Hey yall, with card prices getting out of hand these days and my 1080 nearing the end of its viability, im looking to upgrade my GPU by making a responsible decision that invests in the guture but also isnt $2000. Buying a 5060 feels like a poor future investment but a 5080 prices are absurd. My 1080 is still running without issue but I’ve exhausted the batch of older games Im interested in and would like to play some newer games with non-dismal settings. For example, I bought Stalker 2 and even with optimized settings, im only getting 45fps. Its playable but could and should be a much better experience (slava Ukraini). That being said, i just played through elder ring on high and had no issues. Im not asking for 200fps in 8k, but my monitors are sad from my card bottleneck.
I also have 2 computers. My old rig with 2018 cpu slots and my wife’s new computer with ddr5/current cpu slots. Id likely be trying the new card in my old rig to see how my CPU bottleneck is and if thats bad, I’ll just toss it on hers. Note: she’s running a 1080 as well because i used to have SLI 1080s until games stopped supporting it and built her a computer around it in 2024
My rig Specs:
GTX 1080
i7-6700
500gb SSD
32gb DDR4
Wife’s rig Specs:
GTX 1080
i5-12400
2tb SSD
32gb DDR5
Anyway, like I stated before, looking for a card thats a lot of bang for your buck and will let me play current games into the future. Will spend up to ~$1K and ray tracing means nothing to me. Open to any company that’ll fit in the slot.
I was facing a very similar question. I eventually gave up and got a used 12 GB 3060. It was a significant upgrade, but not future proof.
If you watched the used markets, you can get them pretty cheap. Mine was just over $200.
Does this mean your 1080 is single now?
Yes. They broke up and are now living in separate machines
If I were in your position I would buy a cheap(er) card i.e an RTX 60 or 70 class or an AMD card. That will allow you to play newer games and should be good enough for a couple of years when hopefully overall build prices are better. Look for a used one and you may find a deal.
Now personally I would also never pair such a strong GPU with such a weak CPU. Different people have different tolerances for low FPS, but you are going to be so limited by that. Hell even the 12400 is not what I’d pick to pair with a high end 50 series, hence the 60/70 class recommendation, but it would be a lot better. The GPU will allow better resolutions but likely stutter due to the CPU. Also, can you even run Windows 11 on a 6700? Some games need Win 11 and I’m unsure of Nvidia’s driver status for Win 10. Although i you’re on Linux then I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Im hardware locked out of running Win11 but my wifes computer is on 11. Still getting driver updates on win10 on my 1080 though. I wanted to convert to Linux but I use the rig for music production/recording so im stuck. Ill eventually take it offline but still lurking on it for now
New AAA games are requiring Win11, you might want to consider a CPU and OS upgrade as well. You don’t need the best CPU just a gen 12 Intel or newer.
For my old rig, the only thing I can upgrade really is my GPU. If I upgrade my CPU, I need a new mobo. If I get a new mobo, I might as well invest in a DDR5 slot mobo, so then I need a fresh pack of at least 32gb DDR5. its a fun spot to be in. I’ve stopped playing competitive games so I assume thats where win11 is more important. Been playing a ton of single player lately.
A used AM4 mobo/CPU would allow you to reuse your existing memory and storage, and could be a significant bump in performance. A Ryzen 5 5600 supports DDR4 and would more than double your CPU performance.
Even new you can generally find a CPU/mobo for <$200 usd
If you have ~1k to spend, spending $800 instead and getting a CPU bump would probably be a better bang/buck upgrade. If you put a 9070xt/9060xt or 5060ti/5070 you’ll be very CPU bottlenecked. You probably already are in some games with your 1080
If thats the case the plan is to just pop the new card into my wife’s computer with a much more current cpu
Why do you need a new mobo? You just need a newer CPU, they’re like $150. You can get a 9070xt+CPU for under $1,000. Sounds like you want a new PC all together.
If you’re really set on it and you have a microcenter nearby, you could probably get a CPU+MOBO+RAM for the price of just the RAM.
Sockets historically don’t support more than 1 or 2 generations. OP’s is not any different. Based off their current 6700 they would be gen 1 LGA 1151 so the best they could hope for is a 7700K which is barely a gain over the 6700. As per GN, “If you’ve got the previous generation, unless you really want the new features, just stick with it.”
Newer cpus wont fit in my cpu slots. Shape changed between then and now.
Got it, if you have a Microcenter nearby you can usually get a free MOBO with the purchase of a processor.
Buy used, and look at AMD cards. There’s much lower demand for them for AI, so you’ll be able to play games just fine.
Bit of a left field suggestion - my secondary PC has an intel 12GB B580 that I got on sale, and they still regularly go on sale. I got mine for sub $400AUD - bear in mind your mainboard has to support resizable bar and the Linux support is still improving
Rx9070xt easy
You’re pretty much limited to just a few cards for under $1,000; unless you happen to land on some fantastic deals, black friday is coming but I wouldn’t get too excited. I picked up a rx9070xt 16gb for $650 a couple of months ago at Microcenter but that same card is going for $920 right now.
I would suggest picking out a couple of cards you like and wait for a random sale because prices are inflated for Black Friday. You might find a good deal, but stores always inflate prices around this time so that the Black Friday sales look better than they really are. There’s also the used market but buyer beware.
Here’s a quick pricing guide off the top of my head for around the normal AI inflated prices from my tracking around 6-8 months ago. I’m not going to bother with links because most are broken due to BF sales.
RTX5060 16gb ~$600 RTX5070 16gb ~$700 RTX5070ti 16gb ~$800 RTX5080 16gb ~$1,000 rx9060xt 16gb ~$650 rx9070xt 16gb ~$800
I would recommend shopping for a RTX5070ti or rx9070xt with 16gb.
This card was $650 back in August, now it’s $920. https://www.microcenter.com/product/689903/powercolor-amd-radeon-rx-9070-xt-reaper-triple-fan-16gb-gddr6-pcie-50-graphics-card
The Nvidia cards are going for double what they were in August. A rtx5070ti is going for $1,400 right now, probably just so some sucker will pay the inflated prices up until BF then on BF people will think they’re getting a good deal and impulse buy. In my opinion a good rule to go by is if you can buy a whole new PC with the card pre installed for just a few hundred more than just the card alone then you can reverse the math to see what the card should cost at the time that PC was assembled.
For example. You can buy rtx5060ti for $1,000 or buy a fully functional PC for $1,400 or a rtx5070ti laptop for $1,600. https://www.microcenter.com/product/712043/powerspec-g732-gaming-pc?ob=1
GPUs are insane right now. Recommend waiting until Feb/March 2027 and hope to find a random good deal because stores are taking advantage of people right now.
If you want a card that will last you into the future, you need to prioritize high VRAM. Nvidia made some good cards in the RTX 2000/3000 line but skimped on VRAM and now those cards hold up noticably worse in modern games than comparable cards with more VRAM.
If you want the best bang for your buck, don’t care about ray tracing / AI, and might conceivably switch to Linux at any point, I would highly recommend a used AMD card. They are cheaper and have more VRAM than their Nvidia equivalents, and have much better support on non-Windows OSes. They only fall behind when it comes to their lack of Tensor/CUDA cores, but if that doesn’t matter to you, you shouldn’t pay extra for a card that has them.
As I’m sure your aware, now is a rough time for buying a GPU. If you want bang-for-your-buck (in relative terms) I would seriously consider a second hand card since new are not close to MSRP (here in the UK anyway). Imo, I wouldn’t try investing in the future much because your money won’t go that far right now.
Vram will be one of the main things that dictate if you can or cannot (playably) run bigger games. 16gb vram is ideal but you could get by with 12gb. Many newer demanding games just need that amount so I wouldn’t go for lower than 12gb.
You might not care about ray tracing but some games are starting to come out which require it. Its not many so I wouldn’t worry that much but if a game you want requires it, you’ll have to consider if the card you go for has good support for it.
What resolution is your monitor and what is your target fps? If you play at 1080p or 1440p then your not as constrained compared to a 4k monitor. If you plan to use DLSS will also impact your perfomance.
Mine is 3440 ultrawide and my wife is using a 1440.
You probably want to spring for something with 16gb of vram then. A normal 16:9 1440p could be fine with 12 but you will likely need to use DLSS sometimes
5070 ti or an 9070xt
