Should You Upgrade from an RTX 3070 to an RTX 3090 in 2024?

As an avid gamer and PC building enthusiast, I get asked this question a lot – should you upgrade your trusty RTX 3070 to the mighty 3090 for better gaming performance? After crunching benchmarks from multiple sources and poring over spec sheets, my clear answer is no, absolutely not!

Sure the 3090 is the fastest gaming GPU ever built, but it‘s also exorbitantly expensive for the tiny FPS gains over a 3070. Let‘s dig deeper to see why most gamers are better off saving their cash.

RTX 3090 Offers Negligible Gaming Performance Uplift

Don‘t get me wrong – the RTX 3090 is an absolute beast, delivering up to 10-20% higher FPS over the 3070 based on many gaming benchmarks I analyzed. But considering it costs well over 2X the price, that performance bump is rather measly in comparison.

Let‘s see some real-world gaming benchmarks from reliable sources like Tom‘s Hardware and TechSpot:

As you can see, while the 3090 is certainly faster, you‘re only gaining between 10-15 extra FPS for double or even triple the cost! This miniscule uplift simply isn‘t worth it just for gaming. You can achieve similar boosts via overclocking your 3070!

Breaking Down Key Spec Differences

Let‘s also compare some key specifications to understand exactly why the 3090 edges out the 3070, though not by an earth-shattering margin:

CUDA Cores: 3090 has 10496 vs 5888 on 3070

Boost Clock: 3090 runs at 1695 MHz vs 1725 MHz for 3070

Memory Bandwidth: 3090 enjoys 936 GB/s vs 448 GB/s on 3070

Clearly, while the 3090 enjoys advantages in raw computing horsepower and memory bandwidth, they seem to translate to only 10-15% better real-world gaming performance over a 3070.

Again as a passionate gamer, I have to ask – is this tiny upgrade worth 2X+ the cost for most of us? Certainly doesn‘t seem so!

VRAM Needs – 3070 Still Going Strong Through 2025

Okay okay, so gaming FPS is quite similar. But what about future proofing and VRAM requirements as games get more complex?

Well, let‘s have a deeper look. The 3090 touts an incredible 24 GB VRAM buffer compared to 8 GB on the 3070 Ti. No doubts that the 3090 offers way more headroom here.

But will games actually need 24 GB VRAM in the next 2-3 years before you‘d want to upgrade anyways? Not likely based on historical trends!

• Today‘s demanding titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 need just ~9 GB @ 4K maxed out visuals
• Estimates from ExcaliberPC and Gamers Nexus predict VRAM usage to reach 10-14 GB for top games by 2025 @ 4K
• The upcoming Unreal Engine 5 MetaHuman samples seem perfectly happy even on an 8 GB 3070 Ti!

So despite having 3X the VRAM, it seems unlikely any released titles before say 2025 would cripple a 3070 due to insufficient buffer. And by then you‘d want a newer generation card anyway for the latest features and efficiency.

However I should call out – more VRAM does help for higher resolution textures and future proofing to some degree. But current games certainly don‘t demand anywhere close to 24 gigs!

When Does a 3090 Upgrade Make Sense?

Given the data we just discussed, I firmly believe gamers should save your cash and stick to the 3070 or consider a 3080 12GB if additional performance is needed.

However, for non-gaming workloads like content creation, AI programming etc – the 3090‘s ample VRAM and higher core counts can deliver big productivity boosts. Workstation tasks is where the 3090 truly flexes its muscle versus consumer-focused cards.

Here are some examples of professional workflows that can benefit greatly from upgrading to an RTX 3090 over lower tier cards like the excellent 3070:

• Video Editing: Faster render times for 8K or Multi-Layer projects
• 3D Modeling: Import/Process more complex CAD assemblies and BIM scenes
• AI & Deep Learning: Train and iterate ML models faster. Run bigger batches and networks.
• Scientific Computing: Accelerate simulations, computer vision and analytics code

For professional creators and compute-heavy fields, I certainly recommend considering the investment in an RTX 3090 if your daily workflow demands it. But for sheer cost-benefit in gaming FPS, the venerable 3070 still holds its own mighty fine!

So in summary – skip that tempting 3090 upgrade for now my fellow gamers. Spend it on other goodies like a cutting-edge monitor or cooling system instead! Trust me, I‘ve benched enough builds to know the 3070 won‘t bottleneck you for a long while yet 😉

What do you think of this analysis? Is a 3070 still going strong in your rig for modern games? Let me know in comments!