What card next for a severely limited budget?

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narsbars

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X570, AMD 5900, 64 gig 3600 ram with a 3070. What vid card do you think I upgrade to that will allow me to feel the difference in Cyberpunk 2077? I am looking to sell or trade the 3070 and add as little cash as possible for a better used card. What kind of buys are out there on the H? I can't buy a used 3090 for $900.00 but do you think a 3080 or a 3080TI is a noticeable upgrade? Due to funds I am always a generation or two behind. The tech decision will be based on cash, not on my wish for a Holographic 360 degree 6 GPU 7090TI with six terabytes of vram.
 
narsbars said:
X570, AMD 5900, 64 gig 3600 ram with a 3070. What vid card do you think I upgrade to that will allow me to feel the difference in Cyberpunk 2077? I am looking to sell or trade the 3070 and add as little cash as possible for a better used card. What kind of buys are out there on the H? I can't buy a used 3090 for $900.00 but do you think a 3080 or a 3080TI is a noticeable upgrade? Due to funds I am always a generation or two behind. The tech decision will be based on cash, not on my wish for a Holographic 360 degree 6 GPU 7090TI with six terabytes of vram.
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Look for an open box 4070 or 7800 XT at Bestbuy.

Open box 4070 Windforce is about $440. And 7800 XT Gaming OC is about $400.

**3070 is still a nice card, BTW. Meaningful upgrades from that, on a budget, will be tough. A 4070 is a 20-25% upgrade.
 
So I guess we need to know what you mean by "make a difference in Cyberpunk". Are you playing on 4k or are you on 1080p or 1440p?

Used 3070 is probably worth $300ish give or take on eBay. If you are asking if there is a newer card that costs $250-$300 that is better than your 3070, the answer is no.

So realistically, what is your budget, what resolution are you playing Cyberpunk at, and what exactly are you looking to get out of a new card that gives you a "feel the difference in Cyberpunk" experience.
 
I don't think it matters what their budget is tbh. A cheap upgrade that will actually make a compelling difference from a 3070 in Cyberpunk is probably nonexistent. Maybe if you can get a very cheap 3090 after trade-in, but it would just be... """cheap""".

3070s are selling for like <$300 on Ebay right now. At minimum you're looking at $200-400+ to see any sort of good performance boost from the current gen, I think.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
I don't think it matters what their budget is tbh. A cheap upgrade that will actually make a compelling difference from a 3070 in Cyberpunk is probably nonexistent. Maybe if you can get a very cheap 3090 after trade-in, but it would just be... """cheap""".

3070s are selling for like <$300 on Ebay right now. At minimum you're looking at $200-400+ to see any sort of good performance boost from the current gen, I think.
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He really needs to a) mention his budget; b) mention his location - prices vary across location - and is the $900 for a 3090 USD, CAD or what?: sounds like CAD to me. Although, in Canada, 3090 prices are all over the place - $700 -$1000+. Or maybe it's Europe or AU or something?
The other thing to mention as someone already stated - c) what res. you want to game at. 4K? 1440p?

Also, a gpu to play a taxing game like Cyberpunk - it sounds like he wants a 2k or 1440p card?

https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-amd-rx-6800-xt-vs-nvidia-rtx-3080/

A used 3080 and 6800 xt are around the same priced used - maybe the 6800 xt can be had for a bit less I dunno - but I seem to recall seeing them both for $500 CAD ea (although not a lot of 3080s at that price) - sell the 3070 - for around $400 and you only need $100-$200 of your own.

On H, hmmmmm.....so maybe he is located in the USA if he's looking to use that? There's a 3080 card on here for $400, for sale. Good luck, OP.
 
Sir Beregond said:
So I guess we need to know what you mean by "make a difference in Cyberpunk". Are you playing on 4k or are you on 1080p or 1440p?

Used 3070 is probably worth $300ish give or take on eBay. If you are asking if there is a newer card that costs $250-$300 that is better than your 3070, the answer is no.

So realistically, what is your budget, what resolution are you playing Cyberpunk at, and what exactly are you looking to get out of a new card that gives you a "feel the difference in Cyberpunk" experience.
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Good points. I want to add up to $250.00 after selling the 3070 with a low ball selling price of $250.00, playing at 1440, my old 4K monitor is capped at 60FPS so I am looking to get more eye candy at lower res.
 
pavel said:
He really needs to a) mention his budget; b) mention his location - prices vary across location - and is the $900 for a 3090 USD, CAD or what?: sounds like CAD to me. Although, in Canada, 3090 prices are all over the place - $700 -$1000+. Or maybe it's Europe or AU or something?
The other thing to mention as someone already stated - c) what res. you want to game at. 4K? 1440p?

Also, a gpu to play a taxing game like Cyberpunk - it sounds like he wants a 2k or 1440p card?

https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-amd-rx-6800-xt-vs-nvidia-rtx-3080/

A used 3080 and 6800 xt are around the same priced used - maybe the 6800 xt can be had for a bit less I dunno - but I seem to recall seeing them both for $500 CAD ea (although not a lot of 3080s at that price) - sell the 3070 - for around $400 and you only need $100-$200 of your own.

On H, hmmmmm.....so maybe he is located in the USA if he's looking to use that? There's a 3080 card on here for $400, for sale. Good luck, OP.
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If they're budget minded, I would think the upgrade should last a while. A 3080 is about 30% more performance according to TPU charts, but... the standard model has 10GB VRAM which is only 2GB more, so you ideally want to aim for the 12GB model at least... but if you're aiming for the 12GB model, might as well get a 3090 with twice the VRAM, or a 3080 Ti which has even more performance (~46% faster)...

Like it would be an upgrade, but I subjectively still put it in the "throwing money away" bin because I'm not sure how much more satisfied they will be with 30% more performance...
 
If you're limited on budget, Keep your 3070 until next generation. Keep in mind, you're asking this for gaming, and for the look of the game. If it were only for gaming, I'll buy a B450 motherboard, leave only 32GB RAM on the PC, with an 8 core (5800X will be okay and 5800X3D will be great) and I'll buy a 27'' Full HD screen and get a card that works for that resolution and the 3070 8GB is fair enough. In you're case overkill hardware for gaming is mixed with more limited. If you want to game on 4K with RT with super-high details, you need an RTX 4080 or even an RTX 4090 on the hardware I mentioned (5800X3D + 32GB).
 
narsbars said:
Good points. I want to add up to $250.00 after selling the 3070 with a low ball selling price of $250.00, playing at 1440, my old 4K monitor is capped at 60FPS so I am looking to get more eye candy at lower res.
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OK, so around $500ish then, maybe more if lucky. Honestly only new cards at that range are the 7800XT ($500), 7700XT ($450), 4070 ($550). 7700XT would not be an upgrade. 4070 would be an extremely marginal upgrade as its around 3080 level of performance. 7800XT is decent uplift speaking raster, but obviously not going to see any DLSS features and worse RT for Cyberpunk.

Used options around $500, maybe a 3080 Ti which is basically a 12GB 3090.

So I don't know. I'd either wait for next gen to get a better upgrade, or look at used options, or get an AMD card but you will lose RT/DLSS features. I'd say 3080 Ti or 7800XT are your best bets at that price point.
 
For Cyberpunk you want a card that can do DLSS, Pathtracing, and Ray Reconstruction, if you want to see the newest eyecandy in that game. PT and RR are the newest features.
4070 would get you more ram and allow Frame Generation. But currently, if you enable the preset for Pathtracing and Ray Reconstruction, it disables Frame Gen option. It might be temporary restriction since RR is so new, but I don't know for sure. I suspect at some point all of the options (Raytracing, DLSS, Pathtracing, Frame Generation) will be independently enable/disable-able.
But a 4xxx card is what you really want if you want to see the newest stuff. 3090 and 3080Ti should also be able to do them except for frame gen. It doesn't sound like you need FrameGen since your LCD is only 60Hz, so those might work. But it's highly unlikely to get a 3090 for $600. I think 3080Ti and 4070 are your only real choices. If you can find some new cyberpunk reviews using those cards, you can then best make a decision on which one to go with.
If you can luck out and find a 4070 used, probably the best value between the 2. The 4070 should have a longer life over 3080Ti due to Frame Gen.
 
I was able to get a 12GB 3080 for $450 a few months back in FS/FT. The 3080 TIs were going for $150+ more for a ~5% on average performance increase, so unless you get a similar deal on one the value is pretty bad on them on the used market.

So for ~$550 (assuming you get $300ish for your 3070), your options are 12GB 3080/3080TI or a 6800XT/7800XT on the red side. IMO not really worth upgrading unless you up your budget for a 3090/4070Ti class GPU.
 
GoodBoy said:
For Cyberpunk you want a card that can do DLSS, Pathtracing, and Ray Reconstruction, if you want to see the newest eyecandy in that game. PT and RR are the newest features.
4070 would get you more ram and allow Frame Generation. But currently, if you enable the preset for Pathtracing and Ray Reconstruction, it disables Frame Gen option. It might be temporary restriction since RR is so new, but I don't know for sure. I suspect at some point all of the options (Raytracing, DLSS, Pathtracing, Frame Generation) will be independently enable/disable-able.
But a 4xxx card is what you really want if you want to see the newest stuff. 3090 and 3080Ti should also be able to do them except for frame gen. It doesn't sound like you need FrameGen since your LCD is only 60Hz, so those might work. But it's highly unlikely to get a 3090 for $600. I think 3080Ti and 4070 are your only real choices. If you can find some new cyberpunk reviews using those cards, you can then best make a decision on which one to go with.
If you can luck out and find a 4070 used, probably the best value between the 2. The 4070 should have a longer life over 3080Ti due to Frame Gen.
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Cyberpunk certainly has quirks with how it's settings can automatically activate/deactivate options you are trying to manually control.

But, unless something broke in the last day or two via a micro update: framegen works with pathtracing and ray reconstruction. It's the only ways it's playable, without a 4090. maybe a 4080 at 1080p.
 
I have a 3070 and I don't plan to sell it, as the right card with wrong memory size, picked up the Intel Arc A770 16Gb new for $319 in three fan setup / 300mm card. it plays games that I already have like Crysis Remastered in 1440p High with vsync 60fps on my 43" TV on my AM4 system, if you just want to play games and not CSGO type fps speed.
 
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T4rd said:
~5% on average performance increase
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This has always kind of confused me. Most of the actual aftermarket 3080 Ti cards show it either matching or outperforming a 3090's stock performance. AFAIK, a 3080 Ti basically is a 3090, but just has the VRAM cut down and maybe a smidgen less cores. Their specs are incredibly similar. The annoying this is it's hard to find aftermarket-to-aftermarket comparisons out in the wild...

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/evga-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-ftw3-ultra/28.html

This is Techpowerup's review of the card I have (I think). But they're comparing it to only stock models of other cards and I don't think the 12GB 3080 is in there to begin with. At 4k the EVGA 3080 Ti outperformed a standard 3080 by about 13% on average.
 
crazycrave said:
I have a 3070 and I don't plan to sell it, as the right card with wrong memory size, picked up the Intel Arc A770 16Gb new for $319 in three fan setup / 300mm card. it plays games that I already have like Crysis Remastered in 1440p High with vsync 60fps on my 43" TV on my AM4 system, if you just want to play games and not CSGO type fps speed.
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Second vote for the A770 16GB
Been using mine for a couple of weeks now and the only issues I've experienced are intermittent crashes with Starfield, every other game and application it runs perfectly, a proper budget option with impressive bang for buck performance.
 
StoleMyOwnCar said:
This has always kind of confused me. Most of the actual aftermarket 3080 Ti cards show it either matching or outperforming a 3090's stock performance. AFAIK, a 3080 Ti basically is a 3090, but just has the VRAM cut down and maybe a smidgen less cores. Their specs are incredibly similar. The annoying this is it's hard to find aftermarket-to-aftermarket comparisons out in the wild...

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/evga-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-ftw3-ultra/28.html

This is Techpowerup's review of the card I have (I think). But they're comparing it to only stock models of other cards and I don't think the 12GB 3080 is in there to begin with. At 4k the EVGA 3080 Ti outperformed a standard 3080 by about 13% on average.
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Correct. The 3080 Ti has 10240 cores to the 3090's 10496, up drastically from the 3080 10gb at 8704. The 3080 Ti has a matching 350W TDP to the 3090. Functionally a 3090 with 12GB instead of 24GB which also impacts how it uses said power.
 
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StoleMyOwnCar said:
This has always kind of confused me. Most of the actual aftermarket 3080 Ti cards show it either matching or outperforming a 3090's stock performance. AFAIK, a 3080 Ti basically is a 3090, but just has the VRAM cut down and maybe a smidgen less cores. Their specs are incredibly similar. The annoying this is it's hard to find aftermarket-to-aftermarket comparisons out in the wild...

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/evga-geforce-rtx-3080-ti-ftw3-ultra/28.html

This is Techpowerup's review of the card I have (I think). But they're comparing it to only stock models of other cards and I don't think the 12GB 3080 is in there to begin with. At 4k the EVGA 3080 Ti outperformed a standard 3080 by about 13% on average.
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Sir Beregond said:
Correct. The 3080 Ti has 10240 cores to the 3090's 10496, up drastically from the 3080 10gb at 8704. The 3080 Ti has a matching 350W TDP to the 3090. Functionally a 3090 with 12GB instead of 24GB which also impacts how it uses said power.
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Note that I'm comparing the 3080Ti to the 12GB 3080 that shares the same 384-bit mem bus as the 3080Ti/3090, just with a few less GPU cores, but still more than the 10GB 3080. Hence the ~5% performance delta I referenced compared to the 10-15% over the 10GB 3080.
 
Dreamerbydesign said:
Honestly considering what your card is going for used, you aren't likely to find anything that would be a cheap upgrade that would be noticeable if you game at 1440/4k. I would hold on to your 3070 for another generation and see where you are.
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OP didn’t respond, but liked this comment. Anyway, short version is I’d say I agree. There are upgrades to be sure vs the 3070, but upgrades that are “budget friendly” and offer a huge leap in performance? No. Far better to wait for 5000 series and 8000 series and see where the mid-range cards land in another year and a half. There will definitely be a much bigger jump then going midrange to midrange only one generation apart.
 
Holding onto the 3070 for now probably makes the most sense. But if I were the OP I'd still keep an eye out for some bargains on a used 3090 or maybe a 3080ti. Assuming his PSU isn't a POS. DLSS3 hype seems to have driven down used prices on 3000 series cards.
 
T4rd said:
Note that I'm comparing the 3080Ti to the 12GB 3080 that shares the same 384-bit mem bus as the 3080Ti/3090, just with a few less GPU cores, but still more than the 10GB 3080. Hence the ~5% performance delta I referenced compared to the 10-15% over the 10GB 3080.
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Kind of late, but even the 12GB 3080 just mostly has improved bus width. The actual core count isn't much higher than a stock 3080. It has like 8970 or something vs 8700ish? The 3080 Ti and the 3090 are both at 10.24 and 10.5k respectively, which is over 11% higher. Its relative performance on Techpowerup is about 9-11% lower (just across all testing results) than the 3080 Ti and the 3090 at stock. That's obviously not necessarily worth the price bump to a 3080 Ti (since the memory amount is the same), but I think it wouldn't close the gap very much on completely GPU limited scenarios even with its smidgen of extra cores.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-3080-12-gb.c3834

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If anything, I think I've read that the 3080 Ti reaches unexpectedly high boost clocks thanks to its memory being cut down from the 3090? But that's sort of just hearsay, and I'm sure factory OC models of the 3080 can compensate anyway.
 
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