Advice for Upgrade

snyte · September 28, 2025

Hello, everyone!
I'm looking to upgrade my GPU from a very old GTX 960 2GB, since it will stop receiving driver updates starting next month.
I'm not a huge gamer, but I’d still like to try out some of the heavier titles I missed over the past few years.
Examples: Red Dead Redemption (both of them), Cyberpunk 2077, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill f, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil Requiem.

My current setup:

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X
RAM: 16GB (2×8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz (considering upgrading to 32GB)
OS: Windows 11
PSU: 650W (I know I might need to upgrade)
Displays: 43" 4K TCL 43P635 & LG UltraGear 24GL600F-B

What I hope to achieve with this upgrade is longevity. As you can imagine, I’ve been using my GTX 960 since its release, and I’ve milked it for all it’s worth.
I’m set on switching to AMD and would like to play cinematic games in 4K on the TCL, while using the LG UltraGear for more casual/competitive titles.

The options I have in mind are the RX 7900 XT (I’ve seen some pretty good deals on it, though it’s a slightly older card) and the RX 9070 XT (since it’s newer, it might last longer in terms of support and performance).
The price difference is significant, but I’m willing to pay extra for something that will last longer.

Do you think I’m making the right choice given my current hardware, or would you recommend a different direction?
As for the GPU, I’m sticking with AMD and don’t plan to change that.

I appreciate the input and time that took to considering answering my post.

okkee · September 28, 2025

7 minutes ago, snyte said:

Hello, everyone!
I'm looking to upgrade my GPU from a very old GTX 960 2GB, since it will stop receiving driver updates starting next month.
I'm not a huge gamer, but I’d still like to try out some of the heavier titles I missed over the past few years.
Examples: Red Dead Redemption (both of them), Cyberpunk 2077, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill f, Resident Evil Village, and Resident Evil Requiem.

My current setup:

CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X

RAM: 16GB (2×8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz (considering upgrading to 32GB)

OS: Windows 11

PSU: 650W (I know I might need to upgrade)

Displays: 43" 4K TCL 43P635 & LG UltraGear 24GL600F-B

What I hope to achieve with this upgrade is longevity. As you can imagine, I’ve been using my GTX 960 since its release, and I’ve milked it for all it’s worth.
I’m set on switching to AMD and would like to play cinematic games in 4K on the TCL, while using the LG UltraGear for more casual/competitive titles.

The options I have in mind are the RX 7900 XT (I’ve seen some pretty good deals on it, though it’s a slightly older card) and the RX 9070 XT (since it’s newer, it might last longer in terms of support and performance).
The price difference is significant, but I’m willing to pay extra for something that will last longer.

Do you think I’m making the right choice given my current hardware, or would you recommend a different direction?
As for the GPU, I’m sticking with AMD and don’t plan to change that.

I appreciate the input and time that took to considering answering my post.

The 9070's a good card but it would greatly benefit from a newer CPU as well. Maybe consider a cpu from Intel's Core Ultra Lineup or from AMDs 9000 series processors. Nothing wrong with just upgrading the gpu but a cpu upgrade would go a long way. But the games you've listed should run alright with the 5600.

snyte · September 28, 2025

21 minutes ago, okkee said:

The 9070's a good card but it would greatly benefit from a newer CPU as well. Maybe consider a cpu from Intel's Core Ultra Lineup or from AMDs 9000 series processors. Nothing wrong with just upgrading the gpu but a cpu upgrade would go a long way. But the games you've listed should run alright with the 5600.

While I completely agree that a CPU upgrade would be very good, I intend to do a gradual upgrade of my current system. And because of that, I believe the GPU is a top priority.

Dedayog · September 28, 2025

55 minutes ago, snyte said:

While I completely agree that a CPU upgrade would be very good, I intend to do a gradual upgrade of my current system. And because of that, I believe the GPU is a top priority.

Milking something is neat but while you can pat yourself on the back for your 960... You missed out on some amazing games cuz it can't play them.

Longevity is good if you are cash strapped perpetually.

But I would prefer a good 4-5 year cycle that allows you to slowly reduce settings to keep the gpu relevant.

For example, dropping in a 9060xt 16gb would give you that. For only $380. More is better but that's the cheapest id go.

Replace it in 5 years and keep enjoying anything that comes out.

Unless you really enjoy when your friends tell you how awesome borderlands 4 is while you can't play it . (For example)

Life is too short. Enjoy it!

Wh0_Am_1 · September 29, 2025

Welcome to the LTT forums! I am going to go against the other posters since you have a 4K display, and say that you should be fine with that upgrade, sure I would like it if you had at least a 5700x, but you should still be able to push both the 9070XT and the 7900XT pretty hard. I personally would go for the 7900xt if you plan on buying a PSU anyway.

okkee · September 29, 2025

8 hours ago, snyte said:

While I completely agree that a CPU upgrade would be very good, I intend to do a gradual upgrade of my current system. And because of that, I believe the GPU is a top priority.

Then the 9070xt should serve you well. 7900xt slightly loses out to the 9070 but it has a bit more vram but "lacks" fsr4 tho a bit of tinkering should get that sorted if you decide to go that route. And yes, you will need the upgrade since a 700W PSU is recommended.

snyte · September 29, 2025

14 hours ago, Dedayog said:

Milking something is neat but while you can pat yourself on the back for your 960... You missed out on some amazing games cuz it can't play them.

Longevity is good if you are cash strapped perpetually.

But I would prefer a good 4-5 year cycle that allows you to slowly reduce settings to keep the gpu relevant.

For example, dropping in a 9060xt 16gb would give you that. For only $380. More is better but that's the cheapest id go.

Replace it in 5 years and keep enjoying anything that comes out.

Unless you really enjoy when your friends tell you how awesome borderlands 4 is while you can't play it . (For example)

Life is too short. Enjoy it!

Yeah, I did miss a couple of games because of my very late upgrade, but as I said in the original post I'm not that big of a gamer always looking for the new releases.
I might have given that impression when the examples I gave were recent, but that was to illustrate the absolute maximum I would try to extract from that upgrade.
The reason I don't upgrade more often is that, personally, I'm fine letting some stuff pass, not because I enjoy it, but simply because I have some other priorities.
I'm going to consider the 9060 XT.
Thanks for your insights!

11 hours ago, Wh0_Am_1 said:

Welcome to the LTT forums! I am going to go against the other posters since you have a 4K display, and say that you should be fine with that upgrade, sure I would like it if you had at least a 5700x, but you should still be able to push both the 9070XT and the 7900XT pretty hard. I personally would go for the 7900xt if you plan on buying a PSU anyway.

Thanks for the warm welcome. Yeah, the PSU sounds like it's going to be a necessary upgrade since I intend to jump to this mid-range card, so I don't mind adding that to the expenses. Thanks for your input!

7 hours ago, okkee said:

Then the 9070xt should serve you well. 7900xt slightly loses out to the 9070 but it has a bit more vram but "lacks" fsr4 tho a bit of tinkering should get that sorted if you decide to go that route. And yes, you will need the upgrade since a 700W PSU is recommended.

I completely forgot about FSR! You're right! From what I can tell 16 GB of VRAM should be plenty to play the games I want natively and with FSR I should be able to push the hardware a little further! Thanks for you answer!