upgrading to 1660 ti / super or RX 6600 (not XT)

[pauldy]

I'm thinking of upgrading my Graphics card, either getting the 1660 super / ti or the RX 6600 vanilla.. not the XT version
i'm also low-key thinking of the RTX 3060 (not TI) but albeit it's more of bottleneck city for that..

For reference, My current specs are:

i3 10100
GTX 1650 4GB
B460m Board
32 GB RAM
Windows 10 & DCS installation in the SSD NVME M.2 @ 500GB
1TB HDD
550 Watts PSU

Playing on a 60hz Monitor 1080p.. so I'm running with V-sync On, using Nvidia's control panel and not the in-game option we have..
FPS is essentially locked at 60 (30 when around Dubai or Abu Dhabi city proper)

Will there be a benefit for me switching to these Graphics Cards?
Also I have Anti Aliasing Off so i'm used to playing with Eww Jaggies just so i could maintain 60 FPS most of the time..
would upgrading cards enable me on switch on MSAA at least to x2 or it's more of a CPU thing?

Thanks loads in advance^

Edited April 24, 2022 by pauldy

[Bossco82]

Out of that choice I would probably try for a 1660ti. MSAA is a GPU thing. Maybe give it a month and see if the prices drop any further. The used market could be a good option if you buy carefully.

[pauldy]

I see, thanks.. although i'm kinda more inclined to the RX 6600.. I'm kinda assuming it'll be out of stock in our area / country sooner than the 1660s.
How about FPS in general, is it also driven by Graphics card or more from the Processor itself?

Yeah, i couldn't buy second hand or used PC hardware here.. It's not really a thing in our place it seems.
It's always just brand new stuff and once it goes out, it's likely to be out of stock forever.

 

[Hector45]

The RX 6600 is almost double the relative performance as your 1650 with double the VRAM and GDDR6 as well. It would be quite the upgrade for you and should run 1080p quite well.

Prior to my system upgrade I was running a 1070Ti which is very similar in performance to the 6600. I was able to run MSAA 2x SSAA off.

[pauldy]

I see, thanks

Generally i wouldn't have bottleneck or power supply problems if I go RX 6600 right? since I'm thinking its a more powerful card than the 1660 Ti / Supers or 3050s
or maybe the 1660 or the 3050 is still the better choice for my 10100?

 

[LucShep]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:41 AM, pauldy said:

I'm thinking of upgrading my Graphics card, either getting the 1660 super / ti or the RX 6600 vanilla.. not the XT version
i'm also low-key thinking of the RTX 3060 (not TI) but albeit it's more of bottleneck city for that..

For reference, My current specs are:

i3 10100
GTX 1650 4GB
B460m Board
32 GB RAM
Windows 10 & DCS installation in the SSD NVME M.2 @ 500GB
1TB HDD
550 Watts PSU

Playing on a 60hz Monitor 1080p.. so I'm running with V-sync On, using Nvidia's control panel and not the in-game option we have..
FPS is essentially locked at 60 (30 when around Dubai or Abu Dhabi city proper)

Will there be a benefit for me switching to these Graphics Cards?
Also I have Anti Aliasing Off so i'm used to playing with Eww Jaggies just so i could maintain 60 FPS most of the time..
would upgrading cards enable me on switch on MSAA at least to x2 or it's more of a CPU thing?

Thanks loads in advance^

 

Avoid any 6GB VRAM GPUs, such as GTX1660 Super, GTX 1660Ti, RTX 2060 6GB or GTX 980Ti 6GB.

At this point and ahead, 8GB VRAM on the GPU has become standard as minimum recommended for DCS, as even in 1080P resolution DCS can consume 8GB+ of video memory if you add MSAA and/or SSAA (for example, F-14 Tomcat or other overkill detailed modules in the Syria map, etc), something that you'll end up doing anyway if you want image quality at 1080P resolution.

Also, and from my own experience in both 1080P and 4K, DCS runs a bit better with Nvidia than with AMD, given two GPUs of equivalent performance from both manufacturers.
Therefore - and take it for what is - I'd say Nvidia is definitely prefered for DCS (I emphasize, specifically for DCS, not gaming in general).
 
For 1080P and DCS, this is what I'd personally recommend - difference from top to bottom is ≥30% performance (better to worse is top to bottom):

1. Nvidia GTX 1080Ti 11GB
2. Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 8GB
3. Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB
4. AMD RX 5700XT 8GB
5. Nvidia RTX 2070 8GB
6. AMD RX 6600XT 8GB
7. Nvidia RTX 2060 Super 8GB
8. AMD RX 5700 8GB
9. AMD RX 6600 8GB
10. Nvidia GTX 1080 8GB
11. Nvidia GTX 1070Ti 8GB
12. Nvidia RTX 3050 8GB

Your i3 10100F, although far from top of the line, is not a slow processor by any means (equivalent to a stock i7 6700K), so CPU bottlenecks with such GPUs are unlikely.
Personally, and in your case, I'd look on EBAY for a deal on a used RTX2070 8GB (Super or non-Super), maybe even on a used GTX1080Ti 11GB, from reputable sellers.
But I can understand if people prefer a brand new GPU with full warranty and etc, and that list I put has models that are no longer found brand new.
In that case (if buying brand new), I'd bit the bullet and get the RTX 3060 12GB.
 

Edited April 25, 2022 by LucShep

[Bossco82]

Actually to be honest, if I was you and using a 1080p 60hz monitor. I would probably try to find a nice 2060 super on eBay etc. Then undervolt it using MSI Afterburner. I use to have one a couple of years back and it handled DCS at 60fps 1080p really nicely, plenty of eye candy etc.

[pauldy]

I see thanks again all^

I guess i'd aim for a 3060 now.. although I guess i need to change my power supply if ever right? Is 650 watts enough?

The thing is, used computer parts selling is almost non existent in our country it seems.
Either it's new or nothing.
It's all brand new and once it goes out, it's likely to be gone forever.

Worse case, I might just have to go with an RX 6600 (assuming i can find stocks of that too..) if i can longer find the 3060 or the 6600 XT in our area..

Edited April 25, 2022 by pauldy

[pauldy]

I need to undervolt a 3060 if that's what i get if ever?

[LucShep]

11 hours ago, pauldy said:

I guess i'd aim for a 3060 now.. although I guess i need to change my power supply if ever right? Is 650 watts enough?
 

A decent 650W PSU will be fine with any of those GPUs on your system. If you already have one, then you're good to go.

 

22 minutes ago, pauldy said:

I need to undervolt a 3060 if that's what i get if ever?

You don't "need" to undervolt any GPU, just like you don't need to use a custom fan profile (to make fans spin faster), it's just a very good idea and practice to do those things.
Undervolting makes the GPU consume less electricity, resulting in less heat generated while maintaining performance as good as factory stock, if not better - and why it's often recommended.

It's fairly easy to do it with MSI Afterburner (both undervolting and custom fan profile) but, no, it's not needed if you don't want to mess with that.

Edited April 25, 2022 by LucShep

[pauldy]

On 4/25/2022 at 5:57 AM, LucShep said:

Avoid any 6GB VRAM GPUs, such as GTX1660 Super, GTX 1660Ti, RTX 2060 6GB or GTX 980Ti 6GB.

At this point and ahead, 8GB VRAM on the GPU has become standard as minimum recommended for DCS, as even in 1080P resolution DCS can consume 8GB+ of video memory if you add MSAA and/or SSAA (for example, F-14 Tomcat or other overkill detailed modules in the Syria map, etc), something that you'll end up doing anyway if you want image quality at 1080P resolution.

Also, and from my own experience in both 1080P and 4K, DCS runs a bit better with Nvidia than with AMD, given two GPUs of equivalent performance from both manufacturers.
Therefore - and take it for what is - I'd say Nvidia is definitely prefered for DCS (I emphasize, specifically for DCS, not gaming in general).
 
For 1080P and DCS, this is what I'd personally recommend - difference from top to bottom is ≥30% performance (better to worse is top to bottom):

1. Nvidia GTX 1080Ti 11GB
2. Nvidia RTX 2070 Super 8GB
3. Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB
4. AMD RX 5700XT 8GB
5. Nvidia RTX 2070 8GB
6. AMD RX 6600XT 8GB
7. Nvidia RTX 2060 Super 8GB
8. AMD RX 5700 8GB
9. AMD RX 6600 8GB
10. Nvidia GTX 1080 8GB
11. Nvidia GTX 1070Ti 8GB
12. Nvidia RTX 3050 8GB

Your i3 10100F, although far from top of the line, is not a slow processor by any means (equivalent to a stock i7 6700K), so CPU bottlenecks with such GPUs are unlikely.
Personally, and in your case, I'd look on EBAY for a deal on a used RTX2070 8GB (Super or non-Super), maybe even on a used GTX1080Ti 11GB, from reputable sellers.
But I can understand if people prefer a brand new GPU with full warranty and etc, and that list I put has models that are no longer found brand new.
In that case (if buying brand new), I'd bit the bullet and get the RTX 3060 12GB.
 

 

I went for the 3060 Ti 8gb with 650 watts PSU instead, since the 3060 12gb isn't available here in our area. I can now set to MSAA to a modest 2x and run at 60fps most of the time over Dubai.
I set my v-sync on since i'm running on an older 60hz monitor so yeah..

Thanks for that explanation with tier list and Thanks a lot again all ^^

Edited April 30, 2022 by pauldy

[LucShep]

18 hours ago, pauldy said:

I went for the 3060 Ti 8gb with 650 watts PSU instead, since the 3060 12gb isn't available here in our area. I can now set to MSAA to a modest 2x and run at 60fps most of the time over Dubai.
I set my v-sync on since i'm running on an older 60hz monitor so yeah..

Thanks for that explanation with tier list and Thanks a lot again all ^^

 

Very nice. congrats!  
The RTX3060Ti 8GB is quite faster than the RTX3060 12GB, and better than I initially thought (I'm using one at 4K / 60Hz). Really good bang for the buck.

Consider undervolting it with MSI Afterburner sometime later.
It will run even better (performance +/- equivalente to a stock RTX3070) while getting slighly better temps as it'll be consuming a little less power.

The following tutorial is easy to understand and its settings (1980Mhz@925mv) are close to perfect for any RTX3060Ti:

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by LucShep

[pauldy]

..with my newer specs, am i able to run Syria or perhaps even Marianas? Offline Single player only
attached are the settings i have in-game

[Hector45]

I would try shadows to low and bump MSAA to 4x or SSAA to on and see what the trade off is. I don't notice much difference between low and high shadows, but I definitely notice the jaggies.

[tothesky]

I got my 1660ti super running OK on a 27 inch 165hz 1440 gigbyte game monitor.  Its running BS OK but this card needs to go somewhere else.