Help with upgrading graphics card

• 

  fishychair on 09/05/2017 - 11:16

  +1

  The RX 580 outperforms the GTX 1060 in the majority of tests/games, the RX 580/480 should be fine with your motherboard. The CPU is fine to leave, you won't see any noticeable improvements upgrading to skylake or kabylake.

  • 

    Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 11:44

    Thanks a lot. When trying to compare the two cards (1060 vs 580) I am trying to understand what the difference in the clock speed means as I thought that would indicate better performance. I'm looking at a Gigabyte AMD RX 580 showing a base clock of 1340MHz while an ASUS GTX 1060 says 1569MHz.

    However as I understand it the RX 580 is better, so what does a higher clock speed actually mean then? Thanks again.

    • 

      fishychair on 09/05/2017 - 11:49

      Clock speed does not always mean better performance. The clock speed dictates how many calculations it can do per second, however, as shown in my case, my RX 480 performs better at 1350Mhz than 1400Mhz. Different architectures and design also play a part in overall performance

• 

  Diji1 on 09/05/2017 - 11:23

  +1

  As far as I know the RX 480 4GB is a better buy than the GTX 1060 so I'm assuming the same goes for the RX 580 4GB.

  I'm afraid I haven't been paying close attention to RX 580 prices - but Tom's Hardware rates the RX 580 as "Best" for 1920x1080 over the GTX 1060 as well so I say RX 580 4GB.

  http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gpus,4380.html

  The new graphic card should be compatible with your motherboard. It will go into 1 PCI-e port. The more important thing to worry about is will the card fit in your existing case. You can ascertain this by going to the manufacturers site and find the exact model but it's usually easiest just to plug <card name> + specifications into Google and then either measure inside your case or check your case specifications to see what card size it allows.

  • 

    kasp on 09/05/2017 - 12:39

    Have the prices gone down though? That is comparing RRP price but the 480's had a good 100+ dollar premium on them which meant the 1060 was easily the better buy.

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  Wolf on 09/05/2017 - 11:50

  If you are not an experienced PC user, Nvidia's graphics cards (in this case the GTX 1060) range would be a better option. AMD cards (RX 480/580) tend to cause people some infrequent frustrations with driver compatibilites and software they would require frequent updating to ensure that you are not having performance issues. Nvidia cards may cost a bit more but as of right now, their track record with reliability and better software/drivers may be worth the extra few dollars.

  I'm not saying one card may or may not out perform the other because it varies quite often depending on what the game is, but overall you would see minimal to no difference.

  You should be able to find a GTX 1060 3GB for under $300, some sales bring the 6GB version around $330. The performance difference between the GTX 1060 models are roughly 10%.

  • 

    Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 12:03

    Thanks - I would say I am fairly adept, but just not so much on the hardware side. I think I could manage the software issues and I keep my drivers up to date pretty frequently - I imagine AMD have a similar program to nVidia's Geforce Experience to keep drivers up to date automatically? But granted if there are known issues with AMD cards than I may want to avoid the hassle unless the issues are easy to fix with a driver update.

    • 

      Wolf on 09/05/2017 - 12:07

      If WoW is all you play, your current card should still be performing well wouldn't it? I haven't played for a while but at minimum you can reduce things from Ultra -> High settings if you wanted to keep it at a smooth 60fps.

      I am in a similar boat as you are, my card is quite old but still handles what I currently play, so I have no logical reason to purchase a new one yet i do enjoy keeping up with the deals going around.

      I would recommend not upgrading until you have a need to (such a card failure or a new game that needs the performance), as with most things in IT, the longer you wait the better price per performance you will receive.

      • 

        Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 12:09

        This is wise advice haha - you are correct it runs well at 60fps on the GTX 580, but I feel the need to get the graphics in WoW looking even better and I don't mind splashing some spare cash if it will make things look better. But I can't argue against your point :D

      • 

        Wolf on 09/05/2017 - 12:13

        @mryan64:

        Graphics in WoW looking even better…

        The game is quite old and regardless how much you push the game, it will only look as good as it would on your current card. Even though they upgraded the graphics for Legion, the overall graphics engine for the game is 13 years old with graphical bandaids smacked all over it.

        It looks great for how old it is, but let's face it no one plays WoW for it's graphical prowess :P

      • 

        Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 12:17

        @Wolf: This is true. Perhaps upgrading the card will give me a reason to get back into PC gaming rather than the PS4.

        But you're right, I should stop researching and just wait until I actually need a new card / new computer.

      • 

        Kangal on 09/05/2017 - 15:44

        +1

        @mryan64:
        The RX470 (4GB) is slightly more powerful than the GTX 1060 (6GB)… on paper.
        However, just because its more powerful doesn't mean games will run better. In fact, the new overclocked RX 580 (8GB) barely runs equal to the GTX 1060 simply because MOST developers optimise games based on Nvidia's and Intel's specs. However, AMD's getting much better with their drivers recently and Vulkan is levelling the playing-field.

        At the end of the day, choosing between Team Red and Team Green, it comes down to which titles you prefer and at which graphical settings.

        However, I should butt in at this moment and say the i7-2600 and the GTX580 are a good match. Well done.
        2011-2012 was a great year for PC Gamers as all the good components (CPU, GPU, Flash) lined up well with the 28nm lithography. Especially for those that built a mATX system with the i5-2500K, 8GB DDR3-1600, 128GB Boot SSD, and the GTX 680. Making the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii U look like toys… and making the Xbox One and PS4 a laughing stock 3 Years long down the line.

        I think that "Upgrade Time" has come again with the 14nm lithography. We're talking Ryzen, Vega Pascal, and Better Flash-based components. So I think "the deal" might be for you to retire your capable 6 year old system, and start anew, and repeat after another 5-7 years. You might be able to sell it privately for around $400-$700. Don't forget your current system is missing out on a few things like no option of high-bandwidth RAM, USB 3.1/C, BT 5.0, dualband Wifi etc etc. Sandy Bridge is capable but becoming outdated, wise moment for an upgrade.

        How about a Ryzen r5-1600 ($400), 2x 8GB DDR4-2800 ($200), 1TB Crucial MX300 SSD ($300)… and a GPU of your choosing. I'd recommend EVGA's Superclocked Edition GTX1070 ($500).
        ……Just food for thought.

      • 

        Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 20:17

        @Kangal: Really interesting, thanks a lot.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 09/05/2017 - 12:01

  1070 minimum.

  • 

    Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 12:05

    I would say the 1070 is definitely much better but I would need to spend about another $200 and I'm looking to keep the cost at around $300 - the extra performance of the 1070 would probably not get me a lot more on WoW either I think :P

  • 

    kasp on 09/05/2017 - 12:40

    If you are doing 4k or VR yeah sure.

    Currently a 1060 or 480 can ultra pretty much everything 1080.

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  Ven0m on 09/05/2017 - 12:07

  There's a deal on now, (not currently up on OzBargain) to buy a RX 580 for about $304 with the 20% ebay sale on Futu Online. Maybe I'll get on that.

  • 

    Tinqer on 09/05/2017 - 12:49

    Did they put the price up? Currently the cheapest I can find that is about $350 with 20% off applied.

    EDIT: Nvm, I didn't see the 4gb version, which is priced as you say.

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  petry on 09/05/2017 - 12:46

  I'd say wait 6 weeks

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  theHMASfriendship on 11/05/2017 - 12:13

  Either the RX480/580 or the GTX1060 (the 6gb version) will give WoW a solid pounding and not even buy it breakfast the next day. They'll also do most intensive games at 1080p pretty comfortably.

  Get which ever you can get a good deal on.

  • 

    Ven0m on 11/05/2017 - 15:57

    The 3GB version of the GTX 1060 is what I'm looking at as I've read WoW plays best on nVidia cards and the 3GB version is like $270 at MSY (Galax brand) vs the 6GB version which is about $345 so its a reasonable difference, and from what I've read, for only a very small difference in performance.

    I'll still probably wait and try to pick it up on sale though. I'm having trouble with my GTX580 so its getting harder to wait.

    • 

      theHMASfriendship on 11/05/2017 - 16:11

      The 3gb version is neutered compared to the 6gb version for whatever reason. http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-1060-6GB-vs-…

      • 

        Ven0m on 11/05/2017 - 16:25

        Yeah I've seen that, but doesn't that look like the increases are quite minimal while the cost (at MSY) is like 28% more. If the increase in performance is only 7% or 8% I would have thought I'm getting way more bang for my buck with the 3GB?