Question GPU upgrade advice ?

[Mahisse]

Current system:
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z690M-PLUS D4 (mATX)
CPU: Intel Core i7 12700KF
GPU: ASUS 1660ti, 6GB dual fan
RAM: Corsair Vengeance lpx ddr4 3200mhz 16gb: 2x8GB
PSU: XFX Pro 650w semi modular (Bronze 80+ )
Case: Mid-tower

Gaming at 1920x1080 for the most part (60-70 Hz)


I want to upgrade my 1660ti since I am running into new games that requires more juice. Actually MW3 is the only title I've encountered so far, where I'm really struggling with getting a resolution and game experience that is satisfactory.

Price target:
I'm currently looking at Nvidia 4060 8GB, which is actually a little bit below my expence range but looking at 4070 12GB is just a tad over my expence range.. So somewhere around those.. I've been out of the game for a while so I would appreciate it if you guys have any suggestions. I am maybe a bit of a Nvidia boy but not unwilling to move to AMD if the performance is significantly better for the price. Ie 7700 XT 16 GB looks like an good price target.

Some extra things to consider:
Temperatures: I've been struggling quite a bit with GPU temperatures in my current setup. I was warned about the ASUS 1660ti had a particular bad cooling scheme butit never did became a real problem ... But since my case is only a mid-tower, there's combination with poor cooling on the card and limited room in the case. I am gaming around temperatures 86, even when casual gaming. I would like my next card to have better cooling. I do have a couple of Noctau fans in front and back to increase airflow.

Space: As mentioned my setup is built in a midi-tower so I'm assuming there are some cards out there that would struggle in fitting in the system. I believe most GPUs can fit in the system but very big cards may be a challenge (I would probably struggle fitting a 1080 ti in there).

Any good advice?

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

Here's a recent thread worth reading for consideration:

[SOLVED] - Gpu upgrade dilemma

Ok i am stuck in abit of a dilemma i want to upgrade my gpu as its not been done in a while and its starting to lack a little. I currently have a nvida 1060 6gb palit jetstream i was looking at going to the 4060 8gb as its a very good jump for me. But 8gb vram seems to getting pushed nowdays in...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Mahisse]

Here's a recent thread worth reading for consideration:

[SOLVED] - Gpu upgrade dilemma

Ok i am stuck in abit of a dilemma i want to upgrade my gpu as its not been done in a while and its starting to lack a little. I currently have a nvida 1060 6gb palit jetstream i was looking at going to the 4060 8gb as its a very good jump for me. But 8gb vram seems to getting pushed nowdays in...

forums.tomshardware.com

Yes good read and I definitely agree on the observation about many silly cards out there on the market right now, trying to compete in around the same price range.
Same question I have as in that thread is about the VRAM. My 1660ti with 6gb VRAM was thought to have enough VRAM for the resolution I'm gaming on but in many modern games 6gb is being pushed quite a bit. It seems like modern games takes as much VRAM there is available.. At least when you working with 6GB. Therefore I am a little concerned about 8GB being a bit too little. However jumping to 12-16GB, as mentioned in that thread, have ridicolous price jumps.

At the dealer where I'm looking I have narrowed it down to the following cards in the price range I'm looking at:
Price category 1
- Gigabyte RTX 3070 Gaming OC 8GB (Rev. 2.0)
- Sapphire RX 7700 XT 12GB
- (PNY/ASUS/ZOTAC) RTX 4060 TI 16GB

Price category 2
- (PNY/ASUS/ZOTAC) RTX 4060 TI 8GB
- ASUS RX 6750 XT OC Edition 12GB
- Powercolor AXRC 6700XT 12GB
- ASUS RTX 4060 EVO 8GB

 

[strelok49]

Current system:
Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z690M-PLUS D4 (mATX)
CPU: Intel Core i7 12700KF
GPU: ASUS 1660ti, 6GB dual fan
RAM: Corsair Vengeance lpx ddr4 3200mhz 16gb: 2x8GB
PSU: XFX Pro 650w semi modular (Bronze 80+ )
Case: Mid-tower

Gaming at 1920x1080 for the most part (60-70 Hz)


I want to upgrade my 1660ti since I am running into new games that requires more juice. Actually MW3 is the only title I've encountered so far, where I'm really struggling with getting a resolution and game experience that is satisfactory.

Price target:
I'm currently looking at Nvidia 4060 8GB, which is actually a little bit below my expence range but looking at 4070 12GB is just a tad over my expence range.. So somewhere around those.. I've been out of the game for a while so I would appreciate it if you guys have any suggestions. I am maybe a bit of a Nvidia boy but not unwilling to move to AMD if the performance is significantly better for the price. Ie 7700 XT 16 GB looks like an good price target.

Some extra things to consider:
Temperatures: I've been struggling quite a bit with GPU temperatures in my current setup. I was warned about the ASUS 1660ti had a particular bad cooling scheme butit never did became a real problem ... But since my case is only a mid-tower, there's combination with poor cooling on the card and limited room in the case. I am gaming around temperatures 86, even when casual gaming. I would like my next card to have better cooling. I do have a couple of Noctau fans in front and back to increase airflow.

Space: As mentioned my setup is built in a midi-tower so I'm assuming there are some cards out there that would struggle in fitting in the system. I believe most GPUs can fit in the system but very big cards may be a challenge (I would probably struggle fitting a 1080 ti in there).

Any good advice?

I rarely recommend a AMD Radeon, since DLSS is a better feature than FSR (same for Frame Generation fight: DLSS3 x FSR3). But 7700XT is MUCH faster than 4060 8GB and have 50% more VRAM. It means that it will last longer, specially because 8GB is dangerous close to its limits. Even at 1080p sometimes.

7700XT demands much more energy than 4060 (245W~265W x 115W), but it's another level of performance and temperature can be the same if you buy a good 7700XT model.

Now it is clear that the heat generated will be greater, so if the concern is not exactly the temperature of the GPU chip, but the room, the difference is really huge and 4060 needs to be the choice.

 

[geofelt]

What is the make/model of your case and fan arrangement?
What is your cpu and cooler?

Graphics cards do run hot, but they are designed to do so.
A usual target is 80c.
Yours seems a bit high.

At any price point nvidia and radeon cards perform comparably.
Tom's gpu hierarchy chart might be useful to you:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

I usually recommend that a nvidia user upgrade to a nvidia card.
The driver environment has a learning curve.

When deciding on better vs. lower price, I have never regretted paying more for the better choice.
I have often had persistent second guessing when I picked the cheaper option.
Buy the best, if you can afford it.

 

[Mahisse]

I rarely recommend a AMD Radeon, since DLSS is a better feature than FSR (same for Frame Generation fight: DLSS3 x FSR3). But 7700XT is MUCH faster than 4060 8GB and have 50% more VRAM. It means that it will last longer, specially because 8GB is dangerous close to its limits. Even at 1080p sometimes.

7700XT demands much more energy than 4060 (245W~265W x 115W), but it's another level of performance and temperature can be the same if you buy a good 7700XT model.

Now it is clear that the heat generated will be greater, so if the concern is not exactly the temperature of the GPU chip, but the room, the difference is really huge and 4060 needs to be the choice.

Yeah the 7700XT looks interesting. I need to check the temperatures on that Sapphire card, if I can find any. Had a Sapphire in the past, which I was quite happy about. But Yeah, still a bit little bit of an Nvidia boy but paying for that extra cost from 8gb vram to 16gb seems like a pretty big jump.

What is the make/model of your case and fan arrangement?
What is your cpu and cooler?

Graphics cards do run hot, but they are designed to do so.
A usual target is 80c.
Yours seems a bit high.

At any price point nvidia and radeon cards perform comparably.
Tom's gpu hierarchy chart might be useful to you:
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html

I usually recommend that a nvidia user upgrade to a nvidia card.
The driver environment has a learning curve.

When deciding on better vs. lower price, I have never regretted paying more for the better choice.
I have often had persistent second guessing when I picked the cheaper option.
Buy the best, if you can afford it.

Now I dont really know the maker of the case and i need to admit I've been using the same case for a couple of built because I just always out of the principle that if it can be used, it should be good enough.
As mentioned I have fan in the front and the back but the fan in the back is above the GPU so the airflow probably doesnt help much with the heat transferred from the GPU. Recently I removed a wifi network card that was sitting under the GPU. I had hoped that would significantly decrease the temperature of the GPU but it didnt actually change anything noticeable.. Which kind of confirms the cooling scheme on that Dual ASUS is garbage.. and as mentioned, the guy at the computer store did warn me about this particular GPU got hotter than the Super edition, which was not in stock at the time I wanted to buy a card so I just went with this one because I though how bad could it be. Before I had an AMD 7880, which had normal temperature in the same case, etc.

I could show you the case but be warned I dont do much for cable management or good looks. There's a reason why I keep the built in a discrete black midi tower😁

 

[Mahisse]

I have now narrowed it down to either a RX 7700 XT 12GB or an Nvidia 4060 TI 16GB

For the AMD card it looks like I'm nearing the limit for the PSU recommendations with my 650W PSU .

Overall the RX 7700 XT does seem to have better FPS performance than the 4060 TI but does have high temperatures.. So I'm leaning towards the 460TI

How much do you guys weigh in the RayTracing and DLSS? Is it better to just go for the raw power of RX 7700 XT (assuming the PSU is fine)?

EDIT: Or... Should I push the extra cash and go for a 4070 12 GB Super (or OC). My concern about the 4070 is that it seems to be pushing high temperatures as well.

In general there seems to really big difference between the temperatures depending on the Brand of the cards. Are there any brands that are particular known to provide extra good cooling. I don't want to run out and modify the card myself.

 

[Joseph_138]

I know I'm going to get booed for saying this, but if the 16gb 4060 Ti is in your price range, I'd get that. More VRAM is going to be better as time goes on. Even the 12gb that the 4070 comes with, is already close to maxing out in some games when the highest settings are turned on.

 

[Mahisse]

I know I'm going to get booed for saying this, but if the 16gb 4060 Ti is in your price range, I'd get that. More VRAM is going to be better as time goes on. Even the 12gb that the 4070 comes with, is already close to maxing out in some games when the highest settings are turned on.

Yeah, I'm actually leaning towards the 4040TI 16 GB myself.. My latest cards always seemed to hit the VRAM limit at then end of their lifetime..

 

[Mahisse]

I ended up with the 4060 TI 16 Gb, which I found a good deal with, which closed it for me. Also for the sake of controlled temperatures in the case.
I was trying to find a good deal for a 4070TI 16GB but that price jump is somewhat ridicilous.
Thanks for all you inputs

 

[Mahisse]

Extra edit the Gigabyte 4060 TI card is not really going over 60 Celcius. I've never seen a card handling cooling as bad as the previous 1660 ti (ASUS Dual Fan) sitting around 86 celcius on normal use, which it did already from basically the first day.