Best and Worst PC Hardware of 2020

[Shadowboxer]

Best performance.... not the best buy ... that would be the 3080, 3070 or the 6800...

That depends on how much money you have. If you earn say £80K a year a 3090 isn’t a big deal. You don’t need to be a millionaire. Reviewers shouldn’t be basing the entire product review on price, it’s frustrating to those who spend over the average. We just want to know if it’s a good product or not.

The 3090 was the best GPU released this year. TS are having a feud with Nvidia this year so that’s probably why they say overwhelming demand is a negative thing for a product. But you can buy these cards, sure you can’t get one next day delivery but everyone I know who wanted a 3080 got one before the year was out. And anyway, since when is it a company’s fault that there is overwhelming demand?

It’s inconsistent as he named the Ryzen 5xxx series as best CPU and they have also been very difficult to get hold of aswell. So AMD can’t be blamed for high demand but Nvidia can?

I do often understand why Nvidia tried to blacklist these guys...

 

[Mouseface]

He acknowledged that there was at least something you get from a 3090: knowledge that you have the actual best GPU available (also with RT and DLSS), if only by a bit and at a ridiculous price. There are a lot of people out there for whom $1500 is a small price to pay for The Best.

The XT CPUs were never the best at anything as Intel could out game them by a few % and the 3950X was still faster at multicore than all of them.

The 3090's niche is a very small one but it does exist, if mostly as a vanity item.

Not just a vanity item - I got one because I couldnt get anything else and my existing PC was going to my brother as Xmas gift while in college. I took the hit because I can afford it and needed a new PC build... glad I did this back in November as the prices appear to have gone crazy... now a happy owner of 5800x and 3090

 

[HardReset]

The 3090 was the best GPU released this year. TS are having a feud with Nvidia this year so that’s probably why they say overwhelming demand is a negative thing for a product. But you can buy these cards, sure you can’t get one next day delivery but everyone I know who wanted a 3080 got one before the year was out. And anyway, since when is it a company’s fault that there is overwhelming demand?

It’s inconsistent as he named the Ryzen 5xxx series as best CPU and they have also been very difficult to get hold of aswell. So AMD can’t be blamed for high demand but Nvidia can?

I do often understand why Nvidia tried to blacklist these guys...

It's very much Nvidia's fault. Nvidia decided to use non-standard memory (GDDR6X), only one manufacturer actually produces it (Micron). You cannot make RTX 3090 without GDDR6X that is very tight supply. That's only reason why Nvidia put only 8GB RAM on RTX 3070 and 3080. No memory, no card. Since RTX 3090 "eats" three 3070/3080 cards (24 GB limited quanties memory), Nvidia is very responsible for all RTX cards shortages. AMD on other hand uses standard GDDR6 memory that is widely available. No wonder AMD was able to put 16GB on all cards. All in all, main reason for RTX shortages are lack of GDDR6X and that's entirely Nvidia's fault.

When it comes to Ryzen 5000 -series, there is nothing AMD could have done better to meed demand. Ryzen 5000 -series does not require anything special, it's all about how much TSMC and GlobalFoundries can produce 7nm and 12nm wafers respectively. It's not about single company's non-standard solution that is hard to get by.

Keep thinking better reasons for blacklisting...

 

[Mister_K]

MSI X570 Unify is recommended as one of the best board as per GamerNexus Steve and Buildzoid.

 

[Doppleganger3333]

The 3090's niche is a very small one but it does exist, if mostly as a vanity item.

The thing is, it can actually be bought fairly easily, unlike the 3080. More people have bought a 3090, myself included, because it was available rather than because it was for vanity reasons.

I'd have bought a 3080, if I could have found one.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Not just a vanity item - I got one because I couldnt get anything else and my existing PC was going to my brother as Xmas gift while in college. I took the hit because I can afford it and needed a new PC build... glad I did this back in November as the prices appear to have gone crazy... now a happy owner of 5800x and 3090

The thing is, it can actually be bought fairly easily, unlike the 3080. More people have bought a 3090, myself included, because it was available rather than because it was for vanity reasons.

I'd have bought a 3080, if I could have found one.

Also a good point. When it's the only card you can buy, it becomes the best deal.

 

[Lew Zealand]

If a gamer wants the best rasterization performance (all games does rasterization) at 1440p without the fluff that is RT and/or DLSS (lowering your resolution) then the 6900XT is hands down a better performer. The market for the 6900xt is much bigger than 3090 (almost 5x, according to steam). Right now the support for RT and DLSS is not there. 6900XT consumes less power (always a knock against AMD cards) has better cost per frame at a 3:2 ratio than 3090.

6900XT review

1440p performance summary:
" The 1440p gains are ever so slightly improved. The 6900 XT is on average 8% faster than the 6800 XT and just 2% faster than the 3090. "

Power Consumption:
"Using Nvidia’s PCAT we also see that the 6900 XT uses slightly more power than the 6800 XT -- about a 1% increase in power usage -- which may be down to the 6900 XT using higher quality silicon. When compared to the RTX 3090, the 6900 XT consumed 14% less power "

Cost Per frame:
"Things don’t improve much for the 6900 XT at 1440p, where it’s 43% more costly per frame when compared to the 6800 XT, despite being 35% better value per frame than the RTX 3090. "



Steam Survey (not 100% representative but largest sample we have)
2560 x 1440 9.69%

3840 x 2160 2.09%

The 3090 and 6900XT will not be bought by 11.8% of the market so those numbers are irrelevant for the target market for these cards. These are 4K cards and the 3090 is faster, if only by a bit, at 4K.

But the real point is that when the current gen cards finally become reasonably available, neither of these should be bought by a single person who even once considers value when buying. We normal people will buy the 6800XT or 3080 (or 3080Ti/Super/MaxxXXX, etc if that happens).

So where does that leave the 3090 and 6900XT in a future market with reasonable supply? As vanity items only. And the 3090 is the better vanity item as at 4K it is faster, it has better RT, and has the option of DLSS. You're not actually saving any money buying the less expensive 6900XT because it's as financially pointless as the 3090.

If you were actually concerned with saving some money or getting a reasonable value product you'd buy the 3080 or 6800XT.

 

[nnguy2]

The 3090 and 6900XT will not be bought by 11.8% of the market so those numbers are irrelevant for the target market for these cards. These are 4K cards and the 3090 is faster, if only by a bit, at 4K.

But the real point is that when the current gen cards finally become reasonably available, neither of these should be bought by a single person who even once considers value when buying. We normal people will buy the 6800XT or 3080 (or 3080Ti/Super/MaxxXXX, etc if that happens).

So where does that leave the 3090 and 6900XT in a future market with reasonable supply? As vanity items only. And the 3090 is the better vanity item as at 4K it is faster, it has better RT, and has the option of DLSS. You're not actually saving any money buying the less expensive 6900XT because it's as financially pointless as the 3090.

If you were actually concerned with saving some money or getting a reasonable value product you'd buy the 3080 or 6800XT.

People would absolutely buy 6900 XT for 1440p 144hz.

Repeat after me, DLSS is not 4k gaming.

 

[Lew Zealand]

People would absolutely buy 6900 XT for 1440p 144hz.

Repeat after me, DLSS is not 4k gaming.

No, they would buy the 6800XT. That's the point here.

The 6900XT and the 3090 make no sense when the 6800XT and 3080 exist.

 

[toooooot]

It is kind of hard to judge the quality of something you are not able to find in stores.

 

[Avro Arrow]

You know what we need? Video cards that are set up like motherboards. We'd be able to swap out the GPU and increase the VRAM as needed. The first company to do that wins.

 

[Tom Sunday]

My mind recently has been a lot on the 2020 AIO's. What I noticed is that the later this year coming 'Alder Lake' generation has a substantially larger 'rectangular shaped' CPU. (500 more pins, LGA 1700 and is about 7.5mm taller) Thus my just newly purchased and expensive $250 Corsair RGB AIO will surely not completely cover the surface of the new Alder Lake CPU! Does this mean that all present AIO 'pump-footprints' will essentially be outdated after Alder Lake hits the ground? My reasoning tells me that any cooling solution which does not cover the entire CPU surface is simply inadequate. And especially in the crazed overclocking world we still live in. So in fact I am actually barred from upgrading to the next 12th generation unless I buy another AIO? AIO's supposed too last 4-5 years? Or will AIO manufacturers step up to the bar and provide their former customers with whatever free retro-fixes needed to put their minds and spent $$$ at ease? I also wonder why no AIO manufacturers sofar have not brought forward and addressed this issue? Of course I can always stay safe with my 12-year old Dell XPS 730x until hell freezes over. Thoughts?

 

[Tom Sunday]

You know what we need?

Perhaps in my lifetime I will see a Mobo that one just slides into a PC case. Like a slice of bread into a toaster. A truly "All In One" install and instant system upgrade. This including everything on the board, like a miniaturized combo CPU/GPU, Cooling Solution, Memory, SSD, embedded OS with Antivirus, WIFI/Router, TV and Cablebox. Naturally total system voice control by Alexa, etc. No cables and wires anywhere to be seen. Yes...for many it would take the fun out of PC building but then and once that time arrrives there will be other fun type priorities. The winning company will be the one which can provide all of the above technologies on one single integrated board. The big question is what company today based on their current technological progress will most likely be the one to succeed first? That should be the one company where my longterm 401K and RMD stock purchase money should go. Thoughts?