Looking to play Cyberpunk in 1080p Ultra at 60fps with ray tracing. With the disappointing 5060 release, what is the best budget card/cpu combo?

[SeaCucumber]

I am building my first PC in ages and it is mostly for this one game as everything else I want to play will be less demanding.  After considering the often recommended budget build of a Ryzen 5 5600 and Radeon RX 6600, I would love some input on what the cheapest build for playing Cyberpunk and having it look fantastic in 1080p at a playable fps, which to me was always 60fps for shooters.  With how much of an upgrade ray tracing seems to make in this game in particular, should I even consider a non-Nvidia card?  Is spending $800 (or preferably less) at all realistic?  I don't mind buying from Aliexpress or even used on Ebay if someone wants to recommend a reliable seller, though I have never done either before.  Just hoping to not break the bank and finally play this game I have been dying to play for years now without it looking as disappointing as it does with the above mentioned build in the youtube videos I saw.

[Mark Kaine]

I have a 3070 and cp looks pretty good imo (playing at 1440p) you can use RT, but only for "reflections" (which I thought is the whole point of "RT")

 

I also happen to have a 5070, but I haven't tested much... the 5 minutes I played I saw zero difference, dark corridor gonna dark corridor, I guess... 

 

I don't think the graphics are CP77's issue... It's the walk there drive there do this or else repeat everything ad nauseum "gameplay" (just my opinion, but if it was me I'd made this a full on action title, instead of this "private detective sim for the unitiated" ...wasted opportunity if you already have all the assets lol )

 

So yeah... Everything above or at 3070 level should be fine for 1080p,it's not that demanding at all.

[PDifolco]

If you target RT Overdrive 60FPS native you need a 4090  

 

[Mark Kaine]

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

If you target RT Overdrive 60FPS native you need a 4090  

 

"Overdrive"! Oh my!  

 

This is really why I like DDTS he always finds the perfect settings for any given game/hardware (although he doesn't always explain it, already did ages ago in other videos tho)

 

"Oh yeah, 11-12 fps, this is totally still *playable* guys..." 

 

[SeaCucumber]

Quote

If you target RT Overdrive 60FPS native you need a 4090

Yikes.  I'll stick with Ultra thanks.

[SeaCucumber]

Quote

I have a 3070 and cp looks pretty good imo (playing at 1440p) you can use RT, but only for "reflections" (which I thought is the whole point of "RT")

 

I also happen to have a 5070, but I haven't tested much... the 5 minutes I played I saw zero difference, dark corridor gonna dark corridor, I guess... 

 

I don't think the graphics are CP77's issue... It's the walk there drive there do this or else repeat everything as nauseum "gameplay" (just my opinion, but if it was me I'd made this a full on action title, instead of this "private detective sim for the unitiated" ...wasted opportunity if you already have all the assets lol )

 

So yeah... Everything above or at 3070 level should be fine for 1080p,it's not that demanding at all.

 

With used 3070 running about $300 right now, is it really worth it to get one?  Or should I aim for something with more than 8gb vram at around the same price point?

[Ha-Satan]

Ray tracing doesn't make the game (much) more fun. At an $800 price point, you're not going to get the transformative ray tracing experience from RT Overdrive. The game looks great at medium-high settings (no RT) and you'll have the full "Cyberpunk experience."

 

Don't overspend for marginal fun gains.

[Mark Kaine]

On 5/22/2025 at 10:43 PM, SeaCucumber said:

With used 3070 running about $300 right now, is it really worth it to get one?  Or should I aim for something with more than 8gb vram at around the same price point?

If you can get more Vram that's great, I was just saying I'd consider around 3070 the minimum, it does around 70-80fps with DLSS and Raytracing.  If you want higher settings it won't cut it tho.

[Zodiark1593]

On 5/22/2025 at 1:26 PM, Mark Kaine said:

 

I don't think the graphics are CP77's issue... It's the walk there drive there do this or else repeat everything ad nauseum "gameplay" (just my opinion, but if it was me I'd made this a full on action title, instead of this "private detective sim for the unitiated" ...wasted opportunity if you already have all the assets lol )

 

 

Ironically, the game plays a bit like LA Noire, while taking place in literally the same city 140 years separated.

[starsmine]

9060xt 16GB is probably a viable choice. 
should get mid 30s fps. 
350 during launch window (june 5th)

otherwise, yea RX 9070 if it ever goes back to MSRP.