[SOLVED] Which Graphics Card to Buy?

[sassums]

Debating building a new rig.....

Due to the difficulty in finding graphics cards im just trying to figure out for longevity purposes where I should go....

Looks like I can get a RTX 3080 TI OR an Radeon RX 6900 XT but cant decide on which route to go (the RX 6900 XT is liquid cooled and the RTX is fan).

Not playing anything exotic just want something longevity wise.

Thoughts?

 

[Deleted member 362816]

I personally like the 6900xt but I would buy which ever is closer to MSRP.

 

[Old Molases]

I would side with 6900XT.

 

[sizzling]

For getting the most longevity out of X budget I would say neither. Step down and go 3070Ti/3080 or 6900. Take a look back at the 2080Ti, it was 10-15% faster than a 2080 for gaming at a massive mark up. The 2080Ti was also equalled/beaten by the next gen mid range card the 3070.

So how about you go 3070Ti/3080 which should be a significant saving and are you really going to notice 10-15% difference? Then when the 4080 or whatever it is called releases sell the 3070Ti/3080. With what you get for the sale of the 3070Ti/3080 plus what you saved by not getting a 3080Ti/6900XT at the inflated prices will likely cover the 4080. The 4080 should be a good step up over the 3080Ti and from that point on you are ahead of where you would have been had you bought a 3080Ti/6900XT.

 

[sassums]

I’ll take a look thanks! Just trying to play Cities Skylines and it keeps stressing my i7-2700k out at 50% or higher usage.
I don’t think the game requires much in terms of graphical performance but I don’t want to cut myself short In the future.

 

[geofelt]

What is the make/model of your PSU?
That may well limit your options.
Here is a handy chart:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

What is your current graphics card?
What resolution are you using?

I think I would look at a more modest upgrade that is more in line with the cpu capability of your i7-2700K.

 

[sassums]

What is the make/model of your PSU?
That may well limit your options.
Here is a handy chart:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm

What is your current graphics card?
What resolution are you using?

I think I would look at a more modest upgrade that is more in line with the cpu capability of your i7-2700K.

For the new build it’s a 1000w PSU….

Current rig is a Windows 7 Machine with an i7-2700k and a 660TI Nvidia Card and 16GB ram (which the game is beginning to max)

as far as I can tell the CPU is the performance issue and not the GPU - scaling the graphics around has not done anything in terms of CPU load.
I attempted to go from 16GB to 32gb of Ram and the system would not accept it. Initially a RAM error on the board and once the memory was reseated windows did not like the amount of memory that was installed.

either windows 7 didn’t like the memory or the board didn’t. Either way I wasn’t able to upgrade.

 

[avg9956]

Still sticking to Nvidia due to driver issues with AMD which can cause issues on some software such as in OBS Streaming software
AMD's encoder I find that you do need to set it at a higher bitrate to get the same quality as Nvidia's NVEC Encoder.

Personally, if the RX 6900 XT became 20% cheaper due to these work production issues, I would go for it otherwise I went for Nvidia.
If gaming is your only goal, then RX 6900 XT is good.

 

[sassums]

Still sticking to Nvidia due to driver issues with AMD which can cause issues on some software such as in OBS Streaming software
AMD's encoder I find that you do need to set it at a higher bitrate to get the same quality as Nvidia's NVEC Encoder.

Personally, if the RX 6900 XT became 20% cheaper due to these work production issues, I would go for it otherwise I went for Nvidia.
If gaming is your only goal, then RX 6900 XT is good.

would swapping out the intel cpu for an AMD fix the issues created by the AMD gpu? Or is it entirely just a driver issue?

I don’t plan on streaming (oddly enough my MacBook Pro can do it, although not the best) but I don’t want to keep it out of the question. Sounds like Nvidia is still a winner here

 

[avg9956]

Not sure if that's the solution. The video hinted it's more likely to be a driver issue on AMD's side. Unless someone has proven that's the fix, I wouldn't try buying an Intel CPU to figure out that's the solution.

I find AMD GPUs to be much better for only gaming and mining (some models) due to its price. They still have yet to develop their encoders to be in par or better yet, exceed that of Nvidia's

 

[sassums]

Thanks - was just trying to figure out if the AMD 6900 XT was better than the 3080 from NVIDIA

 

[alceryes]

FYI, NVIDIA has 'driver issues' too. The old trope about 'horrible AMD drivers' should really be put to bed. I do agree on the streaming side of things though. AMD needs to up their game as they are lagging behind NVIDIA.

If you're really hot for the latest AAA games that fully support RTX, that may sway you a bit. But the new Unreal Engine 5 (which will undoubtedly be the engine for many next-gen AAA titles) favors its new 'Lumens-based' ray tracing over dedicated RTX hardware. This benefits the AMD RX 6000 cards over the NVIDIA RTX 3000 cards greatly.

No one can tell the future. But I'll say that both the RTX 3080Ti and the RX 6900 XT will most likely give great performance for 4+ years to come. I will give the nod to the RX 6900 XT over the RTX 3080 Ti, strictly for having more VRAM. Some current games use over 10GBs of dedicated VRAM (not allocated) TODAY. I think we'll be over 12GBs in the next couple years, at 4k and max graphics settings, and this is before even mentioning mods.

 

[alceryes]

Thanks - was just trying to figure out if the AMD 6900 XT was better than the 3080 from NVIDIA

(I'm assuming you're referring to the 3080 Ti and not the 3080)

It depends.
'Better' is subjective. Even 'better at games' is subjective. Some games will favor the RX 6900 XT and others will favor the RTX 3080 Ti.

 

[sassums]

(I'm assuming you're referring to the 3080 Ti and not the 3080)

It depends.
'Better' is subjective. Even 'better at games' is subjective. Some games will favor the RX 6900 XT and others will favor the RTX 3080 Ti.

yes I am sorry - just going off Newegg those are the only two cards available for purchase from the state’s without dipping into ones from China and I don’t want to risk them being “used”.

the last time I build a rig the rumors were Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs didn’t get along so I was reluctant to build a rig in that fashion.

I’m a console gamer but even something like Cities Skylines is beginning to stress my rig - granted I believe it’s the CPU.

 

[alceryes]

the last time I build a rig the rumors were Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs didn’t get along so I was reluctant to build a rig in that fashion.

Totally false rumors.
I've been going back and forth between Intel and AMD for CPUs and between NVIDIA and AMD/ATI for GPUs, for decades and am currently on a very good performing Intel CPU/AMD GPU rig for my primary machine.

 

[sassums]

Awesome thanks! Like I said not playing anything extravagant but don't want to cheap out and regret it later.

 

[sassums]

So if I did want to start streaming would the RX 6900 XT hold up? ( to my knowledge I would still need a capture card if I am streaming from a console, no?).

 

[M3rKn]

So if I did want to start streaming would the RX 6900 XT hold up? ( to my knowledge I would still need a capture card if I am streaming from a console, no?).

PS4 and XBOX have built in streaming software, but if you don't want the performance hit then yes you would need a capture card.

Water cooled is still considered exotic/extravagant. Air cooled will have greater longevity over an AIO cooled card. Unless the card you are looking at has a custom water block, then that's different, and even more exotic/extravagant. Also, top tier cards like the ones you are considering should be paired with top tier CPUs. Even a current gen i7 is going to undercut their performance.

Edit: yes a 6900xt will do more than hold up for streaming, but INVIDA has a better encoder

 

[alceryes]

So if I did want to start streaming would the RX 6900 XT hold up? ( to my knowledge I would still need a capture card if I am streaming from a console, no?).

Yes, it will perform like a champ.
Also, I can't speak for all the different AiB manufacturers, but the reference (AMD) RX 6900 XT is one of the quietest cards I have ever owned. I can't even hear it after an hour of gaming as my H80i v2 is louder (but the H80i v2 is quiet in its own right).

 

[avg9956]

Edit: yes a 6900xt will do more than hold up for streaming, but INVIDA has a better encoder

Again I second this.

The only thing I would caution is if using OBS Software (currently one of the most popular software to stream to twitch), is that you may have issues as presented in the video
It is a very well known issue with OBS Software, which is what I use to stream to twitch.

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Just pointing out that for this software, it's really a headache to get a work around with an AMD GPU. Not berating the entirety of AMD's drivers for this, but OBS is really one of the great & free streaming software I know and use.

However if you can manage to get another streaming software that works with AMD GPUs well, then you're in the good.

 

[sassums]

I guess the AMD card I am looking at is an

ASUS ROG Strix LC AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT TOP Edition Gaming Graphics Card (AMD RDNA 2, PCIe 4.0, 16GB GDDR6, HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a, Full-coverage cold plate, 240mm radiator, 600mm tubing)

I have found the NVIDIA cards are significantly harder to find.

It sounds like y'all are saying having a liquid cooled AIO is overkill?

While I don't really plan on streaming it would be nice to have the option. I do most of the gaming on my Xbox so id have to use whatever software is recommended.

The build I have priced out is an 11th gen i9 CPU and an Asus 590E Motherboard.

 

[avg9956]

Personally I don't really vouch for liquid cooled AIO because the fittings can fail over time. There's never a fool-proof liquid cooled AIO, but ultimately up to your preference.

 

[DSzymborski]

I don't have problems with AIOs per se, but I would still recommend shying away from them when integrated with a GPU. Especially when longevity is expressed as a significant concern.

 

[Karadjgne]

There's 3 real criteria to a graphics card.

1. Availability. Good luck finding Anything high end.
2. Value. Is it really worth it, no point in buying a top end 4k monster card when the rest of the pc and monitor isn't really going to support it and you don't have many plans for dumping a perfectly good 1080p 60Hz monitor.
3. Price. Is all that middling extra eye-candy really going to be worth that much cash. A 3070 on Very/High settings gets roughly the same fps as a 3080 on Ultra for most games, and for most games the difference between Ultra and High is only really visible during single frame still shots.

Longetivity is highly subjective. Physically, the cards will generally all last the same amount of time, what's different is the amount of personal degradation the owner is willing to accept. For many, if the gpu isn't getting the fps in the latest game at Ultra, time to upgrade. For just as many it plays, therefore good enough, don't care if it's low settings only. Only you can determine what exactly your ideals for pc longetivity are, the 1080ti was released in 2017, 3 years later the big boy 3090 is dropped, somewhat large step up. What's going to drop 3 years from now? Will a 6090 make a 6 year old 1080ti look like a GT710?

Stick with what's justifiable, easy enough to upgrade later when there's need. Put the savings back into a better platform to support it. Better of with a new $2k pc with a 3060 than an old pc with a $2k 3080ti.