Question Upgrading an old R8 Alienware best gpu match?

[JerrywB]

Currently my sons computer has an I7 9700(k? maybe?) and a 1660 ti GPU, It only had 460 PSU, and we just got a 850w PSU so it can support a better GPU, and I want to know what would give the best performance without creating a bottleneck. I will be putting it in soon so I am going to have to measure the space for the card, since I know they use some weird custom sized cards sometimes. He only games at 1080p and his current setup has been serving him well, but I want it to be a little better for him. Thanks for any and all advice.

 

[Lutfij]

It only had 460 PSU, and we just got a 850w PSU so it can support a better GPU,
What is the make and model of the PSU?

He only games at 1080p and his current setup has been serving him well, but I want it to be a little better for him
This is primarily for gaming or do you/does your son want to also include productivity into the mix? How much have you set aside for your GPU purchase? Where are you located? Preferred site for purchase?

 

[williamjeremiah]

If you have a quality PSU,
I'd look at the used market for either an Nvidia RTX 3070 or an AMD RX 6700 XT.
Either of the above would adequately double the performance of the 1660 ti.

However, if you want to go with a newer card and/or want more vram headroom to correspond with possibly increasing to 1440p, I would recommend an AMD RX 9070, Nvidia RTX 4060 Ti 16GB or AMD RX 7800 XT.

I've edited this post numerous times, switching cards around, due to listing the more favorable card 1st in line because of either being newer (more efficient/updated componentry) or performing better at Ray Tracing.
I've added the RTX 4060 Ti (16GB ver.) back into my opinion of the appropriate order, due to it being recommended by others. The reason I removed it from the initial post, is because of the confusion of different vram models, weighing the potential cost of obtainment and striving to adhere to simplicity.

 

[JerrywB]

If you have a quality PSU,
I'd look at the used market for either an Nvidia RTX 3070 or an AMD RX 6700 XT.
Either of the above would adequately double the performance of the 1660 ti.

However, if you want to go with a newer card and/or want more vram headroom to correspond with possibly increasing to 1440p, I would recommend an AMD RX 9070 or RX 7800 XT.

Thanks. He really holds on to his older stuff, and he's using two 165 Mhz that are 1 ms response that are also both 1080p so I just want to get him the best experience with what he has and with those. I had seen from googling that the 3070 was a good match for his cpu, but wanted some verification, snice I don't believe everything google gives you as its automated response. I think that maybe either of those cards will do him until he's ready to accept a new computer.

 

[williamjeremiah]

He really holds on to his older stuff

I've only owned five processors during my time, myself (not including the 1st PC at home, which had a 200Mhz Pentium II).
I can relate.
In my current rig, I'm still using three 700GB WD hard drives that I purchased around 2009 and an actual 2-bit MLC Plextor M8Pe.

 

[stonecarver]

Just posting this amazon page as a reference for pictures and fit for GPU.

https://www.amazon.com/Alienware-AWAUR8-7787SLV-PUS-2666MHz-GeForce-Overclockable/dp/B07V8P7286

I agree a RTX 3070 or 3080ti with more memory would also be a great upgrade.

And just as a reference between cards.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5aeyjW86HU

 

[artk2219]

Currently my sons computer has an I7 9700(k? maybe?) and a 1660 ti GPU, It only had 460 PSU, and we just got a 850w PSU so it can support a better GPU, and I want to know what would give the best performance without creating a bottleneck. I will be putting it in soon so I am going to have to measure the space for the card, since I know they use some weird custom sized cards sometimes. He only games at 1080p and his current setup has been serving him well, but I want it to be a little better for him. Thanks for any and all advice.

The 9700K should be able to deliver roughly 65 - 70% of the performance available from an RTX 4090 at 1080P, meaning it should be able to handle roughly up to a, RTX 3090 TI, 4070 ti, 4070 ti super, 5070 or RX 7900 XT, 9070 without losing too much performance. So anything around there or below would be a great choice.

That said, at 1440p it can offer up roughly 85% of the performance available from an RTX 4090, and at 4k it can offer up roughly 90% of the performance available from an RTX 4090. So if you do go with something more powerful, gaming at a higher resolution would be a way to get more relative performance out of the system.

It a real rough estimate since i cant find any direct comparisons (it seems like everyone forgot the 8000 and 9000 series existed), but it should get you a rough idea of what you can handle. An RTX 3090, 3090 ti, 4070 ti, 5070 or RX 7900 GRE, 7900 XT, 9070 would be a good pairing if youre looking to max it out at 1080p. An RTX 2080 ti or RX 6700 XT, 6800 XT, 6900 XT, 7700XT, or 7800 XT would get you double to triple the performance of the 1660 TI depending on the card, and would be extremely noticeable. Regardless, I would get something that has 12GB of VRAM or more, and avoid any of the 8GB cards at this point if possible.

RX 9070 XT review with a bunch of GPU's in there for comparison

I7 10700K Review with the I7 9700K

I5 11600K review which includes a 9900K, closest i could find

Ryzen 7 9800 X3D review that includes an 11600K

 

[Eximo]

Small upgrade, RTX 3060 12GB
Moderate upgrade RTX 4060 Ti 16GB (the extra memory will maybe make things better)
RTX 4070 Super is about as high as I would go with a typical alienware chassis.
7700XT are still available new from time to time. 7800XT is also a potential.

That said, you will need to be careful with the maximum dimensions of these cards. R8 should be limited to about 280mm.

This is a filtered list:
https://pcpartpicker.com/products/v...t=price&c=499,553,550,565,549,566,571,558,559

Monsters like the 3090Ti and 4090 should not be put in such a computer.

 

[ARICH5]

budget? 700$ is a sweet spot for a new computer and a 60fps monitor. im not a builder but a APU rig would be great instead of buying a 300$ gpu. i heard the new apu's are faster than a 1660