(Sorry again for the huge post.)
I'm honestly in the same boat as you with regards to 480 and 1060 but decided to go for the 1060 due to it's availability and somewhat superior performance. I have a 280x so I wouldn't look at a 460/470 as they'd likely be minimal upgrades for me at best
I'll leave the rest for people more knowledgeable than I.
Yeah, I'm really on the fence in a lot of ways, just trying to see all my options. I'm a little worried for 1060 in the future with less DX12 and Vulkan performance and less ram than 8GB version of RX 480. Thank you for the reply!
Before I get to followup questions to specific answers I got, I'd like to ask this:
Are AMD features proprietary like Nvidia ones are? As in, if a game uses TressFX or RealHair or whatever the feature is called (I think it is at least supported by AMD), will that feature work on an Nvidia card?
Palit: they are a graphic card manufacturer but also sell their own brand at select retail markets, it is not uncommon to not find them.
Other questions:
1. For what 1060 is meant to be (1080p gaming), it will not matter as much as people think.
2. The 480 will likely be ahead in heavy DX12 and Vulkan games which are not common at this point, and during the lifespan of both cards, DX11 games will be the mainstream, in which 1060 has a distinctive advantage. Choose between them according to your gaming needs and how frequent you are looking to upgrade. In terms of power they are basically on the same level.
3. Kepler's architecture suffers from over-simplifying due to power efficiency concerns, it is simply not good enough to support today's computing needs (too many TMUs not enough ROPs etc). It is not about driver/software support, it is about Nvidia's stupid focus at that time.
4. The 470 seems to be about 10% slower than the 480, which is on par or slower than a 970. It is borderline capable of 1080p gaming but nothing else. Don't bother with it if you can afford a 480 imo.
5. Unless it is something real powerful like 1070 and above, PCI-E 2.0 is enough.
6. Freesync is way more limited than GSync in terms of features and support, for example it only works in fullscreen at this point. But if you can overlook some of those disadvantages, it is still pretty sweet.
7. Not entirely necessary but definitely helpful to have.
For the power cords, check whether your PSU has a 8pin PCI-E connector, if it has that, you are golden. If not, you can easily use a dual 6pin to 8pin converter/dual molex (D-shape 4pin) converter.
Thanks a lot for the reply, it helps a lot! If you wouldn't mind answering these followup questions, I'd really appreciate it.
1. Would you say even 4GB would be enough for the next 3, 4 or 5 years? 5 years is how long it has been since I last upgraded, and I like to keep upgrades infrequent because I don't have a super steady income stream yet since I'm a college student, though I guess that'll change in 5 years, huh. The next GPU I get will also likely be the last for this machine, which is DDR3 and i5 2500k, which both seem to be holding their own for now, but by the time it'll be necessary to upgrade again, I bet it won't be feasible to just upgrade the GPU, and I plan to build an entirely new computer at that point.
2. Are DX12 and Vulkan likely to take over in API adoption in the next 3-5 years that I hope this next upgrade will last? It seems like buying for the future instead of the now is the better option, especially because I don't want to upgrade often.
3. So I guess that means Pascal is less likely to fall behind compared to Polaris? Or is the same thing likely to happen again with Pascal failing to have enough async compute power compared to Polaris? (Kind of the same question as 2)
4. I take it the consensus seems to be that the 470 won't be very OC capable and thus can't be expected to be brought nearly up to 480 performance? By "borderline capable" do you just mean that it is likely to have trouble mainting 60fps+ on the highest or near highest settings of upcoming games, or are you saying it would even have trouble on medium/high settings?
5. Cool, I'm glad PCI-E 2.0 won't be a problem. If I eventually go Crossfire, would an 8x PCI connection severely hinder CF performance? I think I have two x16 slots, but I'm not sure.
6. I'm not sure I will even be able to take advantage of either G-Sync or Freesync, since my desktop really just lives in the living room and that connects to an HDTV. It seems like TV manufacturers just don't care about either of those options, but since Freesync is a more open standard, I'm inclined to think it may have more of a chance of appearing in a 4K TV or something sometime in the next few years. So I'm inclined towards Freesync despite some disadvantages, along with the huge price overhead on the monitors that support it, if I were to change how I use my computer. Also I'd like to support the more open standard versus being locked into Nvidia cards.
7. Are back plates just helpful for making dust cleanup easier? What exactly are people talking about when they say "sag" or "warping"? What is the most important reason to have one?
I just checked and my MSI 6950 2GB is powered by two 6-pin power cords. I don't think I have any 8-pin cord on this PSU so I should probably buy one of those converters depending on the card I get. It seems like 8-pin power is a rarity at least on 480s? If they do have 8-pins, is it usually just one port? With 6-pins, is having two on one card the standard?
One last thing, are there any particular custom card (480 or 1060) brands that you would recommend?
Thanks for the help!
480 has a leg up on async compute because it has more cores. AMD has a lead in these APIs because they are the reason they even exist (Mantle.) But Nvidia should close this gap at some point (while adding more proprietary stuff that won't benefit anyone - yeay, automagic bullshots!)
I'm waiting for the 470 myself, it's clocked quite a bit slower (but will probably overclock just fine.) I'd wait for reviews. (But this will probably be the performance/dollar card.)
Yes.
Gsync does a little more than freesync, which would just alleviate tearing, but it's been a while since I've bothered to read up on it's benefits. Read up on ULMB.
It does not prevent "sag," only warping. Dust doesn't harm a card (not on the back of it anyway.) Scrapes and scuffs?! What are these people doing to these cards between getting it out of the packaging and slotting it in? (If you think it's pretty, go for it, if not, don't worry.)
Nowp, still the same standard, you'll be fine.
Thank you for the reply! These answers help me out a lot. I hope you don't mind if I ask dome followup questions.
So 1060 will never close to DX12 and Vulkan gap because it just lacks the hardware chops, is that right?
Would you say the 470 could feasibly clock to nearly (a couple %s difference) from 480, or is that reaching? Do you think the 470 will have less supply issues than the 480? I'm worried because I want to get everything installed before Deus Ex MD releases on August 23rd, and I only have a couple weeks to enjoy that game during my break before my fall term at college. I'm trying to get something going by August 20th at the latest and I'm worried the 470 will take too long to come out.
Good to know, thanks.
I will check out ULMB. (That's "ultra low motion blur" right?)
Is warping dangerous? What exactly is it? Could it kill or weaken a card after a few years?
I'm glad PC parts from 2011 seem to still be mostly compatible with ones from 2016. I doubt that'll be the case by 2021.
Lastly, are there any particular custom cards (480 or 1060) that you would recommend?