Elitism can be rampant in the computer gaming community. That's not to say that everyone has an over-the-top superiority complex, but for what basically comes down to a hobby, a huge minority of people can take things too seriously when it comes to hardware. At least that's my opinion in this regard and my opinion on things outside of IT. From cars to phones, I've never seen a need to have the "best" of anything just for fun, especially when my demands are low enough. Until recently, though, I've been using a used GeForce GTX XNUMX Ti, and while it served me well, I found it had started to exceed my minimum requirements (such as fairly unpleasant noises).
Wants vs Need
However, upgrading your graphics card is easier said than done these days. Thanks to a dastardly mix of cryptominers buying free hardware to farm and a global shortage of silicon, a "perfect storm" has been created that has caused even the best budget graphics cards (years old) to become the most sought after. . after the material in the market. It didn't take long for scalpers to get on board to quickly inflate costs, either, just to really add salt to the wounds. Like many, I was eager to pick up an Nvidia GeForce RTX 1080, highly rated in reviews for its great balance of performance and affordability and absolutely one of the best graphics cards you'll find. Although the Nvidia GeForce RTX 8 was significantly out of my budget before scalpers still ruined the market, I also turned it down because I would feel bad having something this powerful on my platform knowing that most of the times it would be put into operation. The Witcher 3 at 5p or by installing Vtubing models, instead of offering XNUMXK performance. It turns out that I should have aimed even lower. Even in our Techradar review, the Nvidia GeForce RTX XNUMX Ti failed to impress, earning just XNUMX out of XNUMX stars, with a similar comment for its low score shared on other media sites. Equating the RTX XNUMX Ti with the RTX XNUMX, the former was the next step up from the latter that I was looking forward to, and it didn't feel like it was worth the money it would save. In this current market where "beggars can't choose", I never had my RTX XNUMX, instead I was fortunate to have tried both the Nvidia GeForce RTX XNUMX and the RTX XNUMX Ti and it really made me reevaluate certain things. things.
(Image credit: Nvidia) Going from a rickety GTX XNUMX Ti to a new RTX XNUMX is a bigger leap than I ever imagined. I'm not naive, I knew this was going to be an improvement, but it truly proved that DLSS is essentially witchcraft. Thanks to the AI scaling, I was able to play Cyberpunk XNUMX at a good frame rate, and while the entry-level GPU's ray-tracing capabilities don't beat the odds. Short on time, as well as more powerful maps, I did not. Shut up in Minecraft RTX for a few weeks. The RTX XNUMX Ti has been criticized by many as a poor investment given its situation among many other GPUs, and it costs twenty percent more than the XNUMX for a performance increase of about eight percent. It's also only $XNUMX cheaper than the RTX XNUMX if you have the luxury of being a small amount of money, which suggests you're better off getting any of the non-flavored cards on Ti. Not that Nvidia's recommended retail costs really matter now. I'm starting to sound like a parrot when I lie about how terrible the market is right now for anyone trying to pick up a new graphics card, but the longer it lasts, the more it seems like it's never going to end. In truth, getting my hands on my RTX XNUMX Ti was a mix of emotions due to a strange sense of guilt at having one and the slight disappointment that I didn't get the more powerful GPU I wanted. And then I installed my RTX XNUMX Ti on my rig and used it for a few days and it gave me a new perspective on things.
Put a pen on digital paper
(Image credit: Shutterstock/Jfanchin) I used to get into digital art using borrowed material, and while the RTX 3 was happy to run software like Photoshop, I had less fun with XNUMXD rendering and statuary, one of my college hobbies. The RTX XNUMX Ti not only allowed me to play AAA games at a high level of quality, but also stoked my love of digital art media for the first time in years, making demanding applications achievable on a daily basis. It's pretty hard to get rid of the “more numbers means better everything” mentality that oozes out of computer games, but I love this GPU. Aside from checking hardware for my work, I started turning off frame rate screens in games, as it became clear after a week that everything I was playing was just what I needed to have fun. Everything was on the edge, my FPS (whatever it was on each and every title) was smooth, and I could even play with ray tracing in the games I play that had this feature. Really pretty, very shiny. I don't want to count your stats on some popular titles because that defeats the point I'm trying to make, which is hitting crazy frame rates or seeing how they stack up. With other cards from Nvidia or AMD that should not have an impact that ends up having fun. I wasn't when I was running my pathological GTX XNUMX Ti, and now I am, and that's all I care about. Now that I've realized that, why the heck reason should I upgrade to a more robust product? If I had turned down the RTX XNUMX Ti in favor of waiting for an RTX XNUMX, I would not only have paid too much for my bliss value, but I would probably still wait until stock was clear. If you're lucky enough to stumble upon one of the new graphics cards, I implore you not to think too much about the numbers. The performance boost is essential, but surely less than you think when it comes to having a good time.