RTX 3070 vs RTX 4060

[mackerel]

What surprises me is how interesting graphics cards and motherboards make Colorful and how they improved in the last 2-3 years.

I love their "cat" design stuff. If they sold that in the West, I'd buy it

Colorful-Product-COLORFIRE B760M-MEOW WIFI D5 ORANGE

Established in 1995, Colorful is a brand with 20+ year history. Colorful business range covers DIY product lines, including graphics card, motherboard, RAM, SSD, all-in-one PC, server, etc. It is a comprehensive company that holds the largest share in the Chinese graphics card market...

en.colorful.cn

 

[Woomack]

I wanted this mini RTX4060Ti 16GB, but they didn't want to send it for review:

Colorful-Product-iGame GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Mini OC 16GB-V

Established in 1995, Colorful is a brand with 20+ year history. Colorful business range covers DIY product lines, including graphics card, motherboard, RAM, SSD, all-in-one PC, server, etc. It is a comprehensive company that holds the largest share in the Chinese graphics card market...

en.colorful.cn

I had multiple mATX motherboards and RTX4080 (on the front page). Everything from last 2 years was pretty good quality. Only BIOS and RAM support could be better for motherboards.
These new motherboards look great too - https://www.overclockers.com/colorf...ra-motherboards-for-14th-gen-intel-core-cpus/

 

[rainless]

What's the general consensus on Black Friday on Amazon? Should I wait a week to buy a graphics card?

 

[WrkBoot]

I'm also interested in everyone's thoughts

 

[Woomack]

We don't really know what will be on sale as not everything is announced earlier. If you want a graphics card, it's worth waiting as, in the worst case, you lose a week, but prices can only be better.
Probably other stores than Amazon can have better deals. My local stores usually bump prices for a month to make price drops for BF. Drops are usually not really convincing (like 5-10%), so Amazon with international shipping can be the only good option. In the US, there should be more stores like Newegg that make more significant price drops.

 

[EarthDog]

If you want a graphics card, it's worth waiting as, in the worst case, you lose a week, but prices can only be better.

This. I can't imagine it to be worse....lol.

 

[rainless]

This. I can't imagine it to be worse....lol.

Yeah... You remember those two Gigabyte 4060s I posted earlier? Well now the faster one is on sale for what the "Eagle" was going for.

I'd hate for it to sell out or something... (says they already sold 200 of them or something) but I'd also kick myself if they dropped another 20 bucks next week.

Anyway I do have that week to burn as I'm currently selling a bunch of old stuff to fund this purchase.

 

[rainless]

Ok. I ordered the 4060... even though I could've gotten the 3070 for about 50 bucks cheaper. France has this simply WONDERFUL thing where you can buy literally ANYTHING and pay in four installments.

That creates a lot less stress for me with the holidays coming up... because that last 70 bucks I would've needed to get the 3070 and pay for it all at once just wasn't coming.

Plus I went back to Berlin and shipped all my missing PC components to myself. So I'll have a new XFX 750-watt power supply going for me (that I bought before I left Germany and never had the chance to install) and a bunch of nice stuff for sale.

I think I'm going to turn my old CPU (not the Q9550... I think it was like a 4600kf... Something like that) into an AI server with a GTX 960 (if I can't sell it).

But yeah... Spending 90 bucks a month for the next four months should make my life a little bit easier. I've got a hundred euros worth of Ninteno Switch games I'm selling... (one already sold on Vinted).

If that materializes then I'll just cancel my Amazon order.

 

[EarthDog]

Cool!

Which model 4060 did you end up buying?

 

[rainless]

Cool!

Which model 4060 did you end up buying?

The faster of the two Gigabytes I posted. (Not the Eagle.)

It's really kinda irrelevant BUT:








...They're selling the 16GB 6800XT for like 40 bucks more than the 4060.

I mean I realize there's always SOMETHING for another 40... or 50... or 100 bucks... but this seems insane given that the 6800XT handily defeats the 4060TI.

I mean, truth be told... even the 4060 is already 60 bucks over my budget... but being able to spread that cost out over 4 months makes it managable.

YET... at the same time... the extra 40 bucks winds up only being another 10 bucks a month (spread out over four months).

Really makes one wonder...

 

[EarthDog]

I hear you, but with added context, it's apples and oranges.

You're comparing different gens and COMPLETELY different tiers of cards (high-end, versus budget). There's many legitimate reasons why the price is this way. Happens this way allllll the time when you look through this lens but don't look at what shaped it.

 

[rainless]

I hear you, but with added context, it's apples and oranges.

You're comparing different gens and COMPLETELY different tiers of cards (high-end, versus budget). There's many legitimate reasons why the price is this way. Happens this way allllll the time when you look through this lens but don't look at what shaped it.

Well the hell with the price... Are you saying that I SHOULDN'T cancel the RTX 4060 order and go for the RX6800 instead?

I mean... given the price difference... that seems like kind of an insane proposition. (Even though I'd rather just not have to change graphics cards at all...)

I mean the MUCH lower power consumption of the 4060 might be more important to me than the increased performance of the 6800... I just don't know anymore...

 

[EarthDog]

Are you saying that I SHOULDN'T cancel the RTX 4060 order and go for the RX6800 instead?

Not sure I even alluded to anything like that (i also assume you mean SHOULD cancel the 4060 and go for the 6800...?... i surely didnt say order both as it looks like you wrote, lol). Just sharing some context so youre aware what, exactly, youre comparing and why youre seeing what you are price-wise.

I mean the MUCH lower power consumption of the 4060 might be more important to me than the increased performance of the 6800... I just don't know anymore...

That's what you said earlier. Time to put the big boy pants on and make a decision!

 

[JLK03F150]

@rainless, I vaguely remember you going with the 2060 because you had software that was improved by utilizing Cuda cores. Is that still the case?

 

[rainless]

I'll guess your 9600kf may be part of the reason you're seeing inconsistent GPU use in some titles. It's old(er - 5 years in Jan), slower, and 'only' has 6 total cores and threads. Assuming you're playing at 1080p, a CPU-bound res in many cases, I could see this being part of the inconsistency in performance too.

IIRC, Cyberpunk 2077 is getting an update soon that's supposed to allow it to use up to 8c/t. When that happens, your experience could take a hit on that CPU. What's funny is this (and many other) articles/reviews call it a GPU demanding game and yours doesn't even kick the fan on (leads me to believe something else is going on).

Cyberpunk 2077 might force you to upgrade your CPU | Digital Trends

If you want to play the new Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, Phantom Liberty, you may need to make sure your PC is ready for it first.

www.digitaltrends.com

That was the DLC Phantom Liberty release, already got 2 patches after that. In 2.0.2 I see 60%-80% CPU usage on my 3700x and ~90%+ on my 3070 (1440p DLSS quality, mix of high and ultra settings), defo something else going on with that system if the fans don't ramp up.

And that's with a 8c/16t CPU you're getting 60-80%... 6c/6t may just be pegged.

OKAY... It seems like maybe NONE of us may have guessed the true culprit. (Though I had my suspicions...)

Like I mentioned in the Thanksgiving thread... I went back to Berlin, boxed up my stuff, and finally had it mailed to France. Among those items was my 750 watt XFX power supply to replace my BS Corsair VS 550 watt power supply. (I'm sure you can see where this is going...)

After an extremely painful BG3 update process (transferring everything from my BS Samsung QVO SSD to a Crucial M2 now...) I was able to get the game loaded up under the new power supply... everything else the same.

And wouldn't you know it? After two hours of whatever one would call "Intensive Gameplay" on a turn-based strategy game... NO NOISE.

I mean the GPU fans were ON... I could hear them... but none of that deafening clatter it was making before.

Which makes me suspect that it wasn't the GPU at all... but the PSU FAN (which... the way my case is... sits very close to the GPU) that was causing all the racket.

I can hear the XFX fan spinning when I'm playing... but you're talking a COMPLETELY different beast in terms of construction and build quality.

So maybe I just spent 350 bucks for nothing... We'll see. It could just be that it's November now as well. When I work up the energy I'll load up Cyberpunk and MIdnight Suns. Then we can REALLY see what's up.

@rainless, I vaguely remember you going with the 2060 because you had software that was improved by utilizing Cuda cores. Is that still the case?

It is.

 

[EarthDog]

It seems like maybe NONE of us may have guessed the true culprit. (Though I had my suspicions...)

We were guessing about where the noise was coming from? You told us where it was located, I thought, lol. Makes sense now.

The performamce stuff you quoted doesn't change. It had nothing to do with the noise, really. Your cpu is still maxed out with a psu whose fan, now ID'd as the noise culprit, doesn't spin up.

 

[Kenrou]

Well spotted (or should I say well heard), I honestly don't think I've ever heard my current PSU fan, even at high loads...

 

[rainless]

Well spotted (or should I say well heard), I honestly don't think I've ever heard my current PSU fan, even at high loads...

That's why it seemed so improbable. I'd heard that my GPU could be noisy... but I hadn't really noticed anything until the title screen of Cyberpunk. Then I noticed the noise constantly in Diablo IV and BG3. So I just thought it was the GPU. I'd never even HEARD OF a loud PSU fan before. I partly suspected it... but it seemed unlikely.

WHO KNOWS?!?

It's winter now... Maybe the 2060 just hasn't gotten hot enough yet. (Or maybe the latest patches increased performance.

Video card should be here in half an hour. Then I can try a few more games with the old card. If everything is peachy I'll just send it back and start looking into Black Friday deals on motherboards and CPUs.

 

[rainless]

Not sure I even alluded to anything like that (i also assume you mean SHOULD cancel the 4060 and go for the 6800...?... i surely didnt say order both as it looks like you wrote, lol). Just sharing some context so youre aware what, exactly, youre comparing and why youre seeing what you are price-wise.


That's what you said earlier. Time to put the big boy pants on and make a decision!

Just to follow-up on this...

It was an EXTREMELY tough choice. I heard a lot of people in this thread saying the 3070 was faster... 20% or no... not necessarily "better." And then that surprise 6800XT sale for 399... What I didn't hear was anyone going "I'd probably go with the 3070" or "I'd stick with the 4060" or "The 6800XT is better than both of those cards..."

I mean it was kind of a flash sale... so I really just didn't have time for a hell of a lot of research. (I think they were all gone within a few hours of me posting that image).

So I did what I generally do in such situations whenever the option is available: NOTHING.

I didn't cancel the order... I didn't order the 6800XT... didn't do anything.

They did screw up the delivery... wound up delivering a day late. So I wound up with an extra day to think about it.

Ultimately I stuck with "Nothing." And they delivered the next day.

My 2060 Super sold INSTANTLY (which tells me I probably could've gotten more money for it...)

I also sold a handful of Nintendo Switch games. So in the end it was almost like upgrading to a 4060 for nothing.

I might've already explained it here (I know Earthdog already knows, and I wrote about it in one of the Game threads) but in the end the problem wasn't even my 2060 Super... it was my power supply.

No matter. Swapping the 2060 for the 4060 was kind of a lateral move. Hell... I even have until January 24th to return it.

In light of the fact that there was nothing wrong with the 2060... I'm glad I didn't spend any more money than I did.

By the time January rolls around I might be able to afford a 4060TI or a 4070TI or they might even announce the next "Super" series or something.

I'm planning a full system upgrade for 2024 anyway... So whatever lasts me until then was probably the best call.

 

[EarthDog]

It was an EXTREMELY tough choice. I heard a lot of people in this thread saying the 3070 was faster... 20% or no... not necessarily "better." And then that surprise 6800XT sale for 399... What I didn't hear was anyone going "I'd probably go with the 3070" or "I'd stick with the 4060" or "The 6800XT is better than both of those cards

Well, I'm more of a 'teach a man to fish' kind of guy, so there's that, lol. I thought us users did a good job of framing things up so you can make the most informed decision you could on the information we were given/asked for.

'Better' for you is likely the lower-powered card since you don't care too much about performance over noise (post 5)...

Anyhoo...if you don't care about performance, the 4060 is going to be a good choice for your needs. Among them, check the reviews for noise and make a selection.

The 6800XT is much faster than a 3070 and 4060 (~34% and ~71% respectively at 4K according to TPU), but again, it uses a lot more power and is more difficult to cool and cool quietly.

By the time January rolls around I might be able to afford a 4060TI or a 4070TI or they might even announce the next "Super" series or something.

I wouldn't go anything less than 4070 Ti or 7800XT if you already have a 4060.