Purchase advice: GTX 1060, GTX 1070 or RX 480 for quiet FHD gaming under $450?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
DocQuack

DocQuack

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
4
0
1,510
Come September I will be updating the graphics card in my home rig and could use some advice on which family and model might best fit my needs. Based on what I have read so far I think a GTX 1060 is a good fit though an RX 480 or a GTX 1070 could do the trick as well. Below are some details of the use and rest of the system:

Want / what is important:

  • ■ To push the quality settings on single player games (Rise of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, Fallout 4, GTA V) on a 1080p monitor (I actually run two monitors but play on one and keep performance panes on the other).
    ■ I also try to keep my system as cool and quiet as I can and hate it when my current video card sounds like it is trying to take off, so I am willing to pay a premium for quiet and efficient cooling.
    ■ At least 3 years longevity (my 4 year old Radeon HD 7870 can barely keep up with newer titles and I would rather not upgrade the GPU again until I build my next system in 2019).

Don’t need / don’t care:

  • ■ SLI, overclocking or resolutions above 1080 (I plan to switch to 4K monitors for my next build but for the next 3 years my two 1080p monitors will do just fine).
    ■ LEDs or fancy designs (don’t mind them but don’t need them).
    ■ Lastly I would love to get some good bang for my buck so a ~$270 GTX 1060 or a ~$200 RX 480 would be great but I can realistically pay more and am willing to pay some premium for quiet and longevity.

Given my needs I think a GTX 1060 is the best choice since it performs well at HFD and has very low power consumption and good thermals (and should therefore be easy to cool without too much fan noise). I was thinking of an MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814137018) or Armor (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127964) or some similar model depending on what is actually in stock first week in September when I can put the order in. Anyone have other suggestions or advice?

For any who care below are the rest of the details on the current build:
PCPartPicker.com: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/wnzbXH

CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 @3.5 GHz
GPU: SAPPHIRE 100354OC-2L Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
RAM: 32GB - 4 x 8 GB PC3-10700 (667 MHz) (CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB (4 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA
OS: Windows 10 64-bit

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1)
Power Supply: CORSAIR HX Series HX750 750W ATX12V 2.3
CPU Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H80i Water Cooler
Boot Drive: Intel SSD 240GB SSDSC2CW240A3 (Read 550, Write 520 MB/s)
Data Drives: 2 x Western Digital WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower SATA 6.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH12LS38
GPU Driver: AMD Radeon Crimson 16.3.2
Displays: 2 x Acer G6 G276HL Gbmid Black 27" (1920 x 1080)
 
Solution
n0ns3ns3
Given the fact that your monitors are 60Hz, GTX 1070 would be a waste of resources.
I don't know where you live, so can't tell you exactly what is the price you should look for. I've seen GTX 1060 (EVGA and Zotac) for 250$ in US and ~280euro on Amazon.de
I think it is very good price.
Personally I'd go for the EVGA GTX 1060 SC GAMING since it's factory overclocked, have no bells and whistles, good cooler and compact design. Priced at 260$ and was 250$ after rebate.
And they have literally best support and warranty policies.
Sort by date Sort by votes
xFeaRDom

xFeaRDom

Estimable
Jul 28, 2016
1,644
0
3,960
Personally, I am not too sure about the RX 480, but I have heard that it is a good graphics card. Not being biased, but I cannot really judge due to never owning an AMD card, only Nvidia. The GTX 1060 is similar to the 980, but at a much lower price. The GTX 1060 is a very powerful card, not as powerful as the 1070 or 1080. But the price-performance ratio is good, as it is a relatively cheap card to say that it has only been released recently. Depending on the brand/make of the 1060 you buy the cooling may or may not be better, as dual-fans are most likely the better option if you are using it for gaming.

To push the quality settings on single player games (Rise of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, Fallout 4, GTA V) on a 1080p monitor (I actually run two monitors but play on one and keep performance panes on the other).
- You will be able to have high, if not maximum settings on most of these games, I own a 970 and I have maximum settings on GTA V, so saying that the 1060 is better than the 970 I own. You will be able to have really high settings, as well as high FPS in most cases. (You could also apply an overclock if you are wanting to do so)

I also try to keep my system as cool and quiet as I can and hate it when my current video card sounds like it is trying to take off, so I am willing to pay a premium for quiet and efficient cooling.
About the fan speed on this, I read up and the 1060 does not have the Idle-fan-off feature, but the fan speed could easily be edited in softwares, such as MSI Afterburner (Which is my preference). But the cooling will most likely not be an issue.


At least 3 years longevity (my 4 year old Radeon HD 7870 can barely keep up with newer titles and I would rather not upgrade the GPU again until I build my next system in 2019).
The 1060 will no doubt last you 3 years, maybe more before not being able to keep up with the newer titles. And with the efficiency of the card, it will most likely still run powerfully after that time.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Dustybin

Dustybin

Respectable
Feb 24, 2016
524
0
2,360
I have just bought a Zotec 1060 ITX the fans are idle when not gaming and it is silent. I currently have a relatively weak CPU (i3) and every game I played at 1080p/Ultra ran above 60fps at all times. I really have no qualms in recommending this card it has been cool, quiet and fast and should last at that resolution for the next two/three years.

I think the only 'bad' choice for what you want would be a reference RX 480, the reviews indicate they run a bit hot and noisy which when combined with worse performance than an AIB mean they probably aren't the best option. If you can get an RX480 with a custom cooler for less than a 1060 that would be a very worthy purchase.

If it is no stretch to get the 1070 then I don't think you'd have many regrets over it, it's basically all the good stuff of the 1060 but more so. You should find that it still more than enough at 1080p even when you're ready to move onto 4k.

In conclusion, if money isn't an issue get the 1070 and you'll never look back. Otherwise I would get the 1060 over the RX-480 if they are running at the same price, if the RX-480 is closer to $200 and the 1060 is closer to $250-300 I would get the RX-480 with a custom cooler as the 1060 isn't worth a large premium over the RX-480.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

Illustrious
May 25, 2016
8,065
4
42,715
Given the fact that your monitors are 60Hz, GTX 1070 would be a waste of resources.
I don't know where you live, so can't tell you exactly what is the price you should look for. I've seen GTX 1060 (EVGA and Zotac) for 250$ in US and ~280euro on Amazon.de
I think it is very good price.
Personally I'd go for the EVGA GTX 1060 SC GAMING since it's factory overclocked, have no bells and whistles, good cooler and compact design. Priced at 260$ and was 250$ after rebate.
And they have literally best support and warranty policies.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
Solution
DocQuack

DocQuack

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
4
0
1,510


Thank you for the reply. I honestly haven't made up my mind yet as I can see benefits to all three cards. While I like the cost to performance ratio of the RX 480 I think the power consumption and thermal advantage of the GTX 1060 is pushing me in that direction.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DocQuack

DocQuack

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
4
0
1,510


Very good to hear a good experience with the Zotec. I was looking at those as a good alternative to the MSI mainly because they seem to have a good fan design. Even though I can afford a 1070 I know I wont replace the FHD monitors until my next build so it seems a bit of overkill, and once I do build the next system I would like to re-up my GPU as well.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
DocQuack

DocQuack

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
4
0
1,510

Very good info, thank you n0ns3ns3. I live in Germany but will be visiting the US for a business trip in September (hence the purchasing time frame) and thought I would pick the card up while I am there. I will check out the EVGA card, hopefully it will be available come September.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
D

DeshiPirate

Commendable
Jun 29, 2016
7
0
1,520
I like AMD, but in your case the 1060 is probably the answer. I believe the RX470 will be a cool and quiet card at similar performance in DX12/Vulkan to the 1060, but the games you mentioned are all mostly better favored on the 1060.

I think it comes down to, if you don;t mind upgrading in a year or 2, 1060 meets all your current needs and is quietest and most efficient.
If your trying to get as much out of the hardware as long as you can, The RX480 will hold value longer, at the expense of slightly less efficiency and more noise depending on which card you buy. Nitro+ for instance seems to be kind of noisy.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom