gpu RTX 3090 vs. Radeon RX 6900 XT

[gal-m]

I'll try to keep this short.

 

I was promised an RTX 3090 for a relatively low price and have been waiting for quite some time (as everyone else), however as it turns out I shall no longer be receiving said RTX 3090 and now prices have gone up considerably - RTX 3090's are priced at around $2800-$4200 in my country. I do however have a chance to purchase an RX 6900 XT for roughly 2000 EUR at the moment..

The issue: I don't want to keep waiting for a chance to buy something while the prices keep going up...

 

Can someone please give me advice on whether I should keep waiting or pull the trigger on the RX 6900 XT?

Information, suggestions, first hand experience are all VERY VERY welcome.

 

--------------MORE INFO----------------

 

Use case: Primarily gaming, rendering, simulations

The main thing I think I'd miss is DLSS..

The components I currently have:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360

MOBO: ROG Strix X570-E Gaming

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo DIMM kit 32GB, DDR4-3600, CL18-22-22-42 (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN)

GPU: none  

Storage: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB, M.2

PSU: Corsair RMx Series RM1000x 1000W ATX 2.4

Case: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic black

Fans: 3X Corsair LL Series LL120 RGB, 120mm, 3-pack

Monitor: LG UltraGear 27GL850-B, 27" OR LG UltraGear 34GN850-B, 34" - not sure yet..

 

[Analog]

2 minutes ago, gal-m said:

I'll try to keep this short.

 

I was promised an RTX 3090 for a relatively low price and have been waiting for quite some time (as everyone else), however as it turns out I shall no longer be receiving said RTX 3090 and now prices have gone up considerably - RTX 3090's are priced at around $2800-$4200 in my country. I do however have a chance to purchase an RX 6900 XT for roughly 2000 EUR at the moment..

The issue: I don't want to keep waiting for a chance to buy something while the prices keep going up...

 

Can someone please give me advice on whether I should keep waiting or pull the trigger on the RX 6900 XT?

Information, suggestions, first hand experience are all VERY VERY welcome.

 

--------------MORE INFO----------------

 

Use case: Primarily gaming, rendering, simulations

The main thing I think I'd miss is DLSS..

The components I currently have:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X

CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360

MOBO: ROG Strix X570-E Gaming

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo DIMM kit 32GB, DDR4-3600, CL18-22-22-42 (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN)

GPU: none  

Storage: Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB, M.2

PSU: Corsair RMx Series RM1000x 1000W ATX 2.4

Case: Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic black

Fans: 3X Corsair LL Series LL120 RGB, 120mm, 3-pack

Monitor: LG UltraGear 27GL850-B, 27" OR LG UltraGear 34GN850-B, 34" - not sure yet..

 

 

I got a 6900XT after owning the RTX 3080 for several months. I am quite happy with the card. It is definitely faster than a RTX 3080 and that is already quite close in terms of performance to a RTX 3090. If you have the opportunity, the money and you need a new graphics card right now you will not be disappointed with a 6900XT. 

[gal-m]

12 minutes ago, Analog said:

I got a 6900XT after owning the RTX 3080 for several months. I am quite happy with the card. It is definitely faster than a RTX 3080 and that is already quite close in terms of performance to a RTX 3090.

Thank you @Analog I really appreciate the first hand info you provided. That was very insightful.

[Jurrunio]

6900XT's ray trqcing performance is a while generation behind even the 3080, so it depends on whether you care about raytracing.

[gal-m]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

so it depends on whether you care about raytracing

Couldn't care less about ray tracing to be honest @Jurrunio...

The only thing I really do care about is DLSS - that's a really fantastic feature of Nvidia cards!

[Chris Pratt]

34 minutes ago, gal-m said:

Couldn't care less about ray tracing to be honest @Jurrunio...

The only thing I really do care about is DLSS - that's a really fantastic feature of Nvidia cards!

AMD has their own version coming, but it remains to be seen how good it actually is. However, I would frankly be pretty shocked if it even approaches DLSS. It's known that they're not using an AI driven solution like DLSS, and getting something like this correct right out of the gate pretty much never happens. Even DLSS 1.0 was hot garbage.

 

Frankly, DLSS is a killer feature. With a 3090 and DLSS, you can actually drive 8K, not that you remotely even need to. However, even with the best cards you sometimes can't drive all the quality bells and whistles, especially at native 4K, and DLSS gives you extra headroom for that. 

 

Either card is good, though, as long as you don't care about ray tracing. However, even 2000€ is a freaking joke for a 6900XT. I'd first evaluate whether you *actually* need this level of card (hint: you probably don't), and then try to hold out for a better deal.

[gal-m]

21 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

Frankly, DLSS is a killer feature. With a 3090 and DLSS, you can actually drive 8K, not that you remotely even need to.

Agreed @Chris Pratt

22 minutes ago, Chris Pratt said:

whether you *actually* need this level of card (hint: you probably don't)

Without trying to sound sort of aggressive I'd just like to point out that people on the forums always like to tell other people what they do not need.. 

Getting an RTX 3080 or 3090 is impossible unless you're willing to pay 4500EUR (hint: I'm not) and the RTX 3070 just isn't powerful enough for my use case (hint: I believe I have a pretty good understand of what I do and do not need).

 

And now to answer your question: I know 2000EUR for an RX 6900 XT is quite frankly, a lot. $1500 for ANY (consumer gaming) GPU is (in my opinion) a bit funny. Remember when you could get a GTX 590 and GTX 690 for roughly $1200? Yeah.. and not to mention the fact that those were dual GPU cards. The problem is times have changed now and from where I'm sitting (Slovenia) the situation is going from really bad to worse by the day with no end in sight. Another issue is also that I picked the absolute worst time to buy a new computer, but I can't really do anything about that.. So, here we are: RTX 3070 not quite there, RTX 3080/80 Ti/90 good, but not in stock and 6900 XT available. 

[BetteBalterZen]

After seeing DLSS 2.0 in action, I will - for now - never go AMD

[Analog]

1 hour ago, gal-m said:

Thank you @Analog I really appreciate the first hand info you provided. That was very insightful.

 

Glad to be able to help you out. Reading some of the comments regarding DLSS, I really do not agree with them. Again, owning a RTX 3080 for a few months had the chance to experience RT and DLSS. RT is good, but it is at least 1-2 generations away from actually being useful. On the other hand, even though many will disagree with my opinion here, DLSS to at least is garbage. I have both a 1600p and a 2160p monitor, tried on both with the quality preset in a variety of games. Yes, it does give you a noticeable FPS boost, but the quality really isn't there. It is difficult to explain to someone who hasn't used it, but for me at least it feels like it de-sharpens the image and makes it look like you are looking everything through a very thin transparent film. Especially textured objects that are close by with DLSS enabled look dull and lack discerning detail. In Cyberpunk this was so bad it actually fatigued my eyes and caused soreness to the point I had to outright disable DLSS. 

[BetteBalterZen]

21 minutes ago, Analog said:

 

Glad to be able to help you out. Reading some of the comments regarding DLSS, I really do not agree with them. Again, owning a RTX 3080 for a few months had the chance to experience RT and DLSS. RT is good, but it is at least 1-2 generations away from actually being useful. On the other hand, even though many will disagree with my opinion here, DLSS to at least is garbage. I have both a 1600p and a 2160p monitor, tried on both with the quality preset in a variety of games. Yes, it does give you a noticeable FPS boost, but the quality really isn't there. It is difficult to explain to someone who hasn't used it, but for me at least it feels like it de-sharpens the image and makes it look like you are looking everything through a very thin transparent film. Especially textured objects that are close by with DLSS enabled look dull and lack discerning detail. In Cyberpunk this was so bad it actually fatigued my eyes and caused soreness to the point I had to outright disable DLSS. 

You're right. 

DLSS 2.0 does kinda de-sharpen the overall image. That is true. It's worse in some games than others. I do use sharpening filter from Nvidia Freestyle in games that support it, while running DLSS. It does fix it a bit. But yes, DLSS does de-sharpen the overall image.

I know OP said Ray Tracing doesn't matter but, 

after playing Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, with my 3090, playing at max settings, DLSS, so 100FPS+, with Ray Tracing and so on; my god it looks good. Looks like a rendered video sometimes. I have no doubt that Ray Tracing is the future, but I know, that doesn't matter now

[gal-m]

19 minutes ago, Analog said:

RT is good, but it is at least 1-2 generations away from actually being useful.

I have seen RT in action, but haven't been that impressed with it to be completely honest. Sure, it's technically superior for both developers and gamers, however the performance penalty is immense.. Not to mention the fact that most people really can't tell the difference between "fake RT" and actual RT - gg game devs. I personally view RT as a bit of a gimmick, or I should rather say, a window into the future, kind of like HDR. Looks great, but great implementation also comes with quite the cost, both to your wallet and performance.

19 minutes ago, Analog said:

I have both a 1600p and a 2160p monitor, tried on both with the quality preset in a variety of games. Yes, it does give you a noticeable FPS boost, but the quality really isn't there. It is difficult to explain to someone who hasn't used it, but for me at least it feels like it de-sharpens the image and makes it look like you are looking everything through a very thin transparent film. Especially textured objects that are close by with DLSS enabled look dull and lack discerning detail. In Cyberpunk this was so bad it actually fatigued my eyes and caused soreness to the point I had to outright disable DLSS.

THANK YOU @Analog for sharing your first hand experience. I've had the chance of experiencing DLSS 2.0 IRL as well and while it's impressive I too have always gotten the feeling of the image just not being quite there and have found it a bit distracting. I like to run graphics at native res., if possible.

 

One thing I have to say is that DLSS might be a life saver in the future when your GPU starts getting old.. Not enough FPS? DLSS, aannnd boom! You're good for a couple of more years and from that context I fully understand what @BetteBalterZen was prob. also going to mention. In essence, RTX 3000 series cards, especially the 3090, may actually be somewhat futureproof.

[Stahlmann]

18 minutes ago, BetteBalterZen said:

You're right. 

DLSS 2.0 does kinda de-sharpen the overall image. That is true. It's worse in some games than others. I do use sharpening filter from Nvidia Freestyle in games that support it, while running DLSS. It does fix it a bit. But yes, DLSS does de-sharpen the overall image.

DLSS 2.0 actually sharpens the image and makes some stuff clearer than native 4K with some sort of anti-aliasing enabled. At least according to my own experience.

Cyberpunk actually looks better with DLSS set to "quality" compared to native 4K.

Control looks exactly the same to me, literally can't notice a difference. So i'd rather take the performance here.

 

And in games like Final Fantasy XV, Metro, etc. that use DLSS 1.0 i keep it disabled. Looks a lot worse than native and is not worth the extra performance imo. You can achieve better results by simply lowering the render resolution and enabling image sharpening.

 

So basically DLSS is a big reason to go for an Nvidia GPU now and in the future. As DLSS just received native support for the Unreal engine it get's easier and easier for devs to implement it into their games and thus the amount of supported games will only grow in the future.

 

AMD's competitor to DLSS still remains to be seen. Last i checked they didn't even know exactly how to do it yet. So i wouldn't expect anything of it in the near future.

As soon as you take DLSS into the GPU comparison, AMD falls behind in every game that supports it. Enabling DLSS instantly boosts performance 1 or 2 GPU tiers up.

 

29 minutes ago, BetteBalterZen said:

after playing Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, with my 3090, playing at max settings, DLSS, so 100FPS+, with Ray Tracing and so on; my god it looks good. Looks like a rendered video sometimes. I have no doubt that Ray Tracing is the future, but I know, that doesn't matter now

Pretty much my take aswell. Control is a great example for Ray Tracing as it actually does ALL of it's lighting through ray-tracing when you enable everything. And to my knowledge Control and Cyberpunk are the only 2 games that can use all aspects of ray-tracing. But if you enable it all, the game just looks better. Ray tracing IS the future imo.

 

 

 

That being said, the 6900XT is still a very fast GPU and faster than a 3080 in most non-DLSS-supported games.

If it's the only thing in your financial reach, then you can go for it.

[Chris Pratt]

1 hour ago, gal-m said:

Agreed @Chris Pratt

Without trying to sound sort of aggressive I'd just like to point out that people on the forums always like to tell other people what they do not need.. 

Getting an RTX 3080 or 3090 is impossible unless you're willing to pay 4500EUR (hint: I'm not) and the RTX 3070 just isn't powerful enough for my use case (hint: I believe I have a pretty good understand of what I do and do not need).

 

And now to answer your question: I know 2000EUR for an RX 6900 XT is quite frankly, a lot. $1500 for ANY (consumer gaming) GPU is (in my opinion) a bit funny. Remember when you could get a GTX 590 and GTX 690 for roughly $1200? Yeah.. and not to mention the fact that those were dual GPU cards. The problem is times have changed now and from where I'm sitting (Slovenia) the situation is going from really bad to worse by the day with no end in sight. Another issue is also that I picked the absolute worst time to buy a new computer, but I can't really do anything about that.. So, here we are: RTX 3070 not quite there, RTX 3080/80 Ti/90 good, but not in stock and 6900 XT available. 

For not trying to sound agressive, that got pretty aggressive. You didn't actually specify what your use case was. Perhaps, if you had, I wouldn't have made that comment, because it would have been clear. Clarity is always a good thing, and something to keep in mind when seeking the advice of others. As someone that follows these forums pretty regularly, there's a fairly steady stream of people wanting 3090s because it's the "best", and not because they actually need them or will actually benefit from them in any meaningful way. You may not be among that group, but the odds were definitely in my favor.

 

That aside, I wouldn't have even questioned you on a 3080, and that is something that would satisfy your needs apparently. The only real benefit to a 3090 is the additional VRAM, and there's only specific workloads that actually need or benefit from having that much. So, after all, maybe my comment wasn't so out of place, because, if the 3080 is indeed sufficient then you really don't need a 3090, do you?

 

Now, let's calm down and play nice with each other. It wasn't my intention to antagonize you in the first place, and it's generally better form to seek to understand one another first, before getting offended and popping off.

[BetteBalterZen]

5 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

DLSS 2.0 actually sharpens the image and makes some stuff clearer than native 4K with some sort of anti-aliasing enabled. At least according to my own experience.

Cyberpunk actually looks better with DLSS set to "quality" compared to native 4K.

Control looks exactly the same to me, literally can't notice a difference. So i'd rather take the performance here.

Hehe yes true, it can be tricky to explain

Yes, with DLSS, you can see more detail in models, especially models that are far away, than without (works better in some games than others) but what happens with DLSS, atleast what I've seen, it softens the overall image and introduces some weird motion blur behind moving objects (not much though)

I think, when it comes to the softening / unsharpening, if your monitor is set to display a lot of sharpening on its own, then you probably won't notice the unsharpening effect DLSS has, also if playing on a 4K monitor, that probably helps too, compared to a 1080p or 1440p. 

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, BetteBalterZen said:

weird motion blur behind moving objects (not much though)

Also noticed the blur when looking at very fast moving objects, but that didn't really bother me that much considering the extra performance bump you get from it.

[BetteBalterZen]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

Also noticed the blur when looking at very fast moving objects, but that didn't really bother me that much considering the extra performance bump you get from it.

Yup, I absolutely agree! The extra performance you get from DLSS just makes everything else not matter, haha - well, mostly

[gal-m]

1 hour ago, Chris Pratt said:

You didn't actually specify what your use case was.

I may not have been specific, but I actualy did @Chris Pratt, look:

Regardless, I wasn't asking you whether I need something or not.

4 hours ago, gal-m said:

--------------MORE INFO----------------

 

Use case: Primarily gaming, rendering, simulations

The main thing I think I'd miss is DLSS..

The components I currently have:

 

1 hour ago, Chris Pratt said:

there's a fairly steady stream of people wanting 3090s because it's the "best", and not because they actually need them or will actually benefit from them in any meaningful way.

And this is where I absolutely 100% disagree with you. If people can afford the best even when they "don't need" the best then that is their decision and it is not your, or mine, or anyone else's place to judge. And this is exactly what I have unfortunately come across on this forum multiple times. People being able to afford and wanting something only to have other people tell them to basically not buy something because they "don't need" it. I really don't get the point of making comments like that, since all they do is (possibly) make others question themselves and their intentions. Also there's a difference between giving advice and/or suggestions and telling someone what they can't do with their own money.. 

1 hour ago, Chris Pratt said:

Now, let's calm down and play nice with each other. It wasn't my intention to antagonize you in the first place, and it's generally better form to seek to understand one another first, before getting offended and popping off.

Nor was it mine @Chris Pratt, that's why I said I might come off a bit aggressive, without actually trying to be. And even with this comment I really don't mean to argue, I'm just trying to have a rational conversation while stating what I think about a disagreement we may or may not have. That's all. I'd also like to point out that I respect your opinions, I just don't agree with what you had to say.

 

I will say that I am glad we're able to talk mutually and in an adult manner.

[gal-m]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

So basically DLSS is a big reason to go for an Nvidia GPU now and in the future. As DLSS just received native support for the Unreal engine it get's easier and easier for devs to implement it into their games and thus the amount of supported games will only grow in the future.

 

AMD's competitor to DLSS still remains to be seen. Last i checked they didn't even know exactly how to do it yet. So i wouldn't expect anything of it in the near future.

As soon as you take DLSS into the GPU comparison, AMD falls behind in every game that supports it. Enabling DLSS instantly boosts performance 1 or 2 GPU tiers up.

And this is the main thing I am worried about @Stahlmann.. DLSS might not work well in every game, but when it does I really do believe it works like absolute magic!

I feel like investing in an AMD GPU is kind of like throwing a bit of money away at this point, as I expect them to have quite a low resale value in the future (when or IF the market stabilises).. Regardless of budget, I think most of us would be disappointed to learn that a GPU upgrade might be necessary in a couple of years, after spending so much...

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

Ray tracing IS the future imo.

I think so too @Stahlmann. However it's quite far off at this moment and time, due to performance penalties associated.

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

That being said, the 6900XT is still a very fast GPU and faster than a 3080 in most non-DLSS-supported games.

If it's the only thing in your financial reach, then you can go for it.

It's not so much about financial reach as it is about being able to get one..

I for the life of me cannot get a 3080 OR 3090 @Stahlmann.. I mean maybe for, I don't know.. 6000EUR, but that's actually silly, really, truly silly. The only a**h*les I haven't checked with are scalpers - however, I REALLY truly hate them.

[Stahlmann]

32 minutes ago, gal-m said:

And this is the main thing I am worried about @Stahlmann.. DLSS might not work well in every game, but when it does I really do believe it works like absolute magic!

I feel like investing in an AMD GPU is kind of like throwing a bit of money away at this point, as I expect them to have quite a low resale value in the future (when or IF the market stabilises).. Regardless of budget, I think most of us would be disappointed to learn that a GPU upgrade might be necessary in a couple of years, after spending so much...

I think so too @Stahlmann. However it's quite far off at this moment and time, due to performance penalties associated.

It's not so much about financial reach as it is about being able to get one..

I for the life of me cannot get a 3080 OR 3090 @Stahlmann.. I mean maybe for, I don't know.. 6000EUR, but that's actually silly, really, truly silly. The only a**h*les I haven't checked with are scalpers - however, I REALLY truly hate them.

Lol i bit the bullet back in September 2020 buying a 3080 for 900€ from a scalper. I truly felt bad back then but looking at the current situation i actually feel extremely lucky

 

Well, the decision is ultimately up to you. Even if you value DLSS so much, it doesn't seem like you have much of a choice due to the current GPU market. If you need a GPU now, go for the 6900Xt, i'd say. Because they're so rare you can still probably buy a 3080, 3080Ti or 3090 sometime in the future and then resell the 6900XT for minimum losses...

[gal-m]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

Lol i bit the bullet back in September 2020 buying a 3080 for 900€ from a scalper. I truly felt bad back then but looking at the current situation i actually feel extremely lucky

I'd kill to have the chance to buy an RTX 3080 for 900EUR  That was a GREAT decision @Stahlmann and there's no way you're ever going to regret it since that's basically lower than most MSRPs.

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

Well, the decision is ultimately up to you. Even if you value DLSS so much, it doesn't seem like you have much of a choice due to the current GPU market. If you need a GPU now, go for the 6900Xt, i'd say. Because they're so rare you can still probably buy a 3080, 3080Ti or 3090 sometime in the future and then resell the 6900XT for minimum losses...

I do have an option to buy an RTX 3080 for 2600EUR, but I just can't stomach that. I can afford to, but I literally just can't..........

 

The thing is.. if there was a way to know when things are getting better then I'd have no problem waiting, but it sure doesn't seem like they are  

[Stahlmann]

7 minutes ago, gal-m said:

I'd kill to have the chance to buy an RTX 3080 for 900EUR  That was a GREAT decision @Stahlmann and there's no way you're ever going to regret it since that's basically lower than most MSRPs.

I do have an option to buy an RTX 3080 for 2600EUR, but I just can't stomach that. I can afford to, but I literally just can't..........

 

The thing is.. if there was a way to know when things are getting better then I'd have no problem waiting, but it sure doesn't seem like they are  

Then good luck to you making the decision.

 

For all we know, AMD's DLSS competitor could be good and your 6900XT can hold it's ground in the war of upscaling techniques. Or it could be bad like DLSS 1.0 and need a generation or two to mature and catch up. Seeing how dominant Nvidia is in terms of AI processing i wouldn't get my hopes up too high though...

[gal-m]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

good luck to you making the decision.

 

For all we know, AMD's DLSS competitor could be good and your 6900XT can hold it's ground in the war of upscaling techniques. Or it could be bad like DLSS 1.0 and need a generation or two to mature and catch up. Seeing how dominant Nvidia is in terms of AI processing i wouldn't get my hopes up too high though

Thanks @Stahlmann.

 

Yeah, I contacted pretty much every store here in Slovenia explaining my situation and use case, however all of them told me they don't really do queues, so it's first come first serve, which due to the nature of my daily life makes it impossible and silly for me to have my eyes glued to the stock availability status on lots of websites.

I really don't know who else to practically beg in order to even get a chance of buying an Nvidia 3000 series GPU and don't know anyone "on the inside" who could "hook me up".

 

So I'm jokingly going to come to this conclusion: if nobody wants to sell me an RTX 3090 or 3080 (at a massive price increase, mind you), then I'll just take my business over to AMD. The reality is that sometimes in life we can't get what we want and that's totally okay. I, and I really do think most of us, have been spoiled for choice for quite some time now to be fair.. 

Just ordered an LG LG UltraGear 27GL850-B monitor and an Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6900 XT SE for 1900EUR, which I'm looking forward to picking up today. I was just starting to like AMD anyways, so I decided I'm just going to go with the flow and say f*ck it!

[Stahlmann]

8 minutes ago, gal-m said:

Just ordered an LG LG UltraGear 27GL850-B monitor

U might want to cancel this one. This monitor is 2 generations old at this point and the 27GP850 has just been released. It's pretty much slightly better in every way.

 

Now don't get me wrong. The 27GL850 is a very good monitor, but if you can get the 27GP850 for the same or slightly more money, i'd strongly suggest picking this one up instead.

[gal-m]

13 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

U might want to cancel this one. This monitor is 2 generations old at this point and the 27GP850 has just been released.

Thanks @Stahlmann, I am aware of this. I actually wanted to go for a nice 34", but none were in stock and that wasn't going to change any time soon. The 27GP850 was and will (according to many many retailers here) be unavailable for quite some time.

I got what I considered to be (or have been) one of the best 1440p monitors on the market. While I believe that the new 27GP850 is better than the old one, I also think that the difference definitely won't be night and day and am happy with my decision

 

Regardless, good heads-up for people who might want to wait a little longer to get the newer version. Oh and, not that it mattered much, but I got it at quite a nice price - sub 350EUR new