upgrade Upgrade suggestions

[function_fungus]

Budget (including currency): 2500SEK - 4500SEK

Country: Sweden

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming (right now I stick to games that isn't very intensive but I would like to play games like Borderlands 4 in the future), some game development (I typically use either Unity, Unreal or Godot) and some regular use (i.e. surfing).

Other details: 

This is a prebuilt that I bought from a Swedish electronics store roughly 5-ish years ago and I've reached a point where I would like to see if there's anything in this build I can upgrade, personally speaking I would like to upgrade the GPU to something similar to NVIDIA 5060 but AMD instead. I do know computers but I don't think I'm well versed enough to understand if that kind of upgrade is suitable or not, or if I should look elsewhere instead in my current build to see what's worth upgrading instead.
 

I would appreciate some new opinions on if a GPU upgrade is worth it or not or if I should aim for something else instead.

Thank you for your time!

Current Build
Case: NZXT H510
Main Monitor: ASUS 24" VG248QE 144 Hz
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60i (I think?)
Motherboard: ROG STRIX B450-F Gaming
RAM: Kingston DDR4 16GB
GPU: Gainward NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
PSU: Corsair 650W modular (I think it's this and don't know exact model)
Storage (OS): Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 250GB, M.2
Storage 2: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 SATA
Storage 3: Seagate HDD 1TB ST1000DM010-2EP102

[dizmo]

Why AMD? The card won't be nearly as strong once you factor in the additional technologies Nvidia offers. 

 

GPU is pretty much the only thing I'd consider upgrading right now, RAM prices are ridiculously high, though if your used market is decent I'd maybe pick up a 32GB kit of RAM and sell the 16GB. I'd also strongly look at getting a newer monitor with a higher resolution.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[function_fungus]

6 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Why AMD? The card won't be nearly as strong once you factor in the additional technologies Nvidia offers. 

 

GPU is pretty much the only thing I'd consider upgrading right now, RAM prices are ridiculously high, though if your used market is decent I'd maybe pick up a 32GB kit of RAM and sell the 16GB. I'd also strongly look at getting a newer monitor with a higher resolution.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for the welcome!

The thought that I have, would be that in the future, I would dual boot between Windows (considering Microsofts current reputation) and Linux. At the moment, I have a laptop right next to me where I'm "practicing" on how to use it, besides, I've been curious in AMD for a bit now.

The monitor have also been on my mind, I was thinking 1440p would be more than enough for me.

[ItTakes2ToMango]

27 minutes ago, dizmo said:

Why AMD? The card won't be nearly as strong once you factor in the additional technologies Nvidia offers. 

Just adding that some of us really, really dislike upscaling technologies. DLSS genuinely drives me up a wall, though I haven't had any opportunities to try 4.0+ so maybe I'd change my mind

 

I'd rather play at native for everything, personally. I'll take the highest raw power card I can get for my budget every time. 

[dizmo]

18 minutes ago, function_fungus said:

Thank you for the welcome!

The thought that I have, would be that in the future, I would dual boot between Windows (considering Microsofts current reputation) and Linux. At the moment, I have a laptop right next to me where I'm "practicing" on how to use it, besides, I've been curious in AMD for a bit now.

The monitor have also been on my mind, I was thinking 1440p would be more than enough for me.

There isn't a whole lot to learn switching between the two other than AMD's worse driver support. Linux might be a good reason, though I'd personally just find a Linux fork (I think they're called) that works with Nvidia. I might eventually test out Linux, but I still see way too many shortfalls and too many "oh just do these 12 steps, it's easy, why should it be any different" answers.

 

1440p is definitely the sweet spot, and honestly 27" is fine for most people. Might be worth considering an ultrawide if you do a lot of side by side window work.

4 minutes ago, ItTakes2ToMango said:

Just adding that some of us really, really dislike upscaling technologies. DLSS genuinely drives me up a wall, though I haven't had any opportunities to try 4.0+ so maybe I'd change my mind

 

I'd rather play at native for everything, personally. I'll take the highest raw power card I can get for my budget every time. 

I wouldn't have used it before 4.0, but almost every person using 4.5 has really good, almost unnoticeable in use experiences. It'll only get better, I'd say by 5.0 it'll become the norm and developers are already starting to use it as a crutch. The AMD equivalent is currently a dumpster fire in comparison. 

[function_fungus]

14 minutes ago, dizmo said:

There isn't a whole lot to learn switching between the two other than AMD's worse driver support. Linux might be a good reason, though I'd personally just find a Linux fork (I think they're called) that works with Nvidia. I might eventually test out Linux, but I still see way too many shortfalls and too many "oh just do these 12 steps, it's easy, why should it be any different" answers.

So let's I go with an NVIDIA GPU, would I need anything else? cables or some such? or anything else I would need to know?

[dizmo]

4 minutes ago, function_fungus said:

So let's I go with an NVIDIA GPU, would I need anything else? cables or some such? or anything else I would need to know?

No it should be a simple swap if that's all you're changing. I'd use DDU to uninstall and reinstall the drivers. 

I'd also strongly look at a 16GB card if you keep your card for a while. 

[function_fungus]

4 minutes ago, dizmo said:

No it should be a simple swap if that's all you're changing. I'd use DDU to uninstall and reinstall the drivers. 

I'd also strongly look at a 16GB card if you keep your card for a while. 

Thank you for your advice, unfortunately, I think a 16GB card will be outside my price range, besides a 5060 with 8GB would be two more gigs compared to my old one

[OddOod]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

AMD's worse driver support

I dunno. I remember last year when NV had MASSIVE driver problems. I was having to switch between three different historical drivers to play three different games. It was a nightmare. 

[Tetras]

5 hours ago, function_fungus said:

This is a prebuilt that I bought from a Swedish electronics store roughly 5-ish years ago and I've reached a point where I would like to see if there's anything in this build I can upgrade

 

5 hours ago, function_fungus said:

Gaming (right now I stick to games that isn't very intensive but I would like to play games like Borderlands 4 in the future), some game development (I typically use either Unity, Unreal or Godot) and some regular use (i.e. surfing).

Is it primarily gaming that you want more performance with? You could upgrade the CPU, RAM and graphics card, but the question I'd have is, to achieve what?

 

5 hours ago, function_fungus said:

I would like to upgrade the GPU to something similar to NVIDIA 5060 but AMD instead.

TPU's GPU database has a 5060 as 81% faster, not bad. AMD is tricky, because it is hard to recommend the 8GB 9060 XT when the 16GB version exists. A 5060 and 9060 XT also compete with Arc's B580, which can be much better value in some markets.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlbNsP5ySmA

 

Assuming the graphics card suits your primary goal with the upgrade, I'd see if you can get a 5060 Ti 16GB or 9060 XT 16GB in your budget. Any 8GB card is going to have a limited life, unfortunately, especially if you upgrade to 1440p at some point.

 

You mentioned Borderlands 4 as a possible future game, for this one, AMD's latest cards seem to perform very well against their competing models. At least, in this performance review. Drivers can change things, so I wouldn't recommend buying a card for one game, especially a game you haven't played yet.

[function_fungus]

11 minutes ago, Tetras said:

Is it primarily gaming that you want more performance with? You could upgrade the CPU, RAM and graphics card, but the question I'd have is, to achieve what?

I think it would be performance, I think my CPU is okay for now and prices for RAM is... kinda ridiculous at the moment, so I thought that maybe a new GPU would be a good idea and it's the one I've been thinking about the most, so having something that has a little bit more performance so it can better match something like Borderlands 4 would be great.

Other than that, I primarily game on my PC and do some game development on the side, and there are games now where I feel like the minimum system requirements is ever so slowly getting a little bit too high for me, which has made me more mindful about current system.

I hope my explanation made any sense and thank you for your questions and advice!

[Tetras]

33 minutes ago, function_fungus said:

I think it would be performance, I think my CPU is okay for now and prices for RAM is... kinda ridiculous at the moment, so I thought that maybe a new GPU would be a good idea and it's the one I've been thinking about the most, so having something that has a little bit more performance so it can better match something like Borderlands 4 would be great.

Other than that, I primarily game on my PC and do some game development on the side, and there are games now where I feel like the minimum system requirements is ever so slowly getting a little bit too high for me, which has made me more mindful about current system.

There's still some room for an upgrade on the 2060, yeah. If it is affordable in your budget, I'd look at the 9060 XT 16GB. It is around twice as fast as the 2060 and should last you a good while, without the CPU holding it back much. I know what you mean about the RAM. Unfortunately 16GB cards have also increased in price a lot in some regions.

[function_fungus]

8 minutes ago, Tetras said:

There's still some room for an upgrade on the 2060, yeah. If it is affordable in your budget, I'd look at the 9060 XT 16GB. It is around twice as fast as the 2060 and should last you a good while, without the CPU holding it back much. I know what you mean about the RAM. Unfortunately 16GB cards have also increased in price a lot in some regions.

Thank you for your answer!

Since I'm currently using an NVIDIA based GPU, should I assume that the AMD based GPU would require a different set of cables?
I have some cables laying around somewhere but I have literally zero clue if they're usable or not.

[Tetras]

13 minutes ago, function_fungus said:

Since I'm currently using an NVIDIA based GPU, should I assume that the AMD based GPU would require a different set of cables?
I have some cables laying around somewhere but I have literally zero clue if they're usable or not.

95% of AMD cards still use the same 8-pin PCIE connectors that nvidia 20 series cards used. Just avoid the few ones that don't and you should be fine.

 

Assuming your 2060 uses a single 8-pin and the new card is a 9060 XT, I'd expect it to be very simple. Unplug the 2060 and plug the same cable into the 9060 XT.

[function_fungus]

10 minutes ago, Tetras said:

95% of AMD cards still use the same 8-pin PCIE connectors that nvidia 20 series cards used. Just avoid the few ones that don't and you should be fine.

 

Assuming your 2060 uses a single 8-pin and the new card is a 9060 XT, I'd expect it to be very simple. Unplug the 2060 and plug the same cable into the 9060 XT.

Well I guess I have to cross my fingers then and knock some wood, are there any tell tale signs regarding this? I did a quick check on the GPU and from what I can see, there are only 8 pins?
Once again, thank you for your advice!

[Tetras]

8 minutes ago, function_fungus said:

Well I guess I have to cross my fingers then and knock some wood, are there any tell tale signs regarding this? I did a quick check on the GPU and from what I can see, there are only 8 pins?
Once again, thank you for your advice!

You would need the exact model you own and the exact model you will purchase, but the chances are very good you're just swapping a card with a single 8-pin to another card with a single 8-pin. That would apply with a 5060, 9060 XT or Arc B580.

 

 

[function_fungus]

12 minutes ago, Tetras said:

You would need the exact model you own and the exact model you will purchase, but the chances are very good you're just swapping a card with a single 8-pin to another card with a single 8-pin. That would apply with a 5060, 9060 XT or Arc B580.

Well, we'll be gambling then.

Thank you for the heads-up and advice

[dark_globe]

PCPartPicker Part List

Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB Video Card  (kr3890.00 @ Amazon Sweden) 
Total: kr3890.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-03-13 07:20 CET+0100

have you also considered buying a second hand video card ?
this could save you some money and you can get a more powerful video card for the price .
(for example rtx 4070)

you should also upgrade your memory as soon as you are able , i hope that you have 2x8gb configuration rather than 1x16gb
(you need two modules for dual channel to be working which is crucial for ryzen processors and their gaming performance)

(you can get by with 16gb of memory for now , but 32gb is just more comfortable and some new games are already pushing 16gb to its limits) :
obtaining the extra 2x8gb or 1x16gb (depending on your configuration) of DDR4 memory should still not be that expensive,
especially if you don´t buy it brand new .

[function_fungus]

On 3/13/2026 at 7:27 AM, dark_globe said:

have you also considered buying a second hand video card ?
this could save you some money and you can get a more powerful video card for the price .
(for example rtx 4070)

Well I saw this too late but I've already placed an order on a new card (I opted for a Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB), so at least I have some warrenty

 

On 3/13/2026 at 7:27 AM, dark_globe said:

you should also upgrade your memory as soon as you are able , i hope that you have 2x8gb configuration rather than 1x16gb
(you need two modules for dual channel to be working which is crucial for ryzen processors and their gaming performance)

About this, I do have a 2x8GB configuration so on that front I'm okay, for now

On 3/13/2026 at 7:27 AM, dark_globe said:

(you can get by with 16gb of memory for now , but 32gb is just more comfortable and some new games are already pushing 16gb to its limits) :
obtaining the extra 2x8gb or 1x16gb (depending on your configuration) of DDR4 memory should still not be that expensive,
especially if you don´t buy it brand new .

Regarding this, I'm well aware that my current RAM situation is perhaps.. not ideal and I've wanted a 32GB configuration but even DDR4 32GB RAM in Sweden is still kinda expensive (especially new and while my Motherboard isn't compatible with it, some DDR4 32GB RAM is about as expensive as 16GB of DDR5 RAM), I could shoot for used ones but then I become kinda cautious since I don't know for what or how long the individual have used it for or if there even is a guarantee they work.

[dizmo]

12 hours ago, function_fungus said:

Thank you for your advice, unfortunately, I think a 16GB card will be outside my price range, besides a 5060 with 8GB would be two more gigs compared to my old one

I'd even take a look at the used market then and see if you can grab a 4070 or something of that nature. 

11 hours ago, OddOod said:

I dunno. I remember last year when NV had MASSIVE driver problems. I was having to switch between three different historical drivers to play three different games. It was a nightmare. 

It happens far more frequently with AMD; perhaps not on the huge scale, but with older titles it can be a nightmare, and Nvidia never crashed repeatedly at desktop like AMD has (across several different cards). The issue I see as a worse issue though, is the fact that AMD is so far behind feature set wise. Their rendering system works in like 70% of titles vs Nvidias 90+%. Doesn't seem that far behind at first glance, but when you consider Intel is at 50+% and has only been at it a few years, it just shows how weak their driver team is. 

6 hours ago, function_fungus said:

Well, we'll be gambling then.

Thank you for the heads-up and advice

Doesn't really need to be gambling, you just need to pay attention to what you're buying.

[OddOod]

On 3/14/2026 at 3:55 PM, dizmo said:

It happens far more frequently with AMD

TBH, I was in that mindset for a good long while, but in the past few years, they've been pretty clean as far as I can tell

[dizmo]

2 hours ago, OddOod said:

TBH, I was in that mindset for a good long while, but in the past few years, they've been pretty clean as far as I can tell

They're good with new titles but quickly fall apart when it comes to older ones. I've heard the same thing of "it used to be bad, but it's good now!" too many times, and personally won't be burned by them again.