madmatt30 :
The 1050ti is stronger than the 1050 by 20% or so.
Card model is pretty much irrelevant , any 1050ti will perform better than any 1050 non matter how much its overclocked.
For $15 more buy the ti, its as simple as that.
Almost
As far as overclocking the Ti also does better:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1050_Ti_Gaming_X/30.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1050_Gaming_X/30.html
Differences in overclocking generally are important to consider when comparing AMD cards and nVidia cards as the latter usually has about twice the OC headroom as AMD as compared to the reference models but the differences are not as start once we get down to the 1050 / 1050 Ti vs 470
For the MSI 1050 Ti Gaming X, performance gained from overclocking is 8.4% on top of a factory OC of 5.0%
For the MSI 1050 Gaming X, performance gained from overclocking is 7.7% on top of a factory OC of 4.7%
For the Asus 470 Strix, performance gained from overclocking is 6.5% on top of a factory OC of 5.3%
Again, the 1050 is not all that attractive scoring an unusually low 8.1 score from TPU.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1050_Gaming_X/32.html
The MSI 1050 Ti and Asus 470 tie at 9.0
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1050_Ti_Gaming_X/32.html
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/RX_470_STRIX_OC/29.html
But it all depends on pricing which is in flux, especially now w/ holiday sales.
MSI's pricing for the GTX 1050 Ti Gaming X is set to be around $165, which is $25 more than the "starting at $140" price provided by NVIDIA. In my opinion, this increase is way too big since it pushes the card into a territory where the RX 470 is the better option due to higher performance at the same price point. The GTX 1050 Ti definitely has a better power/heat/noise ratio than the RX 470, but I'd consider it as an option because performance trumps everything in this segment where every dollar counts. The Radeon R9 380 is completely obsolete now, with the spotlight being on the RX 470 and GTX 1050 Ti. Even at reference pricing of $140, I feel slightly tempted to recommend the RX 470 for its higher performance; with the price of AAA games these days, the difference is basically to skip one game and spend that money on a better graphics card, which will bring you more joy in all the other games you play. Another option could be the GTX 1060 3 GB, which is slightly more expensive than the RX 470 (after its price drops), but offers a bit better performance, especially in older titles.
At $179, the RX 470 is a decent option for 1080p gaming if you just can't save up enough money to afford any of the cards above the $200 mark. Another option would be the RX 480 4 GB if it makes a comeback with good market availability; the additional $20 will give you performance nearly identical to that of the 8 GB version. Last but not least, there is still the GTX 1060, which starts at $249 with no stock available, but has higher performance, better efficiency, noise and thermals. Don't get me wrong, the Radeon RX 470 is a great value proposition that sits right at the top of our performance-per-dollar charts, but there is also a lot of competition in this segment. However, the ASUS RX 470 is in my opinion slightly too expensive at $209; a better price would be $199 or $189 - if they fix that noisy cooler with a BIOS update. When I asked our head of news "What would you buy if you had $210?" he responded "I'd beg on the streets for $40 more if I had to for a 1060."
If it's me ... I agree with the last statement in bold
Looking at today's pricing... I'm of a slightly differing opinion than I was during the sales (yesterday)... using one model line for apples and apples price comparisons:
MSI 1050 Gaming X 2GB = $130
MSI 470 Gaming X 4GB = $180
MSI 470 Gaming X 8GB = $190
MSI 1050 Ti Gaming X 4GB = $200
MSI 1060 Gaming X 3GB = $210 ($195 yesterday)
See above graphic
To bump up performance from the 1050 to 1050Ti we are talking an 18% performance increase for a 54 % increase in price. So..if ya budget is < $150, or even if it's not ... I can't see a reason to "go there".
To bump up performance from the 1050 to 470 we are talking an 52% performance increase for a 38 % increase in price. That has a positive ROI so make sense if budget is available.
8GB makes no sense at 1080p so not going to address the 470 8GB
Spending more for the 1050 Ti instead of the 470 we will drop to 80% of the 470s performance for an 11 % increase in price. That doesn't make any sense unless you using G-Sync or there's other nVidia "must haves"
To bump up performance from the 1050 Ti 4GB to the 1060 3GB we are talking a huge 44% performance increase for a 5 % increase in price. That has a positive ROI so is the proverbial "no brainer"
To bump up performance from the 470 4GB to the 1060 3GB we are talking a 15% performance increase for a 17 % increase in price. At $195 again it was the proverbial "no brainer", but at 17% more money, it doesn't have a positive ROI. That doesn't make it a logically bad choice as due to the law of diminishing returns, the amount of performance per dollar decreases as performance improves. If it were me, I'd take the 1060 3GB.
If concerned about VRAM, we can see here that 2 or 4 GB is not going to make a difference in most games. Poor console ports (sloppy coding) and some DX12 games (optimizations still needed) seem to be the few culprits here.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Video-Card-Performance-2GB-vs-4GB-Memory-154/
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_960_g1_gaming_4gb_review,12.html
Hi res textures are useful on hi res screens ... I don't really see the point, keep think using 1440p game settings on 1080p monitor.