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A little torn between GPU choices

3K views 37 replies 11 participants last post by  wingman99 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi,

I originally posted this on Build A PC on Reddit, but I thought I might post it here since Overclock.net was my first place to get support back in the day :)


I recently purchased a Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT, and after a few tweaks and tunings I was able to run Witcher 3 without crashing - Witcher 3 being the primary game I'm playing now. It would only crash if I quit the game, and then started the game again without a reboot.

Then I tried swapping my Gigabyte with my brother's PowerColor Red Devil (the Red Devil didn't fit in his case, but my Gigabyte did), but it would consistently crash after about 2 min. of gameplay while browsing a menu. Mostly a crash to desktop, but sometimes a hard reset of the entire system.

I'm currently using my brother's old GTX 970, and I've yet to crash the game.

I did not have nearly the same frustrations with the Gigabyte model. I have now returned the Red Devil and now await my refund.

My choices for a new GPU are now:

Geforce RTX 2070 or RX 5700 XT

I'm gaming at 1440p@144Hz.

The Gigabyte RX 5700 XT I had was really good despite the few crashes, and I believe with driver updates and RDNA maturity it could become really good.

My concerns with the RTX 2070 is that it is now a little old to invest in as a new card. The performance at 1440p is about the same as the RX 5700 XT, but it would be quite a bit older now. I'm also not really that big a fan of paying for their overpriced cards.

I don't really have any loyalty to either brand, but my previous two GPUs were AMD, and I loved them.

I'm pretty torn about it.

RX 5700 XT and RTX 2070 are priced similar, but the RTX 2070 is a bit more expensive. The 2070 Super is not an option. It's $150 more expensive here.
What would you choose?

Thank you for reading :)

For those of you who don't want to read the post or type a reply; there's a poll too.

I should mention, for clarity, that I cannot wait for the upcoming releases. They're too far away, and I'm in quite a perculiar situation which is a really long story.


EDIT: Just wanted to let people know that I went with a Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT Nitro+, formatted my PC, and after it all I played a total of 4 hours of Witcher 3 without any crashes or issues at all. I'm so happy, and the card looks fantastic!
 
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#2 ·
The Witcher 3 is one of those games made with a heavy focus on NVIDIA, that will probably never work very well on AMD cards, hence the strange crashing you're experiencing. I agree that this is the wrong time to buy an RTX 2070. RTX 3000 series is about to launch, which will lower prices for RTX 2000 series cards. I also play the Witcher 3 on a 1440p monitor at 144 Hz. With my two GTX 1080s in SLI, I manage to get around 90 FPS with all settings on Ultra, HairWorks, etc. I recommend you buy a couple of GTX 1080s secondhand - they will probably be cheaper than buying a single RTX 2070 and will hold you over for a couple of years. GTX 1080s are very cheap on the secondhand market. I understand you live in Denmark, but here in the USA they can be had for about $350 each. On the other hand, SLI is a dying technology, as many developers don't even bother with it for new games, even high-budget titles.

If I were you, I would either go with the SLI setup, or wait for RTX 3000 series to launch, which will lower prices on RTX 2000 cards, especially on the secondhand market.
 
#4 ·
A used SLI setup seems a bit silly to me since multi-GPU solutions are basically dead. I could maybe find a used 1080 Ti which would be a decent choice, but as it seems now, my choices are still between the RTX 2070 and RX 5700 XT. I cannot wait fot the new releases - updated the post to reflect this.

Thank you for your reply nonetheless :)
 
#3 ·
5700XT is about 10% better @ 1440p. Its a clear winner in your case.


If waiting 3-6months is an option, then wait for newer cards from both sides.
 
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#5 ·
I also hate the thought of paying more and getting less, but then again you could measure performance in crashes, and if there are close to zero crashes with an RTX 2070, and a lot of crashes with the RX 5700 XT then the RTX 2070 wins on performance.

I'm really just torn. Some people don't experience any issues with their RX 5700 XT, but I sure did. At least with the Gigabyte model I could tolerate the crash in the end, since they only occurred once per gaming session when quitting and restarting said game.

I just feel torn on this.

Thank you for your reply :)
 
#6 ·
Pick up a secondhand 1080 Ti and never look back :) Outperforms a 2070 any day and can be had way cheaper. Only drawback is way worse ray tracing performance but Witcher 3 doesn't have ray tracing afaik. Then decide once the RTX3000 launches whether you wanna upgrade to one or keep the 1080 Ti.

That is what I would do.

By the way, what power supply are you running? The crashes might be power supply related even tho the chance is pretty small.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
I was considering a used 1080 Ti, but people here don't know how to price their used hardware - they still think 8 year old hardware is worth new price. But I will definitely look for it! Although, I plan on using the card I get for about 5 years. My previous R9 290 held me over for 6 years approximately.

I have an 850W XFX ProSeries Black Edition Full Modular PSU, so I know it's not a PSU issue :)

Thank you for your reply!

EDIT: Turns out, I can get a 1080 Ti for roughly the same price as a higher end RX 5700 XT.
 
#10 ·
As a Navi owner, my advice is to pick anything Nvidia. Those cards just work out of the box unlike the unstable Navi garbage.

(Previous cards are AMD RX 580 and AMD R9 270X, both of which worked without a single issue whatsoever)
 
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#11 ·
As a Navi owner, my advice is to pick anything Nvidia.
Haha! That made me chuckle, thank you :)

I did lay out the price for an RX 5700 XT, RTX 2070 and used GTX 1080 Ti a bit further up if interested.
 
#13 ·
My 5700 XT is going strong, only had a few black screen with the first 2020 driver update. Right now no issues whatsoever
 
#16 ·
Good to know. I'm sure you read my post, so you know that I ran into issues which I really don't want to run into again - or at least not in the same severity.
 
#20 · (Edited)
2070 all day every day.

AMD GPUs are phenomenal hardware/dollar value, 100% ruined by crap drivers.

They've been in that category since the ORIGINAL Radeon released, always 1 step ahead on hardware and 3 steps behind on drivers, first hand experience with more than 10 Radeon models over the last 20 years, and even when they're better raw performance, they're still worse stability (though usually slightly better image quality).

Since you're only playing 1 game at the moment and it's a known crash fest with a 5700XT, just go with what wont crash.

PS: 1080ti with a mild overclock will **** all over a 2070 in all but a very small handful to titles, Witcher 3 being one that heavily favors the 1080ti if you turn settings all up.

Either buy a reference 1080 ti and hybrid cool it, or, like a ftw3/strix level card, you'll get a significantly higher boost clock with lower thermals. Reviewers are absolutely WRONG about that part, they're not seeing any major performance gains overclocking the 1080ti because they're not increasing the power limit enough to benefit from the improved cooling. A completely un-limited, watercooled 1080ti rivals a stock non-a air cooled 2080ti in performance, I know first hand, I just made that exact upgrade.

The 5700xt, 2070x and 1080ti are not "5 year" gpus at this point. I kept my 980 Matrix, overclocked to 980ti performance levels for 4 years, and by year 4... it was very very sad getting forced to push 2kultrawide :( All three cards are going to be fine for the next 2-3 years though, unless you either a: need raytracing love, or b: move up to a 4k monitor.
 
#21 ·
2070 all day every day.

AMD GPUs are phenomenal hardware/dollar value, 100% ruined by crap drivers.

They've been in that category since the ORIGINAL Radeon released, always 1 step ahead on hardware and 3 steps behind on drivers.

Since you're only playing 1 game at the moment and it's a known crash fest with a 5700XT, just go with what wont crash, 2070 and sell it in 6 months, move on to a 30xx.

PS: 1080ti with a mild overclock will **** all over a 2070 in all but a very small handful to titles, Witcher 3 being one that heavily favors the 1080ti if you turn settings all up.
The GPU I buy now will have to hold me over for 5 years. I cannot afford getting a $400 card now, and then buy a $400 card in 6-12 months. Even with reselling my old card. You do have a point with the RTX 1080 Ti. The price used is about the same as the other options too. Witcher 3 is my primary game right now, but I will play other games later on (currently have my eye on DOOM Eternal, Remnant: From The Ashes, Elden Ring and Demon's Souls Remake if it comes to PC), and I also play Warzone and Division 2 which I didn't see any crashes on after I tweaked a few things.

EDIT: They are definitely 5 year cards if you're willing to turn down settings every so often - which I am completely fine with.
 
#30 ·
I mean, an option is to buy a 5600, flash with 5600xt bios, save $100 bucks over the next 4 months. Sell the 5600 after reflashing, buy next gen Nvidia/Navi.

It won't cost anything over buy a lesser card now, but gets you gaming and setup for much better performance/price ratio thats right around the corner.

I know some people don't like doing stuff like that but right now, is NOT a good time to try and buy mid-range cards, the entry level 3000 will almost certainly stomp all over the 5700xt and the 2070 at same/less price.
 
#33 ·
That may be, but the mid-range cards are not arriving first. They'll probably start with the highest end and work their way down as they have done almost every launch. So if I have to wait an additional 3 months on top, I don't think I'm willing to do that.

Thank you for weighing in though :)
 
#32 ·
Just another consideration for you, since you like to keep GPUs for a while, maybe consider an EVGA 2070? They have, by far, the best (lifetime) warranty policy, and my recent RMA experience for my 2080ti was absolutely flawless.
 
#34 ·
If you do not NEED a PC right now, I STRONGLY advice you to wait for the end of the year.

Some may say "something new is always around the corner", but now it IS for sure. There will be new AMD CPUs in a few months, and GPUs from both nVidia and AMD.

This will obvously lead to lowered prices and more powerful nextgen options. Remember AMD will also release raytracing GPUs, and raytracing is now going to be a normal for some games, not just a showoff thing.
 
#36 ·
That's just deeply ignorant.

I did figure out what I wanted though.
 
#38 ·
OP have you had any problems after the new video card was installed?
 
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