Best Graphics Card around $200~ Price point?

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Shauna333

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Mar 1, 2016
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I'm looking for a GPU under $300 CAD. (put $200 in the title for American readers)

I recently bought a GTX 1060 3GB card that I got for $250 CAD. I've been told that AMD cards have much better value, and 3GB VRAM is not enough/not future-proof.
I'm still in the return period so I'm looking for a better card for my price range, if there is one. Or should I just hold onto my 1060 3GB?

The price jump from a 1060 3GB to a 1060 6GB is almost $100 after taxes. I don't think it's worth it in my opinion and also a little out of my price range. I'm getting my prices from amazon.ca

Games I play are mostly RTS/Mobas like League of legends, Overwatch, Csgo. I also do light Photoshopping and video editing with After Effects. I use a 1080p 144hz monitor. I'm perfectly fine playing on low/medium settings as long as there's no lag or bottlenecking. My biggest worry is that 3GB VRAM will cause me issues down the road with newer programs or games. I don't want to have to upgrade within the next 5 years at the very least.

Side question: Is there a big difference between 4GB vs 3GB VRAM? In the case I opt for a 4GB AMD card..



 
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What's the RX 580 run over in Canada? I seem to recall AMD costing more than Nvidia up there despite ATI's Canadian roots. It would be a noticeable upgrade over the 1060 3 GB, and trade wins with the 6 GB depending on the game. As far as VRAM goes, it depends on the game and how large the textures are. Also how much AA you use. Here's a worst case scenario:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx-580-review,5020-3.html

You can see how the 1060 3 GB plummets down to 30 fps ave, while the 6 GB is up at 80. The 3 GB is slightly cut down but it's mainly the VRAM limitation here. The good news is that lowering graphics settings rapidly decreases VRAM requirements so it isn't as limiting as it might seem.
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Rahul_Ignited

Rahul_Ignited

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Apr 17, 2016
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Stick with the 1060. No need to waste more money as you said you recently bought that card.

I hate the word Future-Proof as you don't know what will happen in future. The idea is to build a system that gives you a better value today.

4GB VRAM will be slightly better than 3GB. If you were so worried then you could have saved up for the 1060 6GB before buying the 3GB variant.

VRAM will not be an issue until your GPU needs more than it has. In that case your GPU has to swap texture and/or data from system memory. That dramatically slows things down as system memory has much less bandwidth than VRAM
 
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TMTOWTSAC

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Jun 27, 2015
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What's the RX 580 run over in Canada? I seem to recall AMD costing more than Nvidia up there despite ATI's Canadian roots. It would be a noticeable upgrade over the 1060 3 GB, and trade wins with the 6 GB depending on the game. As far as VRAM goes, it depends on the game and how large the textures are. Also how much AA you use. Here's a worst case scenario:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-radeon-rx-580-review,5020-3.html

You can see how the 1060 3 GB plummets down to 30 fps ave, while the 6 GB is up at 80. The 3 GB is slightly cut down but it's mainly the VRAM limitation here. The good news is that lowering graphics settings rapidly decreases VRAM requirements so it isn't as limiting as it might seem.
 
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dontlistentome

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Sep 5, 2016
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The kinds of games you play, you don't need more than 3gb vram. Might more vram become important in the future? Sure, but by then you'll probably need a card faster than a 1060 or 580 too. You can't predict these things.

The 750 Ti came out 3 years ago. Are people thinking "Gee, if only the 750 Ti was in 4gb and 8gb models I wouldn't need a 1060"? No.
 
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Shauna333

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Mar 1, 2016
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Thanks guys :) Decided to stick with my 1060 3GB.
I was worried about the 3GB version being a bad purchase, considering all the internet posts I've read about 3GB VRAM not being enough. But I'm fine tuning down my settings if needed. Thanks for helping make up my mind. (Have seriously been thinking about this on-and-off for weeks lol)

and @dontlistentome you make a good point there!
 
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