Graphics cards are expensive. Just, outright expensive. Buying a video card these days boils down to:
- Potato Tier: GTX 1050 – Sub $100
- Cheeki Breeki Potato Tier: RX 560 – $130 (570 & 580 are valid too)
- 1080p No Problem: GTX 1060 6GB – $250
- 1440p No Problem: GTX 1070 Ti – $350~$400
- 4k Eh 1440p Bliss: GTX 1080 / 1080 Ti – $400~$600
- 4k No Problem: GTX 2080 – $800
The RTX 2060 will replace the 1070 Ti at MSRP of $350 also known as “sold out day one on sale for $600.” Which I guess is nice? I mean, video cards are becoming like iPhones, there is little reason to upgrade anytime soon for any reason or anything. Once you reach the 1080 level, you can pretty much run 4k gaming at reasonable frame rates. I mean realistically the 1060 can push through 4k gaming, although at low frame rates.
After the cryptocurrency wave I almost wonder if GPU manufacterers were just almost ready to abandon video gamers and focus more on mining cards, which is why the development cycle of the GTX 20 series is basically just “meh” compared to the GTX 10 series, whereas AMD I think has just called it a day and is focusing on making video cards good enough for Fortnite.
The GTX 2060 can do ray tracing, but here is the catch – why? They had it at 50 FPS in Battlefield 1 with Ray Tracing on but let’s face it. Cut that off, get what 20/30 more FPS and enjoy. The fact they’re aiming at replacing the 1070 Ti with it and not the 1080 is even more interesting, because by many accounts the 1070 Ti and the 1080 are near neck and neck real world performance wise after overclocking the 1070 Ti (which you have to OC yourself).
I’m not too excited for the card, but at least it might drive down the 10 series prices while they’re still available.
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