Budget upgrade from 560ti

Andrew Britain · 29 Dec 2017 at 23:28

Hello all,

Just got my system from a few years ago out of the loft and I'm wanting to get it set up in the living room again.

It's still not a bad spec really apart from the graphics card:
i7 4770k
Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC
8GB G.Skill 1333
Asus 560ti 1gb
Can't remember the rest off the top of my head lol.

I'm looking for a budget upgrade to my current GPU to give me what should still be a pretty competent gaming PC in 2017 and into 2018. I remember when I started getting into Skyrim modding 1gb of VRAM started to become a bottleneck and that was 3 or 4 years back so it should definitely be due an upgrade.

My monitor, which I have no plans to change, is 1080p so that's what I'll be gaming at.

I'm a bit lost as to what would be a decent budget jump from my current card really. This isn't my main hobby so I don't have tons of cash to throw at it and would rather choose something I can easily afford.

The 4gb RX 560 is currently £122 ***elsewhere*** which doesn't seem that bad except when you consider the 3gb GTX 1060 is only £60 more and more than twice as fast in benchmarks. Other than that I'm out of ideas... what should I go for (new or used - bearing in mind I'm in the UK) for £120 at an absolute maximum, but the cheaper the better, that will be a worthwhile upgrade over my 560ti for current games at low to medium settings?

Andrew Britain · 30 Dec 2017 at 11:30

Can get a GTX 780 with 2 year warranty for £115 shipped... how's that stack up with whatever else is available?

From what I've read... pretty well in terms of raw power compared to a 1060 but not quite so good in games due to poor drivers...

Mark1989 · 30 Dec 2017 at 11:35

Im not a massive fan of the 1060 3gb myself but if you can stretch to that it would be fine for 1080p gaming, at that res you'll be running most games in high settings the 3gb ram will be an issue on some games.

Andrew Britain · 30 Dec 2017 at 11:53

Thanks for the reply. I know the 1060 3gb doesn't seem like the most ideal option but seems to give decent performance on a budget.

The 780 option I am looking into as it seems to generally perform in between a 1050ti and a 1060, for a £30 saving over the 1050ti (and a 2 year warranty).

Power consumption being an issue of course but I don't think it'll ever get used enough to make up the difference in cost - and I picked up an 850w PSU at the time to give me headroom for upgrades!

Mark1989 · 30 Dec 2017 at 20:49

If going used I'd try snag ya self a 980, 970 I wouldn't go as far back as 780, unless I'm reading wrong do you mean the 780 has 2 years warranty left?

Andrew Britain · 30 Dec 2017 at 21:13

Yeah I had considered them and I’m looking for a decent deal on one. Haven’t found one yet though. The 780 is from CEX and I know that sounds like a great way to get a completely shagged card but they do a 2 year warranty and I’ve found them really good for replacing stuff in the past so it seems like a decent option.

passifid · 31 Dec 2017 at 03:17

Andrew Britain said:
Yeah I had considered them and I’m looking for a decent deal on one. Haven’t found one yet though. The 780 is from CEX and I know that sounds like a great way to get a completely shagged card but they do a 2 year warranty and I’ve found them really good for replacing stuff in the past so it seems like a decent option.

780 generation aged like ass. Don't get it for the love of God. Get a 1060 if you can.

Andrew Britain · 31 Dec 2017 at 10:53

passifid said:
780 generation aged like ass. Don't get it for the love of God. Get a 1060 if you can.

I understand that’s the consensus but consistently better than 1050ti performance with a decent warranty for a good £30 saving seemed worth considering (even if the card is huge and inefficient)

Unless I’m looking in the wrong places there don’t seem to be any used bargains or cards that punch above their weight, everything seems to cost exactly in line with its performance, so looks like I’ll just have to wait it out and save up for a couple of months...

AiiR · 31 Dec 2017 at 13:20

Andrew Britain said:
I understand that’s the consensus but consistently better than 1050ti performance with a decent warranty for a good £30 saving seemed worth considering (even if the card is huge and inefficient)

Unless I’m looking in the wrong places there don’t seem to be any used bargains or cards that punch above their weight, everything seems to cost exactly in line with its performance, so looks like I’ll just have to wait it out and save up for a couple of months...

You'll eat up that £30 saving in the 2 year warranty period in extra power consumption. Would definitely try and scrape together enough for a 3GB 1060.

Andrew Britain · 31 Dec 2017 at 15:39

AiiR said:
You'll eat up that £30 saving in the 2 year warranty period in extra power consumption. Would definitely try and scrape together enough for a 3GB 1060.

Probably true... but it’d be a faster card over the time too. Plus I wouldn’t feel it over 2 years

Thanks for all the advice though guys, I think I’ll order a 1060. New cartridge for my turntable will have to wait now lol. Now whether to get a 3gb or a 6gb... thinking it won’t really be worth the extra for me and it’ll eat even further into the hifi budget lol

AiiR · 31 Dec 2017 at 15:43

Andrew Britain said:
Probably true... but it’d be a faster card over the time too. Plus I wouldn’t feel it over 2 years

Thanks for all the advice though guys, I think I’ll order a 1060. New cartridge for my turntable will have to wait now lol. Now whether to get a 3gb or a 6gb... thinking it won’t really be worth the extra for me and it’ll eat even further into the hifi budget lol

3GB will be fine, the difference is unnoticeable without an FPS counter.

Tommy_Here · 31 Dec 2017 at 16:49

I've seen cheap 780 ti's flying around overclock it and you're at 1060 6gb performance

Andrew Britain · 31 Dec 2017 at 16:50

AiiR said:
3GB will be fine, the difference is unnoticeable without an FPS counter.

Righto. I was thinking more futureproofing with the 6gb vs 3gb but realistically I’m probably not going to have it more than a couple of years anyway and I’ve no plans to replace my 1080p monitor so 3gb it is I reckon.

Hmm never really considered the 780ti... I’ll have a look into that... didn’t really think even an overclocked 780ti would be rubbing shoulders with a 1060 though?

Normally leave cards stock until I need the extra FPS then overclock but if I’m overclocking straight away to get the results I want it leaves no headroom... Probably will go for the 1060 unless I can get the ti very cheaply...

Andrew Britain · 31 Dec 2017 at 19:54

How much would one pay for a GTX 980 with a 2 year warranty on it? Should beat a 1060 6gb by about 5-10% but only has 4gb VRAM

£155 for 780Ti with 2 year warranty, £182 for a new 1060 3gb, £225 for a used 980 with 2 year warranty or £252 for a new 1060 6gb

AiiR · 31 Dec 2017 at 22:34

£225 for a used 980 is a rip off. So is £155 for a 780ti.

You shouldn't pay those prices through principle.

The 1060 is going to be the better option.

Pocah · 1 Jan 2018 at 02:07

I would go for a 1060.
I seem to remember with that board that there is an issue when upgrading the graphics card. I think it first appeared with series 7 cards, but I am really not sure. Just bear in mind that if it doesnt power up then you need to update the BIOS. Gigabyte have two utilities for that, one of which automatically downloads the correct BIOS. That's the one you want to use if you are forced to update.

subbytna · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:20

You can get a 2nd hand 970 for 120 quid

Andrew Britain · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:24

Pocah said:
I would go for a 1060.
I seem to remember with that board that there is an issue when upgrading the graphics card. I think it first appeared with series 7 cards, but I am really not sure. Just bear in mind that if it doesnt power up then you need to update the BIOS. Gigabyte have two utilities for that, one of which automatically downloads the correct BIOS. That's the one you want to use if you are forced to update.

I’m certainly now leaning towards the 1060. Thanks for the tip on the BIOS update, that’s really useful!

subbytna said:
You can get a 2nd hand 970 for 120 quid

That sounds like a valid option but where would I find such a thing? Ebay prices seem to be a good bit higher than that

~>Dg<~ · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:52

get a 970gtx for no more than £120 they can still be quicker at 1080 than 1060s sometimes.the best low budget card i can think of which is still pretty decent is a 7950 for 40-50 quid.id personally get a 970 gtx though.

1060 gtx is basically between a 970 and a 980 gtx. 970 should be about 100-120 tops a 980 gtx 130-150. 1060s arent worth their price new.

Andrew Britain · 1 Jan 2018 at 12:57

~>Dg<~ said:
get a 970gtx for no more than £120 they can still be quicker at 1080 than 1060s sometimes.the best low budget card i can think of which is still pretty decent is a 7950 for 40-50 quid.id personally get a 970 gtx though.

1060 gtx is basically between a 970 and a 980 gtx. 970 should be about 100-120 tops a 980 gtx 130-150. 1060s arent worth their price new.

OK cheers for that. Keep changing my mind lol. I can’t find either of the cards you mentioned for anywhere near that sort of money though... got any ideas where to look?