RX 480 vs GTX 1060 for i5 3450

[yashas08]

Hey guys I have an i5 3450 CPU at 3.1 Ghz and would like to know which GPU would be the best for this PC for gaming at 1080p at high details at 60 fps?
Is it the AMD RX 480 or the Nvidia GTX 1060 ?
Or is there any other GPU that I should consider?
And which GPU will have a lower bottleneck with my CPU?

 

[CRO5513Y]

Which GTX 1060? If it's the 6GB i would go with that over the RX 480 in most situations (mainly depending how much more it is) but if it's the watered down 3GB GTX 1060 i would recommend the RX 480. Be aware the RX 500 series comes out in a few days, hence a RX 580 or so might be a great option once its out.

 

[Sakkura]

The RX 480 is slightly better with DX12 or Vulkan, the GTX 1060 is slightly better with DX11 or OpenGL.

Neither should really be bottlenecked by your CPU in most games.

And yeah it might be a good idea to wait a couple days and see how the RX 580 turns out.

 

[yashas08]

Thank You guys but i saw a video on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bPe_DG_rmg

The video show the RX 480 really closing the gap on the GTX 1060 on DX 11 (the gap is now almost neglible ) and the AMD GPU takes the lead in DX 12 , so guys could you help me in deciding the best GPU

 

[CRO5513Y]

Thank You guys but i saw a video on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bPe_DG_rmg

The video show the RX 480 really closing the gap on the GTX 1060 on DX 11 (the gap is now almost neglible ) and the AMD GPU takes the lead in DX 12 , so guys could you help me in deciding the best GPU

Neither is really "best", they both have things that make them better than the other. For example:

GTX 1060 6GB:

- Lower Power Usage
- Generally Lower Temps (Better cooled)
- Better Performance in most Nvidia GameWorks titles, DirectX 11 and OpenGL games.
- Mostly the stronger card at the moment on average
- Excellent Overclocker (If that interests you)

RX 480 8GB:

- Slightly cheaper (Most the time)
- 2GB of more VRAM
- Better Performance in most AMD Gaming Evolved titles, DirectX 12 and Vulkan games
- CrossFire (Mulit-GPU) compatible (If you would consider this)
- Appears to be getting stronger over time thanks to driver optimisations and patching, this will likely make the card a better long term choice, See here > http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-r.... But you have already seen this...

To summarise, the GTX 1060 6GB often comes ahead in most games today and with lower power usage + temps at that. However many things on the RX 480 would indicate it to be better card in the long run due to the extra VRAM, better driver support, better performance in newer APIs (Vulkan and DX12) and of course the ability to add another RX 480 in CrossFire (you might see one cheap). Just a final note, the RX 500 series isn't far away so i recommend you consider waiting for that to drop before making a decision. Just go for whichever card appeals more to you.