Need assistance choosing a new GPU.

Gamous

I only recently got back into gaming, and upgraded my motherboard, CPU, CPU cooler, and my ram, and went from HDD -> SSD. I just want to be able to play 70% of games, at 1440p with High or Ultra settings with at least 60 fps. (Ex: Far Cry 6, GTA V, Minecraft with Shaders, Borderlands 3, Witcher 3, and Atlas.)

I have an old NZXT Phantom Full tower, which I built with some friends in high school (approximately 2015), I'm open to criticism(s), or recommendations about other potential upgrades to make. However, I'd only like to spend another $800-1300 on total parts, excluding the new parts I already bought.

(Note: I currently have an MSI Radeon RX 580 4 GB OC Graphics card, and get approx 80 fps on the games listed- on low settings, not using any available HD texture packs. It also tends to have "blackouts" where the screen flickers when you use the display ports. Nonetheless, I'd like to know if there is any real reason a casual gamer should splurge for a GTX 3000 series rather than a 6000 series Radeon RX.)

Max budget for GPU = $850 (plus tax)

Current build:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor

CPU COOLER: Wraith Stealth Cooler (Ordered an NZXT Kraken 120 AIO as of 4/24/2022)

MOTHERBOARD: Asus TUF GAMING B550M ATX Motherboard

RAM: G. Skillz Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (Are there any noticeable differences between 3200 and 3600 DDR4 Ram?)

STORAGE: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Samsung 870 Evo 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive

VIDEO CARD: MSI Radeon RX 580 4 GB OC

CASE: NZXT Phantom ATX Full Tower

POWER-SUPPLY: EVGA BQ 600 W 80+ Certified Bronze Semi-Modular (Planning on ordering a PowerSpec 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular in preparation for a new GPU, and for better cable management.)

magarity

I have a 6800XT and it's amazing at almost 4k resolution. I don't really have any games where I'm missing the ray tracing to make me want a 3xxx from nVidia. The fact it has 16GB I'm thinking will make it last longer than the 8GB nVidia (yes, a few have 12 I know).

Gamous

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/41769#Comment_41769

Thanks, man, I'll definitely check it out, I don't really know what ray tracing though. I do know I'd prefer to not have to upgrade for a few years so 16 GB VRAM sounds ideal.

Ian

In my opinion, a great way to determine what video card to pick, is to review benchmarks/reviews on various benchmarking websites for programs/games you use (or plan on using/playing)

magarity

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/41777#Comment_41777

Ray tracing happens when in a 3D game you see a reflective surface such as a mirror or window or some water. If it is just shiny and blurry then that's normal raster rendering. The more it is like in reality, a reflection of whatever is at the reflection angle, that is ray tracing.