gpu upgrade for a pc noob

[Michael penny1]

Hello I'm a pc noob I am looking to upgrade my gpu I have a i5 4440 and 16gb ddr3 ram and a gtx960 4gb.I was looking at the rx470 or the gtx1060 what would people say is my best option I'm on a buget.

 

[Trafalgar747]

We'll, the RX 470 and the GTX 1060 are slightly different level cards. The RX 480 and the GTX 1060 are on the same level. Currently, in most game benchmarks, the GTX 1060 has better performance then the RX 480. I would probably get the GTX 1060. Another thing to note maybe, is that AMD's FreeSync can be found on much cheaper monitors compared to Nvidia's G-Sync, so if you are maybe looking to replace your monitor soon with a nice FreeSync or G-Sync one, i would recommend the RX 480.

Another thing is, the RX 470 price has decreased by a good deal recently, the RX 470 for $135 whereas the GTX 1060 is for $230, the RX 470 definetly provides better price to performance compared to the GTX 1060. Also note that the RX 470 is about 7% slower than the RX 480. I would strongly urge you to go for the RX 470 if you are on a strict budget.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Video Card: MSI Radeon RX 470 4GB ARMOR OC Video Card ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $134.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-03 10:20 EST-0500

 

[raisonjohn]

Assuming you are gaming at 1080p/60Hz, if you can swing a GTX 1060 6GB or an RX 480 8GB, then you would have gotten yourself the top GPUs for that gaming resolution. If budget cannot fit for those, consider an RX 480 4GB or GTX 1060 3GB or even a used GTX 980. If still not enough, then I'd look towards an RX 470 or a used GTX 970.