Which graphic card should I have? Focused on RX 480 or GTX 970

If your looking at the 970 you might want to consider the GTX 1060 as the price is similar and performance is better.

What country are you from and what is your budget for a graphics card?
I think the GTX 1060 might be a good alternative, and maybe it's the best option if price is right.

Between those two I would go with the Asus since its factory overclocked higher and a little bit shorter which might work better for you. If you have access to EVGA cards they do make a SFF card which would work good and you said you didn't want it factory OCed.

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=06G-P4-6161-KR

Get the Evga Super clocked version , Cooler than any other 1060 probably and affordable

you can compare the other custom versions here https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/4tqwax/aftermarket_gtx_1060_comparison_table_lets/

dont worry about that, only worry about your case. the graphics card will fit and work in your micro-ATX's pcie slot, however if it will fit in your case is another story. take measuring tape and see how long of a card you can support

evga has great customer service, upgrade program and makes decent coolers for their cards

@dor_13, where are you buying from? The prices your posting are quite high.

As far as which company to buy from its really just personal preference as each company succeeds in different areas. Personally I like EVGA since there located in the US, have excellent customer service and are usually factory overclocked higher then other companies though there cooling (against MSI or Gigabyte) isn't the best but works good. IMHO just go with the company/model that fits your budget/case size and has good professional/customer reviews. I would also look up there warranty as well just in case there is a issue with the card.

Okay, that makes more sense why the prices are higher. I would still recommend going with the cheaper version of the GTX 1060 as long as it has aftermarket cooling (non reference design) and has been factory overclocked which should give you a few extra FPS. As explained before the differences between companies is fairly minor but if cooling is a concern I would go with MSI or Gigabyte.

The strix version of the 1060 is excellent if you can fit it in your case. You get Asus's gpu tweak software, the ability to customize the LED's and the three fans keep it extremely cool. Since they don't have to work as hard, it's also very quiet. My 1070 Strix is silent and hovers around 40-45 C while gaming. On Newegg you can buy a 1060 strix for 329$, at least for me.

While you seem to have decided on the GTX 1060, I am sad to see that there is not an objective comparison between the RX 480 and GTX 1060 (Only people suggesting 1060). The RX 480 and the GTX 1060 are really very similar in performance, but they have some specifics that differentiate them. The 1060 barely outperforms the 480 in some games, and the 480 barely outperforms the 1060 in other games. Also note, that many benchmarks comparing the 1060 and the 480 compare factory overclocked, custom, 6GB GTX 1060s to reference cooler, stock clock, 4gb RX 480s. Such is not a fair comparison.

The RX 480 is better in DX12 and Vulkan, while the GTX 1060 performs better in DX11. This factor really just depends on what games you play, but with more and more future titles adopting DX12 and Vulkan, the RX 480 will perform better in the future.

The RX 480 has 8GB VRAM vs the GTX 1060's 6GB VRAM. At 1080p, 2GB is not going to make a ton of difference, except if you are into high-resolution textures or adding mods to your games, and its always nice to have that 2GB of headroom for whatever the future holds.

The 480 uses 14nm architecture and the 1060 uses 16nm architecture. Both of these improvements have lowered the power draw and temperatures of both cards. AMD is no longer plagued by the issues of massive power draw and overheating, and Nvidia has lower power draw too.

At the moment it seems like a lot of RX 480s are sold out, and as a result their prices are slightly increased. A good amount of GTX 1060s are out of stock too, but not much as so as the 480. Never the less, the GTX 1060s price has been raised too. As it stands the GTX 1060 is a bit cheaper across the board, and less are sold out than AMD, but even then, only a few 1060s are in stock. My advice would be to wait for both cards to get more product in, for more choices and lower prices.

Whether getting either card, I would strongly advise you not to get a reference card (Founder's Edition in Nvidia's case). Reference cards have inferior cooling solutions, resulting in higher temperatures. If overheating gets out of hand, it can decrease the lifespan of your card, and even cause artifacting and hardware damage.

As for AIB manufacturers, it is almost always a safe bet to go with an AIB that exclusive to their brand. Nvidia has EVGA and Zotac. AMD has Sapphire, XFX, and Powercolor. Manufacturers that offer both Nvidia and AMD cards tend to charge more for their products, and exclusive AIBs tend to have better cooling solutions for their cards.

May I remind you, that ahead of the 1060's launch, to better compete with the 480, Nvidia upped the clock speeds on all their cards. Factory overclocks may grant you a couple extra frames, but just the same as any overclocking: it will decrease the lifespan of your card.

TLDR: RX 480 for DX12/Vulkan and 8GB VRAM. GTX 1060 for DX11 and cheaper. They both perform pretty much the same at 1080p.

This is a legitimate concern, but this mostly applies to cards with only a 6pin power connector (mostly reference designs, which I advise against for any card). Additionally the issue has been resolved at the time of posting of this article. If it was not resolved by the posting date of July 8th, I am sure they have solved it now, August 22nd.

The power draw is minimal, but if the 120 Watt vs 150 Watt is a deciding factor for you, then go with the GTX 1060. Otherwise, they trade blows in different areas, and I would suggest the RX 480 for better DX12/Vulkan performance (vs 1060's DX11), 8GB VRAM (vs 1060's 6GB), 14nm Architechture (vs 1060's 16nm), 256-bit Bus (vs 1060's 192-bit), and 2304 stream processors (vs 1060's 1280 CUDA cores).

Basically, the GTX 1060 has inferior specs, but Nvidia factory-overclocked it and lowered the price, to compete with the RX 480. Nvidia's larger market share and shady benchmark comparisons enabled them to promote their card as "Outperforming the RX 480", when it barely does so, and only in DX11 games. Go with what fits your needs, but this is my take on the situation.