Asking for a Mid-Tier GPU Upgrade Help

[wNotyarD]

Sorry for not giving an answer earlier. So, taking 3k5 in installments as your cap and only listing the cheaper version I could find in any of the 3 big retailers here, there's:

RTX 3060 (Colorful BattleAx) @ Terabyte, ~2k5
RX 6650 XT (Sapphire Pulse / PowerColor Red Devil) @ Kabum, ~2k9
RX 6700 (Sapphire Pulse) @ Terabyte, ~3k2
RX 6700 XT (Gigabyte Eagle) Kabum, ~3k3
RTX 3060 Ti (Zotac Twin Edge) @ Pichau, ~3k4

I'd personally get the Gigabyte 6700XT.

PS: as you mentioned you'll pay in installments, I did not list the prices you'd pay up front.
PPS: you could very well check other retailers (and please, feel free to do so), like GK Info or Patoloco, but I guess prices won't deviate too much from my list.

 

[Ruru]

Nothing to complain about 6700 XT, I upgraded from 1080 Ti. Hell, it's even more or less capable in 4K as my monitor is only 60Hz.

Though I bought the cheap Fighter model from Powercolor, but as I play with headphones on, it's not THAT disturbing.

 

[Chrispy_]

I know it's Tom's Hardware, but it's one of the only reviews that tests the 6700 10GB, which is an option I and others have mentioned here:

Personally, with 2650 for a 6700 10GB and a 3060Ti available for only 2999, I think I would pick the 3060Ti or step up to a 6700XT. In other regions the 6700 undercuts the 3060Ti by about 30%, rather than 10%.

Even if you ignore raytracing altogether (and I think you should), DLSS upscaling is simply better supported than FSR at the moment, which might make the 3060Ti more appealing than the 6700XT for a future monitor upgrade...

 

[TheOgre]

Sorry for not giving an answer earlier. So, taking 3k5 in installments as your cap and only listing the cheaper version I could find in any of the 3 big retailers here, there's:

RTX 3060 (Colorful BattleAx) @ Terabyte, ~2k5
RX 6650 XT (Sapphire Pulse / PowerColor Red Devil) @ Kabum, ~2k9
RX 6700 (Sapphire Pulse) @ Terabyte, ~3k2
RX 6700 XT (Gigabyte Eagle) Kabum, ~3k3
RTX 3060 Ti (Zotac Twin Edge) @ Pichau, ~3k4

I'd personally get the Gigabyte 6700XT.

PS: as you mentioned you'll pay in installments, I did not list the prices you'd pay up front.
PPS: you could very well check other retailers (and please, feel free to do so), like GK Info or Patoloco, but I guess prices won't deviate too much from my list.

Don't worry! Thanks for the help you are giving so far.

Well... even tho I'm not planning to jump headlong into the gaming world, I want to keep this PC for a few years (while it's still supporting itself to work fluidly with audio), and I've already made a move with this purpose when I updated the CPU/cooler.

So, thinking in some longevity, I'm almost cutting from my list the 3060 (12GB) and the 6650XT, and sticking with, at least, the 6700 (but more leaned towards the 6700XT or the 3060TI).

In every case, I'll wait 'til 2023 (which is already there), due to the credit card. If I managed to raise some funds to buy it in cash, I'll do it. If not, it'll be in installments.

Nothing to complain about 6700 XT, I upgraded from 1080 Ti. Hell, it's even more or less capable in 4K as my monitor is only 60Hz.

Though I bought the cheap Fighter model from Powercolor, but as I play with headphones on, it's not THAT disturbing.

Glad to know! Positive experiences help!

I know it's Tom's Hardware, but it's one of the only reviews that tests the 6700 10GB, which is an option I and others have mentioned here:

View attachment 276433

Personally, with 2650 for a 6700 10GB and a 3060Ti available for only 2999, I think I would pick the 3060Ti or step up to a 6700XT. In other regions the 6700 undercuts the 3060Ti by about 30%, rather than 10%.

Even if you ignore raytracing altogether (and I think you should), DLSS upscaling is simply better supported than FSR at the moment, which might make the 3060Ti more appealing than the 6700XT for a future monitor upgrade...

Yeah! The 6700 is a bit (OK, not so 'bit') obscure, so it's hard to see comparatives with its concorrents.

But I'm more leaned to get or the 6700XT or the 3060TI.

 

[AusWolf]

Sorry for not giving an answer earlier. So, taking 3k5 in installments as your cap and only listing the cheaper version I could find in any of the 3 big retailers here, there's:

RTX 3060 (Colorful BattleAx) @ Terabyte, ~2k5
RX 6650 XT (Sapphire Pulse / PowerColor Red Devil) @ Kabum, ~2k9
RX 6700 (Sapphire Pulse) @ Terabyte, ~3k2
RX 6700 XT (Gigabyte Eagle) Kabum, ~3k3
RTX 3060 Ti (Zotac Twin Edge) @ Pichau, ~3k4

I'd personally get the Gigabyte 6700XT.

PS: as you mentioned you'll pay in installments, I did not list the prices you'd pay up front.
PPS: you could very well check other retailers (and please, feel free to do so), like GK Info or Patoloco, but I guess prices won't deviate too much from my list.

Out of that stack, I'd pick the 6700 non-XT. The 3060 Ti isn't worth the extra price, imo (DLSS is overrated), and as for the 6700 XT, I don't trust Gigabyte. It's an old way of thinking of mine, and may not have a relation to present-day products, though.

 

[phanbuey]

6700xt all the way - you will be fine with a good 650W PSU no issues. Card only pulls 220 w - your processor sips power too. If you're worried about it just undervolt and you won't lose any performance anyways.

 

[Lei]

(unless I go for the secondary market, but then, the issues are not exactly the price, but the use [or abuse] of the GPU, so I'm avoiding).

I'm ok with used market. U need to search well and there are wonderful guys selling their good stuff at excellent prices. I paid less for my 3090 than @freeagent paid for his 3070ti. I did see no sign of abuse whatsoever.

 

[Dr. Dro]

That 3080 would be oustanding, but I don't think my PSU will handle it (and I just upgraded it during the last BF), so I'm sticking with what the CX650F can support, and my wallet can pay. I think my roof is the 3070 (NVidia) or the 6700 XT (AMD), but the 3070 only in a special situation (a crazy sale).


Yeah! The 6700 goes a little bit further than the 6650 XT, and they're similarly priced. And I saw that ARC A770 (the only A770 I found being sold here), but it's the 8GB version, right? It'd be nice to get the 16GB version, but we don't see that stuff coming here in a regular basis.

I was looking for an alternative to the 6700 XT Red Devil (found at Kabum), due to its relative high power consumption, like another 6700 XT model or even a 3060 TI (the 3070 would be the best fit, but it's a bit higher in price, and I don't plan to look at ML or OLX for used ones), but maybe that 6700 Pulse will fit better in my search. I think it'll play well games at 1080p and even 1440p (I don't plan going to 4K too soon, even because 2K is more than enough to work with audio for me). My only concern with Sapphire GPUs is the shortest warranty time compared to competitors.

Dang! Are you going after a 7900 XTX, then? I don't want to go crazy, especially as I don't play that much.

I agree with everyone, the 3060 Ti, 6700 10 GB and the 6700 XT seem like your best options in this case.

Placa de Video Zotac GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge OC LHR, 8GB, GDDR6, 256-Bit, ZT-A30610H-10MLHR | Pichau at 2879 upfront / 3388 on credit card
Placa de Video Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 6700 PULSE, 10GB, GDDR6, FSR. Ray Tracing, 11321-02-20G (terabyteshop.com.br) 2699 / 3175
Placa de Vídeo Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Eagle, 12GB GDDR6, RGB, Ray Tracing - GV-R67XTEAGLE-12GD | KaBuM! 2799 / 3294

Out of these three I would pick the Gigabyte Eagle as well, same as @wNotyarD.

Yeah, I'm planning on buying an XTX myself, though I've been holding up for the liquid cooled models. I've been with my RTX 3090 for two years now and it's earned its retirement, I need a little more firepower... but the 4090 is too expensive. I can afford one, but I am not willing to spend 14K on a graphics card. The 4080 also has senseless prices in our country, you can find them for 11K or so and at that point if you have the budget, you might as well just spend the rest on a 4090, the performance increase between these two models is worth it.

I... can't lie to you and excuse the moderation for this subjectively and mildly political topic, but from a Brazilian to another, I personally think that if you can, it is prudent, and you should splurge a bit on a graphics card now. Next year will be unpredictable at best with the Lula administration coming up... taxes will certainly rise, and our currency's value is highly likely to erode due to the multiple billion reais "limit breaker" overspending package passed by the new government, so the dollar value and thus GPU prices are certainly going to go significantly up in the medium to long term.

 

[Lei]

@Dr. Dro
I don't know what splurge means, but I think Lula is Cocô.

 

[TheOgre]

I agree with everyone, the 3060 Ti, 6700 10 GB and the 6700 XT seem like your best options in this case.

Placa de Video Zotac GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Twin Edge OC LHR, 8GB, GDDR6, 256-Bit, ZT-A30610H-10MLHR | Pichau at 2879 upfront / 3388 on credit card
Placa de Video Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 6700 PULSE, 10GB, GDDR6, FSR. Ray Tracing, 11321-02-20G (terabyteshop.com.br) 2699 / 3175
Placa de Vídeo Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Eagle, 12GB GDDR6, RGB, Ray Tracing - GV-R67XTEAGLE-12GD | KaBuM! 2799 / 3294

Out of these three I would pick the Gigabyte Eagle as well, same as @wNotyarD.

Yeah, I'm planning on buying an XTX myself, though I've been holding up for the liquid cooled models. I've been with my RTX 3090 for two years now and it's earned its retirement, I need a little more firepower... but the 4090 is too expensive. I can afford one, but I am not willing to spend 14K on a graphics card. The 4080 also has senseless prices in our country, you can find them for 11K or so and at that point if you have the budget, you might as well just spend the rest on a 4090, the performance increase between these two models is worth it.

I... can't lie to you and excuse the moderation for this subjectively and mildly political topic, but from a Brazilian to another, I personally think that if you can, it is prudent, and you should splurge a bit on a graphics card now. Next year will be unpredictable at best with the Lula administration coming up... taxes will certainly rise, and our currency's value is highly likely to erode due to the multiple billion reais "limit breaker" overspending package passed by the new government, so the dollar value and thus GPU prices are certainly going to go significantly up in the medium to long term.

Yeah! But if I decide to get a 6700XT, I'd probably go just a little higher and grab the Red Devil. Nothing against Gigabyte, but I'd prefer not to grab one of their entry-level stuff (Eagle).

Are you needing more firepower than a 3090?? WOW. kkkkkkk Yeah, I totally feel you in this subject. If we can put a little effort and grab something better, I think it's just the way to go, and that's why I'm trying to focus on the best of the pack (3060TI or 6700XT).

And, about the final subject, that's exactly why I decided to look right now instead of waiting a bit longer to decide the next step. Not that I have good or bad expectations with about the government, but every time the power changes from hands, we can't say what will happen next, especially in a third world country, that's already suffering in its economy due to everything related to the pandemic (and not only it).

 

[Dr. Dro]

@Dr. Dro
I don't know what splurge means, but I think Lula is Cocô.

It means "spend more"

Yeah! But if I decide to get a 6700XT, I'd probably go just a little higher and grab the Red Devil. Nothing against Gigabyte, but I'd prefer not to grab one of their entry-level stuff (Eagle).

Are you needing more firepower than a 3090?? WOW. kkkkkkk Yeah, I totally feel you in this subject. If we can put a little effort and grab something better, I think it's just the way to go, and that's why I'm trying to focus on the best of the pack (3060TI or 6700XT).

And, about the final subject, that's exactly why I decided to look right now instead of waiting a bit longer to decide the next step. Not that I have good or bad expectations with about the government, but every time the power changes from hands, we can't say what will happen next, especially in a third world country, that's already suffering in its economy due to everything related to the pandemic (and not only it).

Sounds like a plan, man. That Red Devil 6700 XT is a mighty fine card. There's also a Gigabyte Vision (triple-fan) 3060 Ti on Pichau for the same price, so you'd probably be down to these two. DLSS may help in AAA games in the future, but they've gated the new frame generation feature behind the 40 series, not even 3090 owners can run it, which is super lame... on the 6700 XT you'd be limited to FSR, and raytracing would be a little slower. On the flip side, it's a little faster at traditional raster graphics and has more video memory, which may be useful to you.

The video encoder on the 3060 Ti is much better than the one on the 6700 XT, so if you like to record gameplays and stream on Twitch, then the 3060 Ti may very well win by default. If those are of no concern, Red Devil 6700 XT will make you a very happy guy indeed.

 

[pavle]

Just buy the RX 6700 non-XT then, it's the most worth you get for your money and it still has over 8GB of VRAM.

 

[Chrispy_]

Just buy the RX 6700 non-XT then, it's the most worth you get for your money and it still has over 8GB of VRAM.

Terrible value in Brazil, it's only 3% cheaper than the XT over there...

 

[Ruru]

6700 XT even trades blows with 3070 in some games. Though this is weak in raytracing, it didn't matter for me.

 

[Sithaer]

I was also torn between a 6700 XT and a 3060 Ti ~2 months ago, both card for the same price since I bought second hand and the seller had both in good condition.
For my use case and interest/curiosity the 3060 Ti won my decision but I also only do casual gaming on my PC and nothing work related.

DLSS and the better ray tracing was a selling point to me at this time, I just wanted to get more for my money if I'm paying the same ammount and wanted to toy around with those features. 'on the 6700XT side I would get a slightly better raster performance and 12 GB Vram but since I don't plan on upgrading my display resolution 8 should be fine for a while'
Tho If you are going for a 1440p display RT can be more or less ignored on those cards anyway.

Like the others said, you really can't go wrong with a 6700/6700XT/3060 Ti they are all solid cards that should do the job just fine.

 

[Ruru]

I was also torn between a 6700 XT and a 3060 Ti ~2 months ago, both card for the same price since I bought second hand and the seller had both in good condition.
For my use case and interest/curiosity the 3060 Ti won my decision but I also only do casual gaming on my PC and nothing work related.

DLSS and the better ray tracing was a selling point to me at this time, I just wanted to get more for my money if I'm paying the same ammount and wanted to toy around with those features. 'on the 6700XT side I would get a slightly better raster performance and 12 GB Vram but since I don't plan on upgrading my display resolution 8 should be fine for a while'
Tho If you are going for a 1440p display RT can be more or less ignored on those cards anyway.

Like the others said, you really can't go wrong with a 6700/6700XT/3060 Ti they are all solid cards that should do the job just fine.

I get your point there. Personally I didn't want to downgrade my VRAM from 11GB to 8GB if I would've got a 3060 Ti (or an used 3070) as I ordered my 4K screen the same day.

 

[Chrispy_]

I get your point there. Personally I didn't want to downgrade my VRAM from 11GB to 8GB if I would've got a 3060 Ti (or an used 3070) as I ordered my 4K screen the same day.

I find even my 3070 stuggles to raytrace at anything approaching reasonable framerates. DXR games are either "the raytracing is so minimal that anything can run it" or "OMFG raytracing tanks performance!"

Realistically, I think it's safe to ignore raytracing until you get to a 3080. The 3070 is borderline at 1080p60, with some help from DLSS in those raytracing-heavy games, but the same card can also do 1440p at much higher framerates and higher settings with raytracing off, so that's how I played BF:V, CP2077, Control, The Riftbreaker, and The Ascent - all of which have significant 50% or more performance hits to turn it on.

Without Raytracing:
RX 6600 > RTX 3060 for less money
RX 6700 ~ 3060Ti for less money
RX 6700XT ~ 3070 for a lot less money
RX 6800XT >> 3070Ti for about the same money

Beyond this, you are spending enough money that it gets hard to ignore raytracing because options cost what a 3080 does, and that will do a half-decent job of it.

 

[Sithaer]

I find even my 3070 stuggles to raytrace at anything approaching reasonable framerates. DXR games are either "the raytracing is so minimal that anything can run it" or "OMFG raytracing tanks performance!"

Realistically, I think it's safe to ignore raytracing until you get to a 3080. The 3070 is borderline at 1080p60, with some help from DLSS in those raytracing-heavy games, but the same card can also do 1440p at much higher framerates and higher settings with raytracing off, so that's how I played BF:V, CP2077, Control, The Riftbreaker, and The Ascent - all of which have significant 50% or more performance hits to turn it on.

Without Raytracing:
RX 6600 > RTX 3060 for less money
RX 6700 ~ 3060Ti for less money
RX 6700XT ~ 3070 for a lot less money
RX 6800XT >> 3070Ti for about the same money

Beyond this, you are spending enough money that it gets hard to ignore raytracing because options cost what a 3080 does, and that will do a half-decent job of it.

I'm running a 2560x1080 75Hz monitor and I have no plans on jumping to a higher res.
At this res RT is doable with DLSS on Quality which is pretty much the same as native and in some games I even prefer the DLSS image vs native TAA tho I do understand that this is very subjective but this is what my eyes are telling me so I really don't mind using it.
Used DLSS Quality in Plague Tale Requiem too and that had no RT at relase and still doesn't but with native settings some of the trees/vegetation had a weird flickering issue which was fixed with DLSS and I couldn't tell any difference for the worse not to mention it boosted my average FPS by nearly 20 in overal so it was a clear win for me.

Finished both DLC of Control maxed out with RT and DLSS and it looked great, currently playing Cyberpunk with RT reflections and lights on ultra again with DLSS on Quality and it looks good to me.
Tried some other RT titles too and they were enjoyable for me except for Witcher 3 DX 12/RT which is simply a mess and I would rather play the DX 11 maxed out version.

I'm not trying to sell the DLSS tech but it is good especially if its properly implemented, I only realized this once I had a RT card myself and tested it on my own display and I simply like it and even if there are some negative side effects in some games the pros still outweight the cons imo and most of the cons are hardly noticeable during actual gameplay when you are not focusing on stand still image comparisons.

I don't upgrade GPU's often so having an extra option for a useable upscaler was a selling point for me in case a game doesn't support FSR.
RT I will keep using as long as I can manage at least 45-50 FPS on average with DLSS Quality, if I can't or it turns the game into a stuttery mess then I will disable RT ofc like I would in Witcher 3's update.

 

[68Olds]

@TheOgre if you decide to go with the 3060, get the 12GB model. There is a new 3060 8GB refresh model that is 17% slower than the older model.

There is also a refresh of the 3060 Ti GDDR6 8GB. The new version is the 3060 Ti GDDR6X 8GB and should be a little faster than the original.

I don't know if either of the refresh versions are available yet, but they are coming at some point.

 

[Dr. Dro]

@TheOgre if you decide to go with the 3060, get the 12GB model. There is a new 3060 8GB refresh model that is 17% slower than the older model.

There is also a refresh of the 3060 Ti GDDR6 8GB. The new version is the 3060 Ti GDDR6X 8GB and should be a little faster than the original.

I don't know if either of the refresh versions are available yet, but they are coming at some point.

The GDDR6X 3060 Ti's haven't shown up around here just yet.

I think the highest value / perf ratio GPU currently widely available on the Brazilian market is the TU104-based EVGA RTX 2060 KO when it's going for around 1,6k BRL. But that's a budget solution now

 

[Chrispy_]

I'm running a 2560x1080 75Hz monitor and I have no plans on jumping to a higher res.
At this res RT is doable with DLSS on Quality which is pretty much the same as native and in some games I even prefer the DLSS image vs native TAA tho I do understand that this is very subjective but this is what my eyes are telling me so I really don't mind using it.
Used DLSS Quality in Plague Tale Requiem too and that had no RT at relase and still doesn't but with native settings some of the trees/vegetation had a weird flickering issue which was fixed with DLSS and I couldn't tell any difference for the worse not to mention it boosted my average FPS by nearly 20 in overal so it was a clear win for me.

Finished both DLC of Control maxed out with RT and DLSS and it looked great, currently playing Cyberpunk with RT reflections and lights on ultra again with DLSS on Quality and it looks good to me.
Tried some other RT titles too and they were enjoyable for me except for Witcher 3 DX 12/RT which is simply a mess and I would rather play the DX 11 maxed out version.

I'm not trying to sell the DLSS tech but it is good especially if its properly implemented, I only realized this once I had a RT card myself and tested it on my own display and I simply like it and even if there are some negative side effects in some games the pros still outweight the cons imo and most of the cons are hardly noticeable during actual gameplay when you are not focusing on stand still image comparisons.

I don't upgrade GPU's often so having an extra option for a useable upscaler was a selling point for me in case a game doesn't support FSR.
RT I will keep using as long as I can manage at least 45-50 FPS on average with DLSS Quality, if I can't or it turns the game into a stuttery mess then I will disable RT ofc like I would in Witcher 3's update.

Yeah, at 1080p 75Hz, you likely have GPU performance going to waste with a 3060Ti, so it's a no-brainer to turn on RTX. Sure, you have to use DLSS but DLSS quality seems okay to my eyes.
I'm on a 1440p240 display, so dropping back to 50-60fps with DLSS blur looks so much worse than crisp, native 1440p and 80-90fps in games like CP2077. It's not that 50 fps is unplayable, it's just quite a sacrifice to make when your display can do so much more.

 

[Sithaer]

Yeah, at 1080p 75Hz, you likely have GPU performance going to waste with a 3060Ti, so it's a no-brainer to turn on RTX. Sure, you have to use DLSS but DLSS quality seems okay to my eyes.
I'm on a 1440p240 display, so dropping back to 50-60fps with DLSS blur looks so much worse than crisp, native 1440p and 80-90fps in games like CP2077. It's not that 50 fps is unplayable, it's just quite a sacrifice to make when your display can do so much more.

Yup if I only use raster settings then I have GPU power to spare in most current gen games at this res, 1080p Ultrawide is more demanding than standard 1080p but still not as much as 1440p more like an in between from what I noticed/tested over the years. 'I have this monitor since 2019'
Like I said I agree that at 1440p or higher I wouldn't bother with RT either with this level of hardware so thats a given.
And yes on a 75Hz display playing at 50 fps or 60-75 really makes no difference to me so I pick the better graphics as long as my GPU is capable of pushing that at least.

I get your point there. Personally I didn't want to downgrade my VRAM from 11GB to 8GB if I would've got a 3060 Ti (or an used 3070) as I ordered my 4K screen the same day.

Same about this, with a 4k display thats a very understandable decision and probably the right one to make.

 

[TheOgre]

Terrible value in Brazil, it's only 3% cheaper than the XT over there...

This! But I found a MSI Ventus 6750 XT not much expensive than the 6700 XT. However, their performance differences seem to be almost negligible.

I was also torn between a 6700 XT and a 3060 Ti ~2 months ago, both card for the same price since I bought second hand and the seller had both in good condition.
For my use case and interest/curiosity the 3060 Ti won my decision but I also only do casual gaming on my PC and nothing work related.

DLSS and the better ray tracing was a selling point to me at this time, I just wanted to get more for my money if I'm paying the same ammount and wanted to toy around with those features. 'on the 6700XT side I would get a slightly better raster performance and 12 GB Vram but since I don't plan on upgrading my display resolution 8 should be fine for a while'
Tho If you are going for a 1440p display RT can be more or less ignored on those cards anyway.

Like the others said, you really can't go wrong with a 6700/6700XT/3060 Ti they are all solid cards that should do the job just fine.

I find even my 3070 stuggles to raytrace at anything approaching reasonable framerates. DXR games are either "the raytracing is so minimal that anything can run it" or "OMFG raytracing tanks performance!"

Realistically, I think it's safe to ignore raytracing until you get to a 3080. The 3070 is borderline at 1080p60, with some help from DLSS in those raytracing-heavy games, but the same card can also do 1440p at much higher framerates and higher settings with raytracing off, so that's how I played BF:V, CP2077, Control, The Riftbreaker, and The Ascent - all of which have significant 50% or more performance hits to turn it on.

Without Raytracing:
RX 6600 > RTX 3060 for less money
RX 6700 ~ 3060Ti for less money
RX 6700XT ~ 3070 for a lot less money
RX 6800XT >> 3070Ti for about the same money

Beyond this, you are spending enough money that it gets hard to ignore raytracing because options cost what a 3080 does, and that will do a half-decent job of it.

If I go to the second market, I'll definitely get much better deals (found some used Asus 3070 around the price of the 6700 new). However, I'm not comfortable buying used GPUs right now, especially through internet, without having a way to test previously. Regarding DLSS, it may be a selling point to me, but I don't care that much for ray tracing, I prefer good graphs with a fluid playability. OK, ray tracing will improve even more the imersion in the game, but it's something I can live without.

I'm running a 2560x1080 75Hz monitor and I have no plans on jumping to a higher res.
At this res RT is doable with DLSS on Quality which is pretty much the same as native and in some games I even prefer the DLSS image vs native TAA tho I do understand that this is very subjective but this is what my eyes are telling me so I really don't mind using it.
Used DLSS Quality in Plague Tale Requiem too and that had no RT at relase and still doesn't but with native settings some of the trees/vegetation had a weird flickering issue which was fixed with DLSS and I couldn't tell any difference for the worse not to mention it boosted my average FPS by nearly 20 in overal so it was a clear win for me.

Finished both DLC of Control maxed out with RT and DLSS and it looked great, currently playing Cyberpunk with RT reflections and lights on ultra again with DLSS on Quality and it looks good to me.
Tried some other RT titles too and they were enjoyable for me except for Witcher 3 DX 12/RT which is simply a mess and I would rather play the DX 11 maxed out version.

I'm not trying to sell the DLSS tech but it is good especially if its properly implemented, I only realized this once I had a RT card myself and tested it on my own display and I simply like it and even if there are some negative side effects in some games the pros still outweight the cons imo and most of the cons are hardly noticeable during actual gameplay when you are not focusing on stand still image comparisons.

I don't upgrade GPU's often so having an extra option for a useable upscaler was a selling point for me in case a game doesn't support FSR.
RT I will keep using as long as I can manage at least 45-50 FPS on average with DLSS Quality, if I can't or it turns the game into a stuttery mess then I will disable RT ofc like I would in Witcher 3's update.

I plan to go higher on screen size and resolution (from 21" to 27" and from 1080p to 1440p), but thinking about it more for working with audio, as more resolution helps seeing more tracks and more plugins in the screen, helping the job, and doind that with a 21" screen is a PITA. So, good graphs at 1440p will be a really appreciated, but as I already said, ray tracing is not a dealbreaker.

@TheOgre if you decide to go with the 3060, get the 12GB model. There is a new 3060 8GB refresh model that is 17% slower than the older model.

There is also a refresh of the 3060 Ti GDDR6 8GB. The new version is the 3060 Ti GDDR6X 8GB and should be a little faster than the original.

I don't know if either of the refresh versions are available yet, but they are coming at some point.

Yeah, I'm aware of the low-memory 3060s, but I'm not planning going lower than the RX 6700 or 3060 TI anymore. I think the cheapest GPU in my list right now is the Radeon Pulse RX 6700 I found here.

The GDDR6X 3060 Ti's haven't shown up around here just yet.

I think the highest value / perf ratio GPU currently widely available on the Brazilian market is the TU104-based EVGA RTX 2060 KO when it's going for around 1,6k BRL. But that's a budget solution now

Yeah! Totally budget solution, but I think it isn't so future proof anymore (thinking at least in a couple of years ahead).

-------------------------------

Well, tomorrow probably will be the day I'll define what the next move will be, but dang! I didn't pay attention before, but fortunately I took a closer look at the specs of the Red Devil 6700 XT, and it has the exactly same size of the max allowed GPU length my case can handle, which could be a trouble due to the weight of the board. And the GPU support I already have here much probably will not fit in the case together with the GPU.

What do you guys do regarding it? Do you use a support, or maybe those vertical-mount adapters?

 

[Chrispy_]

I took a closer look at the specs of the Red Devil 6700 XT, and it has the exactly same size of the max allowed GPU length my case can handle, which could be a trouble due to the weight of the board. And the GPU support I already have here much probably will not fit in the case together with the GPU.

What do you guys do regarding it? Do you use a support, or maybe those vertical-mount adapters?

My 3070 is comically massive for a 220W card - I made a post for the opposite corner that sits on the PSU shroud of my case. It's just a 2" section of black PVC pipe I found at work with a magnet hot-glued into the base to keep it in place.

Your Gadit X RGB case could be a problem. They're sold as Kolink brand over here and having just measured one myself they are 325mm from IO shield to front fan frame, which means it will work if the fan is on the outside of the frame (I mount them to the inside of the Kolink cases). You will otherwise have to remove the middle intake fan of your case to fit the Red Devil. Normally I'd say this is a terrible idea but the 6700XT doesn't use that much power and it's not an overly tall card so there's still plenty of room for air to flow around it in your case.

 

[TheOgre]

My 3070 is comically massive for a 220W card - I made a post for the opposite corner that sits on the PSU shroud of my case. It's just a 2" section of black PVC pipe I found at work with a magnet hot-glued into the base to keep it in place.

Your Gadit X RGB case could be a problem. They're sold as Kolink brand over here and having just measured one myself they are 325mm from IO shield to front fan frame, which means it will work if the fan is on the outside of the frame (I mount them to the inside of the Kolink cases). You will otherwise have to remove the middle intake fan of your case to fit the Red Devil. Normally I'd say this is a terrible idea but the 6700XT doesn't use that much power and it's not an overly tall card so there's still plenty of room for air to flow around it in your case.

Yesterday I made a rough measure, only to see if the specs where right (320mm being max acceptable length), but I'll try to remeasure it here more precisely, or will need to take out the Red Devil from my list, and choose between the Sapphire Pulse 6700, the MSI Ventus 6750XT or the PNY XLR8 3060TI.

Ah! And I mounted the fans to the inside of the case too.