Looking for a new graphics card

Hi, I currently play a lot of low requirement games, e.g Payday 2, Runescape 3 (People still play this, right?!) Minecraft, Skyrim etc. However, I do own games such as ARK and GTA5 which I'd like to play more smoothly (Currently get about 30fps in GTA5 and less than that in Ark, I currently have an FX 6300 CPU and 650 Ti(not the greatest, but still)

My choices were;
Sapphire Nitro RX 480 4gb/8gb version
Zotac GTX 1060 Mini (Cheapest version)
Rx 470 when it comes out
MSI GeForce GTX 970 Black White OC

roughly £200-250 budget

If it makes any difference, I'm looking to upgrade to Skylake or Haswell at the end of this year so the CPU won't be so much of a problem.
I don't have a Gysync/Freesync monitor though I'd possibly be more inclined to go Freesync just because it's cheaper.
I am considering the 1060 just because I'm impatient and it seems to be easier to find stock. I'll probably continue to have this GPU for 2-3 years, though I probably won't be playing super demanding games, which is why I'm unsure of 4gb v 8gb version (The slightly lower clocks etc don't seem to be considerable)

Thanks for any and all help

Forget getting Ark smooth, it's terribly optimised (when's that DX12 patch coming?). I installed my new RX480 last night (Nitro OC8GB version) and tested it on Ark - maximum settings at 1080p was about 20fps. Turning down the resolution (or resolution scale slider) made the biggest difference but it made the game look awful. From experience with my old GPU using the -d3d10 -sm4 command line switches had a far bigger impact on performance, without the graphics taking too big a hit, I'll try those settings with RX480 tonight.

Doom under Vulkan was a vast improvement over my 7870xt. Mid 40 fps on low, to 130ish on ultra.

The new amdgpu-pro Linux driver installed without a hitch under Ubuntu 16.04 and I gave Talos Principle a quick spin under vulkan.


Both the 8gb RX480 and 1060 are good choices, but I'd be hesitant to suggest the 4GB RX480. Whilst 4GB is currently fine, some games will already use more if available (but are ok with 4), but system requirements are only going to increase. For that reason I definitely wouldn't recommend the 970 now - I can see 3.5GB becoming too limiting.

I would recommend a MSI GTX gaming 970 from Ebay Buy it now £180 & you'll save money for an SSD if you haven't already got one which does make a difference to an old system

@Jace Possibly should've mentioned this, but I actually do have an SSD already - a Sandisk 480gb one. I run Windows 10 and most of my most commonly played games on it. I also have 16gb of ram so for now the only real upgrades I need are CPU and GPU. Would you still recommend a GTX 970?

@Bagnaj I doubt I'll play any AAA games in the next few years, the newest game I can possibly forsee me playing is the remastered Skyrim. I would be able to upgrade sooner than 2 or 3 years if I required it (I'm ok with toning settings down, I prioritize fps over graphics). Would 4gb be suitable for that? Or would you still recommend 6gb/8gb.

Something I also did forget to mention is that I'd somewhat like to keep a white/grey colour scheme for the graphics card if possible, to match my case, though if another card was vastly better/cheaper I'd possibly be more inclined to get that instead. I'm also unsure if the mini would make considerably more noise due to the use of only a single fan?

Thanks for both of your help.

For my 2p it's going to be worth waiting for the RX 470 to see how it reviews and what the availability/pricing is.

An RX 470 + 1080p freesync monitor should be < £300 in total, and I suspect that at 1080p and with a few IQ details turned down a 4GB card will suffice. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the RX 470 being the sweet spot in this generation. Plus *fingers crossed* reviews and cards should be available tomorrow, so you shouldn't have long to wait!

Another thing I should've mentioned (I'm bad at this) I actually already have a 1080p monitor. If I was to upgrade to one that had freesync, I'd probably want to get a 1440p monitor. If I did that, albeit at a later date, wouldn't the Rx 480 run 1440p considerably better than the 470? Though at that point I'd probably be better off getting 6gb+ vram, wouldn't I?

I agree with Scaryjim - if you're not planning on AAA titles and remastered Skyrim is your most demanding title then wait and see what the 470 brings, or possibly even the 460 (it should be 7870ish performance, and that can handle original Skyrim fine). Keep an eye out for Fallout 4 benchmarks because the Skyrim remaster has been upgraded to the Fallout 4 version of the engine, so it should be somewhat representative. RX480 will give you more power if a newer title catches your eye however...

The backplate on the Nitro 470 (or 480, both 4 and 8GB) should match your theme.
480:
http://hexus.net/media/uploaded/2016...334fa17b1a.jpg

470 (leaked image):
http://cdn.wccftech.com/wp-content/u...-4-635x471.jpg

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Originally Posted by J ack

... I'd probably want to get a 1440p monitor. If I did that, albeit at a later date, wouldn't the Rx 480 run 1440p considerably better than the 470? ...

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If you do that, then yes, an 8GB RX 480 would be the better option. But I would imagine that by the time you're ready to upgrade again it will be time for a whole new build - it feels a lot like this new graphics card is to tide you over for a couple of years. At which point Bagnaj97 is quite right - it's probably worth waiting for the RX 460 as well as the RX 470 - either card is going to be a significant jump up in performance from a 650 Ti. I know Sapphire have a Nitro+ RX 460 4GB in the works which I'm looking forward to... ;)

Between both of your comments you've quelled any argument I could make, so I think I'll do as you suggest and wait for the 470 benchmarks and see how they do for Fallout 4. Depending on that, I'll decide whether to get the Nitro 470 or the Nitro 480. Thanks for all the help, guys! Will give thanks when I figure out how.

i just bought the Zotac GTX1060 AMP which is the big brother of the mini (which i was toying with) i'd definitely recommend getting the 1060.

Right now I'd go with either an RX 480 or R9 390.

I did reply to say thanks, I guess I didn't click post or something. Anyways, thanks for all of your replies, I decided to wait until the Fallout 4 benchmarks with the Rx 470 to decide whether or not to get that or the 480. Thanks for all your help

Unless there's a newly released multiplayer game you want to get into, now is poor time to buy. Give it a few weeks for everything to shake down at least. You've waited this long to play GTA V, a little longer isn't a big deal.

(p.s. 470 or 480)

At this point I'm getting pretty impatient, waited since the 480's release after hearing about the power problems for custom cards and would like to get as much use out of it before uni starts again in September. Will still get to use it then, but obviously not so much. I'm mostly getting this upgrade so my girlfriend can have my old graphics card, since she can't really do everything she wants to on her laptop. Any excuse to upgrade :D

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Originally Posted by J ack

I did reply to say thanks, I guess I didn't click post or something. ...

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For some reason your posts keep triggering the built-in moderation tools in the forum software (something to do with there being a space in your username, perhaps? Not sure). They're one of the reasons that ordinary users of Hexus don't see many spam posts, but sadly legit posts do get caught up sometime. I've been approving them as I've caught them, but missed the one above (that's now visible to everyone).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J ack

At this point I'm getting pretty impatient, waited since the 480's release after hearing about the power problems for custom cards and would like to get as much use out of it before uni starts again in September. Will still get to use it then, but obviously not so much. I'm mostly getting this upgrade so my girlfriend can have my old graphics card, since she can't really do everything she wants to on her laptop. Any excuse to upgrade :D

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i couldn't wait any long for the AMD custom cards to come in stock so i bought the GTX1060 and it arrived next day from Scan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J ack

At this point I'm getting pretty impatient, waited since the 480's release after hearing about the power problems for custom cards

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They were fixed within a week. If you're happy with the volume then I'd go for a reference card.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapph...gx-37g-sp.html That should do you nicely for remastered Skyrim, GTA5 and Ark (if you use the -d3d10 -sm4 command line switches; they make a huge difference). Any of the higher priced 470s are getting into 480 territory.

The 470 handles Fallout4 ok (http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphi...oc-4gb/?page=9). That's an overclocked card but there won't more than a couple of FPS difference.

There's a £183 reference 480 4gb on ebuyer, but for your requirements I'd go with the cheaper card.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

... That's an overclocked card but there won't more than a couple of FPS difference. ...

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Also worth noting that the Sapphire Bagnaj linked has a decent memory overclock which should make up some of the difference (the reviewed ASUS leaves the memory at the stock 6.6Gbps)

I'd agree with looking into a used card. I've bought 2/3 for myself and others and if you look a bit into it, and ask the right questions from the buyer, you can get a great deal that will last you a long time.