[SOLVED] Should I upgrade from my GTX 970?

[RationalLunatic]

Hi all! I've recently upgraded to a 144 hz 1440p monitor and I'd love to be able to comfortably play games at 1440p. Is my current rig sufficient, or will I need to upgrade GPUs? If so, what's my best value option? My price point is 200-250 dollars, I am willing to consider the used/refurb market.

This is my rig:

GPU: EVGA GTX 970
CPU: i5-7600K
Mobo: B250 Asrock Fatality Gaming k4
Memory: 8 GB 2133 DDR4
OS: Windows 10 Home
PSU: EVGA 600W PSU

 

[william p]

Looking in the GPU hierarchy chart that card just about equals a GTX1060 3GB.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
For what you want to spend a GTX1660 Soper is possible. amd gets you 6GB of RAM. which could be useful at that resolution.
But the first thing I would suggest is getting at least 12GB of RAM in there before going to a 6GB GPU.
AMD RX5600XT is a few dollars more, and a bit higher up the chart. Other than that prices take a big jump at that level.

 

[boju]

For that price range new, between 1660super or 1660Ti. But neither will give you a solid 100fps+ in most modern games in 1440p. Might be able to tweak performance a little more with graphics settings and perhaps not running any antialiasing. I find with my games at 2k, no AA, the image is good enough without and there's a bit of an fps boost.

Benchies;

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Review

Nvidia's latest attempt to excite gamers arrives in the form of a new mid-range GPU with no RTX features on board. The new GeForce GTX 1660 Ti...

www.techspot.com

Gauge where the card sits. If consider used/refurbished cards, there are higher tier GPUs in the bench which to compare.

Mind you though, the lack of threads is going to hurt in a lot of newer games today. You can measure how your CPU is fairing by monitoring it's usage. Ideally don't want the CPU pegged on or close to 100%. CPU needs to prepare frames for the GPU to finally render so more fps can lead to higher usages. If CPU was an HT model, the extra threads would help spread the load in this regard.

Can test and see how many more frames your CPU is able to provide a faster GPU by lowering details/resolution as much as possible in the specific games you play. Monitor total CPU usage using Msi Afterburner. Search YouTube Msi Afterburner how to setup onscreen display.

Total CPU usage field is the CPU without a core number.

 

[RationalLunatic]

Looking in the GPU hierarchy chart that card just about equals a GTX1060 3GB.
https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gpu-hierarchy,4388.html
For what you want to spend a GTX1660 Soper is possible. amd gets you 6GB of RAM. which could be useful at that resolution.
But the first thing I would suggest is getting at least 12GB of RAM in there before going to a 6GB GPU.
AMD RX5600XT is a few dollars more, and a bit higher up the chart. Other than that prices take a big jump at that level.

Thanks for the answer!

 

[RationalLunatic]

For that price range new, between 1660super or 1660Ti. But neither will give you a solid 100fps+ in most modern games in 1440p. Might be able to tweak performance a little more with graphics settings and perhaps not running any antialiasing. I find with my games at 2k, no AA, the image is good enough without and there's a bit of an fps boost.

Benchies;

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Review

Nvidia's latest attempt to excite gamers arrives in the form of a new mid-range GPU with no RTX features on board. The new GeForce GTX 1660 Ti...

www.techspot.com

Gauge where the card sits. If consider used/refurbished cards, there are higher tier GPUs in the bench which to compare.

Mind you though, the lack of threads is going to hurt in a lot of newer games today. You can measure how your CPU is fairing by monitoring it's usage. Ideally don't want the CPU pegged on or close to 100%. CPU needs to prepare frames for the GPU to finally render so more fps can lead to higher usages. If CPU was an HT model, the extra threads would help spread the load in this regard.

Can test and see how many more frames your CPU is able to provide a faster GPU by lowering details/resolution as much as possible in the specific games you play. Monitor total CPU usage using Msi Afterburner. Search YouTube Msi Afterburner how to setup onscreen display.

Total CPU usage field is the CPU without a core number.

Thanks! It seems I'll be going with the 1660 Super!