Gtx 970 vs 1060 vs RX 480.

[gaston9423]

So first of all, thank you to the guys who helped me the other day with my build. Don't know why, but on later days, i was a 1 click away from purchasing a gtx 970 (Asus Strix), when some guy in the forum suggested to wait until the RX 480 came out. So i waited until the day of release. And i got convinced of the new graphics card. So, i was there again, with my credit card on my hand, i was 1 click away from purchase, when some friend told me: "WAIT!!! There's the NVIDIA 1060 coming out to kick out the RX 480 from the market". And then, i'm on standby again. It's been almost 3 weeks of waiting and planning my first gaming build. I already did some research about it, but you guys are always my best opinion. I have left 350 dollars left from my budget, but i don't want to spent more than 320, i want to have some spare. So here's the question, or questions. Which one will be better (price/performance)? Should i wait?  Will the 1060 beat the RX 480 and the gtx 970? Am i going to get a girlfriend soon enough? Thank you.

[AresKrieger]

I'd wait since you already should be waiting on the 480 until aftermarket PCB/cooling come out anyway (reference models suck), and it does look like the 1060 > 480 for a little more (though still in your budget), but until they come out we won't know for sure.

[TheRandomness]

From what we've seen so far (take with lots of salt pls)

GTX 1060 > Aftermarket RX 480 > RX 480 =~ GTX 970

[DrM]

depends on how much you have to spend. aftermarket 480s should be cheaper than 1060s. the sapphire 480 was leaked at £249, so its likely to release around $249 USD. the 1060 on the other hand releases at $299 for founders, which companies seem to be targeting over msrp (looking at 1070/1080 releases)

[Jacktastic-Mofo]

Wait for the benchmarks, but NVIDIA's been pretty spot on with their claims for Pascal so its kinda safe to say that you should wait for the GTX 1060 to come out sometime this month as it SHOULD have GTX 980 level performance.

[gaston9423]

Well thanks, i'll have to do some gaming with the extremely powerful Intel HD graphics until the card is released. 

[YongKang]

Wait for benchmarks. Plus, AIB are always better than reference.

[dreamhacking]

44 minutes ago, YongKang said:

Wait for benchmarks. Plus, AIB are always better than reference.

sorry, what is the meaning of AIB? 

Thanks

[YongKang]

1 minute ago, dreamhacking said:

sorry, what is the meaning of AIB? 

Thanks

Add In Boards. Basically, companies like Asus, Gigabyte MSI and etc...

[Gerr]

What will likely ended up being...

 

OC 980 > OC 1060 > 980 > 1060 > OC 970 > OC 480 > 970 > 480

[chicken29843]

Remember, the 1060 will be $300 for the FE, meaning most of the AIB cards will probably be more expensive. After the 1070/80 we can basically throw Nvidia's MSRP out the window. So I would say the 480 if you need a card under $300 and a 1060 if not, if the 1060 beats the 480(which seems to be the case) OR if you plan on using multi GPU's definitely the 480 as the 1060 will not support it. All that said some rumours are that an AIB 480 OC could match an OC 1060. Though that is just a rumour so take it will many many grains of salt. 

[xAcid9]

3 hours ago, TheRandomness said:

From what we've seen so far (take with lots of salt pls)

GTX 1060 > Aftermarket RX 480 > RX 480 =~ GTX 970

Where did you see that? 

[ivan134]

1 hour ago, Gerr said:

What will likely ended up being...

 

OC 980 > OC 1060 > 980 > 1060 > OC 970 > OC 480 > 970 > 480

970 isn't faster than a 480

[Hunter259]

1 hour ago, chicken29843 said:

Remember, the 1060 will be $300 for the FE, meaning most of the AIB cards will probably be more expensive. After the 1070/80 we can basically throw Nvidia's MSRP out the window. So I would say the 480 if you need a card under $300 and a 1060 if not, if the 1060 beats the 480(which seems to be the case) OR if you plan on using multi GPU's definitely the 480 as the 1060 will not support it. All that said some rumours are that an AIB 480 OC could match an OC 1060. Though that is just a rumour so take it will many many grains of salt. 

No. For the 1060 the founders is a limited edition only which should have a lowered price for the 1060 customs.

[Gerr]

5 minutes ago, ivan134 said:

 

1 hour ago, Gerr said:

What will likely ended up being...

 

OC 980 > OC 1060 > 980 > 1060 > OC 970 > OC 480 > 970 > 480

970 isn't faster than a 480

 

Every benchmark I have seen on the 480 places it at or just below a 970.  Post links to other benchmarks that show it being faster...

[xAcid9]

19 minutes ago, Gerr said:

Every benchmark I have seen on the 480 places it at or just below a 970.  Post links to other benchmarks that show it being faster...

 

[Misanthrope]

Obligatory disclaimer: this entirely guess work since 1060 isn't officially out and all that jazz.

 

With that out of the way: it looks as if you want to get a good bang for your buck you should wait for a Sapphire Nitro 480. That is going to be probably the best AMD custom cooler.

 

However, given the 1060 will be more powerful for less watts it is probably better with just the reference cooler.

 

Some more things to think about:

 

-If you want some sort of refresh rate tech, AMD is just waaaay cheaper for Freesync monitors it should be open and shut case for the 480

-If on the other hand you plan on ever using a small itx case I'd go for the FE 1060 since if you gotta have a blower cooler, that one looks to be better and dealing with substantially less heat so for restricted airflow situations it should be the 1060

-Crossfire is a no brainer: 480. I put this further down the list cause imho you shouldn't be crossfiring any of these cards: even for less performance the simplicity of a single 1070 far outweights the benefits of crossfire 480s today. 

 

Ultimately though and if you're anything like me, it's gonna come down to availability. Since we don't recommend the blower AMD card availability will be about the same so it will probably be down to local stores and such.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, chicken29843 said:

Remember, the 1060 will be $300 for the FE, meaning most of the AIB cards will probably be more expensive. After the 1070/80 we can basically throw Nvidia's MSRP out the window. So I would say the 480 if you need a card under $300 and a 1060 if not, if the 1060 beats the 480(which seems to be the case) OR if you plan on using multi GPU's definitely the 480 as the 1060 will not support it. All that said some rumours are that an AIB 480 OC could match an OC 1060. Though that is just a rumour so take it will many many grains of salt. 

but the founder's edition cards are more expensive than AIB?

[chicken29843]

37 minutes ago, Lord_Doge said:

but the founder's edition cards are more expensive than AIB?

only a few aib cards are cheaper, most are the same price or more expensive

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, chicken29843 said:

only a few aib cards are cheaper, most are the same price or more expensive

ive only found 1 or two that are more expensive and i imagine the cause is low stock

[TheRandomness]

10 hours ago, xAcid9 said:

Where did you see that? 

The various 'news' threads and a bunch of benchmarks.