Feature GPU Benchmarks Hierarchy and Best Graphics Cards

[radosuaf]

6800 is faster in rasterization for sure, while 7700 XT gets the RT benefit. The question is how much of RT here are there will the new games utilise. I'm not saying full PT like CP 2077 but RT shadows or reflections that would blend into the game somewhere in the 'Medium' settings. Two main concerns would be:
a/ driver support period - with the rest of my system not upgradeable, I'd like to have it for a while
b/ if any new features will be better on/exclusive to RDNA3 - I do not stream at all, so AV1 is not an issue at all

On the other hand 6800 has 16 GB VRAM and when developers will agree that 8 GB era is over, they might go over the top with texture sizes - not to 10 or 12 GB, but probably all the way above 12 GB (case and point - Last of Us Part I). And usually better textures mean almost no to zero decrease in performance, so you could still use mega ultra hiper texture quality with mid-range GPU in 3 years, while RT is not really 6800's or 7700 XT's territory in Control released in 2019, not mentioning future releases, so I'd say full RT performance is no selling point at this price tier.

6800s supply is slowly drying up, basically only the XFX one is available with good pricing, I suppose due to being 340 mm long, but my case could easily accommodate, so that's not an issue. Hence a bit of a hurry, IF 6800 is a good choice. Otherwise, the 6700 10GB is still quite capable for what I'm playing recently (just finished God of War at 1440p (native, no FSR) with everyhing but shadows maxed out, decent 70 - 80 fps).

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

6800 is faster in rasterization for sure, while 7700 XT gets the RT benefit. The question is how much of RT here are there will the new games utilise. I'm not saying full PT like CP 2077 but RT shadows or reflections that would blend into the game somewhere in the 'Medium' settings. Two main concerns would be:
a/ driver support period - with the rest of my system not upgradeable, I'd like to have it for a while
b/ if any new features will be better on/exclusive to RDNA3 - I do not stream at all, so AV1 is not an issue at all

On the other hand 6800 has 16 GB VRAM and when developers will agree that 8 GB era is over, they might go over the top with texture sizes - not to 10 or 12 GB, but probably all the way above 12 GB (case and point - Last of Us Part I). And usually better textures mean almost no to zero decrease in performance, so you could still use mega ultra hiper texture quality with mid-range GPU in 3 years, while RT is not really 6800's or 7700 XT's territory in Control released in 2019, not mentioning future releases, so I'd say full RT performance is no selling point at this price tier.

6800s supply is slowly drying up, basically only the XFX one is available with good pricing, I suppose due to being 340 mm long, but my case could easily accommodate, so that's not an issue. Hence a bit of a hurry, IF 6800 is a good choice. Otherwise, the 6700 10GB is still quite capable for what I'm playing recently (just finished God of War at 1440p (native, no FSR) with everyhing but shadows maxed out, decent 70 - 80 fps).

I can't see upgrading from an RX 6700 10GB to either the 6800 or 7700 XT as being super critical. I test GPUs and create all these lovely charts, but if I'm spending my own money, I would probably be one of those "upgrade every four years" type of people. Buy a high-end card for $600 or so, run games at 1440p max (or 4K max plus upscaling), and as games become more demanding, drop the settings.

Today's 1440p max solutions will eventually become the 1080p medium solutions of the future, but consoles basically run at medium~high settings and the games are still fun to play. People with an RTX 2080 that they bought for $700 now have the functional equivalent (in most respects) of an RTX 4060, five and a half years later.

 

[radosuaf]

It's not super critical, but we're all enthusiast, you know . Yet you may be right, probably the next game that would force me to change the card would be CP2077 sequel and that's still a long way to go. For the rest I might just lower the settings or push FSR more aggresively... The only one I'm keen to play and that will probably bring my PC to its knees is the Last of Us, but it should still be playable somewhere around the medium settings with FSR on.
6700 is *slightly* slow, I got it when I had 1080p monitor and with 550W PSU it was basically the highest I would go without skipping to NVIDIA (which in turn would me more expensive than getting AMD + new PSU), but now if I'd need to swap the PSU and 6700XT/6750XT are almost on par with 6800, it would be potential "go to" upgrade to utilise my 1440p 165 Hz monitor. But if we're at 6800 price tier, 7700 XT starts to be an alternative. I personally wouldn't go higher than that (7800 XT is too expensive) and NVIDIA has nothing interesting for me, really.
I'd say my price tier is 300 USD+, but at that price point anything would be worse or on par with 6700 at max, between 6650/7600/6700/4060 level and 4070 pricing tier there is absolutely nothing spectacular at the moment.
6700 10GB is theoretically the PS5 GPU, which should let me get through this console generation, but we know that console games tend to be better optimised and of course I did not build my PC to play at "peasant" 30 fps .

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

It's not super critical, but we're all enthusiast, you know . Yet you may be right, probably the next game that would force me to change the card would be CP2077 sequel and that's still a long way to go. For the rest I might just lower the settings or push FSR more aggresively... The only one I'm keen to play and that will probably bring my PC to its knees is the Last of Us, but it should still be playable somewhere around the medium settings with FSR on.
6700 is *slightly* slow, I got it when I had 1080p monitor and with 550W it was basically the highest I would go with 550W PSU, but now if I'd need to swap the PSU and 6700XT/6750XT are almost on par with 6800, it would be potential "go to" upgrade to utilise my 1440p 165 Hz monitor. But if we're at 6800 price tier, 7700 XT starts to be an alternative. I personally wouldn't go higher than that (7800 XT is too expensive) and NVIDIA has nothing interesting for me, really.

The Last of Us (part 1 at least) isn't too bad. I've got benchmarks of it floating around. Patches over the past year have made it run decently better. Native 1440p ultra on 7700 XT gets nearly 60 fps, so a few tweaks plus upscaling would push it well above 60. The 6700 would probably need upscaling and high settings to break 60 fps, but that's fine I think.

 

[radosuaf]

My sweet spot is somewhere around 70, so that's doable, I guess. Apart from that, my "pile of shame" consists of Portal 2, Half-Life 1, Disco Elysium, Control, Deathloop and Last of Us I, so I shall be fine .
Thanks for keeping my budget in check .

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

My sweet spot is somewhere around 70, so that's doable, I guess. Apart from that, my "pile of shame" consists of Portal 2, Half-Life 1, Disco Elysium, Control, Deathloop and Last of Us I, so I shall be fine .
Thanks for keeping my budget in check .

Don't even get me started on the pile o' shame! I did finish Disco Elysium, but there are so many games where I want to play them but have only had time to scratch the surface. LOL

 

[radosuaf]

HL1 has been a torn in my heart for ages, I grabbed it for free on Steam for the 25th anniversary, kind of off putting graphics when I switched from CP2077 directly, so I'm using Portal 2 as a kind of brige inbetween .
Then the rest is fairly modern so it should not be of a concern (finished Dishonored 1 last year and 2012 graphics is a bit old school but acceptable for me, so anything newer is just great).

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

HL1 has been a torn in my heart for ages, I grabbed it for free on Steam for the 25th anniversary, kind of off putting graphics when I switched from CP2077 directly, so I'm using Portal 2 as a kind of brige inbetween .
Then the rest is fairly modern so it should not be of a concern (finished Dishonored 1 last year and 2012 graphics is a bit old school but acceptable for me, so anything newer is just great).

The great thing about HL1 is you can play it on a potato. LOL. I had an IT job back in 2004, and when we upgraded some of our desktops to Pentium 4 PCs — still with integrated graphics — I was able to beat HL1 again that way. I think I was probably only getting 40~50 fps at a relatively low resolution, but I was on the swing shift and had plenty of down time sitting in the data center, waiting for things to go wrong.

 

[radosuaf]

BTW, I couldn't find anyting on the subject - is there a chance we'll have a decent 1440p, ~180W TDP, 1x 8-pin PCIe RDNA4 card?

 

[JarredWaltonGPU]

BTW, I couldn't find anyting on the subject - is there a chance we'll have a decent 1440p, ~180W TDP, 1x 8-pin PCIe RDNA4 card?

There's always a chance! 😂

View: https://youtu.be/wGdhc9k07Ms?si=ShXN03TqYm5HTxJe&t=46

 

[radosuaf]

https://www.techspot.com/news/102086-amd-rdna4-graphics-cards-rumored-receive-only-minor.html

Oh well, no rush to upgrade, I guess...