Discussion: Upgrading to RTX 3xxx series, or get a next-gen console?

maartendc · August 12, 2020

Hello all,

With the upcoming launch of the RTX 3xxxx series cards from Nvidia, I was beginning to wonder...

I currently run a 980Ti. Still running most games smoothly at 1440p, but I expect that I am due for an upgrade when Cyberpunk 2077 comes out, or at least next year.

The new consoles PS5 and Xbox Series X will launch at presumably $399 $499 or $599. Let's say $499 for the sake of argument.
For a significant upgrade over my 980Ti, for 1440p, I would be looking at an RTX 3070 probably. The RTX 2070 launched at $599. I expect the RTX 3070 to be more expensive. So lets say $649.

So Basically, for LESS than the price of just a GPU, I could get a whole new console. Games are the same price at launch... So why the hell would I pay Nvidia their blood money for their overpriced GPU? Sure, I prefer to play some types of games on a PC, like shooters. But most other types, like RPG, racing games, story driven games, are better on a controller.

Is anyone thinking along the same lines?

Mateyyy · August 12, 2020

The $599 MSRP was just for the FE 2070. AIB models started at $499. I also wouldn't necessarily expect the 3070 to be more expensive than its predecessor.

We also don't know yet how much power the PS5 and XSX actually pack into that (probably) sub-$500-600 price tag, graphically that is. If we're to guess, I personally think around a 5700XT level of performance is a fair assumption (in non-RT games), and that's a $400 GPU at the moment that you'll definitely be able to find for quite a bit cheaper once RDNA2 and Ampere hit the shelves.

My take on it is that a next-gen console would be better value only if you're currently running something like an older 4C/4T i5, because then you'd also be looking at a CPU upgrade to actually get the most out of these next-gen GPUs. Though I'm saying this without knowing neither prices nor performance numbers for the next-gen GPUs and consoles, so don't quote me on it.

Helpful Tech Witch · August 12, 2020

10 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

graphically that is.

I mean, we kinda do, but not a huge idea. We could compare the minecraft performance from the demos we saw for the series, and reference it to pc configs. Also amount of ram. but thats it.