Choke Point and GPU Choice

[brettt777]

Okay, my system is struggling with some games, including DCS, but not others. So a couple questions if I may...

- Here's my system in a nutshell:
Ryzen 5 5900X @ 4.4ghz
64gb DDR4 @ 3200hz
RTX3060ti 8gb GDDR5
Rosewil 1K Power Supply
OS and all high end games on SSD's

I'm thinking the choke point in this system is the RTX3060ti with its 8gb of GDDR5. Two reasons I think this. First, when I upgraded to the Ryzen 5, I ran a bunch of benchmarks before and after to see where I was at. Obviously there was a significant increase from the old CPU to the Ryzen. At first I had the Ryzen at 4ghz on the CPU. So I recorded those and then set the CPU to 4.4ghz like it is now. Virtually no performance increase in any game benchmark. I would think if the CPU was the choke point, there would have been at least a modest performance increase from 4ghz to 4.4ghz.
Second, on certain games where my system struggles, I often get a warning about my GPU running out of memory. Kinda weird but I can run a fairly new game like MSFS2024 at reasonable fps on fairly high graphics settings. But when I try to run an older flight sim like P3D V5 (it has VRS Tacpack, so I keep it around) it really struggles like, single digit fps. I recently installed P3D V6 cuz it uses a different engine than the older versions. It runs smoother, but I get the GPU memory warring all the time.
So what you guys think? Am I correct? Is my GPU the choke point in my system?

Which brings me to my second question. In looking to upgrade said GPU, I'm kinda looking at two new units... an RTX5070ti and an RX 7900 XT/X. On the benchmark site I go to, it shows the 5070ti in the top ten, It shows the RX 7900 XTX a bit lower and the 7900 XT a bit lower than that in the list. But obviously all of them are significantly higher than my poor little 3060ti (It wasn't bad in it's day. A lot of bang for the buck). There are of course, half a dozen or so GPU's that are better than the 5070ti, but I can't afford $2-3,000 for a GPU. A 5070ti is around $8-900 and an RX 7900 XTX is around the same price. The 7900 XT is about $100 less. The 5070ti has the mandatory 16gb of GDDR7. The 7900 XT and XTX have 20 and 24gb of GDDR6 respectively. I have used nVidia GPU's exclusively for years and have always had good performance... at the time I installed it anyway. But I have heard that the drivers for the 5070ti have compatibility issues at times, so that makes me hesitant. Also, I really like the 20 or 24gb of GDDR on the Radeon cards. Even if it is "6" instead of "7".
So, what you guys think on this one? 5070ti/16gb GDDR7 or RX7900 XTX/24gb GDDR6?
I will also be upgrading my motherboard and RAM soon as well, mostly because I need more SATA ports. I will go from 64gb limited to 3200hz to 128gb at 4000hz +. Unfortunately a CPU upgrade isn't in the budget just yet so I am stuck with the DDR4 cuz that's the only thing Ryzen 9 will use.
So, is my GPU the choke point? RTX 5070ti or RX 7900 XTX?

[speed-of-heat]

i would likely go the 24gb of vram , if you want to increase the speed of your ram fine, but you dont need 128Gb for DCS ... 

bear in mind that some benchmark sites have a terrible tendency to bias