GTX 1060 potential bottleneck & Storage Upgrades.

calvinr22

Okay, so I've had the same computer for a number of years

- i7 2660k CPU
- Asus P8Z68 Motherboard
- 8GB Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
- Corsair 850w PSU

Starting off I used the MSI GTX 680 2GB which served me well for a number of years, then upgraded to an MSI GTX 970 4GB which blew my mind. It ran every game at 1080p, 60 fps with absolutely no problems. Since then I have sold the 970 as I needed money for something quick, and I'm now left with my computer without a GPU. Needless to say I'm not using it but I plan to when Christmas comes around. I should add it's a very mid-range PC, I don't have an SSD (although I am planning to get one) My OS and games are stored on 4 different HDD's. (messy, I know). I have some old Seagate 160gb hard drive that was given to me by a teacher in school as he was salvaging old parts (I use it to store my OS), I have a 500gb WD Blue HDD which is my primary hard drive for my games, but then that filled up so I got a 250gb WD Blue HDD as a second hard drive for games. Finally, I have a whopping 3TB WD Green HDD. I have this because I did a bit of YouTube here and there so I needed the space for video storing and editing etc, but school took priority so now that's sitting there doing nothing.

I am aware that WD Green isn't all that great, and if I'm honest I bought the Green version as it was the cheapest at the time. I'm planning to get rid off all my HDD's and getting an SSD for my OS, and getting rid of the 3TB Green in exchange for maybe a 1-2TB WD Black for all my games, instead of having a big mess and having my games stored on two different HDD's. (opinions would be appreciated on this).

Now, since I'm left short-handed with regards a GPU, as I said this Christmas is when I plan to fix everything up. I'm aware that my CPU isn't all that modern, but I don't actually know what it's capable of. I built this PC years ago and haven't upgraded anything apart from the GPU's over time. I want a GPU that isn't too expensive but will definitely last a few years before I need to upgrade again. My first idea was the GTX 1060. The main reason why I'm writing this thread is because I'm worried the two might bottleneck each other. In particular I was looking at the ASUS Strix model of the GTX 1060, I've done my research on most variants of the GTX 1060 and this one stands out to me the most. If the 1060 isn't the best card to get in that price range that'll last a good few years then what is?

I'm not an extremely overkill gamer my budget is fairly tight. I have one decent 1080p monitor and 2 less decent ones, usually I use 2 monitors. But I still want something that will guarantee pristine performance if I do upgrade with regards resolution (1440p for example). We are moving house soon and I plan to completely redesign my setup with regards my monitors (I plan to have 1 1440p monitor in the middle and 2 1080p ones either side).

Thanks everyone.

P.S: This is quite long I know and I apologize, just looking for some solid advice from someone who knows their stuff, I'm only an amateur at this stuff but I plan to go back to YouTube once the big exams are out of the way.

TerrorFirmer

The GTX1060 is similar to your old GTX970 really, unfortunately there is nothing in between the €270+ GTX1060 6GB and €400+ GTX1070, though the 1070 is a beast. The GTX1060 will handle 1440P OK, but not at 1440p ultra settings obviously. Sadly since Nvidia is dominating the market, prices are not as good compared to what they should be. A 4GB RX470 is pretty good value too and can be had for around €200, for it's probably the best sweet spot (GTX1060 3GB is also that price but I prefer the 4GB of the RX470). The Strix GTX1060 is obviously going to be very expensive, and at the end of the day a cheap GTX1070 wouldn't be far off the same price for massively superior performance. Obviously it's an excellent model but you have to balance what's important to you, too. Is quietness and/or temperatures more important than performance? Is the length of warranty important (3yr, 5yr, lifetime?).

Your i7-2600K won't bottleneck, even without being overclocked.

Venom

The Strix GTX cards are the most expensive of all the AIB manufacturers and only offer a few frames per second difference and some RGB options. I think you would be mad upgrading to a 1060 as while its better than a 970, it's not enough of a jump to justify the cost.

The 1060 which can't be SLI'd, sits roughly between the GTX 970 and 980 so maybe save up and get a 1070 which offers better than 980Ti levels of performance.

TerrorFirmer

He sold the GTX970 though as he needed money at the time, so he has no card at the moment and needs one.

Venom

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

He sold the GTX970 though as he needed money at the time, so he has no card at the moment and needs one.

Without knowing how much the OP got for the 970 but taking €200 as an average of what there going for second hand at the moment, the extra in price for a 1060 does not match up with the slight difference in performance it would have over a 970.

The 1070 like the 970 in the Maxwell lineup is the current sweet spot this generation in price/performance.

TerrorFirmer

You can get decent GTX1060's for about €260 though, and €420+ for a GTX1070 is a seriously big leap - if the OP can afford it, grand, but he said he's a) gaming at 1080p and b) budget is tight. An extra €60 or so for a brand new, newer generation of the same card with better performance, lower power draw, almost double the vram, etc isn't criminal. He said the sale of the 970 was because he needed money fast rather than looking for an upgrade, otherwise he seemed extremely content with its performance. I'd say the GTX1060 6GB fits the bill fine.

Personally I think the GTX1070 and GTX1080 are poorly priced (getting better now but still pricey), it's grand if you have the money but Nvidia have shafted people this generation with the pricing compared to previous generations. For 80% of people the GTX1060 3GB or RX470/480 4GB offer the best value in terms of €/frame at 1080P at around €200-220.

Venom

The OP stated an interest in the Strix 1060 which is not a budget friendly card in any way so an extra €100 for 1070 is not out of the realms of possibility and considering the Op is running a 850w PSU power draw is not going to be a factor.

The 1070/80's are expensive but offer 980Ti/Titan X levels of performance and offer a few years of gaming before you have to worry about upgrading again.

ShadowHearth

For 1080p 1060 6GB will be perfect in that system. It won't bottleneck. You will get away easily with 1440p on i7 2600k + 1060.

Though might be better off with rx480? Nvidia pricing unfortunately is out of control die to feck all competition. They can charge us what ever they want until new rumored and gpu coming up.