Question Replacing GTX 660 finally, suggestions?

[nugget35]

So in a message very similar to this thread posted 6 years ago https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...from-geforce-gtx-660-any-suggestions.2926909/ I am looking to upgrade my GPU finally, and I'm wondering if the advice received here suggesting a GTX 1060 is still relevant or if there is a better option out there now that still fits my system.

I don't really want to go through and upgrade everything in my system, and the GPU seems to be the bottleneck on the games that I do play on PC, notably games like Baldurs Gate 3, and similar style games that my system used to be able to handle if I lowered the settings don't seem to be playable now. I'm not 100% sure what size my power supply is but I'd be willing to upgrade it if necessary. Price isn't really an issue, but I'm really looking for best value than top specs.

Thanks in advance!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model XPS 8500
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A10, 2012-10-19
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product 0NW73C
BaseBoard Version A01
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.2728"
User Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK\
Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 32.0 GB
Available Physical Memory 21.4 GB
Total Virtual Memory 36.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 24.4 GB
Page File Space 4.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

 

[TYPICALHUMAN]

What PSU do you have? The best cost per frame 1080p GPU right now is Radeon RX 6600. it's budget friendly and solid card for FULL HD gaming.

EDIT: GTX 1060 is not worth considering.

 

[nugget35]

What PSU do you have? The best cost per frame 1080p GPU right now is Radeon RX 6600. it's budget friendly and solid card for FULL HD gaming.

EDIT: GTX 1060 is not worth considering.

Looks like a 460W, which should be sufficient to cover the 450W requirement of the 6600 correct?

D460AM-01 - 460W Power Supply for XPS 8300 8500

Welcome to CPU Medics, your online source for laptop replacement parts, along with parts for desktops, servers and printers. Visit us online to see our wide selection of parts from Dell, HP, Compaq and others.

www.cpumedics.com

 

[green.masood]

So in a message very similar to this thread posted 6 years ago https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...from-geforce-gtx-660-any-suggestions.2926909/ I am looking to upgrade my GPU finally, and I'm wondering if the advice received here suggesting a GTX 1060 is still relevant or if there is a better option out there now that still fits my system.

I don't really want to go through and upgrad
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK

System Directory C:\Windows\system32

bro it,s 2023 august.
why wont you upgrade the whole system?
your system is outdated.
if you are a pc fan at worst economic situation you sure can afford 600$ and buy a rather descent build . i did so you can.
a system that supports 2020 tech. is the least in this moment.
forget this system and minor upgrade for this pc.

 

[stonecarver]

System Model XPS 8500

I am looking to upgrade my GPU finally,

I will stick to your question about your needs.

First the Dell XPS 8500 you have you got lucky back than Dell wanted you to upgrade to there OEM better cards so a evga 670 would not post unless you bought a Dell OEM 670. Your GTX 660 was plug and play. I have tried AMD cards in that xps 8500 and again it will not post. Last AMD card I tried was a RX580.

So just my dealing with the XPS 8500 anything newer than the AMD RX580 If it will post or black screen.

GTX 900's ok GTX 1000's ok RTX 2000 ok, I have not tried the RTX 3000's on the XPS 8500 but have read it as working as well.

games that I do play on PC, notably games like Baldurs Gate 3, and similar style games

 

[TYPICALHUMAN]

Looks like a 460W, which should be sufficient to cover the 450W requirement of the 6600 correct?

D460AM-01 - 460W Power Supply for XPS 8300 8500

Welcome to CPU Medics, your online source for laptop replacement parts, along with parts for desktops, servers and printers. Visit us online to see our wide selection of parts from Dell, HP, Compaq and others.

www.cpumedics.com

Yes it should.

 

[kizo]

bro it,s 2023 august.
why wont you upgrade the whole system?
your system is outdated.
if you are a pc fan at worst economic situation you sure can afford 600$ and buy a rather descent build . i did so you can.
a system that supports 2020 tech. is the least in this moment.
forget this system and minor upgrade for this pc.

500$ is sufficient considering Windows 10 is fine even with Win 11 out.

 

[kizo]

So in a message very similar to this thread posted 6 years ago https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...from-geforce-gtx-660-any-suggestions.2926909/ I am looking to upgrade my GPU finally, and I'm wondering if the advice received here suggesting a GTX 1060 is still relevant or if there is a better option out there now that still fits my system.

I don't really want to go through and upgrade everything in my system, and the GPU seems to be the bottleneck on the games that I do play on PC, notably games like Baldurs Gate 3, and similar style games that my system used to be able to handle if I lowered the settings don't seem to be playable now. I'm not 100% sure what size my power supply is but I'd be willing to upgrade it if necessary. Price isn't really an issue, but I'm really looking for best value than top specs.

Thanks in advance!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model XPS 8500
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A10, 2012-10-19
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product 0NW73C
BaseBoard Version A01
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.2728"
User Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK\
Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 32.0 GB
Available Physical Memory 21.4 GB
Total Virtual Memory 36.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 24.4 GB
Page File Space 4.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

what PC case do you have?
Am I missing something?

 

[kizo]

Full upgrade over ancient PC for nugget35 from tomshardware iNTEL CPU AMD GPU​

Edit Part List Edit Details Delete

Component		Selection	Price
CPU			Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor	$149.97	Buy
CPU Cooler			Thermalright Assassin X Refined SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$18.89	Buy
Motherboard			MSI PRO B660M-A WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard	$129.99	Buy
Memory			Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$30.97	Buy
Storage			MSI SPATIUM M450 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$27.99	Buy
Video Card			ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card	$199.99	Buy
Case			Cougar Archon 2 Mesh RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$59.99	Buy
Power Supply			Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$69.99	Buy
Total:	$687.78

Buy From Amazon

Part List Promos / Discounts​

1. $10.00 mail-in rebate
2. + $10 off w/ promo code VGAEXCAA863, limited offer

* PCPartPicker may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. Learn more here.

My first recomendation IF you would decide to do a full upgrade.
It is entierly possible your PC case and PSU are sufficiently good though , but you did not mention models.
You already have OS that should be transferable to a new PC.

 

[kizo]

Full upgrade over ancient PC for nugget35 on toms hardware 02 Full AMD build​

Edit Part List Edit Details Delete

Component		Selection	Price
CPU			AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$144.00	Buy
CPU Cooler			Thermalright Assassin X Refined SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$18.89	Buy
Motherboard			MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$101.99	Buy
Memory			Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$30.97	Buy
Storage			MSI SPATIUM M450 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$27.99	Buy
Video Card			MSI MECH 2X OC Radeon RX 6650 XT 8 GB Video Card	$234.99	Buy
Case			Cougar Archon 2 Mesh RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$59.99	Buy
Power Supply			Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$69.99	Buy
Total:	$688.81

Buy From Amazon

Part List Promos / Discounts​

1. $10.00 mail-in rebate
2. $15.00 mail-in rebate

* PCPartPicker may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. Learn more here.

You will need to update BIOS , but motherboard has Flash BIOS button, so it should not be a problem.
Alternatively, you could get this motherboard

MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard​

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(34 Ratings, 4.3 Average)

• Details
• Reviews

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User Ratings​

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• (34 Ratings, 4.3 Average)

5 Star		35%
4 Star		56%
3 Star		9%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Save to Favorites
Add to Inventory

Specifications​

Manufacturer​

MSI

Part #​

• B450M PRO-VDH MAX
• 7A38-043R
• B450PVDHMAX
• 911-7A38-043

Socket / CPU​

AM4

Form Factor​

Micro ATX

Chipset​

AMD B450

Memory Max​

64 GB

Memory Type​

DDR4

Memory Slots​

4

Memory Speed​

• DDR4-2666
• DDR4-2800
• DDR4-2933
• DDR4-3000
• DDR4-3200
• DDR4-3466
• DDR4-3733
• DDR4-3866

Color​

Black / Silver

PCIe x16 Slots​

1

PCIe x8 Slots​

0

PCIe x4 Slots​

0

PCIe x1 Slots​

2

PCI Slots​

0

M.2 Slots​

2242/2260/2280 M-key

Mini-PCIe Slots​

0

Half Mini-PCIe Slots​

0

Mini-PCIe / mSATA Slots​

0

mSATA Slots​

0

SATA 6.0 Gb/s​

4

Onboard Ethernet​

1 x 1 Gb/s

Onboard Video​

Depends on CPU

USB 2.0 Headers​

2

USB 2.0 Headers (Single Port)​

0

USB 3.2 Gen 1 Headers​

1

USB 3.2 Gen 2 Headers​

0

USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Headers​

0

Supports ECC​

No

Wireless Networking​

None

RAID Support​

Yes

Compatible Parts​

• View Compatible CPU Coolers
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• View Compatible Memory
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Prices​

Merchant	Base	Promo	Shipping	Tax	Availability	Total
	$74.98				In stock	$74.98	Buy
( 15 new from $74.98, 2 used from $114.81. Last updated 6 minutes ago. )
	$74.99		+$4.99 s/h		In stock	$79.98

A lot less features,but compatible with 5600X out of the box,NO Bios update required.
You save some money OR you use it to get 2x16GB RAM instead.
32Gigs can be useful,though hardly necessary.
RX6650XT is a whole lot better than RX6600 and 5600X is more than capable enough to handle it.
5600X is as good ,if not better than 12400F
It can probably happily handle at least 6800XT.

 

[kizo]

Full below 600USD upgrade over ancient PC for nugget35 on toms hardware 03 Full AMD build​

Edit Part List Edit Details Delete

Component		Selection	Price
CPU			AMD Ryzen 5 5500 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor	$94.58	Buy
CPU Cooler			Thermalright Assassin X Refined SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$18.89	Buy
Motherboard			MSI B450M PRO-VDH MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	$74.98	Buy
Memory			Silicon Power XPOWER Turbine 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	$30.97	Buy
Storage			MSI SPATIUM M450 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$27.99	Buy
Video Card			ASRock Challenger D Radeon RX 6600 8 GB Video Card	$199.99	Buy
Case			Cougar Archon 2 Mesh RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$59.99	Buy
Power Supply			Corsair CX650M (2021) 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply	$69.99	Buy
Total:	$577.38

Buy From Amazon

Part List Promos / Discounts​

1. $10.00 mail-in rebate
2. + $10 off w/ promo code VGAEXCAA863, limited offer

* PCPartPicker may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. Learn more here.

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• BUILD YOUR PC.
• COMPARE AND SHARE.

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[nugget35]

I will stick to your question about your needs.

First the Dell XPS 8500 you have you got lucky back than Dell wanted you to upgrade to there OEM better cards so a evga 670 would not post unless you bought a Dell OEM 670. Your GTX 660 was plug and play. I have tried AMD cards in that xps 8500 and again it will not post. Last AMD card I tried was a RX580.

So just my dealing with the XPS 8500 anything newer than the AMD RX580 If it will post or black screen.

GTX 900's ok GTX 1000's ok RTX 2000 ok, I have not tried the RTX 3000's on the XPS 8500 but have read it as working as well.

Thank you for the info!

 

[nugget35]

@kizo Thank you for the build suggestions, I have been Interested in potentially building a PC for a while, just haven't had the time to learn and didn't realize there would be hard drive transferability options as I don't want to go through getting all my applications downloaded and set up again from fresh.

 

[kizo]

@kizo Thank you for the build suggestions, I have been Interested in potentially building a PC for a while, just haven't had the time to learn and didn't realize there would be hard drive transferability options as I don't want to go through getting all my applications downloaded and set up again from fresh.

Some SSDs have better software than others in regards to that.
IF this SSD was not this cheap and received good Tomshardware review,I would probably recommend some Samsung instead.
I am unsure about Windows transfare though.
They might require re-download.


IF you need further convinving:

View: https://youtu.be/p2-l2_9TKvQ

View: https://youtu.be/Awln9M9Mqoo

View: https://youtu.be/00SbVkpIb_Y

View: https://youtu.be/ZVWHjXyiXI8

Ignore 13900K.
With these GPUs,the Ryzen 5 5600X should give similar results in this last video.
Have not checked other videos,but 5600X is perfect Perfect and better for these GPUs.
Ryzen 5 5500 is great for RX6600.
As if they are made for each other.
Perfect or near perfect balance I would say.

 

[art.cabbie]

So in a message very similar to this thread posted 6 years ago https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...from-geforce-gtx-660-any-suggestions.2926909/ I am looking to upgrade my GPU finally, and I'm wondering if the advice received here suggesting a GTX 1060 is still relevant or if there is a better option out there now that still fits my system.

I don't really want to go through and upgrade everything in my system, and the GPU seems to be the bottleneck on the games that I do play on PC, notably games like Baldurs Gate 3, and similar style games that my system used to be able to handle if I lowered the settings don't seem to be playable now. I'm not 100% sure what size my power supply is but I'd be willing to upgrade it if necessary. Price isn't really an issue, but I'm really looking for best value than top specs.

Thanks in advance!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model XPS 8500
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU To be filled by O.E.M.
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A10, 2012-10-19
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Product 0NW73C
BaseBoard Version A01
Platform Role Desktop
Secure Boot State Off
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.19041.2728"
User Name DESKTOP-F6VMFOK\
Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 32.0 GB
Available Physical Memory 21.4 GB
Total Virtual Memory 36.7 GB
Available Virtual Memory 24.4 GB
Page File Space 4.75 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not Modern Standby, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware Yes
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

RTX 3060 for 1080p, or RTX 3060Ti for 1440p.
Used ones are a great deal.

 

[kizo]

RTX 3060 for 1080p, or RTX 3060Ti for 1440p.
Used ones are a great deal.

Assuming he gets a warranty with it for minimum 1 more year and is not physically damaged in which case warranty is likely invalid,yes I would agree.
Especially 3060Ti.

Oh and 3060 is just fine for 1440p.
Especially with DLSS

 

[nugget35]

Some SSDs have better software than others in regards to that.
IF this SSD was not this cheap and received good Tomshardware review,I would probably recommend some Samsung instead.
I am unsure about Windows transfare though.
They might require re-download.

my hard drive is a Seagate barracuda 120ssd, any knowledge on their software for transferring?

 

[kizo]

my hard drive is a Seagate barracuda 120ssd, any knowledge on their software for transferring?

perhaps this can help

Seagate Cloning Software: Migrate Data to Seagate Drive Easily

This post will introduce you great and overall Seagate cloning software for Windows 10,8, 7, and show you how to complete disk copy under the help of it.

www.diskpart.com

 

[Avro Arrow]

One rather important question would be "What is your budget?" because without knowing what you want to spend, TYPICALHUMAN is right, the RX 6600 is the 1080p gaming value king at $200:
ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D 8GB: $200 at Newegg

It also comes bundled with the upcoming blockbuster game, Starfield. I actually bought that exact same ASRock card myself from Newegg Canada just to get the game. I'll sell the card later for $50CAD less than I paid for it to a co-worker (because I already use an RX 6800 XT). That means they get a brand-new card for $50 off and I get Starfield for half-price.

 

[kizo]

One rather important question would be "What is your budget?" because without knowing what you want to spend, TYPICALHUMAN is right, the RX 6600 is the 1080p gaming value king at $200:
ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D 8GB: $200 at Newegg

It also comes bundled with the upcoming blockbuster game, Starfield. I actually bought that exact same ASRock card myself from Newegg Canada just to get the game. I'll sell the card later for $50CAD less than I paid for it to a co-worker (because I already use an RX 6800 XT). That means they get a brand-new card for $50 off and I get Starfield for half-price.

Maybe.
Or it could be RX6650XT for just 35$ more.
30-40% stronger I think.

MSI Mech Radeon RX 6650 XT Video Card RX 6650 XT MECH 2X 8G OC - Newegg.com

Buy MSI Mech Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Video Card RX 6650 XT MECH 2X 8G OC with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

 

[Avro Arrow]

Maybe.
Or it could be RX6650XT for just 35$ more.
30-40% stronger I think.

MSI Mech Radeon RX 6650 XT Video Card RX 6650 XT MECH 2X 8G OC - Newegg.com

Buy MSI Mech Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Video Card RX 6650 XT MECH 2X 8G OC with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

30-40%? No way, 25% would be more like it. Still, $35 could definitely be worth it if that's all you want.

See, I got the RX 6600 because Canada's market is a bit different since $35USD is like $50CAD. Also, I only bought the RX 6600 because it was the cheapest thing that I could get Starfield with and I have a coworker with a GTX 1660 Super. I'm sure that I'd have no problems selling the card to him. As a video card, I have no use for it because I own three cards that are faster than the RX 6600 (RX 7900 XTX, RX 6800 XT, RX 5700 XT). 😉

The cheapest model of anything is always the easiest to sell because people might try to talk down an RX 6650 XT's price to that of an RX 6600 but the RX 6600 is already so cheap that you're less likely to encounter that problem. I bought it to sell it because I know that it's in demand. That demand exists because it's a great value.

Honestly though, I don't think that the RX 6650 XT is worth buying while the RX 6700 still exists. This is because that 8GB VRAM buffer had become somewhat of a barrier for 1440p. Sure, you play at 1080p right now, but with 1440p monitors falling in price, who knows what you'll get in a year or two.

 

[kizo]

30-40%? No way, 25% would be more like it. Still, $35 could definitely be worth it if that's all you want.

See, I got the RX 6600 because Canada's market is a bit different since $35USD is like $50CAD. Also, I only bought the RX 6600 because it was the cheapest thing that I could get Starfield with and I have a coworker with a GTX 1660 Super. I'm sure that I'd have no problems selling the card to him. As a video card, I have no use for it because I own three cards that are faster than the RX 6600 (RX 7900 XTX, RX 6800 XT, RX 5700 XT). 😉

The cheapest model of anything is always the easiest to sell because people might try to talk down an RX 6650 XT's price to that of an RX 6600 but the RX 6600 is already so cheap that you're less likely to encounter that problem. I bought it to sell it because I know that it's in demand. That demand exists because it's a great value.

Honestly though, I don't think that the RX 6650 XT is worth buying while the RX 6700 still exists. This is because that 8GB VRAM buffer had become somewhat of a barrier for 1440p. Sure, you play at 1080p right now, but with 1440p monitors falling in price, who knows what you'll get in a year or two.

Well I have seen benchmarks were 6600XT was regularly besting 6600 by some 25-30% .
And 6650XT obviously is slightly stronger than RX6600XT .
Granted it's not like it was few dozen or hundreds of games.
Perhaps it was only a coincidance that brought me to a wrong conclusion.
Still,even 25%...or 20% is enough to warrant 30$ of additional investment in my opinion as the cheapest 6650XT that I have seen is 234.99 or something if at all possible.

 

[kizo]

30-40%? No way, 25% would be more like it. Still, $35 could definitely be worth it if that's all you want.

See, I got the RX 6600 because Canada's market is a bit different since $35USD is like $50CAD. Also, I only bought the RX 6600 because it was the cheapest thing that I could get Starfield with and I have a coworker with a GTX 1660 Super. I'm sure that I'd have no problems selling the card to him. As a video card, I have no use for it because I own three cards that are faster than the RX 6600 (RX 7900 XTX, RX 6800 XT, RX 5700 XT). 😉

The cheapest model of anything is always the easiest to sell because people might try to talk down an RX 6650 XT's price to that of an RX 6600 but the RX 6600 is already so cheap that you're less likely to encounter that problem. I bought it to sell it because I know that it's in demand. That demand exists because it's a great value.

Honestly though, I don't think that the RX 6650 XT is worth buying while the RX 6700 still exists. This is because that 8GB VRAM buffer had become somewhat of a barrier for 1440p. Sure, you play at 1080p right now, but with 1440p monitors falling in price, who knows what you'll get in a year or two.

That depends on persons needs.
And you have to draw a line somewheres.
Cheapest 6700XT is 320$ on PC partpicker.
That is very significant jump in price.
Sure it might be worth it in theory, but not everyone who targets 200 card can all of a sudden decide to go for more than 50% more expensive card.
Now 35$ difference to get 6650XT is far more manageable.

Is 8GB enough for 1440p?
That depends on person's needs and desires.
For 60fps it will be enough for long time.
For 165?
probably not,but 60 is enough for huge majority of people.
Foe 1080p it is an amazing card and shall be enough for a very long time.
Not necessarily max settings,but many settings are difficult to notice what they do,yet they eat VRAM.
Custom settings with a careful mixture of Medium,High,Very High and occasional Ultra can give wonderful, wonderful results regarding both graphics and fps in many,many games

I say it is entry level card at worst for 1440p.
A level above Entry Level especially with FSR2.1 I would say.
Sure there are some games that are massively unoptimised mess,but that won't persuade me to get change my way of thinking.

 

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Well I have seen benchmarks were 6600XT was regularly besting 6600 by some 25-30% .
And 6650XT obviously is slightly stronger than RX6600XT .
Granted it's not like it was few dozen or hundreds of games.
Perhaps it was only a coincidance that brought me to a wrong conclusion.
Still,even 25%...or 20% is enough to warrant 30$ of additional investment in my opinion as the cheapest 6650XT that I have seen is 234.99 or something if at all possible.

The cards are both listed in the TechPowerUp GPU Database with a 25% performance delta. From what I understand, TPU uses the data from several review sites to get these averages which is why their numbers are so respected across the industry.

Sure, no two games behave the same but this does show a good average across LOTS of games. It means that for every game that has a 30% difference, there's a game with a 20% difference.

Nothing's ever 100% accurate but I've found that TPU's GPU Database is as close as it gets.

 

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That depends on persons needs.
And you have to draw a line somewheres.
Cheapest 6700XT is 320$ on PC partpicker.

Right off the bat, I can see that you missed a vital aspect of my post. I said nothing about the RX 6700 XT. I said something about the RX 6700.

Allow me to say again what I said word-for-word:
"Honestly though, I don't think that the RX 6650 XT is worth buying while the RX 6700 still exists. This is because that 8GB VRAM buffer had become somewhat of a barrier for 1440p. Sure, you play at 1080p right now, but with 1440p monitors falling in price, who knows what you'll get in a year or two."

Now, to be clear, I agree with what you said about the RX 6700 XT not being ideal for your use-case which is why I didn't recommend it.

However, the difference in price between the RX 6650 XT and the RX 6700 is so small that it renders the RX 6650 XT pointless.

From PC Part Picker:

The RX 6650 XT that you consider to be ideal:
ASRock Radeon RX 6650 XT Challenger 8GB - $240

The RX 6700 that I consider to be ideal:
XFX Radeon RX 6700 Speedster SWFT 309 10GB -$270

Now, maybe the RX 6650 XT really IS the best card for you but it's very unlikely. I'm a seasoned tech expert who has owned three GeForce and fourteen Radeon cards so I have repeatedly seen the long-term effects of time on video cards that I have personally owned.

I think that spending a paltry $30 for two extra gigabytes of VRAM (to put you over the 8GB barrier) and a full PCIe4 x16 connection (6650 XT is only PCIe4 x8) is a no-brainer if the card has the same performance otherwise. For a video card, VRAM is LIFE as having too little is like giving the card a genetic defect that will cause premature death.

Since I've been buying cards for so long, I'm well aware of how cards age and in a year or two, 8GB will hinder 1080p as well. Sure, it can be mitigated but what's the point of your don't have to? You can always use these same mitigations years later with a 10GB card.

Since HW requirements for 1080p advance more slowly than higher resolutions, a 10GB card might outlive an 8GB card for an extra four years.

You'll also more than recoup that extra $30 if you ever sell the card because the demand for low-VRAM cards has TANKED in the used market. In five years time, I expect that the RX 6700 will be worth an extra $50+ over the RX 6650 XT because of the extra VRAM alone.

Hell, the RTX 3080, which had an MSRP that was $50 higher than the RX 6800 XT is now selling for $50 LESS than the RX 6800 XT on the used market. Why do you think that is?

The RTX 3080 has about the same gaming performance, supports DLSS2 and is vastly less prone to that performance being hampered by RT being turned on than the RX 6800 XT. So why is it $50 LESS expensive? It's because the RTX 3080 has 10GB of VRAM while the RX 6800 XT has 16GB. Over time, the value of the RTX 3080 will plummet while the value of the RX 6800 XT will remain relatively stable. AI some point, the RTX 3080 will be selling for HALF the price of the RX 6800 XT because the undersized 10GB frame buffer will render it a crippled card.

Whether you like it or not, VRAM has always mattered and always will. Do you really think that the GTX 1080 Ti would be so legendary if it didn't have 11GB of VRAM? Hell no.

I fully agree that the extra $80 for the RX 6700 XT wouldn't reap enough benefit for you to be worth it but I do believe that the extra $30 for the RX 6700 is TOTALLY worth it.