Question What is the best bang for buck 4K GPU? How bad will it bottleneck in my current system?

[MiniZolt]

I'm currently rocking the following specs at 1440p 165hz:
Intel I7 9700k
MSI Gaming X RTX 2060 Super (+80mhz Core +180mhz mem OC)
32GB 3600mhz Corsair RAM (4x8)
650 Watt Bronze EVGA PSU
Corsair Cappelix Water Cooler
4TB M.2 Storage (Samsung 970/980/WD Black PCIE expander)
I'm looking to upgrade to a 4k OLED widescreen monitor like an Alienware AW3423DWF, and obviously my 2060 Super isn't exactly an insane 4K gaming monster. While it is fairly evident I will need to update my PSU, I was curious exactly how terrible the bottleneck would be if I upgraded solely the GPU and what GPU would be best to upgrade my system with. I've heard good things about the 4070TI, but am unsure if there are any other alternatives I can find cheaper from the last gen (presumably from the second hand market) or the Radeon side of things especially with FSR2.0 well on it's way. I'm curious as well if I would be better off waiting another year for Nvidia to do their thang with the 5000 series.
Appreciate any and all advice!

 

[USAFRet]

Step 1 - Remove the word "bottleneck" from your lexicon
Step 2 - Install whatever new GPU you want, and that works with your PSU
Step 3 - Enjoy your enhanced graphics capabilities

That is all.

 

[MiniZolt]

Step 1 - Remove the word "bottleneck" from your lexicon
Step 2 - Install whatever new GPU you want, and that works with your PSU
Step 3 - Enjoy your enhanced graphics capabilities

That is all.

I see, I appreciate the advice. I mean, surely there is going to be some kind of impact on what kind of FPS I can achieve with a new GPU in an otherwise outdated system? Or is "bottleneck" sort of an overblown issue? I'm sorry, it appears bottleneck is a rather despised word around here but from my understanding it can severely affect a build and in certain cases negate an upgrade on the GPU. If you could educate me on why bottleneck is sort of a taboo thing, I'd appreciate it.

 

[USAFRet]

I see, I appreciate the advice. I mean, surely there is going to be some kind of impact on what kind of FPS I can achieve with a new GPU in an otherwise outdated system? Or is "bottleneck" sort of an overblown issue? I'm sorry, it appears bottleneck is a rather despised word around here but from my understanding it can severely affect a build and in certain cases negate an upgrade on the GPU. If you could educate me on why bottleneck is sort of a taboo thing, I'd appreciate it.

FPS comes mostly from the CPU.
Since that is not changing, your FPS won't much change.

A better GPU will give you the opportunity to turn the graphics level up, while keeping the FPS the same.

Bottom line - putting in a better part (the GPU) does not result in worse performance.

 

[MiniZolt]

FPS comes mostly from the CPU.
Since that is not changing, your FPS won't much change.

A better GPU will give you the opportunity to turn the graphics level up, while keeping the FPS the same.

Bottom line - putting in a better part (the GPU) does not result in worse performance.

Thanks! That gives me a better understanding. I'm assuming, following this, that if I upped my resolution to the 4k monitor would it be ok since I'm only upping my detail? Probably a stupid question and I hate to annoy but I would seriously appreciate the knowledge. Kind of ashamed I don't already know this given the amount of systems I've built... (I've done ~8 gaming rigs or so)

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks! That gives me a better understanding. I'm assuming, following this, that if I upped my resolution to the 4k monitor would it be ok since I'm only upping my detail? Probably a stupid question and I hate to annoy but I would seriously appreciate the knowledge. Kind of ashamed I don't already know this given the amount of systems I've built... (I've done ~8 gaming rigs or so)

Yes.

 

[MiniZolt]

Yes.

Thanks for the help, you've been awesome.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for the help, you've been awesome.

Good luck!

 

[Avro Arrow]

It also depends on what 4K capabilities you want. If you want a solid card that can play pretty much any game at 4K, then I would recommend to you the same card I have, the RX 7900 XTX.

I've even been able to play Starfield at 4K maxxed-out without any issues. I have no regrets.

 

[MiniZolt]

It also depends on what 4K capabilities you want. If you want a solid card that can play pretty much any game at 4K, then I would recommend to you the same card I have, the RX 7900 XTX.

I've even been able to play Starfield at 4K maxxed-out without any issues. I have no regrets.

I was looking at the FPS comparison charts for the 7900XTX and it's insane... same level as the 4090 in a lot of games for half the price is a no brainer. Any issues with the drivers and voltage? I heard you had to undervolt it in some cases due to an issue with the card

 

[Avro Arrow]

I was looking at the FPS comparison charts for the 7900XTX and it's insane... same level as the 4090 in a lot of games for half the price is a no brainer.

Well, it appears that way but it's not really. It matches/beats the RTX 4090 in a lot of games at 1080p but that's only because both cards are CPU-limited at 1080p and Radeon drivers have less CPU overhead so the CPUs are able to make more draw calls per second with Radeon cards.

Any issues with the drivers and voltage?

I get the odd game crash due to driver timeout. It happens, at most, once every two weeks so I don't care because the rest of the time it's flawless.

I heard you had to undervolt it in some cases due to an issue with the card

Where did you hear that? There was an issue with some early reference models because PC Partner (the makers of Zotac and Inno3D), who made the Radeon reference cards, had put some faulty vapour chamber coolers in some of the RX 7900 XTX cards. Undervolting helped because it reduced the heat output of the cards. I don't have a reference card though, I have an ASRock Phantom Gaming OC model and I have never had to touch the tuning on my card for it to perform perfectly.

 

[Colif]

It was just the reference cards, the custom ones didn't have the problem.

A 7900XTX beating 4090 also depends on how much Ray Tracing is being used.If RT is involved, it won't beat it... or come close in some games.

 

[MiniZolt]

Well, it appears that way but it's not really. It matches/beats the RTX 4090 in a lot of games at 1080p but that's only because both cards are CPU-limited at 1080p and Radeon drivers have less CPU overhead so the CPUs are able to make more draw calls per second with Radeon cards.

I get the odd game crash due to driver timeout. It happens, at most, once every two weeks so I don't care because the rest of the time it's flawless.

Where did you hear that? There was an issue with some early reference models because PC Partner (the makers of Zotac and Inno3D), who made the Radeon reference cards, had put some faulty vapour chamber coolers in some of the RX 7900 XTX cards. Undervolting helped because it reduced the heat output of the cards. I don't have a reference card though, I have an ASRock Phantom Gaming OC model and I have never had to touch the tuning on my card for it to perform perfectly.

Good to know. One of my friends has a 7900xtx (same model as you, actually) and we undervolted it because we heard somewhere from reddit and one of his uncles said that undervolting fixed the driver time out. In retrospect, that doesn't really make a ton of sense...

 

[MiniZolt]

It was just the reference cards, the custom ones didn't have the problem.

A 7900XTX beating 4090 also depends on how much Ray Tracing is being used.If RT is involved, it won't beat it... or come close in some games.

Thats fine, probably going to piss some people off saying this but RT is sort of a gimmick. It's nice, it looks cool, but for me where I play a lot of FPS shooters sacrificing a lot of frames (like to the point it takes me below my monitors refresh rate) just for some cool water reflections and shadows seems sort of silly. It's a cool technology that will improve with time, but for now it just doesn't seem worth pursuing to me. To the people who play a lot of single player story games though, I could understand it.

 

[Colif]

I have a 7900XT, I haven't played any games with RT yet so I will have to take your word for it

 

[geofelt]

Upgrading the monitor first is a good move.
One can always reduce the resolution or change the settings if needed.
It lets you better understand what graphics you need.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Good to know. One of my friends has a 7900xtx (same model as you, actually) and we undervolted it because we heard somewhere from reddit and one of his uncles said that undervolting fixed the driver time out. In retrospect, that doesn't really make a ton of sense...

You're right, it doesn't make a lot of sense because undervolting always makes a piece of silicon less stable. The payoff comes from undervolting only to the point that the innate instability that it causes isn't enough to cause any real issues.

 

[thestryker]

FWIW the AW34DWF very much isn't 4k it's about 60% of a 4k display so it's closer to 1440p in performance.

If you upgrade to something 7900 XTX+ performance wise your CPU will be the bottleneck (ex: my 6900K limits my 3080 sometimes), but that doesn't necessarily mean it's something you'll notice. Games vary wildly between being CPU and GPU bound so there's no single rule. If you were predominantly playing games like CS/R6/Apex/Valorant at low detail high FPS you probably wouldn't see a big advantage from a new video card, but it would still likely be better.

As far as what you should choose I'd be leaning towards AMD this generation due to the overall value. I do think it would be a good thing to wait until after the 40 series super cards launch to see if price vs performance changes at all.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Upgrading the monitor first is a good move.
One can always reduce the resolution or change the settings if needed.
It lets you better understand what graphics you need.

Or you can do what I did. Get a 4K TV. Mine is only a 60hz panel though. But you could go for a 120hz panel. Pick up a high quality hdmi cable and run from your gpu to the tv.

In my case I’m using an Xbox wireless controller with my pc and bought a micro wireless keyboard from Amazon for about $10-11 bucks. Now if I want to play on the tv, use the shortcut Win-P to swap only over to my tv, use the micro keyboard to fire up my game and use my wireless controller.

If I have a game I want to play at the pc, use the Win-P shortcut again to switch it back to only the pc and voila. Fairly slick. Played the new Star Trek resurgence game that way.

 

[MiniZolt]

Upgrading the monitor first is a good move.
One can always reduce the resolution or change the settings if needed.
It lets you better understand what graphics you need.

This is a good idea. It's a 34 inch, so it's not like the 1440p PPI on it would be terrible. Think next time it goes on sale I'll grab it.