Ideal graphics card to use with i5 6600

onedice · 28 Jul 2016 at 20:20

Hello

So I have been looking into getting a new graphics card as my R7 265 is starting to struggle especially with higher textures (only has 2GB) I have been looking around but have found out my CPU the FX 6300 would be a real bottleneck so (I haven't told the wife she would shoot me) I have purchased a i5 6600 + 16GB DDR4 + MOBO but I am now stuck on which card to get it has been a while since I properly looked (hence my surprise at the bottlenecked FX!) my budget can stretch to £250.00 looking at the RX 480 8GB or the 1060 currently which would be for the foreseeable future used at 1080p so am I right in looking at these two and which one would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Tommy_Here · 28 Jul 2016 at 20:26

what power supply have you got? both the 1060 and rx480 are fantastic graphics cards, the 1060 is a faster card overall but has less memory unless you count the 4gb 480 which personally in 2016 even at 1080p is a little low and really if you're wanting a new card to last a few years 6gb is the minimum for 1080p. personally I'd go for a 1060 just because I'm loyal to nvidia I can admit when AMD bring out a good card as I've owned some of their cards before but with the features of pascal power efficiency and the faster card overall I'd personally go for 1060

onedice · 28 Jul 2016 at 20:32

I have a 750 watt corsair, the 1060's power efficency did catch my eye I must say. Would the 6GB be sufficient long term you think?

Krisali · 28 Jul 2016 at 21:02

onedice said:
I have a 750 watt corsair, the 1060's power efficency did catch my eye I must say. Would the 6GB be sufficient long term you think?

There is no long term wth video cards but I should imagine 6gb will last you a good few years

onedice · 28 Jul 2016 at 21:11

Very true mate! A few years is what I am after

I think the Nvidia card offers great performance, can be had for around £230ish too which is good I have not owned an Nvidia card since the 8800GT :-O

Tommy_Here · 28 Jul 2016 at 23:45

personally because I like blower style cards as it dissipates all the heat out the case I would recommend this card as it's one of the cheapest but for a 120tdp card it'll do the job fine https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-40f-as.html

Joe_Easy · 28 Jul 2016 at 23:54

I'd go for the AMD 480...an amazing card with best in class DX12 performance, connectivity and open source support for Freesync which is magical.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-37b-sp.html

That's the one I'd go for and the one I've just received in the post

Fantastic value, excellent reviews and for me ahead of the 1060

Poneros · 29 Jul 2016 at 01:28

AMD 480 for DX12 & Vulkan and just cause it's cooler.

RanxZy · 29 Jul 2016 at 05:39

If you are planning on keeping the card for a long amount of time just get the 8GB 480. The 8GB Nitro+ looks good and there should be more custom cards in the future. Don't bother with 4GB for a card you want to keep for years.

Unfortunately some NVIDIA fans just say go for the 1060 when they probably know the 480 is the better card in the long run. The 480 gets a significant increase in Vulkan, these new API's will be used more frequently in the future and the 1060 will suffer in comparison with age. If you go with the 1060 don't be surprised if there is a fairly chunky performance deficit against the 480 in a few years on new games. If it was the other way around and NVIDIA was the better card future wise I would say go with the 1060, as it's your money you're spending so it shouldn't matter what brand loyalty anyone has.

Kano · 29 Jul 2016 at 08:03

The monitor is always the missing information

Choose free sync or gsync. Either card will be awesome paired with the right screen

ShakeNBake · 29 Jul 2016 at 09:19

a 1080

Tommy_Here · 29 Jul 2016 at 11:19

No one knows what the future holds and whether the 480 will be the faster card in 12+ months time no one knows and people mentioning about apis and dx 12 etc again we don't know the FULL extent to the difference it'll make just yet so with that said buy the card that is the better card TODAY so with that said 1060 all the way

adam98150 · 29 Jul 2016 at 13:09

As above. Nobody knows how the card will perform in the future. Right now, the 1060 is faster.

RanxZy · 29 Jul 2016 at 13:54

Tommy_Here said:
No one knows what the future holds and whether the 480 will be the faster card in 12+ months time no one knows and people mentioning about apis and dx 12 etc again we don't know the FULL extent to the difference it'll make just yet so with that said buy the card that is the better card TODAY so with that said 1060 all the way

adam98150 said:
As above. Nobody knows how the card will perform in the future. Right now, the 1060 is faster.

Right now if you were to blind test a 1060 and 8GB 480 Nitro+ you would find it hard to tell the difference. In Vulkan it's a different story. If you think looking at the ops situation with blinkered eyes is helpful then great. I believe if the op is going to keep the card for a long while, it's to his benefit to keep that in consideration when giving advice. AMD cards just get better and better with time, the GCN architecture is progressive, older NVIDIA cards on previous architectures just seem to regress.

Sayso · 29 Jul 2016 at 14:15

1060 or 480 are the best choices for 1080p at the moment.

Phil87 · 29 Jul 2016 at 15:50

I think the FreeSync vs G-Sync thing is a big issue, and if you have nothing tying you to either brand then a 480 and FreeSync monitor is probably the way to go, considering how much cheaper FreeSync is. That is unless you're not planning on getting a new monitor, in which case it's all about which of these two cards you think will be best for the next few years (hard to say).

JanxSpirit · 29 Jul 2016 at 16:14

Phil87 said:
I think the FreeSync vs G-Sync thing is a big issue...

It can be, but then again it won't be if the OP already has a 60Hz monitor. Even a 5-year old HD7950 paired with an i5 6600K at stock clocks (same as the i5 6600) will hold 60FPS in nearly all but the very latest games at 1920x1080 on high or ultra settings, and I'd imagine an RX480 will go like stink by comparison.

Tommy_Here · 29 Jul 2016 at 18:15

JanxSpirit said:
It can be, but then again it won't be if the OP already has a 60Hz monitor. Even a 5-year old HD7950 paired with an i5 6600K at stock clocks (same as the i5 6600) will hold 60FPS in nearly all but the very latest games at 1920x1080 on high or ultra settings, and I'd imagine an RX480 will go like stink by comparison.

I beg to differ using my laptop with a gtx 680m custom BIOS which sits at 1100mhz which is around a 52% overclock and 5ghz on the memory beats my twins gtx 660 Ti in some cases which isn't a lot slower than a Radeon 7950 and at 1080p it can do high or very high but ultra 60fps is out the question then again the 4gb Vram really helps too.

onedice · 29 Jul 2016 at 18:25

Hey guys, thanks for the help after all that I looked into the rx 480 nitro + OC 8GB and as it is a brand new architecture and as noted above works brilliantly with the Vulkan API I have gone for that! It also looks really cool

only problem is it is out of stock currently so I have to wait a little while, but worth the wait I am sure

Will have the i5/ddr4/mobo tomorrow though which I think will be a dramatic improvement over my FX6300

onedice · 29 Jul 2016 at 18:32

JanxSpirit said:
It can be, but then again it won't be if the OP already has a 60Hz monitor. Even a 5-year old HD7950 paired with an i5 6600K at stock clocks (same as the i5 6600) will hold 60FPS in nearly all but the very latest games at 1920x1080 on high or ultra settings, and I'd imagine an RX480 will go like stink by comparison.

Yes I do indeed have a 60Hz monitor, looking at the benchmarks for the RX 480 it looks like I can expect ultra/very high settings and 60fps at 1080p a dramatic improvement over my r7 265.