Question Reasonable upgrade over an RX 6950XT

[jamesdsimone]

I have been hearing about the memory apocalypse that is going to spike prices on everything and that it could last for years. I don't have any plans for a new build at the moment but I remember the RX 6950XT that I think I payed 599.00 for going for 3000.00. That kept me from upgrading for a couple years at least. That being said what would be a good upgrade from the RX 6950XT?

 

[biostud]

I have been hearing about the memory apocalypse that is going to spike prices on everything and that it could last for years. I don't have any plans for a new build at the moment but I remember the RX 6950XT that I think I payed 599.00 for going for 3000.00. That kept me from upgrading for a couple years at least. That being said what would be a good upgrade from the RX 6950XT?

How much more performance do you want?

 

[Shmee]

Sounds like you got a great buy on that RX 6950XT. That is still a fairly powerful card to my knowledge, though a couple generations old. If you want to get an upgrade now, I probably wouldn't bother with less than an RTX 5080, which doesn't give you many options. An RX 9070XT or RTX 5070Ti would certainly be an upgrade still and cost less than an RTX 5080 or 5090, but I personally would find it hard to justify over what you have already given you are going "down" a tier or two.

You could also take your chances and wait for next gen cards. What system would this be for, and what games would be played, and at what resolution?

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Realistically OP is looking at 5070ti / 9070xt as the bare minimum upgrade.

About ~40% more raster performance and an absolute ass load more RT performance, and both come with better upscalers (which are really just a fact of life nowadays).

5080 if you have more money than sense.

5090 if you have even more money and just want the absolute best thing out there.

 

[WelshBloke]

I'm in the same place as OP with a 6950xt. Just repasted mine and it's a proper workhorse.
I'm on Linux as well which complicates things so my only real upgrade is a 9070xt and I don't want to pay that much of not so much of an upgrade!

 

[jamesdsimone]

No interest in paying stupid money on a Nvidia card. It kind leaves the RX 7900XT/XTX and RX 9070/XT. If you believe the Techpowerup ratings that gives 21,23,35,43% boast. RX 9070XT's are 650.00 on Newegg. So kind of on the fence.

 

[WelshBloke]

No interest in paying stupid money on a Nvidia card. It kind leaves the RX 7900XT/XTX and RX 9070/XT. If you believe the Techpowerup ratings that gives 21,23,35,43% boast. RX 9070XT's are 650.00 on Newegg. So kind of on the fence.

I think that you'd be pretty disappointed in a move from a 6950xt to a 7900xtx given the cost there!
9070xt might be worth it to you if RT and upscaling/frame gen is your thing. FG makes me physically nauseous in some games so it makes my decision easier!

 

[jamesdsimone]

No interest in paying stupid money on a Nvidia card. It kind leaves the RX 7900XT/XTX and RX 9070/XT. If you believe the Techpowerup ratings that gives 21,23,35,43% boast. RX 9070XT's are 650.00 on Newegg. So kind of on the fence.

I think that you'd be pretty disappointed in a move from a 6950xt to a 7900xtx given the cost there!
9070xt might be worth it to you if RT and upscaling/frame gen is your thing. FG makes me physically nauseous in some games so it makes my decision easier!

Quick search and the RX 7900XTX is less available and more expensive than the RX 9070XT so pretty much leaves just one choice. I don't bother with frame generation and ray tracing isn't a big priority either.

 

[WelshBloke]

See 6950xt to 9070xt to me isn't going to make something unplayable run smoothly, it might let you crank a few settings but I don't feel like it would change the experience enough to justify the cost.

 

[gdansk]

There is as of yet no reasonable upgrade from the 6950 XT.
Maybe in 2027.

 

[WelshBloke]

There is as of yet no reasonable upgrade from the 6950 XT.
Maybe in 2027.

The 5090 would probably hit that mark but it's A) ridiculously expensive, B) the drivers are buggy, and C) might burn your house down!

 

[gdansk]

The 5090 would probably hit that mark but it's A) ridiculously expensive, B) the drivers are buggy, and C) might burn your house down!

It's all filtered out by "reasonable". The 5070 Ti and 9070 XT are reasonably priced. But they're not reasonable upgrades. Everything beyond that is unreasonably priced.

 

[GaiaHunter]

Depends if you can sell that 6950xt for a decent amount.
Or if you are passing it down to another PC at home that will benefit from it.

 

[Mopetar]

That's a good enough card to weather the storm. Upgrading now or in the next two years will only be pointlessly expensive for little gain. Your card has enough VRAM that it won't hit a wall there and you should be able to run new titles without having to lower settings too much until things normalize.

 

[jamesdsimone]

ASrock RX 9070XT 599.00 might go for it.

 

[jamesdsimone]

Depends if you can sell that 6950xt for a decent amount.
Or if you are passing it down to another PC at home that will benefit from it.

Wouldn't sell the RX 6950XT would probably put it in a rig and sell the whole system if things get as bad as I hear.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

There is as of yet no reasonable upgrade from the 6950 XT.
Maybe in 2027.

This is my opinion as well.

I couldn't find in the 9070XT a worthwhile upgrade from my 6900XT after 5 years, and that was the main reason I opted with going with a Nvidia GPU after pretty much 20 years of only using Radeon GPUs in my main rig.

 

[biostud]

Yeah, I enjoy my 6800xt too. I'm most a casual player, and play World of Tanks 95% of the time and with some settings lowered for competitive reasons, I get 140+ fps @ 5120x1440.

 

[iCyborg]

I'm in a similar boat, I was planning to get 9070/9070XT, but I got my hands on a free 6800XT and I'll wait for next gen, too much money for ~50% improvement, even RT/FSR4 doesn't sweeten the deal enough for me. And due to circumstances of acquiring 6800XT, selling it would be a dick move. So 0$ for 6800XT or ~1000$ for 9070XT.
5080/5090 are a more meaningful perf bump, but cost more than I'm willing to pay.

 

[manly]

I'm in a similar boat, I was planning to get 9070/9070XT, but I got my hands on a free 6800XT and I'll wait for next gen, too much money for ~50% improvement, even RT/FSR4 doesn't sweeten the deal enough for me. And due to circumstances of acquiring 6800XT, selling it would be a dick move. So 0$ for 6800XT or ~1000$ for 9070XT.
5080/5090 are a more meaningful perf bump, but cost more than I'm willing to pay.

where do I sign up for a free 6800 XT? 😉

 

[dacostafilipe]

I've created a small tool to quickly compare GPUs that I use when I browse second hand offers.
It only uses one game (The Witcher 3, 1080p), but it's enough for me to quickly know if it's worth investing more time looking into it.

Compared to your 6950XT:

9070 XT : 20% faster
RTX 5080 : 49.12% faster
RTX 5090 : 69.47% faster

DM me and I'll send you the link

 

[biostud]

I've created a small tool to quickly compare GPUs that I use when I browse second hand offers.
It only uses one game (The Witcher 3, 1080p), but it's enough for me to quickly know if it's worth investing more time looking into it.

Compared to your 6950XT:

9070 XT : 20% faster
RTX 5080 : 49.12% faster
RTX 5090 : 69.47% faster

DM me and I'll send you the link

Or simply go to techpowerup GPU database.

AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT Specs

AMD Navi 21, 2310 MHz, 5120 Cores, 320 TMUs, 128 ROPs, 16384 MB GDDR6, 2250 MHz, 256 bit

www.techpowerup.com

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Relative performance charts are fake news.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Relative performance charts are fake news.

- Maybe, but until we have a better tool, its the best of a lot of bad options especially for older cards that are not regularly updated or tested.

I generally try and stick with the most recent review charts, they tend to do a better job the the database averages and are more relevant to newer games.

6950XT is ~7900GRE = 78%

9070XT here is 99%.

99%/78% = 1.27 or 9070xt is 27% faster than 6950XT

Alternatively, (78%/99%)-1 the 6950XT is 21% slower than the 9070XT.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

- Maybe, but until we have a better tool, its the best of a lot of bad options

Bad data is bad. Never settle my friend. Not a big deal for our crew. But for the casuals that rely on charts like that the most, it does the most harm. I don't like propagating misinformation either. Lurkers looking for info, need solid info, not bad charts constantly spammed because they are expedient.

especially for older cards that are not regularly updated or tested.

But they are tested. Which is why anyone looking to buy should be doing their due diligence. Not looking for instant clickbait gratification before adding to cart.

Search youtube and you will almost certainly find the GPU in question being put through its paces in the last 12 months or so. Often in the kind of system it is realistically added to.

Don't have to settle for those sketchy side by side channels either. Look fo ones that have the creator doing voice over and narrating. Here is a great example. Tiny channel, but he is walking you through the whole thing. Testing with present mon, and going through various settings. No ambiguity or fake overlays. Just an enthusiast like ourselves, testing the way we do.