02-01-2025, 07:36 PM
Yeah I don't always understand the nitty gritty details (although these days, you can ask an AI to explain it!). Typically the new models (4070 vs 5070) have some new advancement that makes particular things run a lot better ("ray tracing") whereas sub-model differences (4060 vs 4080) tend to be things like RAM, clock speed and maybe some special features that make certain things ("ray tracing" again) run better on the higher model.
So the end result tends to be that you might get a 3060 that runs the same or better than a 2080 because whatever made the 2080 special became standard in the 3000 series. (And meanwhile, whatever made the 3080 special probably became standard in the 4000 series.)
Typically I think the xx70 tends to be the best bang for the buck. xx80 is asking you to pony up a fair bit more cash for a small improvement and xx90 is for people who just don't care in the slightest about money and will take even the smallest improvement or just want to be able to say they have "the best" even if their video card now costs quite a lot more than the entire rest of their machine. (Or they are doing AI / bitcoin mining and the tip top performance actually matters.)
So the end result tends to be that you might get a 3060 that runs the same or better than a 2080 because whatever made the 2080 special became standard in the 3000 series. (And meanwhile, whatever made the 3080 special probably became standard in the 4000 series.)
Typically I think the xx70 tends to be the best bang for the buck. xx80 is asking you to pony up a fair bit more cash for a small improvement and xx90 is for people who just don't care in the slightest about money and will take even the smallest improvement or just want to be able to say they have "the best" even if their video card now costs quite a lot more than the entire rest of their machine. (Or they are doing AI / bitcoin mining and the tip top performance actually matters.)