GTX 960 + Good PC or GTX 970 + Worse PC?

[TorterraX]

Hey guys!

I'm getting my new PC build done, but I'm facing a new dilemma. Looking at reviews and benchmarks I see that the performance gap between the gtx 970 and 960 is pretty big. Unfortunately, I'm kind of on a budget so unless money magically appears in my wallet, which I doubt will happen, I can't put that extra 130$ CAD.

So my question is, on the following build, would it be better to swap the 960 for a 970 and cut elsewhere? I'm planning to play games such as The Witcher, No Man's Sky, Mass Effect Andromeda, etc.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($304.55 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($45.00)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 3.5g Thermal Paste ($6.99 @ NCIX)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($193.74 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($85.82 @ DirectCanada)
Storage: Sandisk SSD PLUS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (Purchased For $90.00)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $60.00)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($269.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 39.9 CFM 120mm Fans ($29.97 @ DirectCanada)
Other: Orion 685W Silent 80+ Bronze (Purchased For $59.00)
Total: $1255.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-16 18:27 EDT-0400

If I choose the 970, I could swap the 6600k for a 6500, and the mobo for a z170-e or b/h150 or something else, but then I'd have to downgrade RAM too.

So, what do you guys think would be better?
Thanks!

TorterraX

 

[Potato13]

Dude, no way in hell should you be buying a GTX 960 right now. There's new cards that are out and coming out for $150-250 USD that will outclass the GTX 960 in every way. The prices of 970s right now have not been changed to be competitive with these new cards.

Look up the RX 480, which is out now, the GTX 1060 which is coming out in 3 days and is already in some stores. Even the RX 470 and the 3 gb version of 1060 will beat out the 960 by a large margin. You might be able to have the best of both worlds for your price range.
Wait a bit for non-reference versions, they are coming. No matter what you do, don't buy outdated and overpriced tech.

Also, I think it is worth investing in an i7 even if it's a non-K variant with a cheaper motherboard. The lack of hyper-threading will hurt a lot more in the future with DX12 and Vulcan games. And you would be able to go longer without upgrading.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Get the 1060 it's going to be released soon.

 

[TorterraX]

Dude, no way in hell should you be buying a GTX 960 right now. There's new cards that are out and coming out for $150-250 USD that will outclass the GTX 960 in every way. The prices of 970s right now have not been changed to be competitive with these new cards.

Look up the RX 480, which is out now, the GTX 1060 which is coming out in 3 days and is already in some stores. Even the RX 470 and the 3 gb version of 1060 will beat out the 960 by a large margin. You might be able to have the best of both worlds for your price range.
Wait a bit for non-reference versions, they are coming. No matter what you do, don't buy outdated and overpriced tech.

Also, I think it is worth investing in an i7 even if it's a non-K variant with a cheaper motherboard. The lack of hyper-threading will hurt a lot more in the future with DX12 and Vulcan games. And you would be able to go longer without upgrading.

Ok thanks a lot!
What mobo should I be getting if I go for an i7? And for what i7?
I don't know much about AMD cards; what's better between an RX 480 and the GTX 1060?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($389.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.98 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $519.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-16 18:48 EDT-0400

 

[TorterraX]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($389.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.98 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $519.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-16 18:48 EDT-0400

Thanks! Basically, what's the big difference between an i5 and an i7 at roughly the same stock speeds?

 

[Epicness937]

dont get ether get a gtx 1060 its kind of inbetween the two and as fast as a 980 (or said to be)
you can get a i5 6500 with a cheaper motherboard and ditch the cooler as i think the 6500 comes with one and possibly be able to afford a 1070

 

[Potato13]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($389.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.98 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $519.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-16 18:48 EDT-0400

Thanks! Basically, what's the big difference between an i5 and an i7 at roughly the same stock speeds?

There is not much difference in most DX11 games. Rarely did hyperthreading impact performance positively in the past few years except if it was like an i3 vs a Pentium comparison. Most games just weren't optimized for 8 threads but now with DX12 and Vulcan, at least in benchmarks, there is a significant improvement. Very few DX12 and Vulcan games are actually out right now but according to PCWorld's comparision, the lack of Hyperthreading in i5's will hurt eventually.

It would probably still be better to sink more money in the GPU than the CPU tbh. Like another guy said, if you can pull some strings and end up with a 1070 even if it is with an i5, it will last longer but, since I see you are in Canada, that is going to be a very tough task as the cheapest 1070's are close to 600$.

 

[Epicness937]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($389.98 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($129.98 @ DirectCanada)
Total: $519.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-16 18:48 EDT-0400

Thanks! Basically, what's the big difference between an i5 and an i7 at roughly the same stock speeds?

There is not much difference in most DX11 games. Rarely did hyperthreading impact performance positively in the past few years except if it was like an i3 vs a Pentium comparison. Most games just weren't optimized for 8 threads but now with DX12 and Vulcan, at least in benchmarks, there is a significant improvement. Very few DX12 and Vulcan games are actually out right now but according to PCWorld's comparision, the lack of Hyperthreading in i5's will hurt eventually.

It would probably still be better to sink more money in the GPU than the CPU tbh. Like another guy said, if you can pull some strings and end up with a 1070 even if it is with an i5, it will last longer but, since I see you are in Canada, that is going to be a very tough task as the cheapest 1070's are close to 600$.

it will not surprise me if the next gen i5 cpus have 8 threads and the next gen i7s will have 6 cores

 

[TorterraX]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

 

[Epicness937]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

a i5 is what i would cut one idea is to get no gpu and run integrated graphics and then get a 1070 when you can afford one.
the rx 480 in dx11 is about as fast as a 970 and the 1060 is said to be as fast as a 980
ddr4 2133 from 2400 is not going to be bad maybe 0.5fps difference
i as a matter of fact am running 2133 ram

 

[TorterraX]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

a i5 is what i would cut one idea is to get no gpu and run integrated graphics and then get a 1070 when you can afford one.
the rx 480 in dx11 is about as fast as a 970 and the 1060 is said to be as fast as a 980
ddr4 2133 from 2400 is not going to be bad maybe 0.5fps difference
i as a matter of fact am running 2133 ram

But then if I run on i5/7's integrated graphics, I doubt I could run games aside of basic and optimized stuff like LoL, Smite, Minecraft, etc?

 

[Potato13]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

The 1060 will be priced slightly higher, and also, according to the benchmarks so far, all of them show it to be superior to the RX 480 by a bit, however, AMD cards excel in games that support asynchronous compute which is gonna be a pretty big thing in the coming months. Best thing to do is to wait 3 more days and you will know how exactly how the cards compare.

Personally, I don't think there will be a huge difference in the 1060 and RX 480 down the road. I would go with the one which lets me get the i7. If you do end up having to cut, for gaming purposes, it would be better to cut your CPU for a better GPU.

 

[TorterraX]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

The 1060 will be priced slightly higher, and also, according to the benchmarks so far, all of them show it to be superior to the RX 480 by a bit, however, AMD cards excel in games that support asynchronous compute which is gonna be a pretty big thing in the coming months. Best thing to do is to wait 3 more days and you will know how exactly how the cards compare.

Personally, I don't think there will be a huge difference in the 1060 and RX 480 down the road. I would go with the one which lets me get the i7. If you do end up having to cut, for gaming purposes, it would be better to cut your CPU for a better GPU.

I see. I'm gonna wait and see then
If I'm right I can't OC a locked chipset (like the i7-6700) without a Z board, can I?

 

[Potato13]

As for the integrated graphics, yeah you would not be able to run much. But I think you'd be surprised.

Here's some benchmarks of the integrated graphics.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skylake-intel-core-i7-6700k-core-i5-6600k,4252-9.html



EDIT:
About overclocking non K chipsets, Intel has issued BIOS updates which makes it impossible..But I don't know if theoretically, you could just not update your motherboard BIOS and overclock anyways. Not very knowledgeable about this.

 

[Epicness937]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

a i5 is what i would cut one idea is to get no gpu and run integrated graphics and then get a 1070 when you can afford one.
the rx 480 in dx11 is about as fast as a 970 and the 1060 is said to be as fast as a 980
ddr4 2133 from 2400 is not going to be bad maybe 0.5fps difference
i as a matter of fact am running 2133 ram

But then if I run on i5/7's integrated graphics, I doubt I could run games aside of basic and optimized stuff like LoL, Smite, Minecraft, etc?

its temporary untell you can afford a 1070
it will make you appreciate it more

 

[TorterraX]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

a i5 is what i would cut one idea is to get no gpu and run integrated graphics and then get a 1070 when you can afford one.
the rx 480 in dx11 is about as fast as a 970 and the 1060 is said to be as fast as a 980
ddr4 2133 from 2400 is not going to be bad maybe 0.5fps difference
i as a matter of fact am running 2133 ram

But then if I run on i5/7's integrated graphics, I doubt I could run games aside of basic and optimized stuff like LoL, Smite, Minecraft, etc?

its temporary untell you can afford a 1070
it will make you appreciate it more

Hahahaha you're right God I'm gonna appreciate it, it's been a while since my old GTX 560 Ti broke and I haven't been able to run anything past those games -_- Do you think the integrated graphics could run new games (Witcher, ME) on low settings at an acceptable FPS?

 

[Potato13]

The Witcher 3 will definitely not run at playable framerates. Maybe you'll get 20 FPS at the lowest possible settings however, I'm sure you could play a lot of older games at playable frames. Definitely more than just LoL, Smite, and Minecraft.

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

 

[Epicness937]

Ok thanks a lot for all your answers!
So as someone pointed out, I'm in Canada so with the current horrendous exchange rate I certainly won't be able to afford a 1070. That being said, I could cut someplace or wait a bit to get a 1060 or something like that. My questions are:

- What's the difference between RX 480 vs GTX 1060? (or AMD vs Nvidia)

- Will the downgrade to DDR4-2133 from DDR4-2400 hurt the performance?

So I guess the best would be to go with an i7, 1060/RX 480/Something and h170 mobo? If I then still have to cut, I should cut in the CPU right? So an i5 - 1060 build over an i7 - 960/Something else build?

a i5 is what i would cut one idea is to get no gpu and run integrated graphics and then get a 1070 when you can afford one.
the rx 480 in dx11 is about as fast as a 970 and the 1060 is said to be as fast as a 980
ddr4 2133 from 2400 is not going to be bad maybe 0.5fps difference
i as a matter of fact am running 2133 ram

But then if I run on i5/7's integrated graphics, I doubt I could run games aside of basic and optimized stuff like LoL, Smite, Minecraft, etc?

its temporary untell you can afford a 1070
it will make you appreciate it more

Hahahaha you're right God I'm gonna appreciate it, it's been a while since my old GTX 560 Ti broke and I haven't been able to run anything past those games -_- Do you think the integrated graphics could run new games (Witcher, ME) on low settings at an acceptable FPS?

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

 

[TorterraX]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

 

[Potato13]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

Probably not for ARK. Honestly though, if you're just gaming at 1080p, get an RX480/GTX1060.

 

[TorterraX]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

Probably not for ARK. Honestly though, if you're just gaming at 1080p, get an RX480/GTX1060.

Yeah that's probably what I'll do, since I'm not aiming for 4K or over 1080p or something

 

[Epicness937]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

Probably not for ARK. Honestly though, if you're just gaming at 1080p, get an RX480/GTX1060.

Yeah that's probably what I'll do, since I'm not aiming for 4K or over 1080p or something

60hz 1080p? a 1060 is good
144hz 1080p get a 1070 or greater

 

[TorterraX]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

Probably not for ARK. Honestly though, if you're just gaming at 1080p, get an RX480/GTX1060.

Yeah that's probably what I'll do, since I'm not aiming for 4K or over 1080p or something

60hz 1080p? a 1060 is good
144hz 1080p get a 1070 or greater

Well I don't see the point in going over 60Hz since I'm not going to have any 3D games or such.

 

[Epicness937]

define acceptable? 20fps at 720p yes

The benchmarks I linked in my last post show the iGPU running Bioshock Infinite at 1080p on low settings. Even GTA V would be playable at 720p on low settings.

Well, I still have games like Skyrim, Blade and Soul, The Witcher 2 and such just waiting to get launched once more, I guess I could run them Do you guys think I could also run ARK on low settings?

Probably not for ARK. Honestly though, if you're just gaming at 1080p, get an RX480/GTX1060.

Yeah that's probably what I'll do, since I'm not aiming for 4K or over 1080p or something

60hz 1080p? a 1060 is good
144hz 1080p get a 1070 or greater

Well I don't see the point in going over 60Hz since I'm not going to have any 3D games or such.

what do you mean by 3d games? meaning playing with red and blue 3d glasses? if so thats not at all what 144hz is related too and if you mean games in 3d do you mean you only play terraria?!?

the refresh rate like 60hz 75hz 100hz 120hz 144hz and 165hz are the amount of fps a monitor can show