Question Is now the time to buy?

[Stg-Flame]

Been keeping my eye on various places since I've needed to build a new PC for many years but I absolutely refused to pay $3,000 for a card that should only cost $750. I was notified from Newegg last week that many of the 3080 Ti cards have hit below $1,500 and with the 4000 series just around the corner, I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to grab a card now and start building a new rig or wait until the new series hits the market. I've seen speculation that the 3000 series will jump back up in price as well as people claiming they will fall further.

I'm willing to spend upwards of $4,000 - $5,000 on a new PC, but I refuse to spend that much on just the damn GPU.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Might have to start looking sooner than later. GeForce Experience can't update since it requires Windows 10 now so I had to roll it back to a previous version, but even now it won't download new drivers. I'm also getting a lot of errors on other programs I use since more and more things are shifting away from supporting older operating systems. Though it is nice that every few weeks when I check prices, everything is continually getting cheaper.

 

[Aapje]

Might have to start looking sooner than later. GeForce Experience can't update since it requires Windows 10 now so I had to roll it back to a previous version, but even now it won't download new drivers. I'm also getting a lot of errors on other programs I use since more and more things are shifting away from supporting older operating systems. Though it is nice that every few weeks when I check prices, everything is continually getting cheaper.

Why do you need new drivers? Even many people with new cards stick with a 'golden sample' driver and with an old card, there is usually no advantage to upgrading.

Also, you can download the drivers directly from the Nvidia website and don't need GeForce Experience.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Why do you need new drivers? Even many people with new cards stick with a 'golden sample' driver and with an old card, there is usually no advantage to upgrading.

Also, you can download the drivers directly from the Nvidia website and don't need GeForce Experience.

I'm aware I can download them manually, but the point is that most programs are phasing out Windows 7 and below and this fact is going to cause my PC to just get progressively worse. I've been looking to build a new PC for a few years now and I refused to pay the inflated prices, but since they are pretty close to normal, I'll likely be taking the plunge sooner than I was expecting.

 

[Shmee]

A 3770k at 4.5 GHz is still a pretty decent CPU. If I were you, you might want to just upgrade your OS to windows 10. Now to be fair, if you have the money for a whole new build, including a good GPU, this isn't a bad time to upgrade everything, and do a fresh install of Windows 10 on the new build. I am just saying that you could get more out of your current computer with an OS upgrade, even it is sold or used as a secondary when the new one is built.

 

[Aapje]

The main downside of upgrading now is that you'll miss out on (proper) DDR5 and AM5 longevity. The main advantage is that you won't have to deal with early DDR5 and early AM5.

 

[blckgrffn]

The main downside of upgrading now is that you'll miss out on (proper) DDR5 and AM5 longevity. The main advantage is that you won't have to deal with early DDR5 and early AM5.

Hopefully AM5 has as much of a life as AM4. If so, I would jump on the second Gen AM5 chipset. By that time the first gen errata should be sorted and the memory market will have created memory that plays best with the memory controller on Zen 4.

 

[Aapje]

Yes, that's exactly my thought. I'm very tempted to buy into the AMD platform this time around since I prefer slightly more expensive motherboards and then would be able to upgrade just the CPU after a few gens. With the CPU wars heating up, I expect more CPU improvements in the future (and a move of the market to more cores for the same money, which actually seems to be taken advantage of by Unreal Engine 5, so gamers would also benefit from more cores). Also, Zen is more efficient and I don't like Intel's solution of adding E-cores, that just create incompatibility issues and bad core assignments, rather than just having more efficient power cores in the first place. Although if you upgrade right now, i5-12400 is tempting as it doesn't have E-cores and is sold for a good price, while lower mid-end Ryzen is not very good.

I expect fairly rapid advances for DDR5, but right now, DDR5 is not just rather slow and expensive, but also seems to cause a lot of issues on Intel 12th gen. AM5 will probably also have issues at first, as you note.

My guess is that a mid/late 2023 upgrade is fairly optimal from a CPU+memory point of view. By that time, Intel should also have released Meteor Lake on Intel 4, which should drive down AMD prices. My i5-8400 was a good buy at the time and has no problem driving my 1660 super, but I want a VR sim rig, so my requirements went up a lot and with some real advancements in the CPU space, I'll actually see some serious advancements when upgrading, without having to get a space heater.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

IMO if you're upgrading right now, get a used 5600x/5800x, B550 board (new or used), and some firesale DDR4 3200 memory. It'll be quite cheap, provide a huge lift in performance, come with a ton of nice to have modern features and will likely remain relevant for the next 5-6 years (especially if you go 8c/16T).

Get a nice PCI-e 4.0 M.2 NVME drive to keep cable clutter to a minimum and speeds absurdly high.

Keep your eyes peeled for used/new GPU deals as we start heading into next gen season. A 980Ti is roughly equivalent to a RTX3050 in terms of raw performance. I have the same card and I've decided my go point would be a 6700XT/3060Ti for ~$350 bucks shipped or a 6800XT/3080 for $450 shipped, new or used (most likely used).

At the same time, if I'm honest with myself, I play so many low spec indie games nowadays that I really have a hard time justifying an upgrade till the system flat out craps out on me. Part of the reason I get to be such a deal hunter instead of just running out and buying the new hotness, I guess.

Also, don't actually buy any core PC components until you have that new GPU in hand. Its always disappointing because the CPU tends not to be as much of a limiting factor for most people as their ancient GPU, especially now.

 

[blckgrffn]

IMO if you're upgrading right now, get a used 5600x/5800x, B550 board (new or used), and some firesale DDR4 3200 memory. It'll be quite cheap, provide a huge lift in performance, come with a ton of nice to have modern features and will likely remain relevant for the next 5-6 years (especially if you go 8c/16T).

Get a nice PCI-e 4.0 M.2 NVME drive to keep cable clutter to a minimum and speeds absurdly high.

Keep your eyes peeled for used/new GPU deals as we start heading into next gen season. A 980Ti is roughly equivalent to a RTX3050 in terms of raw performance. I have the same card and I've decided my go point would be a 6700XT/3060Ti for ~$350 bucks shipped or a 6800XT/3080 for $450 shipped, new or used (most likely used).

At the same time, if I'm honest with myself, I play so many low spec indie games nowadays that I really have a hard time justifying an upgrade till the system flat out craps out on me. Part of the reason I get to be such a deal hunter instead of just running out and buying the new hotness, I guess.

Also, don't actually buy any core PC components until you have that new GPU in hand. Its always disappointing because the CPU tends not to be as much of a limiting factor for most people as their ancient GPU, especially now.

Picked up a 3060 brand new in the wrapping last night for $360, MSI so full warranty transfer even with the Craigslist sale. I think those prices you mentioned can come in time (almost always true over a long enough time period!), but there are some deals now. I feel like the 3060/6600 are the minimum step up from the 980Ti, as they are really faster to a noticeable degree. I was shocked how well the sauced up EVGA 980Ti I bought stood up to a DDR5 1660 and a 1070 FE.

Also the 3080's and their ilk are so darn big and use so much power and create so much heat I wish next gen was reining it in vs going full crazy on the bit.

I think I already said this, but I think there would still be a lot to gain getting a B550/5600 setup now. I see a 32GB kit of 3200mhz is like $90 at NewEgg right now? That would pick your minimum FPS way up and be a worthy setup for some future GPU too.

 

[Aapje]

Over here a used 5600x costs the same as a new 12400f, so you might as well get that one for the warranty and such. I'm not a fan of buying secondhand stuff when you can get a new equivalent for close to the same price.

We can expect a lot of good AM4 stuff to hit the second hand market when AM5 lauches later this year, so the best time to go AM4 may be then.

6700XT/3060Ti for ~$350 bucks shipped or a 6800XT/3080

Good call, I'd say. Those are both performance sweet spots.

Also the 3080's and their ilk are so darn big and use so much power and create so much heat I wish next gen was reining it in vs going full crazy on the bit.

You can get huge power draw (and thus heat) reductions for fairly little loss by undervolting and power limiting the card. I would definitely suggest doing that if you get one for something like $450. Then it won't feel as much that you are not getting value for the money than when you do that to a 3080 you got for $1000.

In general, I would get used to doing this and offering a bit of GPU performance to the factory overclock gods if you get a next gen Nvidia card too. Unfortunately, they will probably expect you to pay actual money for these factory overclocks that are just fake performance that you could get yourself if they just sold the cards at an efficient clockspeed, where the consumer can decide to overclock if they dislike efficiency or need a space heater.

 

[R81Z3N1]

I ended up picking up a Radeon rx 6600 for $299 to put into a X370 board. Have a 3900x with a gtx 1080 blower card at the moment.

Just could not justify spending more at the moment considering my PSU doesn't have any 6+8 pin, or more 8+8 connectors. The PSU is a 620 Seasonic S12 series bronze unit that should work. If I waited too long would have to upgrade the PSU for the 12VHPWR connector and assume they will be in short supply.

I think this card will be in a system for the next 4-6 years, have a 4k 60hz monitor and look forward to more fsr, fsr2 supported games which should breath some live into this card. I did not want to wait too long as I keep hearing that low end cards might be discontinued due to supplies moving up the chain for newer cards like the rx 6650 xt.

I got the card for the AV1 decode option, and think in the future will move it to my Linux box which has a 1050ti in at the moment. I don't think I will own another Nvidia card anytime soon.

If the fire sales happen on used market I might pick up another card if the price is right. I know that a rx6600 and a gtx 1080 might be considered a side grade. But with FSR think this will be a good move even if my gaming is limited. Only play two games at the moment and both are older games.

R81Z3N1

 

[blckgrffn]

I ended up picking up a Radeon rx 6600 for $299 to put into a X370 board. Have a 3900x with a gtx 1080 blower card at the moment.
If the fire sales happen on used market I might pick up another card if the price is right. I know that a rx6600 and a gtx 1080 might be considered a side grade. But with FSR think this will be a good move even if my gaming is limited. Only play two games at the moment and both are older games.

R81Z3N1

Nice!

I mean, you can maybe get close too $300 for the 1080. Even if it is a sidegrade, it is a brand new card, it has DX12 Ultimate (I know, I know) and there are a number of reasons that would make it desirable imo. It's a good time to get a great deal of value out of the 1080.

 

[Stg-Flame]

Well, my PC is now making an awesome grinding noise that resembles a 1991 Buick LeSabre trying to start on a cold morning. Prices for GPUs are actually pretty reasonable now but I'm hoping to see the 3080Ti and 3090s lower before taking the plunge.

 

[moonbogg]

Well, my PC is now making an awesome grinding noise that resembles a 1991 Buick LeSabre trying to start on a cold morning. Prices for GPUs are actually pretty reasonable now but I'm hoping to see the 3080Ti and 3090s lower before taking the plunge.

Oddly specific. Also, no, prices aren't reasonable. Just wait for the flood. I'd also suggest you invest in some scuba gear first, because before the GPU flood comes, we'll get absolutely decimated by the tsunami of cryptobro tears that comes right before. It'll be big enough to make Noah jealous and will taste really good too, like fruit punch.

 

[maddie]

Oddly specific. Also, no, prices aren't reasonable. Just wait for the flood. I'd also suggest you invest in some scuba gear first, because before the GPU flood comes, we'll get absolutely decimated by the tsunami of cryptobro tears that comes right before. It'll be big enough to make Noah jealous and will taste really good too, like fruit punch.

Tears tasting? Interesting fetish you got there.

 

[aigomorla]

Oddly specific. Also, no, prices aren't reasonable. Just wait for the flood. I'd also suggest you invest in some scuba gear first, because before the GPU flood comes, we'll get absolutely decimated by the tsunami of cryptobro tears that comes right before. It'll be big enough to make Noah jealous and will taste really good too, like fruit punch.

Nah this isn't as bad as those who paid real money for jpegs just so they can have "rights" which no one knows exactly what that means, to the picture in question.

 

[moonbogg]

Nah this isn't as bad as those who paid real money for jpegs just so they can have "rights" which no one knows exactly what that means, to the picture in question.

Oh, you mean those things you can just steal with the windows clipping tool for free?

Tears tasting? Interesting fetish you got there.

When drinking tears from the Left eye, you drink Lears. When drinking from the Right, you slurp Rears.

 

[lopri]

When are the next gen cards expected to be released? I am wondering whether 6700XT @$500 or 6900XT @$900 is a worthwhile investment at this stage.

 

[moonbogg]

When are the next gen cards expected to be released? I am wondering whether 6700XT @$500 or 6900XT @$900 is a worthwhile investment at this stage.

Those prices are straight stupid. 6700XT should have been $400 max on day one and 6900XT $600 max. At this stage, 6700XT is worth $250 and 6900XT is worth maybe $400. $900 is absolutely outrageous and should not be the price of a gaming card, ever.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

When are the next gen cards expected to be released? I am wondering whether 6700XT @$500 or 6900XT @$900 is a worthwhile investment at this stage.

-Nooooooo those are not good prices.

Think about it.

Cards are 2 years old, next gen is 6 months away and is bringing a big node shrink (so we expect 2x performance per tier), and supposedly improve RT performance substantially.

Why pay near MSRP prices on what is technically soon to be biggly outclassed hardware? At this juncture we should be seeing ~20% off for MSRP on new cards and ~60% off MSRP for used cards.

 

[blckgrffn]

-Nooooooo those are not good prices.

Think about it.

Cards are 2 years old, next gen is 6 months away and is bringing a big node shrink (so we expect 2x performance per tier), and supposedly improve RT performance substantially.

Why pay near MSRP prices on what is technically soon to be biggly outclassed hardware? At this juncture we should be seeing ~20% off for MSRP on new cards and ~60% off MSRP for used cards.

I am not straight up disagreeing with you, but 6 months is December and general availability of mid range cards is likely to be what, a year from now? An eternity or blink of the eye, depending on your perspective.

I've been willing to put up with the AMD issues for several generations, but there is like to be a 1-3 month period after launch where they shake out some likely serious issues.

Even without mining, it seems like AMD doesn't have a burning need to rush these out as it will make even more sense to let the current gen linger as they use up all their TSMC 5nm wafers on servers and CPUs.

I think it matters at what @lopri is currently using and what he wants to play. No reason to wait a year, IMO, if you can scratch the itch now and be done for another couple years or whatever his upgrade cadence is. RDNA2 is mature, drivers are solid, performance relative to older generation cards is solid.

 

[mastertech01]

If you have managed to hold out through the past couple years of greed, maybe you can afford to hold out 6 more months. There are a lot of people who are going to be desperate to keep the prices up long enough to get out from under thier fools gold.

 

[lopri]

Well I am using GTX 2060 right now and to be honest I do not have a burning desire to upgrade, just a curiosity. As you can tell I do not upgrade very often these days, although I have been hearing good things about the game "Elden Ring" and that is what made me even think about upgrading.

 

[lopri]

If the next gen is 1 year away and the current prices are staying as they are then I am probably going to pick one up. But if the wait is less than 6 months I might wait.

Edit: Aren't the refreshed 6900 XT just released and doesn't it indicate the next release is later than 6 months? Also comparable NV cards (3070 and 3080) are way more expensive. I see the cheapest 3070 ti at $700 on Newegg. Regular 3070 $600.

 

[blckgrffn]

If the next gen is 1 year away and the current prices are staying as they are then I am probably going to pick one up. But if the wait is less than 6 months I might wait.

Haha, I think the answer to this is "YES"

To me, I don't think anything less than a 3080 12GB or a 6800 class card is going to give you a big seat of the pants upgrade, while a 3060ti/3070/6700XT certainly would be a sizeable uplift in reality.

It's a hobby, so if now is the right time for you, I wouldn't begrudge you. If the tidal wave of used mining cards really hits (and I am seeing signs of it finally in local CL, with 1070's and 1080's being listed for closer to $200 than the $450 they were before!) then your 2060 will devalue a lot suddenly too. It's your call if a couple hundred bucks of instant value loss is going to make you feel bad though. For all I know you might be the kind of person who puts that nice 2060 in the drawer for a future backup or gift to a friend/family member.

*looks at investment holdings, shudders*