Budget GPU help.

[gavinh87]

Hi guys, looking for a bit of guidance for my sons upgrade.
His current setup is i5 3330 8gb ram GT640

He wants to play CS:GO, skyrim, minecraft, rise of tombraider, warcraft, overwatch, arkham series etc or whatever 10yr olds are into.
Nothing particularly demanding but i'm looking for something that wont need upgrading in 6 months time.

I have a budget of around £200 but in that has got to include a flashy lighty up case, so maybe around £170. I was originally thinking 1050ti or RX470?? Or am I missing something?

Ideally would like to stick with nvidia as the geforce experience is generally good for optimising game settings, well on my rig it has been. Unless AMD have a tool that is equally as good.... So many choices!!!

Oh PSU is a 500w corsair cx series, thanks!

 

[Poneros]

Your best option (470 is much better than 1050ti): https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-18b-pc.html

As for optimising game settings, it's very simple if you remember a rule of thumb: lighting options (shadows, ssao/hbao, godrays etc) always tax you the hardest, as well as anti-aliasing. So moving those sliders to low/medium will lead to good visual quality but low performance impact. That's all there is to it. In general games handle settings well enough on their own anyway with their presets.

 

[gavinh87]

Thanks for the input, the settings just needs to be simplified due to a 10 year old.
Will look into the 470, thank you.

 

[gavinh87]

Looking at the 470, priced at £170 here is only £10 cheaper than the 1060....
Albeit its an unknown brand but still, the 1060 destroys it.

 

[Griffildur]

for £10 more it's not even a debate.

 

[This never ends well]

Looking at the 470, priced at £170 here is only £10 cheaper than the 1060....
Albeit its an unknown brand but still, the 1060 destroys it.

I guess thats the 3gb ??

I would still pick the 470 which is 4gb.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Rise of the Tombraider on max settings can be VRAM heavy - IIRC,DF tested the game and found the GTX970 and RX470 tended to have better minimums. I would stick with the RX470 4GB,but sometimes you can get good deals on a GTX1060 6GB if you shop around too,which is worth the £20 to £30 premium over the 3GB model. Plus games like Skyrim support mods which can eat VRAM and the rejigged version will probably push things even more. However,the GTX1060 3GB will probably be faster in WoW though.

 

[Poneros]

Thanks for the input, the settings just needs to be simplified due to a 10 year old.
Will look into the 470, thank you.

10 year olds can be really good with tech if you just show them how, hell I was tinkering with my PC since I was 6-7 and I was in no way one of these computer science wizz kids, just liked playing games and ended up learning it naturally (and didn't even understand the language, so! trust me, it won't be too much for him).

Don't know if I'd take the 1060 3gb over the 470, but ultimately it's a coin toss decision.

 

[gavinh87]

Thanks for the replies guys I appreciate it. I thought the 1060 vs 470 would have been a one way street however there are valid arguments for both cards.... When I got my 970 it was a lot easier, it was a no brainer!

Regarding the child and setting, it wouldnt hurt to let him play - whats the worst than can happen afterall?

 

[lettuce]

Well the 1060 would run cooler, lower fan noise and also not consume so much power usage. Juts something you might want to also take into consideration when picking the 470 or 1060

 

[gavinh87]

Low noise would be a definate bonus as its going to be in his room.
I dont need it immediately so I can ponder on this for a few days.
Secretly hoping for a flash sale or similar to make my mind up for me!

 

[DONOHUE07]

At that price point the 470 can't be beaten, unless you get a pre owned on the bay for that price you could possibly get a 390/x or 970, though there's the risk buying from the bay

 

[LittleChimp]

I would never take an AMD card if he will be playing a lot of world of warcraft. It has notoriously favoured Nvidia cards since it was released. You lose a lot of performance and experience huge frame drops if you set the view distance high.

 

[gavinh87]

Thanks guys, I got to admit I am starting to look at the 1060 as appose to the others.
The benchmarks ive seen all go in favour of nvidia. Whether i should put a little more and get the 6gb or the 3gb is another question.
I can always see what black friday brings.......

 

[maonayze]

I am not going to specify a recommendation, but what I will say is all of the cards below will perform well in most of the games your son wants to play. You will maybe have to alter settings a little for certain games depending on what card you buy and who sponsors the game etc.. But overall you shouldnt have many issues with any of these (I am assuming these are for 1080P display).

RX470 4GB
RX480 4GB
RX480 8GB
1060 6GB

Oh and don't worry about your 10 year old....mines 14 now and he finds out stuff and does everything himself. He does ask on occasion when he is not 100% sure, but hey they are learning. Does them good to get stuck in at that age anyway. Oh, and my lad plays CS:Go and Overwatch on an old 280X and those games fly with a little tweak or two, so you should be great with whatever card you choose from those above.


One more thing....do not buy a reference card of any make. Choose your preferred gfx chip (AMD or Nvidia) and then do a bit of research on performance, Fan noise, Temperatures of those custom cards and go with what you believe to be the right choice for you. Once you have found what you are looking for then post the link up here on this thread and everyone will take a look and advise on your choice or offer you alternatives. There is a lot of good experience on these forums, so put it to good use.

 

[maonayze]

Thanks guys, I got to admit I am starting to look at the 1060 as appose to the others.
The benchmarks ive seen all go in favour of nvidia. Whether i should put a little more and get the 6gb or the 3gb is another question.
I can always see what black friday brings.......

In all honesty the RX480 and the 1060 do tend to come out almost neck and neck depending on the game that is tested. They beat each other on different games, so I suppose if the games your son plays all favour the 1060 then that would be the card to go for. The 1060 wins with most DX11 games as Nvidia have generally had slightly better DX11 drivers wheras the 480 will win most DX12/Vulkan games and seems to be a better bet for future titles. I would suggest to get the 6GB version over the 3GB version of the 1060 though.

Waiting for OCUKs weekly offers (They change around midday on Wednesdays) or Black Friday is a good idea too.

 

[LittleChimp]

I agree the best card is the one suited to the games he will be playing. The AMD cards are great value but it would be pointless if he will get better fps with a Nvidia one in those selected games. You can't go wrong with a 1060 6gb really even if it is a bit overpriced. Keep an eye on prices it may well be on offer again.

 

[Panos]

Hi guys, looking for a bit of guidance for my sons upgrade.
His current setup is i5 3330 8gb ram GT640

He wants to play CS:GO, skyrim, minecraft, rise of tombraider, warcraft, overwatch, arkham series etc or whatever 10yr olds are into.
Nothing particularly demanding but i'm looking for something that wont need upgrading in 6 months time.

I have a budget of around £200 but in that has got to include a flashy lighty up case, so maybe around £170. I was originally thinking 1050ti or RX470?? Or am I missing something?

Ideally would like to stick with nvidia as the geforce experience is generally good for optimising game settings, well on my rig it has been. Unless AMD have a tool that is equally as good.... So many choices!!!

Oh PSU is a 500w corsair cx series, thanks!

RX470 is the best card for your budget.

It has 4GB VRAM and it will serve you well on Skyrim also.
3GB cards going to be crippled on that game, if you use some gfx mods.