Swap 970 for 1060 3GB?

c1tro · 1 Feb 2017 at 17:53

The 970 just fits in the HTPC case and was thinking if it would make sense to replace it with a 3GB 1060 which is smaller and probably cooler? too.
I game only at 1080p so 3GB should be ok I guess?

Tealc · 1 Feb 2017 at 18:26

Not much of a performance upgrade considering the price differential between new 1060 and selling the 970 on. I can't comment on size and cooler running.

Drollic · 1 Feb 2017 at 18:26

3gb is barely enough now, let alone in 12 months. Not worth it. I ran a 780 with 3gb at 1080p for quite a while.

ExoMale · 1 Feb 2017 at 21:17

dont listen to those that say anything under 4gbvram is barely enough or boarderline, not every game uses the same amount of ram, i had a 2gb card last year and only saw the division use 1.7gb and that was on the high settings and at 1080p, even BF4 and FO4/SWBF didnt use that much.

so it depends on the game.

AiiR · 1 Feb 2017 at 21:35

970 to a 3GB 1060 is a sidegrade at best, even the 6GB one isn't much of an upgrade. I'd hold onto the 970 or get the Gigabyte ITX 1070 if you have the budget. If the 970 fits and runs okay then stick with that.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 1 Feb 2017 at 21:44

I would not get a 3GB GTX1060 - I remember when some said a GTX960 4GB was pointless and yet it was shown it outperformed the 2GB a decent amount(I had a GTX960 4GB myself). They all went quiet. The same goes with the GTX1060 3GB - if VRAM had no impact it would be at most 10% slower than the GTX1060 6GB which increasingly it isn't and it is seen in worse minimums.

In fact,despite the fact the GTX1060 6GB being universally faster than a GTX970 4GB at normal clockspeeds,there are situations in certain games where the GTX1060 3GB falters enough for the GTX970 to hold its own. In some games the GTX970 can actually hold better minimums overall,despite the GTX1060 6GB not showing this.

Its not surprising - if you look on Steam,most cards have 1GB,2GB or 4GB of VRAM NOT 3GB.

Games targeting 4GB of VRAM will be targeting R9 290/390 or GTX970/GTX980 series cards. Games targeting less than 4GB of VRAM will be targeted towards slower cards.

Performance cards with artificially low VRAM in the past like the 8800GT 256MB got so gimped by not enough VRAM,cards with SLOWER cores but more VRAM ended up beating them.

Even the DigitalFoundry who are part of Eurogamer said they would spend the extra on the GTX1060 6GB and they are more a gaming site which tests hardware for gamers.

Most people don't buy a £190 to £200 card for 6 to 12 months - I expect they will want a decent lifespan.

The GTX1060 6GB would be the best choice if you really want to upgrade - it will be smaller,consume less power,be more futureproof and will be faster than the GTX970,but not massively faster though. The resale value will be better.

TBH,if you can stick with the GTX970 and it works fine I probably would wait for a bigger performance bump.

Drollic · 1 Feb 2017 at 22:11

ExoMale said:
dont listen to those that say anything under 4gbvram is barely enough or boarderline, not every game uses the same amount of ram, i had a 2gb card last year and only saw the division use 1.7gb and that was on the high settings and at 1080p, even BF4 and FO4/SWBF didnt use that much.

so it depends on the game.

Equally, I'd say don't listen to this

Here's just a few you can go over 3gb with at 1080p. It starts to become more complicated when looking at actual performance drops as there are plenty of games that utilise far more vram than what is actually required.

Gta5
Shadow of mordor
Deus ex md
Dying light
Resident evil 7
Mirrors edge catalyst
Rise of the tomb raider
Far cry 4
Far cry primal
Skyrim modded
Fallout 4 modded
Batman arkham knight
Lords of the fallen
Cod bo3

ExoMale · 2 Feb 2017 at 01:34

Drollic said:
Equally, I'd say don't listen to this

Here's just a few you can go over 3gb with at 1080p. It starts to become more complicated when looking at actual performance drops as there are plenty of games that utilise far more vram than what is actually required.

Gta5
Shadow of mordor
Deus ex md
Dying light
Resident evil 7
Mirrors edge catalyst
Rise of the tomb raider
Far cry 4
Far cry primal
Skyrim modded
Fallout 4 modded
Batman arkham knight
Lords of the fallen
Cod bo3

like i said it depends on the game and my fallout doesnt have mods as i dont care for that stuff, just got Res7 on xb1 so couldnt share my input, never played any of the others on pc either which is why i again said depends on the game.

i expect GTA5 to be taxing on any system really, closely followed by BO3, however we dont know what games the OP is playing to know if 3gb be enough or not. got to remember not everyone max a game out or mod it.

elrasho · 2 Feb 2017 at 09:21

AiiR said:
970 to a 3GB 1060 is a sidegrade at best, even the 6GB one isn't much of an upgrade. I'd hold onto the 970 or get the Gigabyte ITX 1070 if you have the budget. If the 970 fits and runs okay then stick with that.

+1

wedrum · 2 Feb 2017 at 09:23

Poneros · 2 Feb 2017 at 09:29

Don't do it mate.

c1tro · 2 Feb 2017 at 18:47

not looking for a performance upgrade, just need a smaller card that can perform similar to the 970. the 960 is probably too much of a hit.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 2 Feb 2017 at 19:04

c1tro said:
not looking for a performance upgrade, just need a smaller card that can perform similar to the 970. the 960 is probably too much of a hit.

I would look at a GTX1060 6GB. Looking at some of the cases where the GTX970 can push ahead in minimums over a GTX1060 3GB,its not worth it.

nashathedog · 2 Feb 2017 at 19:53

c1tro said:
not looking for a performance upgrade, just need a smaller card that can perform similar to the 970. the 960 is probably too much of a hit.

Why, is the 970 broke?

Try a Nano if you want small and can't justify paying for a 1070 itx.

If you don't care for a performance upgrade and the 970 you have fits the case that's your answer, Stick with what you have and treat the wife/g-friend if the moneys burning a hole in your pocket, That can lead to a much more pleasurable evening in

.

Lokken86 · 2 Feb 2017 at 20:24

The 3gb 1060 doesn't have the amount of shaders as the 6gb mind so it would barely be any better than a 970.

Doogles · 2 Feb 2017 at 20:33

ExoMale said:
like i said it depends on the game and my fallout doesnt have mods as i dont care for that stuff, just got Res7 on xb1 so couldnt share my input, never played any of the others on pc either which is why i again said depends on the game.

i expect GTA5 to be taxing on any system really, closely followed by BO3, however we dont know what games the OP is playing to know if 3gb be enough or not. got to remember not everyone max a game out or mod it.

No offense but plenty of games do use higher amounts of VRAM, if you still want to game on 1080p in 3 years like many that do small upgrades do then you'll want 6GB minimum, I remember when I only needed 2GB now use over 4GB easily.

PieEater · 3 Feb 2017 at 07:49

Drollic said:
Equally, I'd say don't listen to this

Here's just a few you can go over 3gb with at 1080p. It starts to become more complicated when looking at actual performance drops as there are plenty of games that utilise far more vram than what is actually required.

<Snip>
Deus ex md
Far cry 4
Far cry primal
Skyrim modded
Fallout 4 modded

I've been playing the above on my 3GB 780Ti at 1440P with no issues. Currently playing Far Cry Primal with a mixture of settings including Very High to Ultra and getting respectable FPS. The memory is maxed out at 3GB all the time but I don't have any stuttering that I've noticed. I think a lot of games will use VRAM to cache data if there is any spare, which is why if you have more VRAM you will see it being "used".

I'm not advocating anyone should buy a card with 3GB of VRAM at this point in time as I think that would by unwise and I'm not saying I wouldn't like a faster card with more memory. However from my own experience with my 780Ti the "you need more than 3GB to play current games" argument holds no water.

Nasher · 3 Feb 2017 at 09:47

Hitman needs at least 4gb to max settings as well. Options are actually greyed out if you have less (unless you over-ride it, but then performance tanks when vram fills up). Same with Doom.

ExoMale · 3 Feb 2017 at 15:03

Doogles said:
No offense but plenty of games do use higher amounts of VRAM, if you still want to game on 1080p in 3 years like many that do small upgrades do then you'll want 6GB minimum, I remember when I only needed 2GB now use over 4GB easily.

No offence taken as you basically implied what I did just worded differently

, I know a lot of games use high vram, just that persons comment was ignorance.

When I had my 270x, was the only 2gb card I owned, putting BF4 on high/max wasn't even touching 1.1gb(or at most 1.3gb), fallout 4 didnt either And I don't think Star Wars did, only the division out of what I was playing at the time was using more vram at 1.7gb, all on games on high/ultra if I noticed a difference which was barely and all were at 1980x1080.

My next card will likely be 1.2gb if I get the 570, I won't need 2gb or much beyond 1gb really, i have bo3/IW on Xbox along with res 7 and pc games I will play, will run just fine on 1gb.

If the op can afford the 6gb or an 8gb card then they should go for if, if only a 3gb is optional then that should do, though a 970 having 1gb more, the 1060 would have to be something special.

JPNUFC · 3 Feb 2017 at 17:43

Keep the card you have!!

Not enough of a jump to be a worthy upgrade in my opinion as others have suggested.

At that res I would hold on to the card you have it is still sufficient enough, if you really want to upgrade try wait until you can get the cash together for a more worthwhile jump of at least a 1070.