Question Looking for GPU Upgrade Advice

[Velledin]

Hey everyone,


I’m looking for some advice on a GPU upgrade, as I feel like my current card is bottlenecking my system—especially after upgrading my CPU recently. Since the upgrade, I’ve noticed that my GPU usage stays at 90–100%, even in lighter games (and sometimes it makes me crash). I suspect a reverse bottleneck: my CPU is too powerful for my current GPU, which is now clearly the limiting factor.

​

My setup:​

• Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR400 (micro-ATX)
• Motherboard: MSI PRO B850-P mATX
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
• CPU Cooler: DeepCool AG620
• GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 BLACK EDITION (8 GB GDDR6)
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32 GB (2×16 GB), 6000 MHz CL30
• Storage: Samsung 860 QVO 1 TB SATA SSD
• PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3 (650W, 80+ Gold)
• Monitor: ASUS TUF Gaming VG27AQ – 1440p, 155 Hz, G-SYNC compatible

I’m looking for a GPU that matches the performance of the 7800X3D, and lets me fully enjoy 1440p gaming at 140+ FPS in games like World of Warcraft and League of Legends.
Ray tracing isn’t a priority, but I’d like something futureproof for a few years, with decent temperatures and power efficiency.
My budget is around €600–750, but I can stretch it a bit higher if the performance gain is really worth it.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[logainofhades]

You will need a PSU as well. An RX 9070 or 9070xt would match up well, fit your budget. You will have to decide if the extra cost of the xt is worth it. I have both in here, so you can see the price difference.

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (£578.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card (£649.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR400 (w/o ODD) MicroATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For £0.00)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£96.51 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1325.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-23 13:54 BST+0100

 

[Velledin]

Thanks! Yeah, I figured the RX 9070 or 9070 XT would be solid matches for my need.

Just to confirm: my current PSU is an EVGA SuperNOVA 650 G3 (650W, 80+ Gold), do you think that would be enough for the RX 9070 XT, or is an upgrade really necessary?

Also, what is the difference between XT ou regular ? just one being more powerful ?

 

[dark_globe]

i will go out on a limb here and say G3 650w will handle rx 9070 just fine for some time
(although a psu replacement should be on your list sooner rather than later)
9070xt is considerably more power hungry and new psu would be recommended .

9070xt is a fully unlocked chip ,
9070 is a cut down version of the same GPU :
it has 3,584 stream processors instead of fully unlocked 4,096 stream processors
56 CU enabled instead of 64 , 112 AI accelerators compared to 128
and 56 RT accelerators instead of 64 RT acc.

 

[Velledin]

Got it ! I understand the difference much better now, thanks a lot for the clear explanation.

I’ll check prices where I live (I usually find them around €650–800), and see if the XT is worth the extra cost in my case. I might just go for the regular 9070 if the price gap is too big.

If I go for the XT, I’ll definitely grab a new PSU at the same time, as you suggested.

Thanks a lot

 

[logainofhades]

I read the currency symbol wrong, my apologies. That would put you at a 9070, for your budget.

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: XFX Swift OC Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card (€685.99 @ Computeruniverse)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox NR400 (w/o ODD) MicroATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For £0.00)
Total: €685.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-04-23 18:07 CEST+0200

A 9070 going by Guru3d's recommendation, should be fine, as long as said PSU isn't very old.

https://www.guru3d.com/review/radeon-rx-9070-review/page-5/#power-consumption

Here is our power supply recommendation:

• Radeon RX 9070 - On your average system, we recommend a 650 Watt power supply unit.
• Radeon RX 9070 XT - On your average system, we recommend a 750 Watt power supply unit.

If you are going to overclock your GPU or processor, we recommend you purchase something with some more stamina. There are many good PSUs out there; please do have a look at our many PSU reviews as we have a lot of recommended PSUs for you to check out in there. Let's move to the next page, where we'll look into GPU heat levels and noise levels coming from this graphics card. When measuring transient power spikes. Spikes and transients are fast-moving, high-energy bursts lasting for just a few milliseconds and superimposed onto the standard mains power supply.