Longterm PC Gaming Enthusiasts, How often do you upgrade your GPU?

How often do you upgrade your enthusiant class GPU

  • Every 0 to 2 years

    Votes: 42 18.0%

  • Every 3 to 5 years

    Votes: 134 57.5%

  • Every 6 years or more

    Votes: 57 24.5%
  • Total voters
    233
  • Poll closed .
Boss Mog

Boss Mog

Member
I'm trying to settle an argument and so I'm curious to know how often gamers who mainly game on high-end PCs with high settings, and have been doing so for a while, upgrade their enthusiast class GPUs. Please only answer the poll if this applies to you.
 
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Every other generation, generally speaking when you buy higher end you end up with the new generations mid tier. PS4 pro stopped me from upgrading, I'll give it that but I came back swinging with the 3 series.
 
Probably every 3-4 years. I like to be one generation behind. Have had ZERO issues running literally any game on the market max settings (at the moment, at 1440p) with the best GPU from the previous generation.
 
Since perfomance now heavy rely on consoles. So now only in mid console life make upgrade. That mean i'm waiting for RX8800/RTX 5080 or near them with 10-15% less perfomance and can again play on max settings/near for another 7-8 years.
 
2-4 years. If the 5090 is 50%+ faster than the 4090, I'll get it. Otherwise, I'll wait for the 6080/90.
 
Usually skip a couple generations at the very least 5+ years. Went from a 1070 to a 4070 Ti.

Though I may jump on Blackwell as I do want more VRAM. Not that nessessary with DLSS/FSR/XeSS and Frame Generation as perfomance goes. Though I feel next gen is where Raytracing really takes off.
 
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Every generation with the top card

NVidia keeps upping their prices because of people like me



Starship Troopers Parody GIF
 
Also, OP, the choices should be 2-4, 4-6, or over 6 years since a generation is now roughly 2 years so you can't really "upgrade" every year or less anymore. When they used to come out every 6 months, sure, but it's no longer the case.
 
3-5, I guess.

Bunch of random Voodoo/Radeon cards -> 760 -> 970 -> 2070 -> 4070

Felt way less fun and interesting this time around, that's for sure.
 
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I always was in the ~2 year bracket. With how hard Nvidia has been trying to fuck its customers since the cryptoboom I´ll be delaying the next upgrade indefinitely.
 
Depends on how good the gpu is.

I usually changed series 70 every 2 years or less, but with a series 80 i could last 3, maybe more if framegen is gonna be enough for 4k60.

I tried 4k120 and it is not something worth chasing with current tech.
 
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Every generation because that's when the card has it's highest resale value. Much easier to eat the cost of the upgrade regularly when it's 50 - 60% off.
 
For me personally VRR has made upgrading even less important since you can get a nice smooth experience even if you can't lock 120 FPS in a given title.

they're is also DLSS and FSR … I dunno it just feels like it's less of a factor than it used to be
 
Usually about 2-4 years. I have been upgrading more than I really should lately, but 3080 gave me vram problems on a new screen I bought so I only had it for about 1.5 years.
 
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Average of 3-5, sometimes it's been shorter, sometimes longer.

4070ti probably the last card I'll buy for a very long time, mostly due to planning for kids. But DLSS3 + frame generation is utter voodoo and while not supported by the majority of stuff right now, every time I CAN bang it on I'm blown away.
 
Usually i upgrade every other year. I have a 3080 10gb now and i´m tempted to get the 7900xtx but we´ll see with the current prices.....
 
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Kind of often, I guess. Most recent path was 2080 Ti -> 3080 -> 3080 Ti -> 4090

Less often for a while before that, and maybe more often in the late 90s/early 2000s.
 
danklord said:
Every generation because that's when the card has it's highest resale value. Much easier to eat the cost of the upgrade regularly when it's 50 - 60% off.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I used to do that too. I would sell like a few weeks before the new one came out. I had an old GPU I could swap in for those few weeks or use the iGPU if my CPU had one.
 
It used to be 2 years.
But 3080 released 2020... and I got it for 3 years and don't plan to change.
Guess I fall into 2nd tier then
 
Usually every couple of years and a high end option. The 2080ti I used before had a good innings tho, this 3090 so far seems like it will last another couple of years easily too.
 
TheDreadLord said:
5+ years here
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That is my usual plan, but I had a GTX970 crap out on me, and then got in to VR where the RX570 I replaced it with just couldn't cut it. Plan on keeping my 6900XT for awhile and the 570 lives on in my son's computer.
 
When I purchase a GPU, my idea is to upgrade it every two generations. That's what I tell my wife at least.

Unfortunately, my 3070 didn't quite measure to this generation, so I've already upgraded to a 4070 after a couple years. And yes, it's likely that I will need to upgrade again next gen. This time I will likey spend the money on an enthusiast one though.
 
Usually skip 1gen so usually every 3 years. However seeing how much Amd and Nvidia trying to f*** us with mid-range offerings this last 4 years i might actually skip 2 gens this time around
 
I usually upgrade every 3-4 years or so. Closer to 3 vs 4 normally but GPU market is stupid right now so who knows.
 
I used to do annual upgrades but I don't see much point in it anymore. I last bought a 2080 Ti at launch and haven't seen a reason to upgrade that yet. That's almost 5 years now.

I also recently sidegraded from a 4k144 LCD to 3440x1440 OLED. I already thought it was fine at 4k but the new monitor clawed back enough performance that now I see even less need to upgrade the GPU. At most, I'll grab one of the current cards for cheap whenever the next gen rolls around.
 
I upgrade whenever a game comes out i want to play maxed out or i buy something that requires more gpu power.

I went from 580 to 970 because mostly sitting on 1080p, got a 1080ti and upgraded to a 3440x1440 screen which required me to have a faster gpu so went 3080. As of now probably going with a 5090 if its priced more acceptable, or wait for the 6090.
 
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A lot less often now Nvidia have upped their prices, last upgrade took 6 years, before that was every 2 years on average.
Nvidia 5200 something(Awful POS)->AMD 850XT Pro->7800GT->8800GT->Nvidia 260->Amd 5850->2×6870s->780Ti->980Ti->1080Ti->4070Ti

Next upgrade will probably be AMD as NVidia have just gone to f*** 😀
 
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3 to 5 years usually on the x60 tier, sometimes x70, I'd never bought a "high-end" GPU. Also don't buy on the used market, I wait for the next big budget card to drop and buy them at launch windows. That way, I think my investment is maximized.
 
780Ti
980Ti
1080Ti
3070Ti
4090
~ 8 years.
I voted 0-2 years but it was longer between 1080Ti and 3070Ti.
 
I've been doing so every new GPU gen.

My thinking is I'd rather sell early while I can get decent money for my existing GPU.

GTX 960
GTX 1070
5700XT
RTX 3070ti
7900XT
 
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I try to keep it to 3-5 by going for at least the 80 or 80ti tier. My 1080ti lasted me over 5 years no problem, except when I got 4K displays and wanted raytracing.
 
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