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Graphics GPU Upgrade - Sanity Check

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by bawjaws, 29 Mar 2019.

  1. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Hi all,

    I'm swithering over a new GPU to replace my trusty but now ancient 660 Ti. Budget is £300 max and it seems that there are quite a lot of options here - almost too many, in fact :)

    The choice seems to come down to one of the following: 1660 Ti, 1070, 2060 or Vega 56. All of these can be had within budget and all seem to perform perfectly well at 1200p (which may become 1440p at some point in the future). The 1070 and 1660Ti seem to be pretty much neck and neck, with the 2060 and Vega 56 being further ahead but very close to each other. The kicker is that 1070 prices seem to have dropped a fair bit recently - for example, there's a nice Zotac 1070 Mini at £230 at various etailers, which seems to offer a pretty solid bang-per-buck proposition.

    The new GPU will be going into an NCase M1, so running quiet and cool is a high priority. Although convential wisdom says that blowers have traditionally been preferred in the M1, open coolers work fine and I'd trade a bit more heat for a lot less noise (a lot of blowers are pretty loud compared to their open cousins).

    Normally I'd be an advocate of going with the newest technology, so a 1660 Ti or 2060 (although I'm not really bothered about ray-tracing at this stage, but it might be nice to have in my back pocket). I'm leaning towards a cheapy 1070 but thought I'd ask for second opinions - I haven't discounted any options as yet, and if there's anything that I've missed then do shout :)

    Any input gratefully received. Cheers, chaps!
     
  2. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    If i was buying a card today I'd buy a 1660 Ti, you can pick them up for a few quid more than the Zotac 1070 Mini at £230 (Palit, Gigabyte), I'd go with the 1660 Ti mainly because (afaik) they have slightly lower power draw/heat.
     
  3. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    I wouldn't buy a 1070 now personally. I think of the four it's the slowest in DX12 and going into the future driver support will obviously not be as good as the newer cards (not that NVIDIA would do something like that oh hang on.)

    The Vega 56 is the fastest in DX12 but if it's anything like Vega 64 it's one hot SOB. Yes you can under volt but that's not a miracle cure.

    The 1660ti is too expensive for what it is, IMO so that leaves the card I'd buy, the 2060. Good DX12 (not as good as Vega 56 but much easier to live with) plus entry level RT and DLSS. The latter being the main reason I'd get it over the others.
     
  4. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    The only thing is that £300 is very much the bottom end for the 2060 and the only cards I can find at that price are nasty-looking mini blower versions...
     
  5. The_Crapman

    The_Crapman World's worst stuntman. Lover of bit-tech

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    Curve ball: 2nd hand 1080.
     
  6. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Ah, I did think about it, but on balance I'd rather buy new for the warranty.
     
  7. Vault-Tec

    Vault-Tec Green Plastic Watering Can

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    Yeah just looked, they do look a tad grotty do the cheap 2060s.

    I'd probably get the 56 then.
     
  8. The_Crapman

    The_Crapman World's worst stuntman. Lover of bit-tech

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    I figured that may be the case, but worth a check.

    I saw a couple of deals on 2060's with twin coolers the weekend just gone, a Gigabyte one for 300 I think, might be worth scouting for one for a while as I think they're the best value. A decent chunk more performance for £40 if you can grab a deal somewhere.
     
  9. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Cheers both for the input.

    I'm not in a major rush so I'm prepared to scour the shops for a good deal. Noise and heat really are a priority, which I think might rule out the Vega 56, as well as the cheapest 2060s.

    If I can get a good deal on a 2060 with a decent cooler at £300, that feels like a result. If not, I think I'd rather a good 1070 at £230 versus a loud blower 2060 at £300, if that means the 1070 is quieter and cooler. Ok, it's also c.10% slower and has no RT or DLSS, but it's 30% cheaper.

    Whatever I end up with is going to be something of an improvement on my 660Ti, though! Looks like any of these options will be somewhere between 2.5 and 3 times quicker :eeek:
     
  10. woodback

    woodback What's a Dremel?

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    CEX has the 1080 for £225 and you get a 2 year warranty. Cant go wrong.
     
  11. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    That's their buy price, they sell for £390.
     
  12. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Aye, quite the difference there :D £390 for a second-hand 1080 (even with a warranty) doesn't grab me at all. At nearly £400 I'd be as well to chuck another £50 into the mix and get a 2070... But I'm not looking to spend more than £300, so it's moot anyway :)
     
  13. woodback

    woodback What's a Dremel?

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    Oops my bad lol
     
  14. Thewelder

    Thewelder What's a Dremel?

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    A 2060 for the money cannot be beat out of your card options.
     
  15. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Okay, a quick update: having been gifted with £150 of Amazon vouchers, my budget has now potentially increased :D

    Is it a madness to drop £450 on a 2070? :worried:
     
  16. Anfield

    Anfield Multimodder

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    Madness? Yes and no.

    Yes because it is £450 for a midrange card.
    No because for £450 there is nothing better than a 2070.
     
  17. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    I genuinely don't think I could call any £450 GPU "midrange", to be honest :D It's high-end, but it's just that you also have very high-end, super high-end and bonkers high-end above it :D
     
  18. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    It is the middle of the range. Price does not dictate whether it’s mid or high end as it’s down to performance.
     
  19. bawjaws

    bawjaws Multimodder

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    Aye, I understand that :D The smilies in there should have indicated that I wasn't being entirely serious ;)
     
  20. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    Partially disagree: a Bugatti is a high-end car, but the existence of cheaper Bugattis and more expensive Bugattis doesn't make the cheaper ones an entry-level car or the ones in the middle a mid-range car. Yes, they're entry-level and mid-range Bugattis, but that's not the same thing.

    To drop the metaphor, the problem - as I see it - is that we basically don't have entry-level or even mid-range dGPUs on the market today, beyond buying previous-generation models: we only have high-end, within which you can buy the cheaper high-end or more expensive high-end models. It's a market full of Bugattis, and what we need is a Volvo.
     

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