Help Me Choose a GPU Upgrade

• 

  Diverse on 08/01/2021 - 23:35

  Anything above GTX 1060 (6GB VRAM) should suffice. Would recommend a second hand GPU such as a 1080Ti or something.

  How much are you willing to spend?

• 

  NuclearWessels on 08/01/2021 - 23:40

  +2

  HDMI 2.0 can do up to 100Hz @ 1440p. Unfortuantely there arent any new budget friendly GPUs. I hope Nvidia drops a 3050 or something but I think thats unlikely and there are supply issues. Maybe a second hand 2070?

  Also regarding your requirements, you can get a DP to HDMI adapter fairly cheap so any GPU should be fine. New GPUs will only come with 1 HDMI typically.

  • 

    furyou on 09/01/2021 - 00:14

    I can't remember deets but before I got this I was using hdmi on my monitor and could only get 30hz. Maybe the monitor port side limitation?
    my current has the 3 ports.

    I can't use the RTX unless the game is written for it right?
    I see some cards marked OC, I assume that's Overclocking? Is that done? I assume they locked down the chips so they can do diff versions.

    • 

      NuclearWessels on 09/01/2021 - 00:52

      +1

      The 30Hz limit may be your monitor being older and using a lower HDMI standard. The 1060 will have HDMI 2.0 - it's also not your cable as HDMI 2.0 doesnt use a different cable

      RTX requires ray tracing cores, so 2000+ series only. You can run the games, but ray tracing (advanced lighting + reflections) will be disabled.

      OC just means factory overclocked for a 5% or so boost. The overclock margin is often so low that you can achieve the same overclock yourself manually through the GPU software - so its not something to focus on

• 

  scrimshaw on 09/01/2021 - 00:19

  +1

  You won't need anything super high end (unless you have a very high resolution headset like a HP Reverb G2 and want to play games at it's native resolution).

  RTX 2060 would be 'baseline', Radeon 5700XT is the next best choice then followed the the RTX 3060.

  Unfortunately, all the RTX 2060s and 5700XT's are now selling for more than what they originally released at, meaning you won't be paying bargain prices for these old cards. You could try the second hand market but from what I can see, people are still overpaying and over-charging on eBay.

  I can't use the RTX unless the game is written for it right?

  No, VR games don't do raytracing.

  I see some cards marked OC, I assume that's Overclocking?

  It just means the cards are pre-overclocked out of the factory and are slightly faster than reference specifications. Reference specs are just 'design guidelines' that Nvidia or AMD gives the board partners some idea of how to tune frequency / power consumption, but since board partners can pair the GPU with things like better cooling, higher quality VRM's etc, they can squeeze a little bit of extra performance by increasing the freq. The downside is that these nicer cards will certainly cost quite a bit more.

  • 

    furyou on 09/01/2021 - 01:12

    RTX 2060 or super? I'm seeing a few around 500ish. Duno why there's a huge range in $450-850+

• 

  furyou on 09/01/2021 - 00:35

  I guess, I don't know how much to spend as I don't know how long ur supposed to keep these.
  Eg, my CPU/MB/RAM I kept 5yrs before upgrading. That was b4 gaming tho.
  My current GPU I got just for VR.
  I duno if u upgrade every couple years, or try to get sth to last longer more $$$.

  because vr does 1440x2880, does that mean I should consider benchmarks for 1440p? or is it different since the 2 eyes are similar?

• 

  Kangal on 10/01/2021 - 01:01

  If it's mainly for VR, I would look at Nvidia GPUs.
  I've heard many people complain about dropped frames, crashes, bugs etc etc with AMD GPUs specifically when it comes to VR. I know that's not what you want to hear, as usually AMD GPUs offer slightly better performance for slightly lower cost.

  However, coming from the GTX 1060, almost anything is going to feel like an upgrade. Raytracing isn't supported in VR (yet), so you can still look at something like a GTX 1080Ti…. IF the price is RIGHT. Otherwise, maybe keep your 1060 for another 6 months, by which time, these next-gen cards can properly hit the market. In particularly, keep a keen eye on either the Brand New RTX 3060, or try to snag yourself a Used RTX 2070-Super once it hits a low low price.

  PS: You will also need a CPU that's fast, with low-latency, like an Intel Core i7-6700k, at a minimum. With current-gen and next-gen games becoming more taxing/immersive, you will also start needing more threads. So an AMD r5-5600x will become the next minimum, or if you want to bump up, the 9900k will be capable for many years.

  • 

    furyou on 10/01/2021 - 10:44

    Thanks.
    My MB handles gen 8 & 9 and I have i5 gen 8.
    But apparently gen 9 isn't a big step up for i7.

    The 9900k is an option, but heard it may be limited by the MB?
    I don't want to do a full u/g yet.

    What part of a vr game is done by CPU, and what is by GPU?

    • 

      furyou on 10/01/2021 - 11:51

      I see amazon has 9900, K, versions.
      only $25 diff. But if my MB will be limiting then any point getting K ver?

      I kinda feel like if I'm going to spend 600, maybe I should wait for the time to do a full mb/cpu/ram u/g.
      I mean, maybe in a few gen a set of i5 or i7 would beat the 9900?

    • 

      scrimshaw on 10/01/2021 - 12:46

      +1

      d I have i5 gen 8

      Your CPU is fast enough. Your GPU is what needs upgrading because that's your biggest bottleneck.

      GTX 1060 -> RTX 3060 upgrade is my suggestion but if you can't spend that much on a 3060 you might want to wait for a eventual release of the 3050, whenever that might be.