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southrncomfortjm
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For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 1:15 pm

So, my good and faithful GTX 760 2gb is finally sputtering and stuttering (literally) too much in the games I'm playing now (Gears 4, The Division, Battleborn) at the settings I want, so it's time for a replacement. I really think the issue is the 2gb of VRAM rather than the raw power of the card itself, but what can you do.

I game exclusively on my 1080p TV. Nothing fancy here at the moment, but that also means I'm not tied to an ecosystem. I had a Gsync monitor before, but sold it since I wanted to go back to the couch for my gaming.

Anyways, I'm looking at either the RX 480 or the GTX 1060. I've read the reviews and the cars look really evenly matched. It seems like the RX 480 is doing better with DX 12, but the difference isn't huge.

I'd go with a 6gb GTX 1060. Is there any reason to go with the 8GB 480 over the 4gb?

Assuming price points are about the same, what do you all think?
Gaming: i5-3570k/Z77/212 Evo/Corsair 500R/16GB 1600 CL8/RX 480 8GB/840 250gb, EVO 500gb, SG 3tb/Tachyon 650w/Win10
 
Vhalidictes
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 1:26 pm

If you play a lot of current and older games at high settings, get the GeForce. It will perform a bit better.

If you are planning on keeping this card for a long time and/or are planning to play mostly DX12 games, get the Radeon, although again if you're not going to upgrade soon you should look into the 8GB version.
 
southrncomfortjm
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:37 pm

Thanks!

Only makes sense to get the RX 480 then since both of these cards will play any old DX 11 game at a rock solid 60fps with ultra settings at 1080p. I'll take the card that works better with DX 12 games (maybe because of async compute?).
Will have to get used to AMD's software again. Been using all things GeForce for 2 years.
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chuckula
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:46 pm

What CPU do you have? There have been benchmarks showing the Rx 480 doing a little better than the GTX-1060 with very strong CPUs but then the situation flipping on its head with somewhat lower-end CPUS.  This even includes the Vulkan Doom benchmark that was heavily advertised by AMD.

For example: https://www.hardwareunboxed.com/gtx-1060-vs-rx-480-in-6-year-old-amd-and-intel-computers/
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:48 pm

Good looking out.
I'm running an i5-3570k overclocked to 4.4ghz. Shouldn't be an issue there.
Gaming: i5-3570k/Z77/212 Evo/Corsair 500R/16GB 1600 CL8/RX 480 8GB/840 250gb, EVO 500gb, SG 3tb/Tachyon 650w/Win10
 
DPete27
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:16 pm

Both cards won't have any problems hitting 60fps in even the most demanding games today at max settings and 1080p.

Yes, the RX480 pulls ahead in DX12.

I'm not sure 8GB vs 6GB is a big deal.  You will take a slight performance hit going with a 4GB RX480 (about 10ish usually) which is technically in competition with the GTX 1060 3GB (though I'd easily choose the 4GB RX480 over the 3GB GTX1060).  

I'd vote RX480 personally.  I bought two MSI RX480 Gaming X 8GB cards this fall.  One for $211 after MIR, the other for $205 after MIR (both from jet.com).  I've seen the 4GB version as low as $170 after MIR.  The MSI Gaming X and the XFX GTR have the best coolers.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:21 pm

Yeah, I found an open box Sapphire Nitro + at my local Microcenter for $211. Figure I'll give that a try and see how it runs. My GTX 760 was a Microcenter open box purchase and it lasted me a solid 2 years without issue. Hopefully this one does as well. Oh, and it comes with Civ VI for free, so there's that.

Our main rigs are actually pretty similar if I end up keeping the 480 - My Z77 board is an Asrock Extreme 4. That's interesting.
Gaming: i5-3570k/Z77/212 Evo/Corsair 500R/16GB 1600 CL8/RX 480 8GB/840 250gb, EVO 500gb, SG 3tb/Tachyon 650w/Win10
 
DPete27
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 3:59 pm

Is that the Nitro+ or the Nitro+ OC?  Reason I ask is that it appears they pushed the OC version a little too far and the card gets a bit loud because of it.  Dropping back to ~1306MHz to allow a lower voltage could yield significant improvements in noise and thermals for 3% clock speed sacrifice.  But it really depends on silicon lottery and each owners threshold for "loud".  Just something to consider if you've got the OC version.

There's quite a bit of undervolting info for reference in this thread.  My MSI RX480 only sipped 1.075V @ 1306MHz stock, which was lower than others were reporting so I left it.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
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sweatshopking
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:19 pm

I have a 1060. it sucks. the drivers are trash. it crashes constantly and every couple of days NVidia is rolling out a new driver hotfix. My amd rig hasn't had any issues. I'd avoid the 1k series for a while, ESPECIALLY if you're a civ vi player. Nvidia has a ton of issues with that game, and it STILL can't close without freezing and crashing.
 
blahsaysblah
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:23 pm

Even with the rumors about Intel licesnsing AMD Radeon instructions in future mainstream CPU's iGPU, Nvidia is the one who has the technical merits to have a 1070 and 1080 class card out right now. You want to think long term, remember that AMD could not ship a viable GTX 1070, let alone a GTX 1080 class card with the Polaris chipset.

Both cards are good for 1080p, if you want to save a few bucks go for the RX 480 8GB, if you want less heat pumped in your room go Nvidia. Pretty sure there is a technical term for the fallacy of buying for the expected future benefit of better DX12 performance. What you will definitely have for the next year and half is saved a few dollars versus extra heat dumped into room. I personally went with GTX 1060 6GB because extra heat is a deal breaker for me during hot summer days.
 
DragonDaddyBear
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:26 pm

Nvidia cards are usually quieter because of the lower TDP.  If you shop around for a good RX480, though, you can get those much cheaper.  But if don't care about noise the 1060 can OC pretty well (if that's your thing).  But, with an AMD card you go back to a monitor with FreeSync at a much lower premium than G-Sync.  AMD drivers have been getting a feature parity with Nvidia, too.  In short, my recommendation depends on how much you care about price vs noise vs OC vs future monitor purchase.  If it were me, I'd go with AMD because I'm cheap, can put up with a beefer cooler with slightly higher noise, I don't like Nvidia's game features they lockout or need for an account for a driver, and I like AMD's open source approach to Linux.  I admit my choice has a lot to do with personal beliefs.
 
ultima_trev
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 4:17 pm

If power draw is a concern (i.e. a SFF build), the GTX 1060.

If not, the RX 480.  According to Hardware Canuck's most recent testing, the RX 480 is only 2% behind the GTX 1060 in DX11 games and that number will surely diminish with future driver revisions.  Also the 8GB of VRAM vs 6 should also help.
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CScottG
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 5:14 pm

ultima_trev wrote:
If power draw is a concern (i.e. a SFF build), the GTX 1060.

If not, the RX 480.  According to Hardware Canuck's most recent testing, the RX 480 is only 2% behind the GTX 1060 in DX11 games and that number will surely diminish with future driver revisions.  Also the 8GB of VRAM vs 6 should also help.

The problem with Hardware Canuck's analysis and result is in relationship to overclocking.  The RX 480s are already pushed hard, and they picked the *very* best RX 480 for their top performance pick.  Basically there is no real "headroom" left on the board, especially concerning power draw from motherboards that aren't designed for heavy power draw (..the EX versions from Intel would be an exception).

On the other hand it seems that an average 1060 can overclocked quite easily and *still* sucks less power (and produces less heat and noise) than their best RX 480 pick, while NOT stressing the m-board's power.


Additionally, Nvidia is usually (in the long-run) the better co. when it comes to drivers - they just have a lot more man-power to crank-out drivers (..though there will always be exceptions) - and note that they also seem to crank-out a lot of crappy drivers as well (..so it's a bit give and take there depending on the game for any given point in time).  My guess is that DX 12 titles will also improve further (..and considerably so considering most of Nvidia's driver team is still focused on DX 11 at this time).

-still, as others have mentioned there are other reasons to prefer an RX 480 over a 1060 (..and vice-versus as well).
Last edited by CScottG on Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
general_tux
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 6:03 pm

CScottG wrote:
Additionally, Nvidia is usually (in the long-run) the better co. when it comes to drivers - they just have a lot more man-power to crank-out drivers (..though there will always be exceptions) - and note that they also seem to crank-out a lot of crappy drivers as well (..so it's a bit give and take there depending on the game for any given point in time).  My guess is that DX 12 titles will also improve further (..and considerably so considering most of Nvidia's driver team is still focused on DX 11 at this time).
After owning a Radeon HD6950 and HD6750 (in my and my wife's PC respectively) for 5 years and then switching to a GTX1070 and GTX1060 this summer, I'm not sure how much of the claim that "Nvidia's drivers are better" I would agree with. Since July, we have had more driver related problems that the previous 5 years put together. Sure, I can see that AMD leaves some performance on the table with their first driver releases for some games, but I rarely did I have stability issues with their drivers. Nvidia's drivers though have been a bit of a mess. I have had to roll back drivers to several times on both of our PCs due to drivers causing lockups, BSODs, black screens etc. (Both of the PCs were completely reformatted and windows reinstalled so it's not like there are conflicts due to old drivers either.) Maybe Nvidia's drivers used to be significantly better than AMD's but in my experience, they are not anymore.
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CScottG
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 7:35 pm

general_tux wrote:
 ..Since July, we have had more driver related problems that the previous 5 years put together.  

That's a fairly recent rash of bad drivers, no? Most bugs fixed in November - so about 5 months of crap for a multitude of reasons that occurred at the same time.  

Those reasons aren't forgivable of course - especially when Nvidia is profiting so handsomely despite the crap they've generated, but for the most part this is an exception.  (..it's also not like AMD hasn't had its share of driver problems during this time as well - it's just that they were already truly focused on some areas (like DX12) before releasing new hardware, and so they were/are not screwing themselves over quite as broadly as Nvida has.)
Last edited by CScottG on Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
CScottG
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 7:57 pm

One other thing should be pointed out with the Hardware Canucks test seen here:

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/ha ... eview.html

-those game settings are using "Ultra" - which can be *very* memory dependent. My guess is that there are at least a few games in their test that would NOT fare well with either the 4GB RX 480 or particularly the 3 GB 1060 with these settings.
 
NovusBogus
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 8:28 pm

Tough call. The Geforce has slightly better gaming performance right now, but it's very driver-dependent so the Radeon is probably more future-proof. They're both good cards, so if your open-box deal works fine then you should be good to go.
 
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sat Dec 10, 2016 11:48 pm

DPete27 wrote:
Both cards won't have any problems hitting 60fps in even the most demanding games today at max settings and 1080p.

Yes, the RX480 pulls ahead in DX12.

I'm not sure 8GB vs 6GB is a big deal.  You will take a slight performance hit going with a 4GB RX480 (about 10ish usually) which is technically in competition with the GTX 1060 3GB (though I'd easily choose the 4GB RX480 over the 3GB GTX1060).  

I'd vote RX480 personally.  I bought two MSI RX480 Gaming X 8GB cards this fall.  One for $211 after MIR, the other for $205 after MIR (both from jet.com).  I've seen the 4GB version as low as $170 after MIR.  The MSI Gaming X and the XFX GTR have the best coolers.
That XFX GTR looks pretty well built. Thanks for the tip.
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CScottG
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:05 am

I've posted a couple of deals on the RX 480 8GB here: (..scroll down to see them in the comments section)

http://techreport.com/news/31090/deals- ... ng-storage
 
Voldenuit
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:12 am

ultima_trev wrote:
If power draw is a concern (i.e. a SFF build), the GTX 1060.

If not, the RX 480.  According to Hardware Canuck's most recent testing, the RX 480 is only 2% behind the GTX 1060 in DX11 games and that number will surely diminish with future driver revisions.  Also the 8GB of VRAM vs 6 should also help.

This. The 1060 was 10-12% faster than the 480 at launch, but amd has closed the driver gap in DX11 and retained its previous lead in (most) DX12 games.
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Topinio
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:03 am

Plus with ReLive the gap in power use should close too.
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southrncomfortjm
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Re: For 1080p gaming: RX 480 or GTX 1060?

Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:01 am

Thanks for all the info, tips,  and opinions everyone.

Decided to go with a Sapphire RX 480 Nitro + OC 8gb for $220 and, not having tested a GTX 1060, it seems like it was a great decision. The Sapphire card is really amazing all around - construction is top notch, all metal with a backplate. Definitely the nicest looking card I've ever owned. In game, everything runs smoothly and at Ultra settings at 1080p. Hopefully this card lasts me a long time. It should since that 8GB VRAM shouldn't get filled anytime soon at 1080p. Only downside is that my gaming laptop and desktop are now out of sync since my laptop has a 960m. Oh well.

Next, I'll have to check out the ReLive software. Always enjoyed recording my gameplay with Shadowplay, so hopefully the AMD software is as good or better.

Thanks again!
Gaming: i5-3570k/Z77/212 Evo/Corsair 500R/16GB 1600 CL8/RX 480 8GB/840 250gb, EVO 500gb, SG 3tb/Tachyon 650w/Win10

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