Seeking advice on a new video card

[Gavinaldi]

I'm looking for something in the RX480 8GB to GTX1060 6GB range.
It seems that I can get an XFX RX480 for about the same price as the cheapest [no-name] 6GB GTX1060 I can find.

I can also get the 8GB Sapphire Nitro RX480 for about $14usd cheaper than the XFX.

The thing I like about the XFX, from what I read online is that it is quiet and has a pretty low TDP, despite runing at 1334 MHz & 800MHz memory.

The questions that I have are:
Based on what I read, AMD cards age better because NVidia gimps their cards, with the drivers, over time? How true is this?

I've also read that the RX480 can't actually utilize the full 8GB, so that the 4GB version is actually the better option. Is this true? Is the extra 4GB superflous on the 8GB model?

the reason I'm looking at 8GB and 6GB as opposed to 4GB & 3GB versions is longevity (Plus I'm kind of thinking of VR; HTC Vive in the not terribly distant future)

I'm currently using a 1080P monitor that's neither Free nor G synch... I don't know when I'll be getting a new monitor... It's currently not in my plans, unless my monitor breaks down.

The games that I want to play are Witcher 3, I've already purchased it, but I haven't started playing it yet because I doubt my NUC Skull Canyon can run it. Which leads to another detail about my hardware: the card I get is going into a thunderbolt 3 enclosure (most likely Akitio Node). I play Skyrim... I know it's old, my Skull Canyon can play it fine; but I am sure the card would help boost graphics a lot. When Mass Effect Andromeda comes out, I'm going to be all about that.

Any thoughts or opinions from those in the know would be greatly appreciated.

[Mossy Snake]

Get the RX 480. It has more VRAM, more texture units (Someone verify. I saw that on GPUboss), has better driver support, and is $50 cheaper. The only thing the 1060 has going for it is a slightly higher clock speed, which barely matters considering how bad the Nvidia drivers are.

I've always been a Radeon fan, since GimpForce seems to only appeal to the high end market right now. (Hoping Vega solves that issue)

[Black Mambo № 5]

Originally posted by ☥ - CJ -:

Its not that they dropped support
its just that most new driver optimizations have to do with current gen GPUs taking priority.

Which exactly means dropped support for something that's not even truly "legacy hardware", yet. Stop defending Nvidia.

[Gavinaldi]

Thanks for all the advise. I've found it insightful. I think I'm somewhat inclined to either go with a Gainward GTX 1070 - $395USD
XFX RX480 GTR - $265USD

Right now I'm leaning towards the RX480 because it seems that I can expect greater support longevity from AMD and obviously paying $130 USD less has an obvious appeal of its own.

The reason the GTX enters consideration is because whatever card I do get, I'll be holding on to for at least two years, most likely longer. That is, I have no intention of upgrading whatever I do get, for a while. But, I do have plans of getting an HTC Vive at some point in the not terribly distant future, so whatever card I do get, I want it to be able to allow me to play VR games in relative comfort. I see that the RX480 is supposed to be VR Ready, and that's why I kind of think that's enough for me. However, I keep hearing people say that it's a soft lie.

I'd like opinions on the current pricing schemes accessible to me and whether or not the RX480 isn't really VR ready.

[[☥] - CJ -]

Originally posted by Black Mambo № 5:

Originally posted by ☥ - CJ -:

Its not that they dropped support
its just that most new driver optimizations have to do with current gen GPUs taking priority.

Which exactly means dropped support for something that's not even truly "legacy hardware", yet. Stop defending Nvidia.

how about i dont but say i did
:)

If you think NVIDIA is the only one to do what you accuse them of doing you got another thing coming buddy.

[Gavinaldi]

Actually, all this talk of long term driver support and whatnot seems to suggest that the reason AMD continues to update drivers and tweak software for its cards is because it continues to use the same architecture throughout... So I guess the question is, in what way will Vega's arrival impact support for the RX480?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by Black Mambo № 5:

Originally posted by ☥ - CJ -:

Its not that they dropped support
its just that most new driver optimizations have to do with current gen GPUs taking priority.

Which exactly means dropped support for something that's not even truly "legacy hardware", yet. Stop defending Nvidia.

It's not dropped support. But for GPUs like say 700/900 series; they are don't really benefit from further tweaks. I've tested this plenty myself and we do this at my work.

> Do we have issues running the latest games on older Drivers, usually that is a NO.

> Take For Honor for example; is there "optimized" drivers available for GTX 10xx series, YES.

> If I run a game like For Honor on say GTX 700/900 series on older driver like 368.81, will the game still work and perform well, YES.

Overall, latest driver is not always the best, simple as that. It can often come down to combination of OS+GPU+Game(s), as to which driver versions will actually get along well all three of those. This is usually why having much older games on new systems can be a pain, cause you are trying to keep everything up-to-date for your hardware to run the latest Games well. But those newer drivers don't always help older games, in fact they can sometimes be the cause of why some older games now run poorly.

Overall run the Driver version that is showing the best overall stability for your actual config. Don't let anything auto-update your stuff, period. YOU handle that, and you should invest the time to playing around and understanding the differences with apps/drivers, etc.

[Gavinaldi]

At what point would my CPU become a bottleneck for a video card?
Skull Canyon (i7 6770HQ @ 2.6GHz)
16GB DDR4

[[☥] - CJ -]

If thats a laptop CPU, you dont really have a choice.

[Gavinaldi]

3DMarks Timespy demo:
CPU score 3 078
CPU test 10.34 FPS

What do you mean by I don't have a choice? You mean I don't have a choice of GPU and I should go for bare minimum?

The reason I ask when/where does my CPU become a limiting reagent, is because I don't want to get a card that my NUC will be able to take advantage of.

[[☥] - CJ -]

what im saying is
If you have a laptop which is what that CPU is for, you cant exactly just change the GPU like you do with a desktop.

[Gavinaldi]

Originally posted by ☥ - CJ -:

what im saying is
If you have a laptop which is what that CPU is for, you cant exactly just change the GPU like you do with a desktop.

I intend to use an eGPU enclosure. I'm leaning towards the AkiTio Node.

[[☥] - CJ -]

Using thunderbolt?
i wouldnt go higher than a 1060 or RX 480

As its a Laptop CPU its no where near as powerful as its desktop variant.

[Gavinaldi]

I've gone ahead and pulled the trigger on an RX480 card. It's something akin to the XFX RX480 GTR Black... At least it's from XFX and it has core clock of 1338MHz mem 8GHz with the swappable fans. It cost a total of $247usd (free shipping). I'm pleased with the deal... I expect this card will handle my current list of games, and Mass Effect Andrameda.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Any RX-480 should be fine; as long as your Laptop has an i7 MQ/HQ model varient, then it should have no issues keeping up. As 480 shouldn't attempt to output to a point where such a CPU would bottleneck. Or that such a CPU would handicap such a GPU.

Now if you were trying to use a GTX 1080/TitanXP; that's another story.
Mobile CPUs aren't really enough for those GPUs. They would still run ok, but it would be a waste usually because mobile CPU would hold those higher-end GPUs back and never be able to fully unleash the power it has.

[Generation X SMURF]

Sapphire makes the best amd cards they only make amd like evga only does nvidia