Best suited upgrade?

[omardlt1]

Hello to all, I'm quite new on the site and have decided to ask for help in determining what would be the best GPU upgrade for my existing rig, which has just recently been completed.

 

I'll provide a bit of background: about three or four years ago I visited family in the U.S. (I'm a citizen of Mexico) and one of my cousins was gracious enough to procure the skeleton of a gaming rig from one of his friends. He managed to get an Asus P8Z77-V Pro Motherboard, Kingston 100gb SSD, Intel Core-i7 3770k and Corsair H60 AIO all in an NZXT s340 case, for a mere $20usd, which he then proceeded to give to me so that I could take the next steps in completing the build and be able to have something to play some games on. To complete that build I procured a Thermaltake SMART Pro 650w RGB 80-Plus Bronze PSU, a 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD, three Cooler Master case fans (don't remember which model they were), 2x 8gb Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM modules and a GIGABYTE GTX 1060 3GB Windforce OC GPU. The system was overclocked to 4.1GHz with XMP enabled for memory speeds to reach 2666MHz.

 

Fast forward to about a month ago when I managed to get the final part to upgrade to a newer system. My current build is as follows: Aorus Z370 Gaming 5 (rev. 1) Motherboard, Intel Core-i5 8600k, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition RGB CPU Cooler, 2x 8gb Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro RAM modules, 1x ADATA 120gb SSD, 1x Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD, 2x Corsair LL120 case fans, 2x Corsair ML120 Pro case fans, GameFactor 650w 80-Plus Bronze PSU, and the same GPU from the previous build (GIGABYTE GTX 1060 3GB Windforce OC), all in a Corsair Carbide 275R (white) case.

 

I'm looking to upgrade the GPU without having to upgrade the PSU I currently have installed, as that would be another hit on the pocketbook, and with how prices are currently for GPUs in my neck of the woods, I'm looking to spend as little as possible, yet do my new system justice by pairing it with a decent GPU. I'm not looking for ultra-settings on everything, I can live with medium settings, so long as I can play the game, but I'm also looking to be able to play Cyberpunk 2077 when it finally releases at decent graphics.

 

I'm considering an RTX 2070 Super, but that would basically be the top limit of what I'm looking to spend. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I kinda know what I'd like, but would like to hear from others who have gone through the process of upgrading their GPU.

[SavageNeo]

rtx 2070 super or rtc 2080 will be good.

 

If you want near rtx 2070 super performance, you could buy 5700 xt from AMd for about 100 us less than rtx 2070 super

[Morgan MLGman]

In terms of price to performance, I'd say the best purchase in this case would be an RX 5700. With a BIOS flash you can make it as fast as a 5700XT so that's nice.

I'm not sure about your PSU though. I've never heard of that company and that alone makes me question whether you should be using that PSU at all The RX 5700 is a pretty power-efficient card but IIRC it still draws more power than the 3GB 1060.

[aDoomGuy]

Hello.

 

I built a PC 3 months ago and I got a 2060 Super on Black Friday sale. I am happy with it but when I play Red Dead Redemption to I wish it was a 2070 Super. 

If you can I would go for the 2070 Super if I was you but if it costs too much then 2060 Super is good enough.

[tdkid]

I have looked into your PSU and I think the 2070 super and the 5700 xt are both going to be out of what your PSU can handle. it might have enough power to do it but I don't think it has the connections to do it as both GPUs require a 1 6+2 and a 1 8 pin connector or 2 8 pin connectors so you would have to either get a new PSU or an adapter as far as I can tell but I haven't looked that closely at it.

 

there are two things I would recommend you looking into. the first is a video from linus in which he compares all the best GPUs of 2019 just before Christmas and a list of GPUs a person here did which is currently pined in the 2nd spot on the GPU section of this forum.

[omardlt1]

12 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

In terms of price to performance, I'd say the best purchase in this case would be an RX 5700. With a BIOS flash you can make it as fast as a 5700XT so that's nice.

I'm not sure about your PSU though. I've never heard of that company and that alone makes me question whether you should be using that PSU at all The RX 5700 is a pretty power-efficient card but IIRC it still draws more power than the 3GB 1060.

The GameFactor brand is a sub-brand of Vorago, a Guadalajara-based tech company. If you haven't heard of it, it's likely because they've yet to breach the international market. The PSU isn't bad, it is 80Plus certified and it's been running on the system without any issues. Diggint a bit deeper into the GameFactor brand I managed to identify some partnerships with giants like Asus in the development of other products they offer.

[dizmo]

Bad time to purchase, with the 3000 series just around the corner. It'd be pretty foolish to drop the money on a mid-high tier GPU right now.

If you're looking at medium settings at 1080p, just get a used 1070Ti. They're super cheap.

[tdkid]

8 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Bad time to purchase, with the 3000 series just around the corner. It'd be pretty foolish to drop the money on a mid-high tier GPU right now.

If you're looking at medium settings at 1080p, just get a used 1070Ti. They're super cheap.

I wouldn't be so sure on that. its more than likely that the "release date" is just their announcement that they are making those GPUs since I have heard people talking about them coming out in June which is usually E3 in California and then after that it would still almost be a year before they actually hit the shelves especially with sony and microst coming out with new consoles this holiday season.

 

so buy what you want, when you want and you can always sell some of your old components to recoup some of your money.

[tophercrunch]

RX5600 XT, RX5700/XT, GTX 1080 TI which has great used market price potential, unless your looking new. RTX 2060 SUPER are reasonably priced. Any of these are upgrade from your current gpu

[Morgan MLGman]

17 minutes ago, omardlt1 said:

The GameFactor brand is a sub-brand of Vorago, a Guadalajara-based tech company. If you haven't heard of it, it's likely because they've yet to breach the international market. The PSU isn't bad, it is 80Plus certified and it's been running on the system without any issues. Diggint a bit deeper into the GameFactor brand I managed to identify some partnerships with giants like Asus in the development of other products they offer.

So I looked into it, and the fact that the company intentionally misleads buyers and claims that the PSU is "650W", while it can really only output 528W on 12V rails doesn't look too good.

In theory, that wattage should suffice for an RX 5700 and an i5-8600K, it draws about 50-60W more than a 1060. I still stand by what I said previously though - I'd change that PSU along with the GPU upgrade.

[omardlt1]

3 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

So I looked into it, and the fact that the company intentionally misleads buyers and claims that the PSU is "650W", while it can really only output 528W on 12V rails doesn't look too good.

In theory, that wattage should suffice for an RX 5700 and an i5-8600K, it draws about 50-60W more than a 1060. I still stand by what I said previously though - I'd change that PSU along with the GPU upgrade.

I can swap it out with the one I had in my previous build without any major issues. Same wattage and 80Plus rating, different manufacturer (Thermaltake).

[Morgan MLGman]

1 minute ago, omardlt1 said:

I can swap it out with the one I had in my previous build without any major issues. Same wattage and 80Plus rating, different manufacturer (Thermaltake).

Do that, it's a better and safer unit Then a Radeon RX 5700 would be a good buy, provided it's not overpriced in your area compared to an RTX 2060 Super

[omardlt1]

10 minutes ago, Morgan MLGman said:

Do that, it's a better and safer unit Then a Radeon RX 5700 would be a good buy, provided it's not overpriced in your area compared to an RTX 2060 Super

I'll definitely look into that. If push comes to shove I may just save up for an extra month or two to opt for the RTX 2070 as a means to future-proof the rig for a few years.

 

I definitely have to hunt for the best price; sometimes NewEgg has special offers, Amazon also sometimes has discounts on GPU's (though extremely rare), and at the local shops it depends on what they have in stock and their sales projections. Managed to snag the Core-i5 8600k for less than it's U.S. dollar retail at a local tech shop. Counted myself extremely lucky to find it at that price, given the exchange rate at the time.

[tdkid]

the rx 5700 and 2060 super should be about the same price. linus made a video in which the rx 5700 was the best performer and the 2060 was the best features at the price range they are at. but I would look into the 5700 before buying it as AMD have been having a few problems with their drivers over the last couple of months so just be warned.

[omardlt1]

19 minutes ago, tdkid said:

the rx 5700 and 2060 super should be about the same price. linus made a video in which the rx 5700 was the best performer and the 2060 was the best features at the price range they are at. but I would look into the 5700 before buying it as AMD have been having a few problems with their drivers over the last couple of months so just be warned.

I've read about that, it's one of the reasons I've been leaning more toward the nVidia camp. I'll definitely check it out though and weigh the pros and cons.

[tdkid]

I have an AMD that is as old as F**K and I have had no issues with it but like I said, its old and recently has been giving me a few issues with freezing the screen every once in a while or making my PC look like its running slow. so I have been looking at the 2070 supers myself as they are well within my budget 

[omardlt1]

After a full day or research and hunting the best value, the winner is the Zotac RTX 2070 Super. The order's been placed and should be arriving the day after tomorrow. Price-wise I was able to find one at the same price as retail in the U.S., cheaper if you consider I don't have to pay shipping.

 

Once I swap out the PSU with the previous build's Thermaltake PSU, it'll have enough power to run nearly any game at maximum at 1080p (checked at PCPartPicker and the recommended PSU wattage for the card straight from the nVidia website and the Zotac website).

 

Thanks to all who gave their two cents on the matter, the decision to go with the Zotac 2070S vs another like the RX 5700 or 2060S was the price, the difference between prices down here for one and the other was pretty much within the range where it'd be dumb not to go for the 2070S.

[tdkid]

awesome for you. you will have to tell me how you like it because I have been looking at the EVGA rtx 2070 super FTW3 ultra+ myself.

[omardlt1]

14 hours ago, tdkid said:

awesome for you. you will have to tell me how you like it because I have been looking at the EVGA rtx 2070 super FTW3 ultra+ myself.

Will definitely leave an update on this thread once I get that installed. I'll swap out the PSU tonight and post on here once I've had a couple of nights of trying it out, after I get it this wednesday.

[dizmo]

On 3/9/2020 at 11:29 AM, tdkid said:

I wouldn't be so sure on that. its more than likely that the "release date" is just their announcement that they are making those GPUs since I have heard people talking about them coming out in June which is usually E3 in California and then after that it would still almost be a year before they actually hit the shelves especially with sony and microst coming out with new consoles this holiday season.

 

so buy what you want, when you want and you can always sell some of your old components to recoup some of your money.

Haha what? It's never been that long between an announcement and a release. 

[tdkid]

Just now, dizmo said:

Haha what? It's never been that long between an announcement and a release. 

it usually is because the company announces they are making the product they are revealing today, then they have to ship all the orders to people all over the world to be sold in stores on the exact same day as the "now in stores" date which can take months or even a year to get everything in place./

[dizmo]

9 minutes ago, tdkid said:

it usually is because the company announces they are making the product they are revealing today, then they have to ship all the orders to people all over the world to be sold in stores on the exact same day as the "now in stores" date which can take months or even a year to get everything in place./

It doesn't matter what other companies may do. It is NOT that way with GPUs, so don't try and spin it like it is. 

[omardlt1]

Got the card, installed it, ran GTA V and was able to view textures and scenery that, now in comparison, used to seem quite dull. It's like opening your eyes for the first time after getting surgery to help you see things that were there before but just couldn't appreciate.

 

The fans did get a bit audible after a while of use. I expected that but hardly noticed while wearing my Corsair HS50's. Temps are good in the GPU and CPU, and the graphics are, in a word, awesome. Replacing the PSU was a great call made by @Morgan MLGman as the one I had in the system didn't have the extra PCI-E pins required by the GPU while the Thermaltake I had in my previous build did, so props there.

 

My current monitor isn't doing the new card justice, so I've ordered an LG UltraGear 27" that is arriving tomorrow. To anyone considering getting the 2070 Super, or better, I highly recommend it.