Opinion - graphics upgrade

[jpreou]

I need to eek a year or two more out of this PC. I just added two new SSDs (500GB for Windows, 1TB for MSFS), retaining my existing 1TB SSD for other games and 3TB spinner for archive and storage.
I don't think I can get an updated CPU - just don't appear to be available anymore; I missed my window, and generally reluctant to buy used PC parts, especially CPU and GPU that may have been o/c'd.
Here's my current specs; as you can see, getting on a bit now, but there will be no significant budget for a new PC for at least 18 months.

PBTech Custom Build
Corsair H80i water cooler, Intel i5-9600K @ 3.7GHz, Kingston HyperX Predator 4x8GB DDR4 3200MHz, Asus Prime Z370-P II, Gigabyte GTX1080 8GB, EVGA SupeNova 750WG3 80+ Gold PSU, Crucial MX500 500GB SSD, Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSD, Samsung 870 EVO 1TB SSD, Seagate Barracuda 3TB SATA3, LG GH24NSB0 24x DVD writer black, Cooler Master N600 case, Logitech LS21 speakers, Win10 Home.

I'm wondering whether it is worth swapping out that 1080 graphics for a 2060 12GB RTX which runs about $585. Not just for flight sim, but also for other games (currently ARK, but later this year maybe ARK Ascended running on the Unreal Engine 5.

I don't think I can get into the 30x series as they seem to require PCI-E v4 and I think I'm limited to PCI-E v3 with my mainboard. (worse still, I can't even hand the 1080 down to my lil fella as the 'Family PC' is on PCI-E v2)

What do you guys think? Worth the expense, bearing in mind this whole rig will replace the current 'Family PC' when I eventually get a new one?

Just looking for your thoughts, asking friends, ya know?

Cheers
Jeff

[deeknow]

Hey Jeff. I'm currently running a 2060-super, it's a decent card and good value for money but I just don't think you'll see a big difference swapping it out for your existing 1080.

I'd either hold off for/if the 30xx/40xx cards come down, or go for a 3070 or similar right now if you can find one and your PSU and m/b will work with one. Failing that save up a bit longer and do a full system replacement.

[toprob]

Yes, I guess the 1060 isn't a Super, at that price, so the 1080 beats it on almost all counts, except of course you'd get the extra VRAM which MSFS can benefit from, but not to the tune of $500. Looking at today's GPU prices, I do think you are really limited in ways that you can get a bit more out of your system, and the 1080 would be hard to beat without spending a lot more.
If it was me, I'd reconsider second-hand -- although my current system was built with a new 2070 Super, my old PC has a hand-me-down 980, and the previous one had a hand-me-down 7-something, both gifted, and both had a good long life, the 980 is still going, although I mainly only use it for accounting now:)

[jpreou]

Hmmm. Thanks for that. Perhaps I'll keep an eye on TM and save for later. Just wondering whether Unreal Engine 5 will *require* the RTX ray tracing features or not.
Cheers