Question Upgrading GTX 970, need assistance in choosing new card

walroos

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Nov 22, 2014
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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: I am most likely going to purchase this a couple days after moving into my new home, so in around 2 weeks.

BUDGET RANGE: I'd love to spend no more than 500/600, but if worth it I wouldn't mind spending up to 700. Before Rebates

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: I play a lot of video games, and want to invest in a card that will do great with upcoming games (such as Cyberpunk) as well as something that can handle VR games with ease (I recently purchased VR and realized I was in trouble when experiencing lag playing games such as Onward). The only other important thing I do on my computer is music production, which doesnt really rely on GPU power.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: EVGA Geforce GTX 970 & ThermalTake Smart 550w

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS:
Intel Core i7 7700k 4.2ghz
CPU Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
Western Blue digital 1TB HDD
MSI Z270 SLI PLUS LGA 1151 MOBO
Asus VX238H Monitor
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: I don't really prefer any websites, I guess amazon and newegg? COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: U.S.A

PARTS PREFERENCES: I'd prefer to use Nvidia, as I probably wouldn't need to upgrade my PSU and all that stuff.

OVERCLOCKING: No SLI OR CROSSFIRE: No
MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1080,

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I'm looking to buy a card that will guarantee me reliability for the years to come, I see this as a sort of investment for the future and would like to have this card operate 4+ year.


I appreciate any help I get in advance, Thank you.
 
Hi. Here are two links to Katharine Castle from Hardware Editor. Up until 2 months ago, I was running gtx 970 sli. I felt that it was just time to upgrade and I read this and my reasons for buying the Gig. Aorus gtx1660 Ti and not rtx; https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/02/22/nvidia-gtx-1660-ti-vs-rtx-2060/ (I also read that I get a 4 yr warrant when I registered my gpu on-line] and nobody else gives 4 yrs.. I realized that for my gaming, I did not need rtx 2060, so I bought the best 1660 Ti for my 1080 gaming. It is simply outstanding with my i5-8600 (non K). My gpu barely hits 60C (depending on the game) but has not exceeded 62C, and my cpu is rarely over 50C. This other article from July 24, is on Katherine Castle's
Best graphics card 2019: Top GPUs for 1080p, 1440p and 4K
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/07/24/best-graphics-card-2019-5/ In Canada, the Aorus that I chose, was $419 while a decent rtx, if I wanted to go that route, was minimum $500. Today, I have no regrets and do not foresee any in the near future, from what I read and know about rtx cards and what they do. I'm happy with what I have and not spending another $100 +
For what it's worth, this is my opinion and my gaming needs. Everyone's different, so I hope this is of some use. I did a lot of homework, reading on all the cards and it was worth the time.
Here's a link to a great page by TechPower, listing all the 1660 Ti's and all their specs.
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/gigabyte-aorus-gtx-1660-ti.b6711
And here's TechPower's link to their listing of all specs of rtx 2606's
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/gigabyte-rtx-2060-oc.b6543
Good luck. Paca
 
The RTX 2060 Super ($400) is almost twice as fast as the 970. The 2070 Super ($500) fits your budget, but it's worth looking at reviews to make sure the performance difference will be worth it. The Radeon RX 5700 ($350) is roughly equivalent to the 2060 Super, but doesn't support hardware-accelerated ray-tracing (which Cyberpunk 2077 will use). If you plan to stick to 1080p, I'd recommend the 2060 Super. There are new consoles coming out next year, so it's difficult to say whether any current GPU is a good investment (i.e., future-proof). It depends on what kind of performance you expect. The GTX 680 launched for $500 in early 2012, and was well behind the curve by the end of 2016.

Forgive the unsolicited advice, but: you didn't list an SSD in your part list, and could really benefit from adding one. 1TB drives are dropping to (and below) $100 nowadays.
 
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The RTX 2060 Super ($400) is almost twice as fast as the 970. The 2070 Super ($500) fits your budget, but it's worth looking at reviews to make sure the performance difference will be worth it. The Radeon RX 5700 ($350) is roughly equivalent to the 2060 Super, but doesn't support hardware-accelerated ray-tracing (which Cyberpunk 2077 will use). If you plan to stick to 1080p, I'd recommend the 2060 Super. There are new consoles coming out next year, so it's difficult to say whether any current GPU is a good investment (i.e., future-proof). It depends on what kind of performance you expect. The GTX 680 launched for $500 in early 2012, and was well behind the curve by the end of 2016.

Forgive the unsolicited advice, but: you didn't list an SSD in your part list, and could really benefit from adding one. 1TB drives are dropping to (and below) $100 nowadays.
Sorry for the late reply, I have been very busy lately but today I decided to sit down and look through your recommendations. Although I am running 1080p now, I want the option of being able to upgrade a year or two down the line to 1440p, which is why I am very interested in somethign such as the 2070 super. My only problem, however, is I can't even find the 2070 super! All the official listings on sites such as newegg are out of stock, with the only ones available being extremely overpriced. I am thinking of just settling for the 2070, but what is your opinion? I want to be able to run beefier games such as Cyberpunk when it comes out, as well as play all the new and beautiful VR games coming out. I also have noticed that the 2070 is pretty much being sold at the same price the 2070 super was, which makes me question if its really worth it. I appreciate anymore advice you could give me.

an example of a promisign 2070 I found: https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-RTX-207...&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B07J63W42X&th=1