Trying to decide on a new card

[Yuriman]

Recently I replaced my 1920x1200 LCD with a 2560x1440 panel. I'm not a very demanding gamer. Most of what I play are MOBAs and indie games, which run very well on my 7850 even maxed at 1440. The one exception is Overwatch, in which I need to run mostly low settings to stay around 60fps.

That said, I'm really not looking for a large performance increase, but mainly value. I've had a few issues with my 7850, some hard locks which might or might not be related to the card. It runs fine in my wife's machine, and her 7850 runs fine in my machine, so ideally I'd just swap the two, but I'm thinking of using this as an excuse to upgrade and of putting the old card up on eBay for auction with a disclaimer.

I have an ITX case with decent airflow. Thick coolers are fine but the maximum card length can only be about 10 inches, and shorter makes wiring far easier. Most dual fan GTX 1060's I've seen are 8.5-9.5" in length, while single-fan cards are typically 7-8", and I've seen 1050's as small as ~5.5". Most 480's and 460's would also fit. I'm leaning toward an NV card because of power consumption (small case) and less driver overhead in DX11 games, but I wouldn't rule out AMD's offerings.

From what I gather from benchmarks, both a 1050 or 460 would be a minor upgrade over what I have, while a 1060 / 480 would be around a doubling of performance. The 1050 Ti seems to have poor performance per dollar and performs very little above a vanilla 1050. The 470 has an appealing priceerformance if you look at the price after rebates, but I never count on getting those back.

Mainly I think I'm debating between a 1050 and 1060 3GB; which do you think is a better value? I don't expect to pick up any heavier titles and don't mind turning down graphics a bit, but since I tend to hold onto my hardware for a long time I wonder if a 1060 wouldn't be a better buy, and I think the two generally have similar performance per dollar.

One other factor; idle fan shutoff would be very nice to have, and quiet cards are better than noisy ones to me. Does anyone know offhand what brands shut their fans off when the card is idle, or if this is standard on all of them?

Thoughts/advice?

 

[nurturedhate]

With as long as you seem to keep cards and at 1440p I'd go for a 470. Between the 1050 and 1060 I'd lean towards the 1060.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

1060's seem to have a performance edge at 1440p

shorty version of a 3 gb 1060 from gigabyte for under $200.- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA65C4Z87284

 

[Face2Face]

I'd grab this model if you want to spend less than $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131696
$139 AR for a custom RX 470.

3GB in 2017 @ 1440p = nope...

 

[DooKey]

I'd grab this model if you want to spend less than $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131696
$139 AR for a custom RX 470.

3GB in 2017 @ 1440p = nope...

I'd argue 4GB in 2017 = nope. However, since the OP said he doesn't mind reduced settings then 3 or 4gb sounds reasonable to me for a budget build.

OP, I would go with the 1060 since it appears you are leaning NV. If not, then flip a coin?

 

[happy medium]

8 and 3/4 inches, 6gb of memory for 1440p, fans that shut off , low power draw for less heat being dumped in your mini ITX case.
Faster than any mid range card on the market and factory overclocked.
3 year warranty.

254$ no rebates.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5901&cm_re=gtx1060_6gb-_-14-125-901-_-Product

 

[Bacon1]

8 and 3/4 inches, 6gb of memory for 1440p, fans that shut off , low power draw for less heat being dumped in your mini ITX case.
Faster than any mid range card on the market and factory overclocked.
3 year warranty.

254$ no rebates.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5901&cm_re=gtx1060_6gb-_-14-125-901-_-Product

That is out of stock, plus its $254 compared to only $154 ($137 AR) of the 470 above.

For overwatch (the only AAA game he mentioned playing) the perf difference even @ 1440p ultra isn't very large:

http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/1220/bench/Overwatch_02.png

25% at best but its over 70% more expensive. Plus it comes with Hitman which he can either keep or sell for ~$20-30 or so.

If that one is too large, there is a short XFX one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150781

for $175 and also includes hitman.

Still 45%+ cheaper and since op said price/perf is his main concern it seems to be a good fit for him.

 

[happy medium]

That is out of stock, plus its $254 compared to only $154 ($137 AR) of the 470 above.

For overwatch (the only AAA game he mentioned playing) the perf difference even @ 1440p ultra isn't very large:

http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/1220/bench/Overwatch_02.png

25% at best but its over 70% more expensive. Plus it comes with Hitman which he can either keep or sell for ~$20-30 or so.

If that one is too large, there is a short XFX one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150781

for $175 and also includes hitman.

Still 45%+ cheaper and since op said price/perf is his main concern it seems to be a good fit for him.

I think for 1440p he should not buy a 4gb card . He said he needs it to last a while.

If he buys a 4gb card , he just a s well could but a 1060 3gb card that is faster.

 

[Bacon1]

Look at the games he is talking about playing. MOBAs and Overwatch, none of which are memory intensive. 4GB 470 is still more than 3GB. 33% more memory.

Recently I replaced my 1920x1200 LCD with a 2560x1440 panel. I'm not a very demanding gamer. Most of what I play are MOBAs and indie games, which run very well on my 7850 even maxed at 1440. The one exception is Overwatch, in which I need to run mostly low settings to stay around 60fps.

That said, I'm really not looking for a large performance increase, but mainly value.

Cheapest 1060 3gb is just under $200 compared to under $150 470s. Huge difference in price and he gets more memory as well.

$190 vs $150 makes it even price/perf difference in overwatch, but even worse when considering the 1060 3gb won't perform same as the 6gb. Minus game and other stuff and its still worse overall.

 

[happy medium]

33% more memory

25% more

 

[Bacon1]

25% more

25% less, 33% more.

3gb 33% is 1gb, 3+1 = 4.

4gb 25% is 1gb.

 

[Erithan13]

I'd rank it 1060 6GB > 470 4GB > 1060 3GB. The 3GB 1060 is a card I find practically impossible to recommend, any possible 'value' advantage it has must be filtered through how much of a handicap that vram is. If you are playing less demanding games at reduced settings then it may prove acceptable at least for a little while. The 6GB card removes any worry about the future and is certain to hold its value better as well. The 4GB 470/480 are definitely worth consideration too. I'm not betting 4GB is going to last going forward even for less demanding games but it's got a much better chance than 3GB that's for sure.

 

[kawi6rr]

I would go with a 470 for $150, great price for a great card.

 

[Yuriman]

I see where you're coming from with the 6GB card, especially since I'm running a 1440P screen now, but historically the video cards I've purchased have all generally been $180-200, and spending an extra $50-75% (about a third more) over the 3GB model for ~5% more performance in nearly all existing games leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially since I'm not really a huge gamer anymore and am not bothered in the least by sacrificing graphical quality. I think the 470 would be more attractive to me if it weren't a lot more power hungry than NV's offerings but I suppose so long as there are models which shut the fan off at idle, it's not too big a deal. I think I'm actually starting to swing more toward a 1050 or 460 though as they're both an upgrade over what I have, will be quieter, and if I can get anything for my 7850 (which probably has nothing wrong with it) the cost would be next to nothing for the exchange. Chances are very good the most demanding games I'll be playing in the next few yeas are just Overwatch and Civ6, with most everything else being 2D or simple 3D indie titles, and I think I'll find more value in throwing an extra $150 toward my student loans and being out of debt that much sooner (and able to work less and have more free time) than the slightly higher shadow and texture settings I'll get in a handful of games.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

I think I'm actually starting to swing more toward a 1050 or 460 though as they're both an upgrade over what I have, will be quieter, and if I can get anything for my 7850 (which probably has nothing wrong with it) the cost would be next to nothing for the exchange.

4 gb R9 380 for $99 AR

It will outperform a 1050 or 460 by at least 20% for the same or less $$$

Can get around $50.- for 7850 on ebay pretty easily.

Double your performance for $50.- sounds like some serious cheapskate awesomeness

 

[Yuriman]

4 gb R9 380 for $99 AR

It will outperform a 1050 or 460 by at least 20% for the same or less $$$

Can get around $50.- for 7850 on ebay pretty easily.

Double your performance for $50.- sounds like some serious cheapskate awesomeness

Great price : performance but I'm reluctant to put a ~200w card in my case that doesn't have a blower. I've added an additional fan to the side panel, and I know a 1060 or 470 would be fine, and a 480 would likely be fine too if a bit noisy, but ultimately it's still an ITX case packed to the brim with dimensions very little larger than the card itself.

 

[magomago]

With the budget that you're looking at, for the type of gamer you are describing yourself as, I don't know why you wouldn't jump for a 480. You can get a 4 gigabyte rx480 from Newegg right now for 166 with free shipping. If you're somewhat price-sensitive it's definitely a better deal than GTX 1060 3gb. And at that price I would not even consider a 470.

 

[AtenRa]

RX 470 Nitro 8GB
Core i5 3330

Overwatch 2560x1440 Epic settings - FXAA

With the budget that you're looking at, for the type of gamer you are describing yourself as, I don't know why you wouldn't jump for a 480. You can get a 4 gigabyte rx480 from Newegg right now for 166 with free shipping. If you're somewhat price-sensitive it's definitely a better deal than GTX 1060 3gb. And at that price I would not even consider a 470.

I will agree, at this price the RX 480 4GB is the superior product, 4GB should be enough for the games he plays.

 

[Yuriman]

Given the discounts I'm seeing on 480's... I guess ultimately it's going to depend on what I find on sale.

 

[plopke]

The last couple of weeks there were so many sales on sapphire rx470/480's 4gb nitro models(and others) and a couple of 480 8GB's models. In the end I went myself with the 470 nitro 4gb for 175 euro included tax and shipping(in usd that is most of the time -20% tax and 5-10% eurozone so around 145USD deals should be popping up in America )

I preferred getting a 8Gb/6gb card this round but the price gap between 1060 6gb/3gb ,8gb RX4x0 and 4gb Rx4X0 is just to big , specially with current cheap 4gb RX4x0 deals , I play Hots ,wow , indiegames on a 1080p monitor which will be with me for some more years to come. So I understand your urge to get a 8gb model for 4K but look at your games and setup ,some of the 4gb deals offer so much bang for buck the price gap to go 4GB higher is +40% in cost sometimes with the current 4GB deals.

PS(power consumption) I run my rx470 4gb nitro with the silent bios switched on and it is lovely quiet card. The OC mode on the nitro's are well bonkers on power usage , it really does not scale well in OC the RX series.
Good hunting!

 

[Thinker_145]

There is no reason to want to buy a card from a particular company. As long as you have an adequate PSU a few watts more aren't going to blow up your PC.

I have always been a proponent of getting as much VRAM as possible within reason of course. In my opinion AMD just kills Nvidia in the mid range because of VRAM.

With Nvidia's far superior mind share they could have literally killed AMD had the 1060 been a 4GB/8GB card. But alas that is not the case and below the 1070 I'll recommend AMD all the way. Even if you don't currently need it I will try to buy the 8GB 480 as in the long term it will benefit you. I mean a few $ will go a long way to give you a more enjoyable high res experience.

Only reason to buy a 6GB 1060 is if you already have a G-Sync monitor or in your part of the world it happens to be cheaper than an 8GB 480. The 3GB 1060 I wouldn't recommend to my enemy lol.

8GB 480 > 6GB 1060 > 8GB 470 > 4GB 480 > 4GB 470 > 3GB 1060.

This ranking does not actually reflect the current performance numbers but what I believe would be the better cards long term.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm not going to blow up my PC, no, but again I have a tiny ITX case, and it sits on my desk right in front of me. Higher wattage cards will require that I crank up the case fans more to dissipate the added heat, resulting in added noise. I value silence more than performance, and chances are good I'll be undervolting any card I buy, and possibly even underclocking it, if it's too noisy at stock.

That said, it's probably not too difficult to shave ~30-50w off of a 480, given the non-linear nature of volts/watts/clocks. Priced right, that may be what I do. I hadn't been aware of all of the sales going on for AMD cards, so I'll keep an eye out for sales and see what comes up.

 

[vissarix]

I'm not going to blow up my PC, no, but again I have a tiny ITX case, and it sits on my desk right in front of me. Higher wattage cards will require that I crank up the case fans more to dissipate the added heat, resulting in added noise. I value silence more than performance, and chances are good I'll be undervolting any card I buy, and possibly even underclocking it, if it's too noisy at stock.

That said, it's probably not too difficult to shave ~30-50w off of a 480, given the non-linear nature of volts/watts/clocks. Priced right, that may be what I do. I hadn't been aware of all of the sales going on for AMD cards, so I'll keep an eye out for sales and see what comes up.

You wont be shaving 50w from that gpu unless you underclock it so much that it performs at gtx1050 levels, the best choice for your case scenario would be an gtx1060 6gb...it already starts with a 40w advantage over an rx480 and if you undervolt and underclock it you will be getting near 60-70w at acceptable performance.

 

[Headfoot]

I'm not going to blow up my PC, no, but again I have a tiny ITX case, and it sits on my desk right in front of me. Higher wattage cards will require that I crank up the case fans more to dissipate the added heat, resulting in added noise. I value silence more than performance, and chances are good I'll be undervolting any card I buy, and possibly even underclocking it, if it's too noisy at stock.

That said, it's probably not too difficult to shave ~30-50w off of a 480, given the non-linear nature of volts/watts/clocks. Priced right, that may be what I do. I hadn't been aware of all of the sales going on for AMD cards, so I'll keep an eye out for sales and see what comes up.

The heat will be inconsequential between 1060 and 470. Just read some reviews and buy the quietest card. Using TDP as a proxy for noise is sloppy at best and totally inaccurate at worst. If you want quiet, then read reviews which measure the dBA at a distance similar to where it will be sitting in relation to you.

 

[Yuriman]

I'm more concerned about having to ramp my case fans up to get the extra heat out of the case, not so much the fans on the card itself. The video card area is ventilated by a single 80mm fan which is currently running at about 600rpm idle and ~1800rpm loaded with my ~110w HD7850.