I just put together a new 7900x system and am holding out on buying a new video card. I'd like a 4080, but not for $1200. The Radeons are a compelling option but I've seen their performance with ray tracing on isn't much better than my current 3060 ti.

Yes but with Nvidia limiting memory so much and games now needing >8gb, the AMD options are looking better.

I currently have a 3080 10G but even 10GB is becoming a limit very quickly.

That's a big part of why I've held off. I think 16gb is the minimum I want to target.

I wouldn't make a purchasing decision based on RT. The performance is terrible across the board, the benefit is negligible and IMO it's yet another con to get people to spend more than they should for something that they can't use effectively .

My issue was my 3840x1600 monitor and my main desktop sitting there for months without a graphics card since I put my 3080 in my living room build. All options are currently shit for 3840 gaming but I finally did the research, said f*ck it and bought the 7900xtx.

Loaded up Witcher 3 with all options and I sit there and flip between RT enabled and disabled and I'm not seeing the hype. It's similar to when shadows became a thing, Ultra textures, HDR, etc etc. None of it mattered that much in almost all games. The only thing that matters is #1 gameplay and #2 Are you having fun.

This BS with cyberpunk and pathtracing is just that, BS. Are there people who haven't played the game yet (Hello, Dec 2020) or are jumping at the bit to re-play Cyberpunk with pathtracing? If so why? I played the game a couple of months after it came out on 3840x1600 on my 1080ti, looked great but I loaded it back up and I couldn't see a difference with RT enabled vs not. meh.

The AMD control panel is laggy but I do like it more than the Nvidia one. Better layout and you don't have to log in.

I agree I don't see much benefit to it currently but for a more future proofed system, you don't think the value is there?

I've also built this system to be capable on a professional level. I do 3D modeling with AutoCAD and Revit. From what little I've found, Nvidia seems to still lead there, so that's a consideration I'm making as well.

I think I'll be patient and see where the prices land in the summer.

For RT I'd say not. In fact they seem to be pushing into path tracing more heavily now to slow the games down even further and if DLSS3 is required as it seems to be then you need at least 40-50fps FPS before enabling DLSS unless you like playing with a controller......

For professional use but if you're not buying professional cards then the consensus does seem to be to stick with Nvidia.