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There are some graphics cards and graphics card families that just have so much staying power, that you can use them for years. I ran the same NVIDIA 8800GT for a decade without needing to upgrade it, thanks to the long life of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and multi-platform ports.

However, no matter how good a GPU is, there will come a time when it’s not worth hanging on to, unless you’re not interested in playing anything new, that is. So, if you’re currently still running one of these cards, it’s time to shop for something new.

Any Maxwell GPU

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To give you some context, NVIDIA’s Maxwell architecture is the basis for the SoC that powers the original Nintendo Switch and even then it was already considered pretty long in the tooth. On the graphics card side of things, we’re talking about the 900-series of cards from Big Green, and models like the GTX 980 are legendary.

While there are plenty of older games that run just fine on Maxwell cards, the lack of VRAM (4GB at most) and driver support means that even at 720p to 1080p a modern game is likely to choke on something like a GTX 980, despite that card’s performance being in line with the GPU in an Xbox Series S, or a GTX 1660.

Any Pascal GPU

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NVIDIA’s Pascal line of GPUs, specifically the 10-series, was a literal game changer. Offering a huge jump in performance, but an even bigger increase in power efficiency. This was the moment gaming laptops actually became good, in my opinion. My old Alienware laptop with a GTX 1070 Ti absolutely ripped compared to desktop PCs of the previous generation.

As for the desktop versions of these cards, the GTX 1060, 1070, and 1080 cards and their variants all still have a notable presence on the Steam Hardware Survey, and performance-wise they’ve been viable until now. However, VRAM is tight on some of the lower-end models in the series and in October 2025 NVIDIA dropped Pascal (via Tom’s Hardware) from its Game Ready Driver support, so the cards are in the process of being sunset.

The 1080 and 1080 Ti were released in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and if you bought them at launch and were still using them to this day, you’ve experienced an absolutely phenomenal run comparable to the glory days of the 8800GT. I think it’s pretty unlikely that NVIDIA will gift us a flagship that will remain relevant for almost a decade ever again

Radeon RX 500 Series

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Don’t think NVIDIA is the only company that can make an epic, long-lasting GPU generation. The RX 500 series cards like the RX 580 and RX 570 still have relevant raw performance for 1080p gaming even today, but with only basic driver support and a lack of crucial performance multiplier features new games take advantage of with the RDNA family of cards, the experience is suboptimal.

Considering that AMD is putting even RDNA and RDNA 2 GPUs on notice for sunsetting of support, RX 500 cards are done.

Any card with 8GB or less of VRAM

NVIDIA

If you currently have a GPU with exactly 8GB of VRAM, you’re probably still OK for 1080p and even 1440p gaming if you’re willing to dial down the settings, but these cards are on notice and cards with less than 8GB are already unviable in some modern games.

This is a real pity, because 8GB cards like the RTX 3070 Ti or RX 6700 are absolutely relevant when it comes to raw performance and features, but with engines like Unreal Engine 5 becoming VRAM hogs of note, they’re likely to have nowhere near the usable lifespan that the 10-series or RX 500 cards did.

RTX 20-series for RT specifically

Credit: NVIDIA

The RTX 20-series of cards were the first to offer real-time ray-tracing and AI-powered image upscaling, which instantly made the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles look dated, and completely changed the trajectory of the GPU industry.

If you own one of these cards, and it’s a model with enough VRAM for your needs, then it’s still perfectly fine for non-RT games and applications, but some games are starting to require RT support and cards like the RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 simply don’t have good enough ray tracing performance to run those games smoothly. Even cards like the RTX 2080 Ti have raw performance more inline with entry-level or mid-range 40- and 50-series cards for non-RT games, but *far *less performance once you flip those ray tracing features on.

I’d say that the current generation of cards from both NVIDIA and AMD can finally be considered mature when it comes to ray tracing, which means that for 20-series owners who originally bought these cards for this feature, the right time to upgrade has finally arrived.

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Of course, you don’t have to upgrade your GPU just because I say so or because its manufacturer says so, or even because game developers say so in their system requirements. If your GPU still does what you need it to do, then why not just run it until the fans seize up and the solder dries and cracks. There’s nothing wrong with getting your money’s worth!