Which low - mid tier GPU's are better right now?

[Lew Zealand]

5700XT will blow away 6600 non XT, lol


for "nvidia features" it's worth the price when they work. for "features" you need the 3060, or, "1660 super analog with dlss" - 3050 (but beware, original 8 gb version, there is crap with 6 gb which is more cheaper it's worse than 1650 lol)

The 6GB 3050 is way faster than the 1650 and gets all the regular RTX features like DLSS. The 1650 is slower than the 6500 XT which is the very bottom of this chart:

 

[SchumannFrequency]

Oh sure not a priority but most certainly 'nice to have'. Which means, there is a demand, and people dó care about it.

That's not quite what it means. Suppose you gift a ring to a thousand men in the USA.
You give them a choice between two items:
A plastic ring with a plastic diamond
A platinum ring with a diamond of the highest carat content
No man in the USA is going to prefer the plastic ring with a plastic diamond. However of those thousand men there is going to be virtually no one who would ever have bought a ring for himself.

This also nicely indicates the state of the GPU market and explains why the top 9 GPU do not have a single high end card.
Not because no one can afford it, in my country more than 80 percent can easily afford the most expensive GPU.
But there are other things people prefer to spend money on. The following list are all things people in my country would rather spend money on than a GPU, none of these things are vital.

Insanely expensive cars.
Dog or cat food and their toys
Clothing, no normal amounts of clothing
Very expensive airco for 4 hot summer days per year
Smartphones more expensive than thousand EUR and replaced by new models ever three years, not used for gaming
Trips to the other side of the world every few weeks
Ski or snowboard gear and lessons in the local artificial ski piste
Expensive alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis
Horse riding, and many people have horses
Jewelry
Expensive guitar, piano, drum, etc
Bouncy castles costing 250 EUR for a single day
Very expensive hi-fi gear
Expensive TV, refrigerator, washing mashine, dishwasher, automatic expensive vacuum cleaner
Almost everyone I know has minimun an expensive watch over 250 EUR
Usually they don't bother when they buy their furniture, and then they are faced daily with the fact that they didn't choose nice furniture. This means frequent a new kitchen and change of living room furniture
Wireless bluetooth speakers costing more than 400 EUR
Sailing boats or motorized boats
Chainsaws from 400 EUR
High amounts of money going to national lottery and scratch bonds
Camera surveillance on all sides of houses that look so poor that a thief will never break into them
..
I can find hundreds of items that are not essential in a person's life but to which gigantic amounts of money are given.

 

[Lew Zealand]

My monitor supports it, but I still don't care for more. My point is that 60 FPS isn't necessarily inferior to 100 or 140, depending on one's perception and play style.

I think the point where higher FPS no longer matters (for most persons) is around 80 FPS.
I'm pretty sure this is easily demonstrated that most gamers are not going to be able to tell in a blind test what the 80 fps monitor is and what the 240 fps monitor is.

"Most" gamers do not represent gaming enthusiasts which many here are. That said I also use a 144 Hz monitor and mostly play at 60 fps because it doesn't make a huge difference in most games. 80 fps is nicer in some games but I also like a cooler room in the summer so generally it's 60.

However I have a 144 fps monitor for a reason and that's esports. Games like Rocket League benefit greatly from 144fps though when I connect a second PC to the 100fps-limited HDMI inputs, it's not much worse than 144. But the benefit from 60fps to even 100 is huge and very much appreciated.

For me, refresh rate is a key thing that's game-type dependent. Luckily loads of modest GPUs like the 2060 Super and 6600 XT can run 2022 and earlier "AAA" games at 60 fps with optimized settings and esports at 144 fps at competitive settings.

 

[AleXXX666]

The 6GB 3050 is way faster than the 1650 and gets all the regular RTX features like DLSS. The 1650 is slower than the 6500 XT which is the very bottom of this chart:

but remember to put *500XT to PCI-E 4.0, otherwise it will be trash. Point to buy pricier CPU+MB combo for "el-cheapo" GPU?

Whilst consuming twice the power and being one generation closer to EoS.

I would seriously have considered an RTX 3070 or 3060 Ti with G6X. If DLSS and RT don't mean crap to you (and you MEAN it) you might find your happiness with an RX 6800 series GPU which are also going cheap lately (at least in Russia). 6700 XT is overrated as of now.

why you care about power? Do you still have 300-350W PSU from 2000? Or you will run it 24/7 so powerbill is considered?

 

[Macro Device]

why you care about power?

I personally couldn't give a rat's patoot with my kW PSU, full ATX case, and almost free electricity.

However, not everyone is so lucky. OP could be from Denmark where every kW counts. OP could be a fan of tiny PCs. Letting them know is no crime.

 

[bug]

I personally couldn't give a rat's patoot with my kW PSU, full ATX case, and almost free electricity.

However, not everyone is so lucky. OP could be from Denmark where every kW counts. OP could be a fan of tiny PCs. Letting them know is no crime.

Personally, I go for lower TDP whenever possible not because of electricity cost, but because it's easier to cool, thus quieter. Of course, you have to consider individual cooling solutions, but as a rule of thumb, it holds up pretty well.

 

[Macro Device]

quieter

Once again, personal preferences. I enjoy loud systems. That's why I buy whatever fits my budget and gets the most FPS in my tasks. Fans must blow, y'know.

(not that I have neighbours or roommates who care about fan noise)

 

[Kapone33]

We really have been treated badly by the entire GPU ecosystem. PC Gaming is a hobby and as such should have compelling cards for people just getting in or not as serious as enthusiasts like us. It is not like the very first card I bought GTS 450 was bad for $79 but double the VRAM in the 6800 for $99 was cool. Then I got a reference edition 7950 GB for $199 and the rabbit hole was open. In this space the 7600XT should be the value king but the distributors have jacked that card into premium space. The issue with that is that is actually mid tier in this era. The only card that seems to have value in this is indeed the 6600 or 3050 8GB but those will only be relevant for a while longer.

 

[bug]

Once again, personal preferences. I enjoy loud systems. That's why I buy whatever fits my budget and gets the most FPS in my tasks. Fans must blow, y'know.

(not that I have neighbours or roommates who care about fan noise)

I still listen to music on my PC from time to time. Load fans would make that mush less enjoyable.
But like you said, different needs.

 

[BlaezaLite]

Don't care about fan noise as I always use a headset.

My RX7900 GRE, is that mid tier or upper? I'd recommend it regardless. Forza 165hz restricted to 60 fps everything maxed apart from RT on medium. COD or Xdefiant 165FPS limited maxed.

 

[bug]

Don't care about fan noise as I always use a headset.

Studio artists use headsets, too. Yet they still mind the ambient. Weird, eh?

 

[BlaezaLite]

Studio artists use headsets, too. Yet they still mind the ambient. Weird, eh?

Turn it up is my answer to that. I suppose if you are THAT kind of audiophile or artist, that is what you are used to.

 

[GhostRyder]

Hey everyone, I've been looking into upgrading my GPU recently, originally I wanted a 3060 but I decided that the price at the moment is a bit more than what I might want to spend and it's also probably just not necessary for the games I play (Mainly Fortnite).

So I then started looking at a 1660 Super but I've found that a 5700XT is cheaper. I was wondering if there was any other GPU that's good for a price of around 200 dollars (Or any reputable refurbished/used places to get a GPU) and if anybody has input on a 1660 super vs 5700XT. I know 5700XT on pure speed is faster but are Nvidias features worth the more expensive price?

Where are you buying from? That will make a difference in what can be suggested. Of the two options I would say 5700 XT.

But for instance, if you can buy off newegg in NA, there is this RTX 3060 open box deal that is $219 and a pretty darn good deal with great performance!
Open Box: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Video Card RTX 3060 AERO ITX 12G OC - Newegg.com

 

[Lew Zealand]

but remember to put *500XT to PCI-E 4.0, otherwise it will be trash. Point to buy pricier CPU+MB combo for "el-cheapo" GPU?

That is irrelevant. You were comparing the 3050 6GB and saying it was slower than the 1650. The 3050 6GB is clearly far faster than the 1650 using the example given.

 

[Chrispy_]

I'll read the rest of the thread when I get a minute, but right now the best new entry-level GPU is the RX 6600 8GB by a country mile. It's completely uncontested and dominates performance/$ in the under-$200 segment.

Ignore raytracing or DLSS at this tier because you're talking 1080p gaming and nothing at this tier is powerful enough for heavy RT, nor does DLSS look any good at 1080p. Stick to native and stick to AMD to get more horsepower for your money.

RX 5700XT isn't a terrible option on the used market but soooooo many of them are abused ex-mining cards. You're better off looking for a used RX 6700XT, since RDNA2 wasn't really profitable for mining, and therefore unlikely to have been abused in a warehouse-sized mining facility and then power-washed with a hose at some point!

===================================
EDIT

OK, I'm all caught up. This is my take on suggestions:

RX 500-series; avoid - they're dated, slow, power-hungry by modern standards, and on extended support drivers that get no game updates or fixes.
RX 5000-series; decent value but also power-hungry, missing features, and a risky buy if you're trying to avoid a remanufactured or abused ex-mining card.
RX 6600-series is fantastic used or new, but don't overspend for 8GB, which is why the 6600 wins here.
RX 6700-series is great on the used market as it's superior all-round to the 3060 12GB and even matches it's pitiful, near-useless raytracing 'capabilities', not that it's relevant.
GTX 10-series; avoid - they're dated, slow, power-hungry by modern standards, and drivers are in Nvidia's maintenance mode (ie, ignored now. Security hotfixes only!)
20-series; avoid based on high used pricing for largely 8GB or 6GB cards, low performance/$ and the raytracing performance of this 1st gen RTX is crap.
30-series; The entire lineup is shit now with the exception of the 12GB 3060. Anything slower is really slow, anything faster is too expensive for just 8GB VRAM in 2024.
40-series; Nvidia don't care about anything under $300, and the whole lineup is garbage until you get to the 4070 at a bare minimum.
Intel ARC - really hard to recommend unless you like tinkering with config files to get games working. Abysmal performance in legacy games due to emulation of DX11 and lower features.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

The better question is what low end gpus are the least crap..... The midrange starts at around $400 and I'd argue $500 in 2024.

Under $200 I'd go 6600

If you can find a used 6700XT/6750XT for a good price like what was said in the above post I'd do that it's probably even worth saving up for as it will have significantly more legs than the majority of the 200 usd ish crap new/used.

 

[Lew Zealand]

The better question is what low end gpus are the least crap..... The midrange starts at around $400 and I'd argue $500 in 2024.

Under $200 I'd go 6600

If you can find a used 6700XT/6750XT for a good price like what was said in the above post I'd do that it's probably even worth saving up for as it will have significantly more legs than the majority of the 200 usd ish crap new/used.

At the really low end the 5600 XT is king for price-performance at $100-110 used and as the clock-limited and lower bandwidth and VRAM version of the 5700, it may not have been beaten to death by mining. I got a used 5600 XT from a big seller on eBay and it looks and works flawlessly.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

At the really low end the 5600 XT is king for price-performance at $100-110 used and as the clock-limited and lower bandwidth and VRAM version of the 5700, it may not have been beaten to death by mining. I got a used 5600 XT from a big seller on eBay and it looks and works flawlessly.

My one concern with it is the 6GB of vram otherwise it's fine you can still max out textures in most games at 1080p with an 8GB card also as time goes on you'd have to tweak less with the RX 6600.

Depends on the OPs gaming habits I guess.

 

[Lew Zealand]

My one concern with it is the 6GB of vram otherwise it's fine you can still max out textures in most games at 1080p with an 8GB card also as time goes on you'd have to tweak less with the RX 6600.

Depends on the OPs gaming habits I guess.

Agreed, the 6GB can and in some conditions will be a limitation, but for a bit more than half the price of the very good 6600, I think it's ideal for the gamer who is scraping the very bottom of the price barrel.

 

[Chrispy_]

At the really low end the 5600 XT is king for price-performance at $100-110 used and as the clock-limited and lower bandwidth and VRAM version of the 5700, it may not have been beaten to death by mining. I got a used 5600 XT from a big seller on eBay and it looks and works flawlessly.

Honestly not a bad shout if the budget is really tight.
It won't handle all of today's games but it'll do a decent job for any pre-2023 games and only limp on a few of the newest titles.

 

[Darkholm]

5700XT is not a happy place nor is 1660S.
Minimum, I would go:

AMD: 6600XT 8GB
NV: 3060 12GB / 3060Ti 8GB

 

[Zach_01]

5700XT is not a happy place nor is 1660S.
Minimum, I would go:

AMD: 6600XT 8GB
NV: 3060 12GB / 3060Ti 8GB

Yet
5700XT = 3060 12G

 

[AusWolf]

Yet
5700XT = 3060 12G

View attachment 363772

The 5700 XT is still not a bad card, imo. Sure, it's a bit hungry and is missing RT, but so what? You surely don't want to be running RT on a similar level AMD card anyway.

 

[bug]

The 5700 XT is still not a bad card, imo. Sure, it's a bit hungry and is missing RT, but so what? You surely don't want to be running RT on a similar level AMD card anyway.

"A bit hungry" is actually a deal breaker for some (many?).

 

[AusWolf]

"A bit hungry" is actually a deal breaker for some (many?).

I don't think so unless you're also running a high-power CPU with a low quality PSU, which I wouldn't recommend doing regardless of your GPU choice.