Do you think this year is the best time to update your GPU? Explain.

[Juan Carlos Gonzalez]

Seems to me this is the best year to update your GPU. 99% of games are released for consoles. You can buy a GPU today that at least will guarantee that you can play games at high-ultra at 60FPS until the next console generation comes (2020/2021). You will have 3 years of good gaming for 2019, 2020 and 2021. After that you may be looking at medium settings.

 

[Barty1884]

It's all complete speculation.

Most years could be considered "good" in hindsight, and the newest launch will (almost) always be "best".

FWIW, a top tier card should see you through 5 years comfortably in "good gaming", depending on resolution.
For example, a 780TI from 2013 is still a high(ish) settings 1080p card, and 5 years old.

That being said, a 780TI was ~$700 at launch, 980TI was ~$650, 1080TI was ~$700.
..... So, the top tier card in a 2080TI at $900-$1,000 MSRP *might* offer even better longevity..... Although may simply be a sign of the times in that they can charge more.

 

[Juan Carlos Gonzalez]

It's all complete speculation.

Most years could be considered "good" in hindsight, and the newest launch will (almost) always be "best".

FWIW, a top tier card should see you through 5 years comfortably in "good gaming", depending on resolution.
For example, a 780TI from 2013 is still a high(ish) settings 1080p card, and 5 years old.

That being said, a 780TI was ~$700 at launch, 980TI was ~$650, 1080TI was ~$700.
..... So, the top tier card in a 2080TI at $900-$1,000 MSRP *might* offer even better longevity..... Although may simply be a sign of the times in that they can charge more.

What about a 1070 or 1070ti in 1080p resolution?

 

[Barty1884]

What about them? Amazing 1080p cards for titles today. Who knows how the future will play out.

Using the same logic & looking back at 670, 770, 970's, they all hold up pretty well over time. A 770 is >5 years old at this point, and is still a respectable medium-settings 1080p card most of the time.

A 670 is a getting a bit long in the tooth by now, but it's still a capable 1080p card. More in the low settings range, most of the time... but depends entirely on the title.


Of course, past trends do not guarantee future performance (especially if ray tracing is adopted fast). Using history to predict a lifespan though, a 1070 should see you comfortably through 5 years. You might be using low presets by then, but I'd be surprised if gaming truly 'needed' >1070 performance in 5 years time.

 

[dontlistentome]

It depends on too many factors to know. For example, one time my videocard died. I was using a 1280x1024 monitor and I had no reason to think I'd be upgrading my monitor any time soon. So I bought a card good for 1280x1024. A few months later my monitor died. At that time 1080p was the standard, so I bought one. There I was, stuck with what I thought was a good card, but now it was hopelessly underpowered.

If you spend top dollar for a 'great' card now, any number of things can change that make that card no better than if you bought an average card now. Some of these things are predictable, some things are not. That's why I buy what I need, when I need it. If your needs change, get something else. If your needs don't change, you haven't wasted money on something you don't need.