i think i've hit a dead end in my knowledge of 3D shading. something about this texture seems very flat to me. the normal map does some work, but not enough once in the shadows. hopefully someone with more knowledge than me takes time to check this out.
criticism welcome. seriously, let it rip. my feelings are like steel.
packrat Textures are secondary for a good look. Focus on illumination first. Start by adjusting the interplay of direct light, ambient light, cast shadows and ambient occlusion. Don't display assets floating on default gray background. Ground them in a simple floor/wall environment so they cast a nice shadow onto it.
someone here needs to make some sort of tutorial on how to make 3d scenes looks "modern" 
close to eevee/cycles render 
I couldnt replicate what xyz made, even tho i turned up all the settings in worlds environment
kuligs2 Your problems are mostly visual, not technical - local color choices, material properties, tonal value and warm/cool contrasts, choice of camera lens, composition etc. They are in the artist domain. But who needs artists these days when we have AI.
The only technical problem I see is too large shadow map bias. Limit the shadow map ranges to as small as possible and set the bias to smallest value that still doesn't cause shadow acne.
packrat sorry for hijacking your post, but i would like to see your model with that texture using what me and @xyz discussed below. How does it look under lighting and shadowing?
xyz The only technical problem I see is too large shadow map bias. Limit the shadow map ranges to as small as possible and set the bias to smallest value that still doesn't cause shadow acne.
as you can see, the shadow biases were default values.. i played around them and didnt see much difference.. in the dithering
kuligs2 Bias has nothing to do with dithering. Dithering is the least of your problems on those screenshots. Not sure why you're fixated on it. If you make the image look artistically visually pleasing, the minor technical artifacts like that will not bother anyone. You can increase the shadow map/atlas size and shadow filtering in the project settings, along with per-light blur settings.
In your case, too large bias is causing the noticeable "displacement" of the shadow. Cast shadows are one of the key elements that affect perception of 3D form and proper illusion of space. Shifts caused by bias that are most noticeable at the place of contact look particularly unpleasant.
Also, when you're showcasing an object on a background, it's customary to choose the values (aka luminance) of local colors (aka albedo) in a way that emphasizes the silhouette of the object against the background. So it's either a dark object on the light background or vice versa. This applies to the whole value range of the object. In the case of a light object on the dark background (as seems to be your case), every part of the object should be darker than the background, including cast self-shadows. This will result in a much more pleasant overall image, and more clarity in description of the shape/form of the presented object.
And last but not least, your speculars (on the wall) are too strong. Overburnt specular highlights resulting in a washed out appearance is a classic rookie mistake.
