GTX 1060 vs RX 480(Jan.2017)

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 18, 2017

This is seriously the most difficult choice in my entire life. I was about to buy the 1060 but watched a video showing the upgraded performance of the 480 due to drivers, and now I think I want a 480? Can someone who isn't biased to either side give me advice. Supposedly AMD cards age much better than nvidia? Also from what I can see dx 12 performance is much better on the 480. Depending on the card can you also link me the custom card you would recommend.(Canada). THANKS!

rgd1101 · Jan 18, 2017

just scroll down, see lot of people asking the same question

damric · Jan 18, 2017

The reason why AMD cards age better is because they are made with brute force compute ability, and it takes forever for the drivers to catch up. Regardless, I'd rather an RX 480, and probably the 4GB model as the GPU is not powerful enough to keep up the FPS when more than 4GB is needed anyway. I see in Canada, that the RX 470 is significantly less so I'd probably get that instead.

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 18, 2017

damric :

I was considering the rx 470 but idk. I'd rather have a more powerful 480. Are you sure that 4gb of vram will be enough for approximately 3-4 years?

damric · Jan 18, 2017

KyRiEiSaVaGe :

You didn't comprehend what I wrote.

It doesn't matter if you put 36GB of VRAM on that card, it's barely powerful enough to push that 4GB. This does not change in the year 2017 nor the year 2037.

It's an ULTRA 60FPS card for 1080p, and medium-high for 1440p. For more than that you need a more expensive card.

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 18, 2017

damric :

KyRiEiSaVaGe :

You didn't comprehend what I wrote.

It doesn't matter if you put 36GB of VRAM on that card, it's barely powerful enough to push that 4GB. This does not change in the year 2017 nor the year 2037.

It's an ULTRA 60FPS card for 1080p, and medium-high for 1440p. For more than that you need a more expensive card.

Is the 8gb of vram a marketing trick then? Surely the 480 is powerful enough to use at least 5-6 gb of vram.

damric · Jan 18, 2017

KyRiEiSaVaGe :

damric :

Is the 8gb of vram a marketing trick then? Surely the 480 is powerful enough to use at least 5-6 gb of vram.

Go read the reviews which show VRAM usage. Read the data carefully. When the RX 480 starts actually using that much VRAM, the GPU gets so taxed that the game is unplayable anyway.

The only way reason to have it would be for crossfirex, but buying two cards instead of one more powerful one is dumb. Multi-GPU is useful for incremental upgrades only.

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 18, 2017

damric :

KyRiEiSaVaGe :

Go read the reviews which show VRAM usage. Read the data carefully. When the RX 480 starts actually using that much VRAM, the GPU gets so taxed that the game is unplayable anyway.

The only way reason to have it would be for crossfirex, but buying two cards instead of one more powerful one is dumb. Multi-GPU is useful for incremental upgrades only.

Ahh I see thanks. Just one more question :ange:

My case is only really suited for single fan gpu cards. Do you know of any rx 480 mini versions or single fan rx 480s?

amtseung · Jan 18, 2017

It depends on the market, and the games.

Some games, like GTAV (especially with that redux mod or whatever it's called) and heavily texture-modded Bethesda games, have lots of assets to store in VRAM. It wouldn't be uncommon to actually use that much VRAM storing textures and things. Run these in tandem with copious anti-aliasing and texture filtering at larger-than-1080p resolutions, and that VRAM can get used up pretty quickly.

Other games, like Overwatch and CS:GO, don't really have much they need to store in VRAM, and even at absurdly large resolutions, barely use any VRAM.

Pretty much, if you want more VRAM, it's not a bad thing to have more, but can you justify needing it at the extra cost?

36GB of VRAM... One day, we'll be looking back at our ancient GTX1080's thinking, "Wow, with 128GB VRAM as standard, how did we ever live with 8gb?"

damric · Jan 18, 2017

If your case is small, get one of the ones with a blower style cooler like the Sapphire RX 470 "Platinum"

http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=0582294D-5A90-4EF0-B5E1-5EDC1C3ACBE1&lang=eng

Susquehannock · Jan 18, 2017

Price is usually the deciding factor. Get more performance per dollar with the 480. The two cards perform very similar to each other, as you know. The 1060 does so with less power & heat. Reason why you do not see mini version of RX 480. They need the extra cooling.

[edit] - the 480 does have a big advantage when Vulkan API is used.

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 19, 2017

Susquehannock :

What exactly is vulkan api? Is that different from dx 12? The only reason I'm even CONSIDERING the 480 is for much better future proofing than the gtx 1060.(Dx 12) For the most part the 1060 is around the same price and sometimes cheaper than the 480 so i'm seriously stumped. I don't want a 470 because I definitely want more performance from my card. Can you just help me make a final decision.

Susquehannock · Jan 19, 2017

My understanding of this is limited, Vulkan is a newer API (Application programming interface) for which software is written. In this case games. Right now AMD cards perform very well in Vulkan. There are currently about 10 games that run it. And 15 or so for Dx12. Remains to be seen how Vulkan will be accepted going forward but it does have the advantage of concentrating much of the work on the GPU instead of the main processor.

Put another way, if you plan to play the game Doom, and Vulkan is accepted well going forward, an AMD card is a good advantage.

Further reading if interested:

>> https://developer.nvidia.com/Vulkan

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 19, 2017

Susquehannock :

Thanks. For a wide variety of different games ranging from new games old games and future games what card would you recommend?

Susquehannock · Jan 19, 2017

[edit] - Windows10 is required for Dx12 so take that into consideration.

It really is tough since you said they are both about the same price. Either will be a good choice. I like the ASUS strix and MSI gaming X models since they have better cooling and good ratings.

Has anyone posted a recent comparison yet? Here is a good 13 page review from 4 days ago:

>> http://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/01/15/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_1060_g1_gaming_6g_review

earth418 · Jan 26, 2017

The gtx 1060 and the rx 480 have very similar performance. However, the 1 to 2GB of VRAM more that the rx 480 will be better for use in the future and AMD Cards perform better in DX12 (future stuff), Vulkan (more future stuff), and age a lot better. Right now, there might be a close comparison, but later, the rx 480 could vastly beat the gtx 1060 or maybe even the 1070. They are both great cards, and if you have them at the same price, I'd recommend the 480 8GB. (XFX GTR has the best temperatures and oc by the way).

KyRiEiSaVaGe · Jan 28, 2017

earth418 :

I truly dont think ill EVER need 8gb of vram to be completely honest. Im more worried about the 480's performance in dx12. Is it possible for Nvidia to create drivers that greatly improve their performance in dx 12?

mitch074 · Feb 13, 2017

Things have changed (for the better) with recent games, that use extremely precise textures that require huge VRAM - I'll cite Deus Ex:Mankind Divided, whose Higher and Ultra settings eat up to 6Gb and 8 Gb of VRAM respectively for a negligible performance impact but huge visual quality improvement over the "console equivalent" High setting. Same for Doom, whose Nightmare quality mode does require more than 4 Gb of VRAM and still runs at 70fps @1440p on my reference RX480 (under Vulkan of course).

Pietaah · Feb 14, 2017

amtseung :

Remember the times where you had graphics cards with 256 MB of VRAM and that was the best?

RobCrezz · Feb 14, 2017

Pietaah :

I remember when the voodoo with 4mb of ram was the best.

Honestly, either card is a good choice, there is no wrong answer. I depends on how long you expect to keep it for, I only expected to keep mine around 2 years, so the 1060 was the logical choice as its faster in all the games I play currently. If you want to keep it for 3-5 years, then the RX480 might be the better option for you.

GTX 1060 vs RX 480(Jan.2017)

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