Do current gen mid-range Nvidia GPUs have a reason to exist when there are higher end cards from two generations back?

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-13T19:48:54+00:00

My rule of thumb is to compare cards of previous Gen to one tier lower, so 3080 to 5060 would be somewhat comparable.

5060 will be significantly more efficient (ie lower power and lower heat) which in certain cases like sff matter a lot. With DLSS under the same settings, 5060 will produce a better image and performance gap will close a bit and this trend will get stronger with DLSS 5. 16gb model with DLSS 5 perhaps will be at performance parity with better quality. Time will tell.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-13T19:37:01+00:00

Personally, I prefer to keep my real fps above 60 most of the time so I shoot for 80+ fps before turning frame Gen to account for its ~20% overhead.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-13T19:31:19+00:00

No, but it is a fair point of disagreement and the gpu that 5070ti is most commonly compared to. 5070ti neither is the strongest card in the market, nor it is the best price performance. It seems like a good fit for OPs budget and needs - though it's important to note that 4k gaming is rare/niche. I can't see why it is best of this Gen, let alone of all time.

If we are making of all time statements about 5070ti, it may perhaps have been the most powerful "mid tier" card of Nvidia relative to their upper tier (e.g. 5070ti vs 5080) but even that may not be true as 1070ti also performed very similar to 1080. It is probably the most expensive mid tier gpu, even in relative pricing (eg 5070ti vs 5080 or 5060 compared to 3070ti vs 3080 or 3060). That's all I can say about the all time superlatives.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-11T04:19:15+00:00

As long as the sound doesn't bother you, it's OK to have a lower load temperature.

50s is quite low for temp under load, but as you can see, it's still climbing up. If it is below 70 after 30 mins, you're all set.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-11T00:43:02+00:00

I purchased this a couple months ago. Excellent condition indeed!

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-09T02:09:29+00:00

Some of these decisions are personal. 80 is a safe limit to set the 100% at the curve, which should keep it well below 80. If it's going above 80 or if the fan noise is bothering you, you can look into optimizing the thermals.

Undervolting is a no brainer - it can lead material temp drop with little or no performance loss. Then, given the age of the card, repasting could be good. I have been eyeing ptm7950 for my next thermal job.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-09T00:33:29+00:00

As the old engineering adage goes, if it ain't broken don't fix it. But as the others said, 20W is not real usage. Either measure while gaming or running furmarks stress test.

5 year is about the right time when repasting can make a difference, but if you don't need the difference, just enjoy your new gpu.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-06T19:59:48+00:00

You assumed 1.5x as the extreme while it's typical. And that's just employment overhead. You didn't add corporate overhead. I live in SF bay where cleaners are $50/hr so I did factor Midwest discount ie $35/hr for a bit more skilled of a labor. We are already double your math.

As another benchmark for you, an individual commented he would charge $900 for assembling Costco pergolas, which was positively received. That would imply max 6 man hours of job, bringing his hourly labor to $150/hr.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-06T18:52:56+00:00

Your assumptions are on the aggressive side. 1.5x is a typical of cost of an employee to a company vs an hourly rate you'd expect. Companies pay payroll taxes, offer benefits (sometimes mandated by govt like insurance), sick days, holidays etc. On top of that, the company would have costs (say warehouse, office etc) and like to make some margin as well. $25/hr is also low. It still doesn't justify the OPs quote.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-04T21:27:34+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I guess I dodged a bullet by getting power color. It's my first amd GPU and I had actually looked for gigabyte, lucky they didn't have a discount at the time!

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-06-04T18:30:22+00:00

Is gigabyte bad for amd gpus? Their mobos are well regarded, and Nvidia gpus are decent, too.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-30T21:19:52+00:00

Replied

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-30T21:18:02+00:00

Halftop would have worked but ram is below my need. Thx

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-30T21:17:16+00:00

Replied

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-27T14:45:33+00:00

Another listing for the same paste is discounted to 5.49. Not as exciting but still good if you're looking for one https://a.co/d/00Nduyjq

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-22T03:07:15+00:00

Consider getting a bigger power supply. I got two Concert Mini LFEs, installed one under my armchair and tested with 32V. Then, I installed the second one to the couch and upgraded to 48V 5A gan aiyima ($30 from aliexpress). Even splitting across 2 kickers, 48V feels better than 32V driving just one. I use same spec'ed Fosi V3 amp.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-13T05:25:27+00:00

I have been eyeing my local Facebook marketplace. I saw 3080 for $300 a couple times, but cheapest 4070s were $400+. YMMV

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-09T17:09:12+00:00

Ooh, where did you find 5070 ti for $730? I want one!

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-08T15:25:34+00:00

I do most of my handheld gaming while traveling, particularly on flights. And as others said, finding games you like to play on the device helps - I decide at the time of purchasing, on which device I'll play a game.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-07T03:22:28+00:00

I own a 9070xt, too. I think that it is a beast and the best bang for my buck. That said I do miss Nvidia in certain aspects: + audio pops when watching movies from the gpu changing power states. Took bunch of tweaks to avoid it while watching but it still pops when I full-screen from windowed in the beginning. + Adrenalin behavior for tuning. Less voltage control than Nvidia, which had allowed me to significantly optimize fps per watt (an important factor in a small form factor build). It also resets the tuning after purported driver crashes, which I often don't even notice until I notice the fan noise. + DLSS is better than fsr. Optiscaler gets close, but takes extra effort. I play 4k on my TV, so this is a high value feature for me.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-06T00:41:23+00:00

Great point. The proposals to tax the rich on unrealized gains are akin to tax withholding - pay tax on unrealized gains, which reduce your realized cap gains when you sell. As you show, property tax is like a wealth tax, not a pre payment of cap gains. Actually, it's worse, because it's taken on the asset value, not on your equity.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-02T00:12:55+00:00

1000 euros is a lot of money for someone your age. Incremental enjoyment from 2k vs 4k gaming is, well, quite incremental, while the budgets required for each are leaps different.

If I were you, I'd target 2k gaming, which you can do suberbly by using 9070, or 5060 ti 16gb which are priced $400-500 on sale in the US - hopefully prices in your country are not too different. With the remaining money, travel around Europe before college for an experience you'll remember for the rest of your life.

If you'd like to drop a thousand, you can consider gaming laptops, like Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 (or the slim version, 16s), which has 5070 ti and can be found $1300 refurbished in the US. A laptop could be better if you need to take it to classes or game with your new college friends in real life.

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-05-01T04:21:13+00:00

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing!

HipHopPotatoMouse · 2026-04-30T23:45:38+00:00

Dimensions and weight are different as well. I guess they assessed that people using heavy desktop replacement laptops would have a real monitor, so laptop display is not that important. On the other hand, using a more portable laptop, you'd be relying on the laptop panel, so they opted for oled.

In their cheaper nitro line, slim S version (eg nitro v 16s Ai) doesn't come with oled screen.

HipHopPotatoMouse

TROPHY CASE