GTX 1060 6GB Vs GTX 980 4GB 2018 - Linus Tech Tips

• Ic3d

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Hello, wanting to ask opinions on what I should upgrade to, a GTX 1060 6Gb (£200) or a GTX 980 4GB (£175) for the best 1080p experience in 2018 and the next few years. They are to be paired to a core i5 4570, 8Gb of DDR3 1600MHz ram and a 500Gb SSD. Power supply is not an issue (750w)

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• Crunchy Dragon

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980 is roughly equal in performance to a 1060 6Gb, but I would choose the 1060 6Gb mostly for the extra 2Gb VRAM.

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• Ic3d

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@Crunchy Dragondo you think the extra 2Gb VRAM will make a big difference at 1080p, while the 980 is about 5% more powerful?

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• jiyeon

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GTX 1060 6GB, because:

1) Power efficiency - by a lot, 165W on 980 vs 120W on 1060, according to Nvdiia's website

2) 2GB more VRAM

3) GTX 1060 is more capable of future games (a bit subjective, but a newer architecture usually translates to newer hardware capabitilies)

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• Beowulff83

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You have a 1060 3gb?  upgrading to a 6gb version would be a waste at this point.  I would hold off if you can.

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• Crunchy Dragon

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2 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@Crunchy Dragondo you think the extra 2Gb VRAM will make a big difference at 1080p, while the 980 is about 5% more powerful?

The 2Gb VRAM won't make a big difference at 1080p, but it'll speed things up since more textures can be loaded to the VRAM instead of being limited to the 980's 4Gb. Also it'll last longer as games get more demanding.

Quote or tag me( @Crunchy Dragon) if you want me to see your reply

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• Ic3d

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@Beowulff83i want to as i have some extra cash and i believe that we are about to see another price hike in 10 series cards despite the 11 series rumoured to be launching in august due to people waiting for the new cards to launch then use the sudden drop in price of 10 series cards to get one but overall i think there will be a 5-10% increase in price until 11 series card come into wide availability. also some of my games want more than 3Gb of vram

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• Beowulff83

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4 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@Beowulff83i want to as i have some extra cash and i believe that we are about to see another price hike in 10 series cards despite the 11 series rumoured to be launching in august due to people waiting for the new cards to launch then use the sudden drop in price of 10 series cards to get one but overall i think there will be a 5-10% increase in price until 11 series card come into wide availability. also some of my games want more than 3Gb of vram

If able to i would try to shoot for a 1070 or 1070Ti.  I know here in the states the 1070 is at a bad price point and better off jumping to the 1070TI.  But if you can't swing that much go with the 1060 6gb.  

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• Jurrunio

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5 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

also some of my games want more than 3Gb of vram

then shoot a 1070ti or Vega 56. sidegrading (not even an upgrade) to 1060 6gb, 980 4gb or even rx580s arent worth the expense.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard:Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

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• Ic3d

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@Jurrunio i would be more interested in spending the extra £100 on the I7 4770 rather than the 1070 and the 1070ti is like £150 more than the 1060 6gb, but thanks for the thought

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• seon123

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27 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

Power supply is not an issue (750w)

No, it's most definitely an issue. It costs £11 on Amazon. It has a single PCIe 6 pin connector. IE, it's garbage and a fire hazard. The Pure Power 10 CM 400W costs £45, use it to replace your current one. 

For the GPU, the 980 should perform slightly better right now, the 1060 being more similar to a 970. Maxwell can also be overclocked way more than Pascal, which can make a difference. 

With that said, older Nvidia architectures tend to tank performance, as they tend to deal poorly with newer technologies. For example asynchronous compute was an issue in AotS. 

:)

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• Ic3d

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@seon123the reason i say it isnt an issue is the guy i bought it off was using it with a 1070 and a 6700k without issues by using a 6 pin to 6+2 pin for the gpu (for some reason the power supply has 3 12v rails going to the 6 pin not just 2 like normal so it can supply the 150w) and i agree its cheap but i have used a laser thermometer and none of it gets above 40 odd degrees C under my current load of roughly 300w accounting for inefficiency and peripherals 

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• seon123

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2 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@seon123the reason i say it isnt an issue is the guy i bought it off was using it with a 1070 and a 6700k without issues by using a 6 pin to 6+2 pin for the gpu (for some reason the power supply has 3 12v rails going to the 6 pin not just 2 like normal so it can supply the 150w) and i agree its cheap but i have used a laser thermometer and none of it gets above 40 odd degrees C under my current load of roughly 300w accounting for inefficiency and peripherals 

The issue isn't thermals. The issue is things like the regulation, ripple and transient response, and how that affects the lifespan of your components. 

To test those accurately, you need an oscilloscope and a load tester. Though the ripple is most important, and that requires "just" an oscilloscope. 

Having multiple rails will not improve the conductiveness of the wires, or decrease the resistance in the PCIe connector. 

:)

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• Jaggsta

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41 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@Beowulff83i want to as i have some extra cash and i believe that we are about to see another price hike in 10 series cards despite the 11 series rumoured to be launching in august due to people waiting for the new cards to launch then use the sudden drop in price of 10 series cards to get one but overall i think there will be a 5-10% increase in price until 11 series card come into wide availability. also some of my games want more than 3Gb of vram

miners offloading all 10 series cards for next months won't see any price hikes gonna see lower prices I got GTX 1080 SC2 ICX for $350 2 weeks ago.

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• LienusLateTips

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13 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@seon123the reason i say it isnt an issue is the guy i bought it off was using it with a 1070 and a 6700k without issues by using a 6 pin to 6+2 pin for the gpu (for some reason the power supply has 3 12v rails going to the 6 pin not just 2 like normal so it can supply the 150w) and i agree its cheap but i have used a laser thermometer and none of it gets above 40 odd degrees C under my current load of roughly 300w accounting for inefficiency and peripherals 

Thermals isn't the reason. It's the electrical performance and ripple.

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• Jurrunio

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59 minutes ago, Ic3d said:

@Jurrunio i would be more interested in spending the extra £100 on the I7 4770 rather than the 1070 and the 1070ti is like £150 more than the 1060 6gb, but thanks for the thought

4570 to 4770 isnt a good investment for a gaming rig either, considering how well the old i7 holds its value.

CPU: i7-2600K 4751MHz 1.44V (software) --> 1.47V at the back of the socket Motherboard:Asrock Z77 Extreme4 (BCLK: 103.3MHz) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 RAM: Adata XPG 2x8GB DDR3 (XMP: 2133MHz 10-11-11-30 CR2, custom: 2203MHz 10-11-10-26 CR1 tRFC:230 tREFI:14000) GPU: Asus GTX 1070 Dual (Super Jetstream vbios, +70(2025-2088MHz)/+400(8.8Gbps)) SSD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (main boot drive), Transcend SSD370 128GB PSU: Seasonic X-660 80+ Gold Case: Antec P110 Silent, 5 intakes 1 exhaust Monitor: AOC G2460PF 1080p 144Hz (150Hz max w/ DP, 121Hz max w/ HDMI) TN panel Keyboard: Logitech G610 Orion (Cherry MX Blue) with SteelSeries Apex M260 keycaps Mouse: BenQ Zowie FK1

Model: HP Omen 17 17-an110ca CPU: i7-8750H (0.125V core & cache, 50mV SA undervolt) GPU: GTX 1060 6GB Mobile (+80/+450, 1650MHz~1750MHz 0.78V~0.85V) RAM: 8+8GB DDR4-2400 18-17-17-39 2T Storage: HP EX920 1TB PCIe x4 M.2 SSD + Crucial MX500 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD, 128GB Toshiba PCIe x2 M.2 SSD(KBG30ZMV128G) gone cooking externally, 1TB Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" HDD (ST1000LM049-2GH172) left outside Monitor: 1080p 126Hz IPS G-sync

Desktop benching:

Cinebench R15 Single thread:168 Multi-thread: 833 

SuperPi (v1.5 from Techpowerup, PI value output) 16K: 0.100s 1M: 8.255s 32M: 7m 45.93s

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• O9B0666

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1 hour ago, Ic3d said:

@Jurrunio i would be more interested in spending the extra £100 on the I7 4770 rather than the 1070 and the 1070ti is like £150 more than the 1060 6gb, but thanks for the thought

At this point you'd sort of be wasting your money.. Your going to just be paying that 299 for just three gigs of ram as both perferom similar make it worth it and get a 1070 or above which is the only way you'd see performance increase. Otherwise your just paying for ram. 

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• Ic3d

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ok so let me get this right:

1. get a new power supply (i imaging 500w from a reputable company would be ok?)

2. dont bother with either the 1060 6gb and 980 4gb and go for a 1070 instead

3. dont bother upgrading from the i5 4570 to the i7 4770

thanks for the help guys

Have a nice day:)

PC:    CPU: Core i7 4790k   I   GPU: MSI GTX 1070Ti Armor   I   COOLING: Custom water loop (cpu and gpu)  I  RAM: 16Gb DDR3 1600MHz   I   SSD: Samsung 850 evo 500Gb   I   HDD: WD blue 1TB, Hitatchi 2TB, Generic 1TB   I   PSU: EVGA 500w

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• 1 month later...

• Adult Man

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On 7/27/2018 at 9:10 PM, Ic3d said:

ok so let me get this right:

 

1. get a new power supply (i imaging 500w from a reputable company would be ok?)

2. dont bother with either the 1060 6gb and 980 4gb and go for a 1070 instead

3. dont bother upgrading from the i5 4570 to the i7 4770

 

thanks for the help guys

Maybe Tomshardware "users" moved here. ahah. oh boi.. here we go!!

I think 1060 is good enough for 1060p and that psu is definitely overkill, if you planning to buy it, i use gtx1060 with 450watt psu. everything is ok. but if you planning to oc or some bling bling led rgb maybe 500watt psu.

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• Darkseth

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3. Actually, getting a used 4770K / 4790K for a decent Prices is not the worst idea.

In many games, i5 quads are already bottlenecking in 1080p, because 4 Cores/Threads are..... not much anymore. Hyperthreading can already help alot in certain games.

When BF1 came out, so many users couldn't get decent fps (more like frametimes) with their i5, even on Low - framedrops because i5 had not enough threads.

They upgraded to an i7 4-Core 8Thread, and problem solved.

If you happen to drop below 60 fps, and your GPU is NOT the issue, a cheap used i7 could solve your problem.

But for that, you would need to confirm for sure, that you are in exactly this situation.

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