Which GPU (For Starfield And Other New Games)?

[Mowglia]

Well this is all really worrying. Not even worrying; more like downright disturbing.

I still use a GTX 1080 which is hanging on by a thread these days. It was a great card back in the day, but those days are long gone, so obviously now is about the time I start Googling GPUs and thinking about the specs on a new GPU/PC to play Starfield.

The noob in me just assumed there'd be a modern equivalent of the GTX 1080 and this whole process would take about 10 minutes...

Instead, what I discover is a nightmarish scenario where nothing is as it seems, nothing is straightforward, and understanding what is going on is rapidly becoming a full time job that doesn't even pay minimum wage. Nvidia price-gouging gamers and chasing their new bestie AI now crypto mining imploded, AMD seemingly happy to play along at the upper end, hardware reviewers tearing their hair out in frustration (and confusion), at least one AIB manufacturer (EVGA, who made my GPU) walking away from the whole scene, and Intel gearing up in the wings.

Wtf is going on here?! It's like a teacher called out of the classroom for a few minutes, returning to find snot/blood dribbling down the walls, shattered windows, and a smoking crater in the floor o.O

I almost decided to get an RTX 4070Ti, but started hearing it's overpriced and how much does it depend on DLSS and frame generation for decent performance? Is 12Gb VRAM going to cut it longer-term, or will this card be obsolete in a year or two? Is it better to go down the software route that Nvidia are pumping hard, or maybe go with AMD for the raw performance/price ratio, and more VRAM?

Now Nvidia just released the RTX 4070 it's bound to collapse prices on all but the top-end RTX 30-series, and won't AMD be forced to respond?

Also Intel lurking on the fringes with this Battlemage card, due after Starfield releases, but will this shake things up even more?

Don't even get me started on TVs: LEDs, QD LEDs, OLEDs, and soon ILEDs/microLEDs...because what might be ok on a 50" LED screen at 1080p/1440p may look rough on a new 65" ILED screen in a couple of years. What I'm getting at here is 4k might become a necessity sooner rather than later, which would feed back into which GPU, how much VRAM, etc.

So guys, help me out here. Ego and ♥♥♥♥-measuring contests aside, where is this all going? Assuming we want a decent GPU that'll last a few years, extract the reasonable best of what new games have to offer (for example Starfield, although not just Starfield), and assuming said GPU may (?) have to handle 4k and not just 1080p/1440p, what do you buy?

Is an RTX 4070Ti simply not going to cut it at 4k? Would an RX 7900 XTX be better if you're nervous about frame generation and DLSS? Or do we just gotta suck it up and go with the RTX 4090 to cover our ass both ways?

Or, with the longer term situation in mind, is it perhaps better to struggle on with the GTX 1080 until early/mid 2024 to see how things work out in the wash, rather than buy now in the midst of this uncertainty and risk regretting it for the next 3/4 years?

I'm half tempted to ask ChatGPT which GPU to buy and watch it detonate into a singularity, but I'm not sure whether that'd cause the birth of AGI or kill it stone dead in its tracks, lol. The only thing I'm 100% certain of is my brain hurts thinking about this stuff. In 45 years of gaming I never saw anything like this before.

[vonbleak]

Im happily using a RTX-3080 and it smashes all current/recent games... This would be fine if you want to play at 1080p/1440p but if you want to play at 4k and still run everything on ultra you prob want a RTX-4080...

Yeah the RTX-4090 is an absolute beast but its so expensive its really hard to recommend...

[Syad]

The time to buy a CPU is now and it's the AMD 7800x3D. GPU.. i'd stay with a 1080 if you can, or get the 4090 if you have the money. No GPU at the moment can handle 4k/max quality games to come, and the 1080 is enough to play through the last gen steam backlog so your not in a hurry unless you want to play the latest thing right now.

[wtiger27]

The GTX 1080 is still a good card. And you will be able to play Starfield fine at 1080p. The RTX 4000 series cards are still over priced. There is no way I would spend what they are going for. Esp just for one game. I recommend you doing what you indicated. Wait and see how things goes with the game and prices should be dropping some this time next year.

The GPU my system uses, is a RTX 3060ti OC. it plays everything I have tried on it smoothly with max settings. But I am also content with 1080p resolution and 60 fps. So each players expectations and preferences will vary.

[Mentally Unstable]

Most modern large games live and die by vram, even more so if you use graphic mods or ray tracing(even with dlss). As a general guideline, you would want something that has at least 10gb of vram. That's not to say you can't make do with less in such games but you will likely have to turn down settings to get higher frames and 1% lows. The latter contributes to stutters.

The 1080ti held up well for a long time because it had 11gb of vram which was considered massive for its time.

Of course, an unoptimized game is still going to perform poorly no matter the hardware but a beefy system can at least brute force it to a higher level of performance. Otherwise you will have to wait for patches to bring optimization to a level where you don't have to make sacrifices in settings and that could potentially take months if not years.

Since you mentioned 4K, I would go for at least a 6900xt or 3080(if you need ray tracing) if you are willing to buy previous gen. If you want something from this gen, then a 4080 if ray tracing is a must, otherwise a 7800xt(assuming it comes out) or a 7900xt/xtx.

[DarkBlueAgent]

My rtx 4080 runs most new games at 4k ultra (no RT) @60fps with about 80% utilization. I always enable dlss quality to reduce power draw and the utilization falls to about 50-70% with no noticeable difference in visual quality.

You definitely don't need a 4080 or 4090 card to experience a game like this. Buy these cards only if you don't plan to upgrade for a long time.

[Bandy]

The one you can afford...

[Hayley]

Originally posted by Bandy:

The one you can afford...

[Daedrius]

Get a 3080 or a 4090. Stay away from the 3090 it's a damn furnace.

[Bandy]

Originally posted by Hayley:

Originally posted by Bandy:

The one you can afford...

Amen!

[Mowglia]

Thanks for the advice guys :)

So it seems at this point the sensible option is wait to see how things pan out? The RTX 4080/4090 are no doubt great cards for gaming right now, and presumably for some time to come, but no one appears enthusiastic at picking them up at their current price points.

Sure, we could buy one and brute force our way through these uncertain times, except going down that road might encourage Nvidia to double down on their price-gouging, or do even worse to gamers in future o.O

The pragmatist in me is obviously thinking get the best card I can afford when I need to buy it, yet the idealist in me is loathe to become an enabler in setting bad precedents in gaming that ultimately hurt us all.

I guess wait a while then...at least until forced to make a choice, rather than voluntarily decide now and risk regret further down the line :/

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by Mowglia:

Thanks for the advice guys :)

So it seems at this point the sensible option is wait to see how things pan out? The RTX 4080/4090 are no doubt great cards for gaming right now, and presumably for some time to come, but no one appears enthusiastic at picking them up at their current price points.

Sure, we could buy one and brute force our way through these uncertain times, except going down that road might encourage Nvidia to double down on their price-gouging, or do even worse to gamers in future o.O

The pragmatist in me is obviously thinking get the best card I can afford when I need to buy it, yet the idealist in me is loathe to become an enabler in setting bad precedents in gaming that ultimately hurt us all.

I guess wait a while then...at least until forced to make a choice, rather than voluntarily decide now and risk regret further down the line :/

When one is not sure about something and can wait, the best thing to do is....wait.

[vonbleak]

What resolution are you wanting to run at...? Because if you are happy with 1080p/1440p i still think the 3080 would easily see you through the next 2-3 years no probs...

[Syad]

Originally posted by Mowglia:

So it seems at this point the sensible option is wait to see how things pan out?

The sensible choice is to get the 4090, despite the price its price/performance ratio is actually quite good, the 4080 and below is trash, and so is the 1080, but it's good enough to last until nextgen. But you wouldn't be wrong with a 4090, only issue would be if your PC is this outdated the cpu and other components are probably outdated too, and wouldn't be capable to properly support the 4090 so you'll need a new pc anyway. the 7800x3d/4090 is a great combo atm, if you need a new pc.

[peppergomez]

The best thing to do is give up gaming so this will no longer be an issue

[Bandy]

Originally posted by Syad:

The sensible choice is to get the 4090, despite the price its price/performance ratio is actually quite good, the 4080 and below is trash, ...

Reality check... So many factors to consider, just can't advocate somebody pay $1700+ for a GPU just because you say so, or have daddy's plastic, or some other opinionoid from an online talking head...