Christmas shopping for GPU (Gaming, Digital Art)

mesopotamian

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APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: Before this Christmas. I would like to purchase today if possible (given that it is Cyber Monday). I have been quite busy which is why I am asking last minute on Cyber Monday. The price range of GeForce GTX 1070 stretches over budget, but might be worth the extra cost. GTX 1060 and Radeon RX 480 are at more comfortable price points, but I fear might not be enough for current games and for the length of time I would use the card.

USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Digital Art done solo and for current academic program which includes Graphic Design, Web Coding/Design, 2D/3D Animation, Video Production/Editing, Motion Graphics, Digital Illustration, and Digital Imaging. Software used includes the full Adobe Creative Cloud, NewTek Lightwave, and possibly Autodesk Maya).

Gaming is the next priority. I play many different genres but ability to max out or nearly max out the most demanding games for the next several years is key. Battlefield, The Witcher 2 w/Ubersampling enabled, and The Witcher 3, are some examples of existing games. I am interested in VR, but I doubt I can afford it until sometime well into the future. By then I will be probably building be a new system with VR, and 4K in mind.

CURRENT GPU AND POWER SUPPLY: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 Dual-X graphics card and Seasonic Platinum 860W PSU

OTHER RELEVANT SYSTEM SPECS-

CPU: Intel Core i7 3770k at stock speeds. I am looking to overclock hopefully during the winter break. I am concerned about my CPU's usefulness down the road with the recent jumps in CPU requirements in games. That said I likely won't be able to replace my CPU and motherboard for a while yet although I built my system in late 2012.

Motherboard- Asus P8Z77-V Pro

RAM- 16GB Corsair Vengeance LP @1600Mhz

CPU Cooler- Cooler Master Hyper 612PWM

SSD- Crucial M4 256GB

HDD- Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200RPM

Case- Corsair Carbide 500R

OS- Windows 10 Pro

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: Newegg.com, Amazon.com

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States

PARTS PREFERENCES: Nvidia is preferred. PhysX would be a nice bonus for the titles I have which support it. Not sure how important CUDA is relative to OpenCL and OpenGL. My top choice is a GeForce GTX 1070 based video card, followed by GTX 1060, and finally the Radeon RX 480. I do not have a specific brand preference for manufacturer

Here are a few of my top choices:

EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW

EVGA GeForce GTX 1060

I would like other opinions on different makes and models from other manufacturers.

OVERCLOCKING: Yes

SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Most likely no: My biggest problem with multiple cards is power consumption followed by compatibility headaches

MONITOR RESOLUTION: 1920x1200 on a Dell U2410. I am looking to skip getting a 1440p monitor in the short-term in favor of going 4K in the distant long-term.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: My academic program is a two-year degree program, with plans to transfer into a four year degree program. Given that I am part-time with other responsibilities, technology progresses faster than I progress to my degree. With Digital Arts given the highest priority, there might the specter of a professional card. My academic advisor and professor has tried to assure me that it won't be necessary until I officially enter the professional world. He also said that it would be preferable anyways to use the department computer labs on campus for most of the classwork given that I can obtain extra help if needed and collaborate with other students in greater capacity. As a point reference to compare with my system specs, the Digital Art department at the school uses HP Z1 workstations. Which look to be as old as my i7 build. I do not know when they will get fully replaced with newer tech. All of that said, I might be able to get away without a pro card for a while.
 
Solution


i would think they got straight on rectifying it

but imagine say you bought a card today...
jet.com has a 1070 for $329. It requires alittle bit of jumping through hoops, applying codes and what not. Also a discount if you are a new user, comes out to like $330. I dont have a link but it is a ASUS card I believe, Dual something or other. Look it up.

edit: Heres the link to the article I read, no idea if they are still in stock.
http://www.pcgamer.com/grab-an-asus-dual-geforce-gtx-1070-for-an-insanely-low-329/
 

mesopotamian

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An approximate number would be $350, which is right in between both the gtx 1060 and 1070 I linked. I am willing to go bit over if the 1070 is worth the extra cost for what I want to do.



Thermal pad fiasco? I apologize for the length btw.



That looks like a good find. How does Asus compare with EVGA when it comes to build quality and warranty?
 


thats ok i have trouble reading large blocks of text is all

heres an example of the thermal pad thing

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3138048/components-graphics/evga-battles-gtx-10-series-overheating-with-faster-fan-speeds-free-thermal-pads.html

 

mesopotamian

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I see. If I bought a EVGA card now, would I have to participate in the thermal pad program, or has the issue been fixed with the most recent shipments?
 


i would think they got straight on rectifying it

but imagine say you bought a card today

that card was likely made months ago

it had to go from factory it was made in be shipped to other countries--by sea i would imagine as much cheaper

arrive in your country then get to where you buy it

so i imagine cards with the fault will be in retailers for quite a while until they are all sold out

unless every retailer was asked to send them back to evga
 
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