{"video_id":"mzjxfMQ_fis","title":"Tested: Most People Should NOT Buy a 5090 (Even if you CAN)","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2025-07-08T14:53:29Z","duration_s":628,"segments":[{"start_s":0.0,"end_s":6.96,"text":"Picture this. You're gaming on your very average gaming PC and it's all right.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.279,"end_s":11.92,"text":"But then inheritance strikes. Your long lost","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":9.599,"end_s":16.32,"text":"uncle Milbour, who you know well enough to make small talk with, but not well","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":14.08,"end_s":20.72,"text":"enough to be that sad about, left you $3,000.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":20.72,"end_s":26.88,"text":"Woohoo. Well, this is perfect. Everyone knows","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":24.96,"end_s":30.8,"text":"that if you're on a limited budget, the best thing is to get a good enough","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":28.72,"end_s":36.399,"text":"platform and then dump the rest of your money into your GPU. But here's the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":33.2,"end_s":39.68,"text":"thing about stuff that everyone knows.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":36.399,"end_s":41.28,"text":"Sometimes everyone is wrong. It's been a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":39.68,"end_s":45.12,"text":"while since we've explored the effects of bottlenecks on the latest and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":43.2,"end_s":49.84,"text":"greatest GPUs. And now that we've got a new latest and greatest, I think it's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":47.36,"end_s":55.28,"text":"high time for us to ask, is it really worth spending this kind of money? Or","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":53.039,"end_s":60.879,"text":"could we get most of the benefit for a fraction of the cost? Something","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":57.28,"end_s":63.92,"text":"something. Our sponsor,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":60.879,"end_s":66.479,"text":"UG, Green. Their Nexo 500 watt desktop","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":63.92,"end_s":71.439,"text":"charger has six GAN chips and six ports with a single port supporting up to 240","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":68.96,"end_s":75.96,"text":"watts of PD fast charging. Learn more using the links in our description","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":72.96,"end_s":75.96,"text":"today.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":82.08,"end_s":90.0,"text":"If you haven't seen our 2025 most average gaming PC yet, the TLDDR is this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":87.36,"end_s":95.84,"text":"tower here. Has a six core Core i5, 16 gigs of memory, and an RTX 3060 with 8","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":92.56,"end_s":98.159,"text":"gigs of VRAM. It It's pretty mid, but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.84,"end_s":101.84,"text":"hey, that's what we were going for. So, let's game on it to establish a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":99.6,"end_s":107.119,"text":"baseline. Kicking things off at 1080p, less demanding games like F-124 and ano","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":104.72,"end_s":112.64,"text":"1800 managed to hit around 100 frames per second at high and very high,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.439,"end_s":114.72,"text":"respectively. But as we move into more","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":112.64,"end_s":118.64,"text":"demanding titles like Cyberpunk and Returnal,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":116.72,"end_s":122.32,"text":"let's just say that I would probably have dialed some of these settings down","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":120.159,"end_s":129.2,"text":"if I wasn't about to compare this setup to a 50/90. As for 4K, once again, ano","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":126.0,"end_s":132.319,"text":"is fine. I mean, 30 FPS is plenty for a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":129.2,"end_s":134.16,"text":"game like this, but everything else is a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.319,"end_s":141.319,"text":"little rough. So, now that we've got some numbers to compare to, it's time to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.16,"end_s":141.319,"text":"spend dear Uncle Milbour's cash money.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":142.48,"end_s":147.76,"text":"I'm going to miss that son of a Aside from being effective, swapping","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.76,"end_s":151.52,"text":"your GPU is one of the simplest upgrades that you can make these days now that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.84,"end_s":156.4,"text":"pretty much everything else is buried under coolers or motherboard armor. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.64,"end_s":160.72,"text":"that doesn't mean that it's entirely without its hazards. Releasing the PCIe","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":159.2,"end_s":165.44,"text":"latch to get your old card out can require some serious contortion.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":163.599,"end_s":169.599,"text":"Although, oh, nice. This one has the little button, so I don't have to worry","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":166.64,"end_s":175.2,"text":"about that. And the jump from the 3060 that we have in here now to this 5090 is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":172.4,"end_s":179.04,"text":"a very significant one. And not just in terms of weight. You'll need to ensure","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":177.04,"end_s":183.28,"text":"that your case can accommodate the space and cooling requirements of your bulky","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":181.12,"end_s":187.04,"text":"new card. Not to mention that if your power supply is on the older side, it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":185.12,"end_s":191.44,"text":"might not have native support for this new fangled power connector that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":188.48,"end_s":195.519,"text":"probably won't melt. Luckily, Elijah went a little overboard","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":193.84,"end_s":199.44,"text":"when he configured the most average gaming PC's power supply this year. So,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":197.68,"end_s":204.0,"text":"we've got plenty of power for our new 5090. But if he hadn't, we'd be looking","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":201.92,"end_s":209.2,"text":"for something with a 12volt 2x6 connector that's rated for 600 watts","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":206.319,"end_s":214.159,"text":"plus some extra capacity for all the rest of our system, which okay, in our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":211.68,"end_s":220.72,"text":"case isn't much, but your mileage may vary. Right out of the gate, that is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":217.84,"end_s":226.08,"text":"quite the upgrade. Starting at 1080p, again, this is much better. Although it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":224.64,"end_s":233.2,"text":"is worth noting that we're at ray tracing medium and only 1080p on a 5090.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":230.959,"end_s":238.239,"text":"So this falls well short of where I would expect it to be. With that said, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":235.28,"end_s":244.319,"text":"mean it's a lot better than Ano and F124 who only jumped by about 70%. Again, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.84,"end_s":250.72,"text":"can't emphasize this enough going from a mid-tier card from two generations ago","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.2,"end_s":252.959,"text":"to the 5090. Meanwhile, Returnal is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":250.72,"end_s":259.519,"text":"about like Cyberpunk, approximately tripling its performance. Let's see what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.76,"end_s":261.6,"text":"happens at 4K, though. And there we go.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":259.519,"end_s":266.16,"text":"Even though we've 4xed the pixel count compared to just now, we're running at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":263.36,"end_s":271.919,"text":"just over half the FPS, which highlights just how CPU bottlenecked we were when","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.199,"end_s":277.199,"text":"we were running at 1080p. As for how this compares to our poor 3060 at 4K,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":274.639,"end_s":282.8,"text":"well, let's just say we go from slideshow to what a show. I mean, this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":280.639,"end_s":287.52,"text":"is just this is just smooth. This is a pretty darn solid gaming experience. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":285.919,"end_s":293.199,"text":"just because we're having a good gaming experience now doesn't mean that Uncle","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":289.919,"end_s":295.6,"text":"Milbour's money was optimally spent. To","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":293.199,"end_s":301.199,"text":"answer that, we've thrown our 5090 into this tower with a Ryzen 7 9800X 3D.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":299.36,"end_s":305.28,"text":"That's right. We're not only going from six to eight cores, but these are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":303.36,"end_s":311.199,"text":"running at almost double the base frequency. And we've also doubled our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":307.759,"end_s":313.919,"text":"RAM to 32 gigs of DDR5. Starting at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":311.199,"end_s":317.84,"text":"1080p, it's clear that our slower CPU resulted in us leaving a lot of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":316.32,"end_s":325.759,"text":"performance on the table. We've gone from around 100 FPS to over 150 frames","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":323.36,"end_s":330.16,"text":"per second. And this is a this is a butter smooth gaming experience. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":328.16,"end_s":336.56,"text":"that's true across the board, meaning that much of our 5090s performance was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":333.199,"end_s":339.44,"text":"completely wasted on our average PC. But","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":336.56,"end_s":345.52,"text":"what about at 4K here? I've got to say my surprise kind of goes the other way.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":342.96,"end_s":350.24,"text":"Obviously, I know that Cyberpunk is a very GPUheavy game, especially at higher","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":348.4,"end_s":356.08,"text":"resolutions. That's why we use it as a GPU benchmark. But performance that's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":354.16,"end_s":360.4,"text":"exactly the same as what we were getting with the 12400. That I didn't see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.32,"end_s":365.039,"text":"coming. You have to be seriously GPU bottlenecked to be pushing four times","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":362.72,"end_s":369.52,"text":"the number of pixels but still be getting over half the FPS. We saw the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":368.0,"end_s":375.68,"text":"same thing in Returnal, meaning that only ANO and F1 managed sizable FPS","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":372.96,"end_s":380.08,"text":"increases going to our higherend CPU, showing that these games, even at 4K at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":378.24,"end_s":384.88,"text":"these settings, are still somewhat CPUbound. But here's the thing. We have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":382.88,"end_s":390.8,"text":"an average PC. We're not gaming at 1080p. So then, if buying a 5090 is a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":388.08,"end_s":395.039,"text":"total waste of money for us, what is a reasonable amount of Milbourne's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":392.319,"end_s":402.0,"text":"inheritance to spend on a GPU for our average PC? How about a 9070 XT? It's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":400.08,"end_s":406.72,"text":"got better availability, especially if you're willing to physically go to a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":403.44,"end_s":408.96,"text":"shop. And they're selling for maybe 850","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":406.72,"end_s":414.0,"text":"Yankee bucks, which still too expensive if you ask me. But AMD and NVIDIA didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.44,"end_s":421.759,"text":"ask me, did they? Let's see how it holds up. Would you look at that? At 1080p,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":418.319,"end_s":425.759,"text":"our average PC, now powered by an AMD","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":421.759,"end_s":428.08,"text":"GPU, not only matches our 5090, but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":425.759,"end_s":432.8,"text":"actually beats it in three out of our four games. Not by much other than F1.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":431.44,"end_s":439.52,"text":"This probably just comes down to run-to-run variance. But still, what","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":436.16,"end_s":441.84,"text":"that shows is that we are clearly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":439.52,"end_s":449.28,"text":"CPUbound, and buying a more expensive GPU is giving us nada, nothing. We could","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.08,"end_s":453.44,"text":"just put a 9070 XT in here, maybe even","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":449.28,"end_s":456.16,"text":"less. But what about 4K here? Now that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.44,"end_s":461.84,"text":"we're more GPU bound, the 5090 does manage to differentiate itself. But it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":459.44,"end_s":467.36,"text":"does show that hm if we're not trying to get the best of the best performance at","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":463.919,"end_s":470.639,"text":"4K. That 12400 can still kind of keep","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":467.36,"end_s":472.4,"text":"up. All of our games get dragged into","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":470.639,"end_s":477.68,"text":"actually playable territory here, though. Uh, Cyberpunk is arguably a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":475.759,"end_s":482.4,"text":"little bit marginal, at least at these, you know, ray traced medium settings.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":480.24,"end_s":487.759,"text":"So, did AMD nail the positioning of the 9070 series? It kind of looks like it.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":485.599,"end_s":492.639,"text":"1080p performance is neck andneck with higherend cards, as you would expect","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":489.599,"end_s":495.28,"text":"with a modern CPU, and at 4K, we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.639,"end_s":501.36,"text":"getting at least 50% of the performance of the 5090 for less than 30% of the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.319,"end_s":503.759,"text":"price. Now, it is still true that the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":501.36,"end_s":508.96,"text":"9070 XT is going to get a little bit more room to shine when paired with a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":505.84,"end_s":511.68,"text":"higherend CPU like a 9800 X3D, and we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":508.96,"end_s":517.12,"text":"found that was especially true at 1080p. But the mismatch is not nearly as bad.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":514.959,"end_s":522.159,"text":"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is for most gamers, that unobtanium video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":520.159,"end_s":525.519,"text":"card that you can't get your hands on might not have affected your gaming","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":523.76,"end_s":530.16,"text":"performance nearly as much as you thought. Anyway, fun thing by the way.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":528.16,"end_s":534.399,"text":"Plof mentioned in a previous video that he talked his friend into upgrading his","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":532.16,"end_s":538.88,"text":"monitor instead of shelling out for an expensive 50 series GPU. Well, I have an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.88,"end_s":545.44,"text":"update for you. His friend went with it and is totally stoked on the decision.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":542.32,"end_s":548.56,"text":"So, while the wisdom has for years been","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":545.44,"end_s":550.32,"text":"just dump your budget into the GPU, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.56,"end_s":554.0,"text":"feel like GPU companies have kind of taken advantage of that wisdom and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":552.16,"end_s":558.56,"text":"convinced us to spend more than we should be spending on the GPU. And these","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":556.32,"end_s":564.399,"text":"days, we might want to consider a more rounded approach to our upgrades. Like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":561.279,"end_s":566.399,"text":"this rounded segue to our sponsor, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":564.399,"end_s":570.0,"text":"green. With how much tech we use in our work or gaming setup these days, the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":568.32,"end_s":574.959,"text":"amount of cables running up and down your desk can be quite disorganized and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":572.32,"end_s":578.88,"text":"messy. The UG Green 500 watt charger will sit right on top of your desk,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":576.64,"end_s":584.48,"text":"giving you easy access to each of its six ports. That's right, six ports, six","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":582.399,"end_s":590.24,"text":"GAN chips, and a single port can deliver up to 240 watts of power with its PD3.1","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":588.08,"end_s":594.8,"text":"protocol. According to Ugre's testing, that means a 16-inch MacBook can be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":592.08,"end_s":599.279,"text":"topped up from zero to 60% in 30 minutes. That's half an hour. Heck, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":597.04,"end_s":603.68,"text":"can even fast charge five laptops at the same time if you want. You crazy. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":601.6,"end_s":607.6,"text":"you can do all that while staying safe. It's got multiple features baked in like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":605.92,"end_s":611.36,"text":"overcurren, shortcircuit, and temperature protection. Use our links in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":609.6,"end_s":615.44,"text":"the description to pick up a UG Green Nexode 500 watt desktop charger today","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":613.839,"end_s":619.92,"text":"and to learn more about all the other charging solutions they have to offer.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":617.44,"end_s":627.959,"text":"Wow. If you guys enjoyed this video, why not go back and find the one where we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":621.6,"end_s":627.959,"text":"built the most average PC? It's D.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Picture this. You're gaming on your very average gaming PC and it's all right. But then inheritance strikes. Your long lost uncle Milbour, who you know well enough to make small talk with, but not well enough to be that sad about, left you $3,000. Woohoo. Well, this is perfect. Everyone knows that if you're on a limited budget, the best thing is to get a good enough platform and then dump the rest of your money into your GPU. But here's the thing about stuff that everyone knows. Sometimes everyone is wrong. It's been a while since we've explored the effects of bottlenecks on the latest and greatest GPUs. And now that we've got a new latest and greatest, I think it's high time for us to ask, is it really worth spending this kind of money? Or could we get most of the benefit for a fraction of the cost? Something something. Our sponsor, UG, Green. Their Nexo 500 watt desktop charger has six GAN chips and six ports with a single port supporting up to 240 watts of PD fast charging. Learn more using the links in our description today. If you haven't seen our 2025 most average gaming PC yet, the TLDDR is this tower here. Has a six core Core i5, 16 gigs of memory, and an RTX 3060 with 8 gigs of VRAM. It It's pretty mid, but hey, that's what we were going for. So, let's game on it to establish a baseline. Kicking things off at 1080p, less demanding games like F-124 and ano 1800 managed to hit around 100 frames per second at high and very high, respectively. But as we move into more demanding titles like Cyberpunk and Returnal, let's just say that I would probably have dialed some of these settings down if I wasn't about to compare this setup to a 50/90. As for 4K, once again, ano is fine. I mean, 30 FPS is plenty for a game like this, but everything else is a little rough. So, now that we've got some numbers to compare to, it's time to spend dear Uncle Milbour's cash money. I'm going to miss that son of a Aside from being effective, swapping your GPU is one of the simplest upgrades that you can make these days now that pretty much everything else is buried under coolers or motherboard armor. But that doesn't mean that it's entirely without its hazards. Releasing the PCIe latch to get your old card out can require some serious contortion. Although, oh, nice. This one has the little button, so I don't have to worry about that. And the jump from the 3060 that we have in here now to this 5090 is a very significant one. And not just in terms of weight. You'll need to ensure that your case can accommodate the space and cooling requirements of your bulky new card. Not to mention that if your power supply is on the older side, it might not have native support for this new fangled power connector that probably won't melt. Luckily, Elijah went a little overboard when he configured the most average gaming PC's power supply this year. So, we've got plenty of power for our new 5090. But if he hadn't, we'd be looking for something with a 12volt 2x6 connector that's rated for 600 watts plus some extra capacity for all the rest of our system, which okay, in our case isn't much, but your mileage may vary. Right out of the gate, that is quite the upgrade. Starting at 1080p, again, this is much better. Although it is worth noting that we're at ray tracing medium and only 1080p on a 5090. So this falls well short of where I would expect it to be. With that said, I mean it's a lot better than Ano and F124 who only jumped by about 70%. Again, I can't emphasize this enough going from a mid-tier card from two generations ago to the 5090. Meanwhile, Returnal is about like Cyberpunk, approximately tripling its performance. Let's see what happens at 4K, though. And there we go. Even though we've 4xed the pixel count compared to just now, we're running at just over half the FPS, which highlights just how CPU bottlenecked we were when we were running at 1080p. As for how this compares to our poor 3060 at 4K, well, let's just say we go from slideshow to what a show. I mean, this is just this is just smooth. This is a pretty darn solid gaming experience. But just because we're having a good gaming experience now doesn't mean that Uncle Milbour's money was optimally spent. To answer that, we've thrown our 5090 into this tower with a Ryzen 7 9800X 3D. That's right. We're not only going from six to eight cores, but these are running at almost double the base frequency. And we've also doubled our RAM to 32 gigs of DDR5. Starting at 1080p, it's clear that our slower CPU resulted in us leaving a lot of performance on the table. We've gone from around 100 FPS to over 150 frames per second. And this is a this is a butter smooth gaming experience. And that's true across the board, meaning that much of our 5090s performance was completely wasted on our average PC. But what about at 4K here? I've got to say my surprise kind of goes the other way. Obviously, I know that Cyberpunk is a very GPUheavy game, especially at higher resolutions. That's why we use it as a GPU benchmark. But performance that's exactly the same as what we were getting with the 12400. That I didn't see coming. You have to be seriously GPU bottlenecked to be pushing four times the number of pixels but still be getting over half the FPS. We saw the same thing in Returnal, meaning that only ANO and F1 managed sizable FPS increases going to our higherend CPU, showing that these games, even at 4K at these settings, are still somewhat CPUbound. But here's the thing. We have an average PC. We're not gaming at 1080p. So then, if buying a 5090 is a total waste of money for us, what is a reasonable amount of Milbourne's inheritance to spend on a GPU for our average PC? How about a 9070 XT? It's got better availability, especially if you're willing to physically go to a shop. And they're selling for maybe 850 Yankee bucks, which still too expensive if you ask me. But AMD and NVIDIA didn't ask me, did they? Let's see how it holds up. Would you look at that? At 1080p, our average PC, now powered by an AMD GPU, not only matches our 5090, but actually beats it in three out of our four games. Not by much other than F1. This probably just comes down to run-to-run variance. But still, what that shows is that we are clearly CPUbound, and buying a more expensive GPU is giving us nada, nothing. We could just put a 9070 XT in here, maybe even less. But what about 4K here? Now that we're more GPU bound, the 5090 does manage to differentiate itself. But it does show that hm if we're not trying to get the best of the best performance at 4K. That 12400 can still kind of keep up. All of our games get dragged into actually playable territory here, though. Uh, Cyberpunk is arguably a little bit marginal, at least at these, you know, ray traced medium settings. So, did AMD nail the positioning of the 9070 series? It kind of looks like it. 1080p performance is neck andneck with higherend cards, as you would expect with a modern CPU, and at 4K, we're getting at least 50% of the performance of the 5090 for less than 30% of the price. Now, it is still true that the 9070 XT is going to get a little bit more room to shine when paired with a higherend CPU like a 9800 X3D, and we found that was especially true at 1080p. But the mismatch is not nearly as bad. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is for most gamers, that unobtanium video card that you can't get your hands on might not have affected your gaming performance nearly as much as you thought. Anyway, fun thing by the way. Plof mentioned in a previous video that he talked his friend into upgrading his monitor instead of shelling out for an expensive 50 series GPU. Well, I have an update for you. His friend went with it and is totally stoked on the decision. So, while the wisdom has for years been just dump your budget into the GPU, I feel like GPU companies have kind of taken advantage of that wisdom and convinced us to spend more than we should be spending on the GPU. And these days, we might want to consider a more rounded approach to our upgrades. Like this rounded segue to our sponsor, you green. With how much tech we use in our work or gaming setup these days, the amount of cables running up and down your desk can be quite disorganized and messy. 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