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need help with choosing a new graphics card
Well, it seems that my MSI GeForce GTX 970 Gaming 4G died. It ran very well, then in the past few months I sometimes had crashes which seemed to related to the graphics card. Earlier today, I couldn't get my PC out of standby (just a black screen). Restarting the PC gave me first the mainboard start screen, but instead of a Windows 10 login screen I just got a black screen again (no mouse cursor or anything).
I removed the graphics card from the computer and plugged the screen directly to the mainboard, and now I can see something again. That is quite a shame, because I was otherwise very happy with the graphics card.
I'm not really into hardware, so I'd be glad if anybody could give me some advice on which one to get.
My current system:
- OS: Windows 10
- RAM: 8GB
- CPU: i5-3570k
- one SSD and one old school harddrive
What is important for me:
- I need to be able to plug in two screens at once.
- Maximum budget would be 350€ (or $, just something around that), though I wouldn't mind spending less, as I had a couple of annoying bills recently.
- I like to game a lot, so while I don't need always everything on maximum details, I want to be able to play games fluently without them looking ugly (DOTA2, Rust and so on).
- I personally like the NVidia tools quite a lot (like recording videos, or auto-tuning the setting of games), so I wouldn't mind another NVidia card, but if there is another one out there that is far better for less or same money, I'd be open to that too.
Graphics cards I considered:
- MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB X (found that one for 290€)
- MSI Gaming Geforce GTX 1070 8 GB Z (found that one for 460€)
I've read good about either graphics cards. I'm not sure whether the 170 € difference are really worth it.
Thanks a lot for any advice.
I removed the graphics card from the computer and plugged the screen directly to the mainboard, and now I can see something again. That is quite a shame, because I was otherwise very happy with the graphics card.
I'm not really into hardware, so I'd be glad if anybody could give me some advice on which one to get.
My current system:
- OS: Windows 10
- RAM: 8GB
- CPU: i5-3570k
- one SSD and one old school harddrive
What is important for me:
- I need to be able to plug in two screens at once.
- Maximum budget would be 350€ (or $, just something around that), though I wouldn't mind spending less, as I had a couple of annoying bills recently.
- I like to game a lot, so while I don't need always everything on maximum details, I want to be able to play games fluently without them looking ugly (DOTA2, Rust and so on).
- I personally like the NVidia tools quite a lot (like recording videos, or auto-tuning the setting of games), so I wouldn't mind another NVidia card, but if there is another one out there that is far better for less or same money, I'd be open to that too.
Graphics cards I considered:
- MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB X (found that one for 290€)
- MSI Gaming Geforce GTX 1070 8 GB Z (found that one for 460€)
I've read good about either graphics cards. I'm not sure whether the 170 € difference are really worth it.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
Post edited by maji on
Comments
I've read that the MSI GeForce GTX 1070 would be also quite nice, in comparison to the MSI GeForce GTX 1070. But it's quite a lot more expensive, so I'm not sure whether that would be worth it.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
well ill tell ya , i had the same exact 970 card , and moved to my back up pc and upgraded this one to the same exact 1060 GTX 6 GB you listed .. I have had no trouble with any game at all..
Ill add , i know nothing about PCs , i take it down to my PC guy every 3 months , he cleans it runs it thru paces and recommends any upgrades ..
Ive been very happy with my new card ............ It has run every thing well on max settings
I'm now tending towards the 1060 too. I mean, the 1070 one got a lot of good reviews, but the shops I checked here in Germany have the 1060 X for less than 300€ and the 1070 Z for more than 460 €. That's quite a difference.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
Two situations where it may struggle are VR and 4K. In both cases, you'd probably consider a 1080 (or 1080Ti) anyway, as the 1070 may not even cut it.
The 1060 sounds like a better pick overall, given the price.
Thanks.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
A 6 GB version of a GeForce GTX 1060 is typically about the same performance as a Radeon RX 580. If they're the same price, there's nothing wrong with getting the GTX 1060, but if the RX 580 is markedly cheaper, it would take a very strong pro-Nvidia preference to justify the GTX 1060. What makes sense to buy really depends on prices.
Do be warned that a 3 GB version of a GTX 1060 is really a different card than the 6 GB version, as it's cut down, not just less memory. They should have been a GTX 1060 and GTX 1060 Ti or something like that. So don't think that's just as good as a 6 GB version; it's more a competitor to the Radeon RX 570. But it could still be worthwhile if it's a lot cheaper. Again, it depends on prices.
You should also be aware that while these cards (other than the GTX 1070) are perhaps a little faster than your dead GTX 970, they're not a lot faster than it. So while it's an upgrade as opposed to a downgrade, it would be far too small to justify except that your old card is dead. I'm all in favor of replacing a dead card, of course, but don't expect a huge jump in performance.
GTX 1060 3 GB: 10%
RX 580: 0%
RX 480: 5%
RX 570: 15%
RX 470: 20%
That's not to say that if you find a Radeon RX 580 for 2% cheaper than a 6 GB GTX 1060, that you should buy it. That's a close call and it's reasonable to go with Nvidia on vendor preference--and that's really within a margin of error on performance per dollar, anyway. But if an RX 580 is 20% cheaper than a GTX 1060, then you should at least be aware that you'd be paying a large price premium for the Nvidia label on the box. And if the GTX 1060 is cheaper outright than the RX 580, no need to further consider the RX 580.
The GTX 1060 6GB X would be available now for 290€.
The GTX 1070 8GB Z would be available for 460€.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
The Radeon RX 580 is nearly the same as the Radeon RX 480, but clocked a little higher. So I'd look at RX 480 prices, too. I'd be very surprised if the RX 480s have all sold out before the RX 580s arrive in stock. In the US, at least on New Egg, the RX 480s at decent prices are gone, but the RX 580s are abundant.
Timing can vary based on where you are in the world. Some AMD chips are fabbed in Germany, but it looks like the discrete GPUs are built in New York. Board partners are all over the place, but a lot are in Taiwan. That can affect how long it takes to ship to various parts of the world.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)