonic G12 GC with 750W Gold. I’m not sure if 750W is enough and if this PSU is of good quality to handle 6950 XT. Basically my question is: should I keep my 3070 until rtx 5000 or just get the 6950 XT now and also if my PSU can handle the upgrade?

 

[thestryker]

It'll be a fair bit faster in most games. I'm seeing the recommended PSU being 850W, but that's with lower power draw than a lot of RTX 3080 12GB models which recommend 750W. I'm not familiar enough with the transient spikes on the 6950, but your PSU seems to be decent enough quality and comes with cables for up to 4 PCIe power connectors so I'd imagine it would be fine with a 6950.

DLSS and ray tracing are the big advantages nvidia has, but RT tends to increase VRAM usage which means it'll more likely be a problem. That leaves DLSS being the big advantage and that's entirely up to your usage of the technology. If you use it a lot then you might not be happy with FSR implementations.

While your CPU isn't going to be optimal for that card it shouldn't be a big bottleneck.

As for looking to future upgrades it's really hard to nail down given how awful GPU pricing has been so far this generation. Your CPU will be your main bottleneck if you're looking at 6950+ performance and that won't change with future generations. Newer cards will be more efficient for the same level of performance as the 6950 though.

 

[Aljosa59265]

Well, considering I play at 4K, I assume the CPU shouldn’t be a problem at all since I’m mostly GPU-bound. At least that’s what I’ve seen in other places. I have been thinking about dlss and ray tracing as big factors to be honest. Now, the only option from Nvidia that isn’t extremely overpriced in my country is the 4070 Ti, which is more power efficient so I’d have no doubts about my PSU, but I’m not sure how soon the 12 GB of VRAM on that GPU could become a problem.

 

[IDProG]

Well, considering I play at 4K, I assume the CPU shouldn’t be a problem at all since I’m mostly GPU-bound. At least that’s what I’ve seen in other places. I have been thinking about dlss and ray tracing as big factors to be honest. Now, the only option from Nvidia that isn’t extremely overpriced in my country is the 4070 Ti, which is more power efficient so I’d have no doubts about my PSU, but I’m not sure how soon the 12 GB of VRAM on that GPU could become a problem.

Very soon. I am actually a little concerned that 16GB MIGHT not be enough to play future games at native 4K Ultra settings (the moment support for PS4 and Xbox One gets dropped).

 

[Aljosa59265]

Very soon. I am actually a little concerned that 16GB MIGHT not be enough to play future games at native 4K Ultra settings (the moment support for PS4 and Xbox One gets dropped).

So at this point, the 20GB RX 7900 XT would be the best option? It is better than 4070 Ti in raster and has a ton of VRAM. Also the price is exactly the same for my country

 

[thestryker]

Well, considering I play at 4K, I assume the CPU shouldn’t be a problem at all since I’m mostly GPU-bound. At least that’s what I’ve seen in other places. I have been thinking about dlss and ray tracing as big factors to be honest. Now, the only option from Nvidia that isn’t extremely overpriced in my country is the 4070 Ti, which is more power efficient so I’d have no doubts about my PSU, but I’m not sure how soon the 12 GB of VRAM on that GPU could become a problem.

CPU is very much a problem when it comes to frame times and frame spikes. The GPU will definitely be doing the majority of the work, but you could still end up with performance that doesn't feel like a significant improvement.

 

[boju]

Pretty sure you'll survive until next year, probably 3rd quarter for RTX 50 series.