GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Robert Rodriguez2 said:If I'm following correctly, he wants to stick to one brand and match all the lighting. Wants the whole setup to look cohesive and flashy.

But what’s the actual question here?

Is the GTX 980 better than the GTX 1070—not based on price, but on some other metric?

Exactly. I was weighing my options between the GTX 980ti and the GTX 1070, but I ended up going with the ASUS model.

Nathan Castillo16 said:Exactly. I asked about picking between a GTX 980 Ti or a GTX 1070, and I settled on an ASUS model.

Then drop some links. Where exactly are you planning to buy this? Just guessing isn't helpful.

Where are you even looking to pick this up? A 980 Ti isn't exactly easy to find at a decent price anymore.

You said price doesn't matter... but if that's true, your advice is pretty pointless. You'll likely end up paying nearly as much for a 980 Ti as you would for a GTX 1080, which blows both of them out of the water anyway.

P.S. Just thinking out loud here... maybe if you overclock a 980 Ti to the absolute limit, it holds its own, but realistically? It’s a waste unless you snag it for a steal—way cheaper than a 1070.

Honestly, if you want to keep things simple, just grab an ASUS GTX 1070. It’s newer, has more VRAM, and definitely outperforms the GTX 980—easy choice, right? Though, I'll admit, it kind of stings when you realize you're paying an extra $100 just because of the brand name. I've seen other GTX 1070 cards going for around $1233, yet this specific ASUS model is sitting at $450😁.

https://www.newegg.com/ASUS-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070...8g-gaming/p/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070

The RTX 3070 definitely outperforms the 980Ti—it's a significant step up in raw power, plus it’s much more energy-efficient

As for the lighting, pretty much every high-end GPU on the market features RGB nowadays. It’s clearly become the industry standard; if your card doesn't have it, you're essentially behind the times🤣

I've been living in the States for about 8 years now, so I haven't really kept up with how much things cost here. Right now, an ASUS model is sitting at $535, while MSI is around $510, and there’s some random brand for $470. Honestly, it feels pretty stupid when you realize you're basically paying a premium just for aesthetics. I don't care if it's the keyboard, the headset, the mouse, or the case—if everything has blue lighting, I'm just going to switch it all to red. Even this MSI graphics card is gray, but at least the logo glows in different colors. 😉

RGB stands for red, green, or blue. As far as I can tell, you can just pick a single solid color; there’s no need to make it glow like a Christmas tree, unless you're using an ASUS

And what’s the going rate for a 980Ti where you’re at (assuming you can even find one)?

The GTX 980 Ti is pricier and you're looking at a two-week wait just to get one. Prices are all over the place depending on if you check Best Buy, Target, or Walmart. On the other hand, you can grab an RTX 3070 right now. From what I've seen, the RTX 3070 performs better in some games and worse in others, but the gap isn't huge. That’s why I was asking. Now things have gotten a bit complicated because I have this specific thing I'm looking for, and I don't want to bother you guys with my weird preferences. I'm definitely going with the RTX 3070 ASUS.

I’m looking at GPUs with a budget of around $300, and I’m totally stuck between an RX 570 with either 4 or 8GB of VRAM versus an RX 580 with 4GB (honestly, the 8GB version of the 580 is way out of my price range right now). I usually play at 1080p, so I was leaning toward the RX 570, but if I go for the 8GB model, I’m basically right back in the territory of the RX 580 4GB. Help! My head is actually going to explode.

RX 580 4GB...

How much does VRAM actually impact performance? Or, what is the point of having more of it in the first place?

Sure, you can crank up the resolution to something like 4K, but let's be real—that card is really built for 1080p. If you try pushing it to 4K, it’s probably going to stutter like crazy... though, of course, that always depends on which game you're playing and how high you've cranked the settings.

Help plz.

A buddy of mine wants to grab a new GPU, but honestly, I don't think he's making the smartest move here.
He’s mostly playing mainstream games, whereas I just stick to Solitaire. 🃏 My current PC build is an AMD Athlon x6 6100, 8 GB of RAM, an SSD plus a hard drive, and a decent power supply. He's looking to spend maybe $100–$120. Probably going to pick it up at Best Buy.

So, given the specs, what actually makes sense? Should he just grab an RX 560, or is it worth stretching the budget a bit more—and if so, for what? Also, how much sense does a GTX 1050 Ti even make if the cheapest one at Best Buy is sitting around $150?

Thanks for the suggestions. 🃏

darkowl72 said:Help plz.

A buddy wants a new GPU, but honestly, I’m not even close to making a smart call here.
He plays mainstream games, while I just stick to Solitaire. My PC build is an AMD x6 6100, 8GB RAM, SSD plus a hard drive. PSU is fine. Budget is maybe $100-$120. Probably shopping at Best Buy.

Given the price, what makes sense? Should he grab an RX 560, or stretch the budget—and if so, for what? Also, how much sense does a 1050 make if the cheapest one at Best Buy is around $150?

Thanks for the tips. ��

Don't look past an RX 560 for 1080p given that budget.
https://www.bestbuy.com/graphics-card-example

Best Buy in my hometown—it's only about a $2 difference compared to the Gigabyte card, so no point paying for shipping.

GTX 1060 = CPU bottleneck

An RX 560 would probably be just right, maybe even the 4GB version. You can grab a Gigabyte WF2 4GB for about $383. I wonder what he was running before?

Thanks.

He’s running a Radeon 7850.

RX 560 ~ HD 7870

I guess that doesn't really move the needle, so it might not be worth the hassle... either maybe try a decent CPU overclock paired with a GTX 1060 3GB, or just go all in on a brand new setup.

That's it... You really outdid yourself this time...