Help with choosing a new GPU

markfresh · 20 Jun 2019

HI , i have been running a Nvidia geforce wind force 1060 3g, thru a 27" 1920 x 1080 monitor.

I have upgraded to a aoc agon 31.5 2560 x 1440 monitor.

The 1060 struggles with the new monitor by alot of fps on games like shadow of the tomb raider , and i even had to turn world of warcraft settings down from 9/10 to 6/10.

On shadow its mainly a lack of fps (was in game benchmarking 60fps , now 39 fps).

I would love something like the rtx 2060 , but for 1 i'm on a budget, and 2 my monitors ( the 27" and 31.5) both have freesync which i have read is well worth using.

So what would be an AMD card that is between the 1060 and 2060 in both performance and price ( here in australia a 2060 is about $650 au, and a 1060 $295 ) ,

so looking at $400-$500 au.

I could play shadow and world of warcraft on high to ultra settings without much problem , just looking for something that will do the same on my 1440.

And also is freesync all its cracked up to be ? or would i stay with nvidia?

Thanks Mark

bobkn · 20 Jun 2019

I'm not current with a AMD cards. I have the impression that AMD isn't trying for a better price/performance ratio than nVidia, so there may be no bargains to be had by switching makes.

In the nVidia lineup, the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1660 ti are between the GTX 1060 and the RTX 2060. They are Turing cards (like the RTX series) but without the raytracing capability.

Whether either has enough additional power to allow gaming at 2560 X 1440, I don't know. If I had to guess, I'd bet that the gain with the newer cards wouldn't be enough. They are basically replacements for the 1060, which usually means that the performance improvements may not be enough to justify an upgrade.

As regards freesync, see: Nvidia driver unlocks FreeSync monitor support for GeForce graphics cards | PCWorld

That's not to push nVidia cards, but not to exclude them either, if you wish to use freesync.

markfresh · 20 Jun 2019

Thank you for the reply. The 1660, 1660ti would probably what I would go with for NVIDIA , the problem I had that I forgot to mention is that my 1060 and monitor are compatible with freesync , but when I turn it on I get a black screen every few minutes for a couple of seconds , this is one reason I was thinking amd even though I prefer NVIDIA , I've read that there is a way to adjust the hertz minimum etc to stop this , but it's not guaranteed to work , so I guess it's either hope that freesync NVIDIA works , or just go with amd , but I know even less about amd so a bit stuck . In amd I was looking at the Rx 580 or 590 , but not sure if they are on par with a 1660/1660ti

Faith · 20 Jun 2019

Wait until July 7th, that's when AMD will release their Radeon RX 5700 lineup for $379 that will will directly compete with a Nvidia RTX 2070. The RX 580/590 is not really a 1440p card, but it's definitely a fine 1080p card that's incredible in performance/price ratio. However for your needs you probably need something more punchy, like a RTX 2060/70 or AMD RX 5700.

I forgot to mention that I always look at high graphics setting @60fps when looking at cards. If your threshold is lower then a GTX 1660 will do great. AMD doesn't really have a card that's in this space yet, not that I know of anyway. I guess Navi will try and fit in here somewhere.

Pejole2165 · 20 Jun 2019

You should really read up on the available cards, the tech spec's on a site such as PCGamer, they regularly rate the cards performance (Nvidia and AMD) at a variety of screen resolutions, graphics options and current games. They then show the results in easy to read graphs.
For my self I had a GTX1050TI and was running it with a 42 inch HD tv as a monitor (1920 x 1080 resolution, 60Hz), I was getting an average of 150 -180 fps in Warcraft at high settings, however I had to turn off shadows (shadows at high quality will stress even high end cards).
Recently I switched to an RTX2060 card on the same tv, and now use adaptive sync, this allows me to run at ultra settings, with high shadows at 60 fps and it never drops below that.
There are several tweaks you can make for most games to increase the eye candy settings at little to no performance hit, and really unless you are playing competitive co-op shooters, do you really need 200fps?
The only reason I chose the RTX2060 over the GT1660 series was potential future proofing should real time ray tracing become workable and the RTX was on sale at Amazon for about £50 more than the 1660.
Also depending on when you read this post, AMMD are releasing new cards to compete with Nvidias RTX series.

markfresh · 21 Jun 2019

Thanks for the replies , in regards to the 2060 and amd rx 5700 over here they are expensive and im on a budget,
i have been reading specs and watching videos eg 1660ti vs 1060, 2060, rx 590 , YouTube, which to me looks like the 1660ti is way ahead of my current card and the rx 590 , but as under the 2060.
I guess what it comes down to , is i dont need ray tracing and all the bells and whistles , i just want a card that runs my
2560 x 1440 144hz monitor as well as my 1060 ran my 1920 x 1080 60hz monitor. 9/10 settings on warcraft , and high with tweaks settings on shadow of the tombraider etc, and with the same fps i was getting in both games.
And as far as future proof , i dont mind buying a new card in a year or so when the games catch up to the ray tracing etc, i have read that at the moment most of these functions would be useless to me ( and im not playing esports or co-op or anything )
Also in regards to waiting , as i have just purchased a new monitor id like to get more out of its potential sooner than later .

- - - Updated - - -

I was looking at the 1660 ti , the reviews are confusing , looking here Best graphics card 2019: the best GPU for your gaming build | PC Gamer for example at 1440 ultra settings the 1060 3g is at 36.4 , the 1660 at 48.3 , the 1660 ti 56.7 and the 2060 at 67.3.
So to me even the 1660 would be an upgrade from the 1060 3g and then the 1660 ti even better , but i watched a video that said the 1660 ti is not worth upgrading to.
A 1660 here is $447 for the gaming one , the 1660 ti gaming for $552 and the gaming 2060 for $680.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh i just realised aswell that my new monitor is freesync 2 not the older freesync which apparently nvidia doesnt support .
it works with UFO Test: Freesync but not with fur mark , so its either go without freesync or get an amd hmmmm

Faith · 21 Jun 2019

If you don't need RTX you can safely get a GTX 1660Ti, but I wouldn't recommend anything lower for 1440p gaming in my opinion (based on my standards of course). It's expensive where I live aswell, but not to this degree.

But maybe the prices will drop once AMD releases their 5700 lineup on July 7th. Nvidia will release their "super" refresh around that time aswell (whatever they are) and we will probably see a price reduction somewhere on these current cards to compete with AMD, hopefully. But I don't understand why FreeSync 2 doesn't work on Nvidia? because it's basically just FreeSync with added HDR and LFC support. Could you list your full monitor's name? I know that both HDR and LFC works on Nvidia G-Sync compatible monitors.

markfresh · 21 Jun 2019

Thankyou for the reply, i think i might wait , till the rtx comes down in price , i did a fresh nvidia install and i downloaded msi afterburner and overclocked my card a bit , and getting 55fps on shadow of the tomb raider on normal settings.
Also with freesync 2 for some reason it works with shadow of the tomb raider but not with world of warcraft , i spoke to nvidia and they said the gpu comes default with adaptive sync apparently. I double checked and the monitor is just freesync i think not freesync 2 , but nvidia said it will work, they said to select prefer high performance, and turn vertical sync and triple buffering off.
Monitor is Aoc AG322qcx The worldwide leader in displays | AOC Europe
and my card https://www.gigabyte.com/au/Graphics...60WF2OC-3GD#kf

Faith · 21 Jun 2019

Your monitor is not FreeSync 2 and doesn't support HDR. It does have LFC though. It got a 48-144 range via DP so that's good (HDMI doesn't work with VRR for Nvidia). Not sure why you're seeing blanking though. As long as the game is in this refresh rate range it should work. And with LFC you shouldn't get tearing below it either. So basically your monitor should work with Nvidia with variable refresh rate if everything is configured and that the monitor works correctly.

Monitor specs: https://www.amd.com/en/products/freesync-monitors
Manufacturer: Agon - AG322QCX

Now, I can tell you that who ever you spoke to at Nvidia is lying. First of, Vsync should always be enabled with G-Sync (G-Sync compatible monitors). You can read more about why here: G-SYNC 101: Optimal G-SYNC Settings & Conclusion | Blur Busters

Second, the triple buffering option doesn't do anything to DirectX, this is for OpenGL applications and games.

Feel free to ask if you're uncertain about something.

markfresh · 21 Jun 2019

Oh i see ok , sorry what is LFC and do i need to turn it on?
Just reading the g-sync link aswell , so i had both full screen and windows mode selected in nvidia control panel, and also vertical sync off. i changed these and no black screen anymore :P.
The only thing i notice is a little flicker every now and again.
Sholuld i turn triple buffering on in the nvidia control?
It is very close to perfect , thankyou so much