EVGA GeForce GTX 970 SC vs GTX 1060

[FnaticMeister]

Hey so I have 2 video cards that I'm going to put into my $500 gaming computer, and I've gotten down to 2 decisions. I can get either a GTX 970 SC ($150, used once for 2 hours, from a friend that I can vouch for), and any GTX 1060 from $200-220. From the performance I'm getting from the GTX 970 for $150, I should go for that right? I just wanted to know ever single one of your suggestions, thanks!

 

[chemmajorp53]

Is the GTX 1060 you're talking about 3GB or 6GB? If it's 6GB at $200-220 then by all means get that, otherwise the GTX 970 is the clear choice.

 

[FnaticMeister]

Is the GTX 1060 you're talking about 3GB or 6GB? If it's 6GB at $200-220 then by all means get that, otherwise the GTX 970 is the clear choice.

I mean I'll be playing 1080p, not really caring about getting 3.5 gb of vram inside my 970. Thanks for your suggestions! I'm still open, so please add more suggestions!

 

[chemmajorp53]

But which 1060 are you referencing? The 3GB version of the 1060 is slower because the core is cut down

 

[ErikMcLeod]

1060 6GB is likely the best choice. If not the 6GB 1060 then get the 970. More games are starting to use more VRAM, such as SW2 using 3.8GB at max settings. What CPU is in this system?

 

[geofelt]

For gaming at 1080P, either card will do the job.
My take is to buy the later gen card all other things being equal.
That assumes that an extra $50 is not bothersome.
I have found that I do much less second guessing if I buy the better product.

Also, do not worry about VRAM.

VRAM has become a marketing issue.
My understanding is that vram is more of a performance issue than a functional issue.
A game needs to have most of the data in vram that it uses most of the time.
Somewhat like real ram.
If a game needs something not in vram, it needs to get it across the pcie boundary
hopefully from real ram and hopefully not from a hard drive.
It is not informative to know to what level the available vram is filled.
Possibly much of what is there is not needed.
What is not known is the rate of vram exchange.
Vram is managed by the Graphics card driver, and by the game. There may be differences in effectiveness between amd and nvidia cards.
And differences between games.
Here is an older performance test comparing 2gb with 4gb vram.
http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/
Spoiler... not a significant difference.
A more current set of tests shows the same results:
http://www.techspot.com/review/1114-vram-comparison-test/page5.html

And... no game maker wants to limit their market by
requiring huge amounts of vram. The vram you see will be appropriate to the particular card.

 

[FnaticMeister]

Nah, the 970 can catch up to the 1060 in some ways, if OC'd properly. And I was going to pick up 3gb models, because I didn't wanna spend too much on 6gb. Remember: I'm on a $500 budget. CPU: i3-6100

 

[Atanas_1]

Is the GTX 1060 you're talking about 3GB or 6GB? If it's 6GB at $200-220 then by all means get that, otherwise the GTX 970 is the clear choice.

I mean I'll be playing 1080p, not really caring about getting 3.5 gb of vram inside my 970. Thanks for your suggestions! I'm still open, so please add more suggestions!

I got Evga gtx 1060 sc 6GB and a friend of mine got gigabyte gtx970 g1. And i must say i got 10-24 fps more depending of the game on ultra graphics with 1080p. So basically that 50 $ more for gtx1060 is not worth it in my opinion. There will be no game that will be less than 70 fps on ultra with gtx 970. The games we played:
DOTA 2 - 167 fps (me) / 150 fps (he)
AC: Syndicate- 90 fps / 78fps
Fifa 17 - 310 fps day( 250 night) / 280 fps day (233 night)
I forgot to tell you he got 8 gb ddr3 1600 MHz RAM with i5 4690 CPU.
I got 8 GB DDr4 2133 MHz with i5 6600.

 

[Atanas_1]

Nah, the 970 can catch up to the 1060 in some ways, if OC'd properly. And I was going to pick up 3gb models, because I didn't wanna spend too much on 6gb. Remember: I'm on a $500 budget. CPU: i3-6100

My other fr. Buy that configuration this summer :
Cpu: i3 6100
MOBO: Asus h110
Ram: Kingston HyperX 2x4GB 2133 MHz (same as mine)
Video: Palit gtx950 Super jet stream
Power: Fortron 500W
For around 500$

 

[killerchickens]

Go for the gtx 970 or rx 480 4gb.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202225&cm_re=RX_480-_-14-202-225-_-Product