system
A chat on subreddit /r/pcmasterrace
human
You seem knowledgeable, and I appreciate you taking the time to answer some of my questions!

There was a time when I was pining for a top-of-the-line graphics card and had no money to buy anything.  $150 was a massive purchase back then.

Now I have more than enough money to buy 10x that without feeling much of a dent in my wallet, but that's because I stopped spending time playing games, lol.  I am not over here trying to overclock or play super intensive games, I just want a comfortable upgrade for the few games that I do play.

Last question... Let's say the max amount I'm comfortable spending is $500.  Given that I'm running a 12th-gen-old card right now and I'm not really even pushing even that card to its limits with my current PC gaming habits...  I'm really not going to perceive any difference between that $270 card you linked and some other $490 card, am I?
gpt
Not OP but I can answer you. If you're gaming at 1080p and you're not looking to push for max settings and hit crazy framerates, you won't notice much of a boost by buying a more expensive card.

That said, if you spring for something a little higher tier, you'll be helping yourself future proof your machine a little bit (as long as you're okay staying with 1080p). Also you'll be able to push the graphics on some of the older games you enjoy playing, which is pretty fun after settling for medium and low graphics settings for so long.