GPU Upgrade to AMD

Martin Stone · 6 Dec 2020 at 10:46

My first post here.

A bit of a long story but a couple of years ago I built a new gaming PC. I wanted a 4k monitor and went for an ASUS MG28UQ. On the GPU side I have almost always stuck with Nvidia so went with the ASUS GeForce GTX 1070. I realised this monitor was not G-Sync compatible but went ahead anyway, thinking I don't need to use G-Sync.

Anyway, I have always had a problem when playing games in 4K whereby I can be playing for hours and then the PC would suddenly start crashing. It happened again yesterday. I was playing "Per Aspera" and have racked up 12 hours playing time since Thursday and then it crashed. It will now keep crashing unless I turn the resolution down to 1880p or lower. The same with many games over the last two years.

So I'm thinking it's about time I changed the GPU as changing the monitor to a G-Sync 4k will be quite expensive. So I'm going to bite the bullet & buy an AMD GPU...but which one? I know very little about performance differences between Nvidia & AMD.

Can someone advise me an equivalent AMD to my GTX 1070 or something a bit better please up to £600.

Zernath · 6 Dec 2020 at 10:58

Welcome to the forum!

Now is a very bad time to upgrade, as there are severe stock shortages across the board, not to mention massively inflated prices.

That being said, I would recommend either an RX 5700 XT or an RX 6800, whichever is available and within your budget. I currently have the former powering a 4K monitor.

fs123 · 6 Dec 2020 at 11:07

For 4K you will need at least an RX 6800 or 6800XT. The monitor you have has a freesync range of 40Hz-60HZ according to the Asus website which is quite limited but would be ok if the gpu stays within the range. The 5700XT can also manage most games in that fps range if you turn some details down.

If you went for another monitor I'd recommend a decent 1440P 165Hz Freesync/Gsync compatible screen such as the LG 27GL850 or Dell S2621DGF. A very nice experience compared to the old 60Hz.

Martin Stone · 6 Dec 2020 at 14:00

Thank you very much for the advice guys. At least I know what to get, but I think I'll wait until prices stabilise again.

Zernath · 6 Dec 2020 at 14:07

Martin Stone said:
Thank you very much for the advice guys. At least I know what to get, but I think I'll wait until prices stabilise again.

I don't think that will be for a very long time, if ever. Prices didn't stabilise after the mining craze ended, which is how we've arrived at £600+ GPUs, an almost unheard of price - outside of professional cards - before 2017. VAT could well rise next year too, given the insane deficit our country is now facing.

If you find something within your budget, and it's in stock, then I wouldn't wait.

Martin Stone · 7 Dec 2020 at 09:37

Yes I remember the mining thing, I paid over-the-odds for my 1070 back then. So looks like, although there is a price hike, I don't have much choice if I want to upgrade. Que sera sera.

Zernath · 7 Dec 2020 at 10:45

Martin Stone said:
Yes I remember the mining thing, I paid over-the-odds for my 1070 back then. So looks like, although there is a price hike, I don't have much choice if I want to upgrade. Que sera sera.

Pretty much. There's no guarantee next year will be any better, unfortunately.

Martin Stone · 7 Dec 2020 at 10:49

OK, thanks for the heads-up.

Martin Stone · 7 Dec 2020 at 11:59

I've just been browsing for a 6800 series and no one has them.

Zernath · 7 Dec 2020 at 13:02

Martin Stone said:
I've just been browsing for a 6800 series and no one has them.

No one has anything at the moment, demand has apparently outstripped supply. Frankly, I still have a hard time believing that this many people have taken up PC gaming.

Martin Stone · 9 Dec 2020 at 19:09

So I've decided to upgrade my monitor instead and stick with my 1070 for now. Do you think this monitor will work with my GPU...
Samsung Odyssey G7 Curved Gaming Monitor, 27 Inch.

Edit: I changed my mind and bought the LG 27GL850. I'll upgrade my GPU in a few months time.

Martin Stone · 27 Apr 2024 at 11:59

It's been a while and I am still using the GTX 1070. I haven't really been keeping up with progress on video cards but I've decided I want to upgrade my GPU now. I would like an NVidia card and I want to spend up to £400. There are so many new GPUs out there, I just want to get the best for the money. Any suggestions?

JediFragger · 27 Apr 2024 at 12:08

Martin Stone said:
I just want to get the best for the money.

Best value for Nvidia atm is the 4070 Super, all the ones below represent pretty poor value for money tbh (don't get an 8GB card). My advice is to save a little more, another month or 3 isn't going to hurt too much.

bakes0310 · 27 Apr 2024 at 16:32

JediFragger said:
Best value for Nvidia atm is the 4070 Super, all the ones below represent pretty poor value for money tbh (don't get an 8GB card). My advice is to save a little more, another month or 3 isn't going to hurt too much.

Ask him what his spec is as it would be interesting to know as I'm wondering if that's been a few years aswell.

Dg834man · 27 Apr 2024 at 16:50

JediFragger said:
Least worse value for Nvidia atm is the 4070 Super.

Fixed that for you.

fs123 · 28 Apr 2024 at 13:58

Martin Stone said:
It's been a while and I am still using the GTX 1070. I haven't really been keeping up with progress on video cards but I've decided I want to upgrade my GPU now. I would like an NVidia card and I want to spend up to £400. There are so many new GPUs out there, I just want to get the best for the money. Any suggestions?

For around £400 it's 4060Ti vs 7700XT and the AMD card wins.

If you can stretch to around £480 then it's the 7800XT 16GB which demolishes the 4060Ti and also beats the more expensive 4070 (standard version).

If you can spend around £530 then it's still going to be a 4070(standard) vs the AMD 7900GRE and the 7900GRE is around 15% faster than the 7800XT.

Basically in the sub £550 segments, AMD is the winner.
You will have to spend extra if you want something that matches a £480 7800XT and that would be a 4070Super at over £600.

welshrat · 29 Apr 2024 at 15:05

Honestly the 7900GRE has to be considered here, its a cracking card, can be had for around £550 and is close to a 7900XT when overclocked

Marine-RX179 · 29 Apr 2024 at 17:08

fs123 said:
For around £400 it's 4060Ti vs 7700XT and the AMD card wins.

If you can stretch to around £480 then it's the 7800XT 16GB which demolishes the 4060Ti and also beats the more expensive 4070 (standard version).

If you can spend around £530 then it's still going to be a 4070(standard) vs the AMD 7900GRE and the 7900GRE is around 15% faster than the 7800XT.

Basically in the sub £550 segments, AMD is the winner.
You will have to spend extra if you want something that matches a £480 7800XT and that would be a 4070Super at over £600.

A mate of mine was visiting Hong Kong for holiday last month and he managed to bag a brand new Sapphire 7700XT Pulse for just £335.

In the current god awful overpriced and underperforming graphic card market climax that was an absolute steal!!

The card is more than good enough for him as he is only using a Ultrawide 3440x1440 75Hz monitor.

fs123 · 29 Apr 2024 at 17:49

welshrat said:
Honestly the 7900GRE has to be considered here, its a cracking card, can be had for around £550 and is close to a 7900XT when overclocked

Cheapest is £530 on OCUK and various other places. The best card under £600 that comes close to a 7900XT when overclocked.

Martin Stone · 1 May 2024 at 12:08

For some reason I'm not getting notification emails.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Having thought about it further I think it's about time to splash the cash and update my whole rig. I built my present rig about 7 years ago & I think my current CPU may be a bottleneck if I upgrade just my GPU.

I have now put my current specs in my sig.