New GPU for WoW only, 1080P

[entropism]

Looking to keep this cheap as possible, but I need to replace my GTX 570 and want to get a significant boost while I do it. Only game I play with any regularity is WoW, will be on a 1080P, 60Hz monitor. Would like to max it out as much as possible, but I know I'll never get 60FPS during raids. Have no issue dialing down the effects while raiding. Right now my GPU is hitting 85-90c while playing, and sounds like a damn tornado. It's driving me up a damn wall, and I'd rather just upgrade the card for $150-200 than spend $50 to replace with a better cooler.

So... I've Been looking at the RX470/480 and the GTX 1060. If I went with the 1060, will 3GB be enough, or should I be springing for the 6GB?


Other relevant specs, for full disclosure - 3570K @4Ghz, 16GB ram, 750w EVGA PSU

[pateuvasiliu]

I don't think a GTX1060 is worth it if all you play is WoW.

[potis]

Get the RX 480, its more future proof for DX12 games, it actually performs better on DX12 games over the 1060 6GB, and they perform equally at WoW, so you will be fine.

Yes, Blizzard games prefer nvidia we know that, but AMD cards have no real issues in WoW.

Or, get which ever you can find on sale to save money, they really are in between 2-5% whether its DX11 or DX12.

[entropism]

Thanks for the advice, it's appreciated. Looks like I can get a 470 for $150-175, the 480 from 175-200, the 1060 3gb for 200-230, and the 6GB for about $250ish. At that point, I might as well go for the 470, huh?

Potis, when I say I'll ONLY use this for wow? WoW is probably the only game I've played in the past 8 or so years, and even when I quit between WOTLK and Cata, I simply just didn't play games. Wasn't a priority.

[Nellah]

With recent driver updates the RX 480 is on par with the GTX 1060 for performance, by my understanding. RX 480 4GB is roughly equivalent to the 1060 3GB (with the RX 470 very close behind), and the higher-end models of each comparable to each other. Unless you're stuck on NVIDIA because you already have a G-SYNC monitor the RX 470/480 will be the better option.

[entropism]

Nellah, the monitor is either a 7 year old 26" ASUS, or a 2008 Dell 2408 WFP. Might even be 2 of the dells, I have both just sitting around. Either way, no G-Sync or Freesync or NSync or KitchenSync.

I think I have it narrowed down to the 4GB MSI Gamer X 480. It's the quietest option, and i can get it for about $180 shipped.

[Fascinate]

Nellah, the monitor is either a 7 year old 26" ASUS, or a 2008 Dell 2408 WFP. Might even be 2 of the dells, I have both just sitting around. Either way, no G-Sync or Freesync or NSync or KitchenSync.

I think I have it narrowed down to the 4GB MSI Gamer X 480. It's the quietest option, and i can get it for about $180 shipped.

Think twice about that:
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/...X_1060/23.html

WoW has quite an affinity for nvidia graphics chips for some reason, the 3gb 1060 is what i recommend.

[Lathais]

For just WoW, just get a 1050:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ti,4787-5.html

With the exception of the 470, everything else you listed is overkill for WoW at 1080p. Since you said you play no other games, have no plan to play other games and have not played any other games in over 8 years.....anything more than even the 2GB 1050 is pretty much a waste of money.

[entropism]

Fair enough, but the question is where those frame rates are taken from. Is that 80FPS in an enpty starting area (most likely) or is that in a raid? Because honestly, all I do is raiding these days.

[Fascinate]

Fair enough, but the question is where those frame rates are taken from. Is that 80FPS in an enpty starting area (most likely) or is that in a raid? Because honestly, all I do is raiding these days.

Not sure tbh, but i know for a fact those fps do translate to a raid. Not as much as that benchmark shows and it goes against logic, but nvidia does get higher raid fps than amd cards. The amd card is probably stronger overall and if you can get it cheaper than the 1060 i would usually say do that, but you titled the thread as WoW only. If your only game is WoW, you really should have an nvidia GPU.

[Nellah]

Doubtful it's from a raid, since the benchmark for benchmarks (heh) is to be repeatable, and good luck with that in a raid. Also the framerates are in the 150-200 range, which I can't even get in a 5-man.

It bears noting that framerates are going to be far more CPU limited in raids, and that AMD cards have crept up in performance pretty steadily and significantly since launch and since those tests were run. However, though I will say that my 290 and 480s work perfectly fine in Blizzard games (good framerates at 1440p for that matter) the titles do favor NVIDIA cards. Honestly, any of the cards mentioned will do just fine, either good performance for now or for the future; we're talking differences in the single digit percents when the CPU and GPU are under load for the same price.

[entropism]

So Nellah, if you're using a 480 now, what kind of framerates are you seeing in raids, and at what settings? 1080P preferable, if you can test at that res.

[Nellah]

I will test when I get home tomorrow morning. I use an R9 290 in my main PC and an RX 480 4GB in another, paired with Haswell i5s. I'll just test in Raid Finder, of course, but I'll see if I can get some framerate / CPU / GPU utilization captures. The computers they're in run 1440p and 1600p monitors respectively but I'll drop to 1080p Windowed to give you some idea of what they can run. I'll also test an RX 460 to give some notion of what you can get in the lower range (slower than a 1050 Ti, but comparable to one when compared to the 290/480.)

[entropism]

Nellah, that would be awesome, especially when compared to the 460. Watching this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFKFyvLeV8U) was pretty interesting. Everything maxed, RX480 (8GB though, not 4) and he was getting 60-100FPS in raids. More than adequate for my needs, to say the least.

[Nellah]

(It may take a couple days before I get a video up, if you don't mind waiting. Otherwise I can just take the data and present it in text form.)

[Laqweeta]

I don't think a GTX1060 is worth it if all you play is WoW.

1050 TI can run it fine o.o

[entropism]

Text is fine!

1050 TI can run it fine o.o

In raids, between 7-10, at 1080P it's going to get 60ish FPS or higher?

[Laqweeta]

Text is fine!



In raids, between 7-10, at 1080P it's going to get 60ish FPS or higher?

I wouldn't say at 7-10 @ 1080P in Raids, a 1050TI is a SUPER budget card.... But it WILL run WoW at Ultra, shadows at medium?
I have a 770 running current WoW @ all ultra, shadows at high, and I get around 90-300 FPS without V-Sync ofc :3. A 1050TI is 3 generations above my current card, you'll be fine doll c: <3 :* :* :* Keep in mind though that my CPU is a 2500K OCd to 4.5 GHZ so uhm, yeah c:

[entropism]

I wouldn't say at 7-10 @ 1080P in Raids, a 1050TI is a SUPER budget card.

Right, but I'm looking to achieve that, and able to spend more. So...

[Laqweeta]

Right, but I'm looking to achieve that, and able to spend more. So...

Alright, so future proof yourself? Get a 1070. With your CPU and the amount of ram, you'd do a HUGE disservice to not get a 1070. DO NOT PUT A 1060 INTO YOUR COMPUTER. GET. A. TEN. SEVENTY. You have to remember that with your current setup, you could run Rise of the Tomb Raider @ Ultra @ 1440P WITH 45-60 FPS. Please, get a 1070 :c