I've finally got enough disposable income to spend on a mid-high PC but graphics cards at that tier are just ludicrously priced, especially from Nvidia. I remember building my first computer in 2013 and being flabbergasted that people were paying $1000 for a GTX Titan, the best card in existence back then, at launch—that was probably twice the price of my entire build back then (Radeon 7770/FX-8350... simpler times). Now this generation's equivalent, the 4090, is $1599 at MSRP, and often pushed up to $2000 by resellers and scalpers. The next rungs down aren't far behind either, with the 4080 at $1200 and the new 4070ti at $799. AMD isn't as bad, but their software game is so far behind and DLSS is very appealing for extending the life of my card as long as I can.
I was excited to make a new build and leap to 1440p/144hz but the expense has sucked a lot of the appeal out of it. I might just bite the bullet and shoot for a 4070ti deal to see if I can mitigate the tax at least. I know I'm part of the problem for buying new but I just want to be done with all this and have something I can keep for the next like 6-8 years.
come to Brazil and spend six thousand bucks on a GTX3080!
I'm planning to sell my 1080 which I got like five years ago before the whole crypto driven GPU inflation, then get myself an rx 6700 xt, which will cost me nearly three grand, but it will last me another five years or so at 1440p... the 1080 still does the trick though, so I'll have do think a bit more before I pull the trigger
believe it or not, gamers in the global south are even more oppressed than in the US!
bet you didn't know that level of oppression was even a possibility
rx 6700 xt
this seems like the sweet spot right now
got a 980ti I'm hoping to replace in the next few months - and I'm on linux so going to AMD makes even more sense
Yeah, it seems like it's pretty much the best bang for your buck in that category. Also, I have a Ryzen 5600, and apparently the RX benefits from that? I'm not sure, just something I think I read somewhere
Yep. Of course, this number is in our local currency, but it's still three months' worth of our federal minimum wage. In absolute numbers, spending 3k here is kinda similar to spending 3k in the US, I believe. I'm only considering buying a new GPU because I recently did some translation work as a side gig and got paid in USD, which was a considerable windfall.
I saw GTX 3000s being sold for less than $300. I don’t think you NEED to buy the most expensive one
it seems like nVidia decided on some arbitrary price / performance figure, and are scaling the price of their video cards accordingly instead of the tiered system we had prior.
Well they saw the success scalpers had and decided to just do it themselves.
Look for a 3080 for like 6-700 if that's more your jam. It will do 4k at good frame rates and last 6-8 years.
I'm hoping for something like this. I've still got a fair bit time left to sort all the other parts out and then decide if I want to wait longer for just the card after that
I was in a similar boat a few months ago. My old desktop was about to turn 8, my 970 was showing its age and memory issues were causing more issues. I just built a rig with an evga 3080ti right after the prices started coming down.
I also ended up spending more than I wanted because I just wanted the whole process to be over.
My partner and I spent quite a lot on a graphics card for them a year ago (they're an artist and need it for more than just video games, which is my use case :freeze-gamer:), but even with the capability of 1440/144hz, we couldn't afford to upgrade the card and get a display to actually use all of it. Had to get a DP->HDMI dongle just to use the new card with our extant hardware.
Yeah, as an enthusiast it's really sad to see the state of the market. Just a few years ago we were heading the opposite way - cheap systems that could run modern titles very well.
Nvidia's various proprietaries like DLSS, DSR, etc are really undervalued for getting long term use out of a card and I think you're smart to consider them.
I don't know how long they can keep this insane pricing and expect sales. I mean sure 4090 sold relatively well but GPUs unlike food or power isn't an essential commodity, and used market is flooded with relatively cheap last gen cards that are still super fast.
Go for a used 3080 or smthn tbh it'll last u a long time. 4070ti is straight up a scam.
don't get sucked into that shit. 6 months your card is going to be outdated. it's like apple releasing a new phone every month. avoid whatever echo advert chamber you're stuck in and get off those reddits or whatever.
i'm still running my 980. shit rules and plays whatever i want.
also, rant:
graphics are stupid. this is why every game is trash today. the entire budget goes into eye candy instead of content, gameplay, systems, story. every game is a stupid fuck marvel movie now
no one ever says "YAH THAT GAME WAS SO GOOD BECAUSE THE GRAPHICS WERE GREAT." everyone has a favorite game that is because of content, gameplay, systems, story.
for instance: minecraft has the shittiest graphics in the world and yet arguably the greatest game ever made.
I will say once in a blue moon I play a AAA game and am reminded how nice modern games can look. With that said I agree that its the least important part of the game, some of the best games I played in 2022 were Dwarf Fortess and Vampire Survivors which would be considered ugly by many people. While I get your point A LOT of people care about graphics...so its not suprising that its a selling point for more mainstream gamers. Not everyone is going to enjoy games that look like Dominions5 or Aurora 4x.
A LOT of people care about graphics…
People say this a lot, but I don't think it's necessarily true. If you change the subject and ask them their all time favorite games they always list stuff with shit graphics. Anecdotally, I was talking to a friend who was bashing the shit out of 7 Days To Die graphics, but then I asked him his favorite games and he said shit like Ultima Online, Railroad Tycoon, Tropico 4.
dominions5 isn't that bad tbh. graphics should be utility based not eye candy based. i mean for anything we play there's always a certain threshold, right? but in reality that threshold never require a $500+ GPU.
Sure their fave games might be older but that doesnt mean many of them wouldnt turn their nose at a modern game that uses graphics likes dominions5. Im ready for dominions 6 to use the same artstyle and I wont care (as long as the game is good)
My goal is to say the same thing about my graphics card in 9 or so years. My last upgrade was four years ago from a 1060 3gb to a 1660 Super, so it's not like I'm chasing the latest card year after year. I just want to get something that's pogged so I can stay pogged clear through my 20s
I just got a 6600xt for less than 300$ and its really improved my performance over what I had before.
If you want the best of the best, get nvidia or intel, but if you want good mid range components that can run modern games well, AMD is the best bang for your buck.
yeah, I mean that more generically for CPUs too since AMD is in that market as well. Edited my comment to say components rather than cards. I've been buying AMD stuff for that reason (best value for mid cost) since I built my first PC in 2006, and I guess since Ryzen came out the top shelf stuff is competitive now too, but I think (I don't follow computer trends too closely) AMD still wins pretty handily at the mid cost level.
AMD definitely has the edge for straight raster performance value, but again their software offerings just aren't there. I suppose they're trying, but DLSS seems like the best way to make sure I can maintain performance for a long time (6 years is my target) without upgrading. Plus AI stuff is a lot more finnicky on AMD, and how can I go on without my pictures of dogs in plate armor?
I would certainly forgo the 40 series for a 3080 12gb or 3080ti if they were available for less than the 4070ti, but they're either sold out or hundreds more everywhere I look, and going lower than that I think I'll start to run into VRAM issues, and at that point I might as well sit in my 1660 Super
their software offerings just aren’t there
Unless we're talking Linux, then it's the other way around. :tux:
Solution:
Stop playing video games
Go on nature walks
Read pirated books
Learn to bake
Write or produce art
Do praxis
I built my pc in 2011, and other than an upgrade from 2GB VRAM to 4GB VRAM, I haven't made any significant upgrades. You buy that kind of high end card and you end up playing old (but good) games. And lots of other games were those kinds of cards are overkill.
I'd go with a mid-range GPU, somewhere in the 500-800$ and invest in a good CPU, lots of RAM, and two SSDs. The solid state drives, ram and cpu can often be worse bottlenecks for your games.
Good advice and way ahead of you comrade. Got a nutty deal for a 12600k from microcenter with mobo completely free, 32 gigs of good DDR4 ram with room to OC, and two 2tb NVME drives. Hoping to swap the mobo to an mATX equivalent for small form factor but it's mostly come together besides the GPU
microcenter
That's always the answer except they're extremely not geographically dispersed :bawllin-sad:
Exactly the way I go at it too. My current card is a 1080TI one, has been for years, and I haven't hit any performance problem for any games yet - and that's with many, perhaps most, games played going through wine+dxvk. Mind you I don't insist on enabling all the highest graphics shit (cyberpunk comes to mind here); nor do I do VR, or play higher than 1080p. I imagine more recent models would help in such use cases but really, beyond VR - which just gives me headaches after 10 mins - I can hardly tell the difference visually anyway.
I'm kinda amazed how little I regret shelling out for a 1080Ti. I've had it for over 5 years, and it feels like even now getting something that would meaningfully upgrade from it would cost as much as I bought it for back then.
I'm at 3440x1440 and I do play in VR (Reverb G2) so I'd definitely notice upgrading to a 4080 or something, but the price of doing that is just nasty compared to where it used to be
The good news is you don't need a new GPU for 1440p. You can get a 6700xt for like $350 on ebay, and that should play games at 1440p on 60fps high settings or 100fps+ with medium
AMD's FSR is catching up and is quite nice. It helps a lot on the Steam Deck
I just got a new 6800xt for about $600. Runs everything easily at 1440p.
