Which graphics card should I choose for now?

[tonybstc]

I got a MSI Armor RX480 8GB in January and recently sold it for around $380 due to the bitcoin craze.

I am struggling which card should I be picking now. I am a casual gamer who plays some FPS and RTS at 1080p right now on my Freesync 4K monitor. Part of the struggle also is I am not sure whether I should stick with 1080p or go 4K gaming. I have the 4K monitor but go 4K means I need to pay more for the card. Not sure if the 4K experience would worth the money.

So in short I have the following few options now:

1. Save some money. Stick with 1080p and buy Geforce 1060 6GB (AMD out of question as you simply cant buy any now)

2. Go 4K and buy Geforce 1070

3. Go 4K and buy Geforce 1060 6GB for the time being. Sell the card on ebay when vega comes out and upgrade to whichever is better

4. Go 4K and use my Intel 6700k IGP for the time being (sigh, which means no gaming for 2 months). Wait for vega and upgrade to whichever is better

Thanks a million!

 

[dotas1]

The 4k cards are 1080ti and 1080. Anything else be prepared to dial down lots of settings to be at decent fps. If you can't afford either of those two I would suggest to buy 1070 as it's the more powerful.

 

[tonybstc]

Just to add on to the above, I recently checked Amazon for the prices.

I found MSI Gaming X 1060 6GB at $226 and MSI Sea Hawk X 1070 8GB (with hybrrid cooling) at $419, both after tax and rebate.

 

[tonybstc]

But does 1070 deserve the extra bucks? With 1070 probably I can upgrade to 1440p, but I am not sure if that would make day and night difference from 1080p gaming. Hence my constantly struggle to pick from 1060 or 1070 class.

For 1080 it just seems to be out of my budget, too much to spend just for casual gaming.

 

[dotas1]

You can't have it all mate. Either forget 4k or just dial down settings.
The 1070 will handle 99,9% of the games in ultra at 1080p with 60 fps and above. At 1440p it becomes harder without tuning down to keep 60 fps.
1440p is an improvement for sure but the monitor size and the distance you have from the screen makes things more complicated. For example 27inches is considered the best size for 1440p but if you are too far you won't see difference between 1080p and 1440p.

 

[tonybstc]

You are right. I guess I can only guarantee 4k if I go 1080 or above.

Regarding the monitor size, I am using Samsung 28" 4K U28E590D monitor right now. Distance wise maybe around 2 feet from my seat.

 

[dotas1]

That's good. Keep in mind that even a 1080 can't handle 4k @ultra/60fps in the majority of games and a 1080ti even though is way better still struggles in some games as well (small number of games but still....).