GTX 670 Upgrade Advice

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Brando457

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 11, 2003
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I plan on gaming on my current monitor for at least a few more years. I would like to play games on the highest settings possible such as Far Cry 4, GTA V, Batman Arkham, Fallout 4, etc.

I am debating if I should upgrade to a 1070 GTX once the non founder edition cards become readily available. I also considered the RX 480, but it seems the 1070 GTX would be better for me.

Are there any parts of my system that would bottleneck the 1070 GTX? Is that the right path to take?

Currently my CPU is not overclocked as I am not sure how to do it in the bios.

>> Current Rig <<
Intel I5-3570K 3.4 Ghz cooled w/ Corsair H1800I
Asus Sabertooth Z77 LGA 1155
Corsair Vengeance 16 GB 4 x 4 GB DDR3 1866 MHZ PC3 15000
EVGA GTX 670
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
BenQ XL2420T 24" 120 Hz monitor
Corsair HX 850 Watt Pro Series


Thank you for your time and assistance.
 
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1070 would be a huge upgrade from 1 670, it might be a touch of overkill at 1080 unless your looking for 90 fps min with most settings max, in which case its a good option. I'd go for it.
 
Brando457 said:
If looking for 60 fps at max settings?
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By next year it'll probably do around 70FPS max settings on all new games.

Year after that, you'll probably need to start lowering settings.

I always assume a FPS loss of 10-20% every year as games get more demanding.
 
I had a 670 and it finally met it's match when Crysis 3 came out so I upgraded to my 290x Lightning and it still shreds pretty much everything I've played so far (I'm at 1080 too). A 480 would be a little below my 290x and would be able to to play most everything at max settings but a 1070 would have you in the 100+ range at pretty much any game and would take better advantage of your 120Hz monitor.

Generally I'm of the belief that you should buy the fastest GPU you can afford and if the 1070 is within your budget, I'd jump on it. Hell I'd even be ok with getting a 1080. It's borderline overkill for 1080 but it would last you a LONG time.
 
I have a evga 670 ftw available if that interests you at all for sli to hold you off another year :)

Otherwise the 1060 480 and overkill 1070 would be great choices!

The 480 = 970 give or take from what I've read
 
If you game at 1080p, I think 480 will be good enough but I say wait for AIB 480
 
if you get a 480 wait for AIB ones.

then again you do have something ending with a 70, so 1070 perhaps? Keeping the generation going?
 
1070 since you have had the card long time. It will serve you well! I hated the price tag on founders edition but I had a 80 dollar best buy gift card so I pulled the trigger on it. Cost me 369+ tax. But I think if you buy online newegg has few around 400-410 that show up quiet a bit. You will be set for a while!

I got mine because I believe these cars will hold their value. I think I would able to collect 300+ minimum on it a year from now.

Plus on my new build thats coming in next week, I thought it would be kinda cool to have geforce gtx lit up showing through the window. My nerd factor closed the deal as well.
 
NKD said:
if you get a 480 wait for AIB ones.

then again you do have something ending with a 70, so 1070 perhaps? Keeping the generation going?
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I saw he should go with AIB 480 and wait 2 years later to buy whatever the 480 or 1060 equivalent if he is still gonna stick with his current monitor.
 
you could get a RX 480 CF which is faster than 1070 and cost around 30usd more(if you buy the 4GB model) but if you can wait for custom cards
 
Brando457 said:
If looking for 60 fps at max settings?
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For consistent 60 FPS @ 1080p? You might want to wait for the GTX 1060, and then check its reviews, once it comes out. There's a good chance that AIB custom models might bring it to GTX 980 or slightly better levels.
 
I think that once you get into a certain segment, you stay there unless your gaming needs or budget drastically change. You got an x70 part and it served you well, so I'd suggest doing the same again. Get either the GeForce GTX 1070, or see if an eventual RX 490 competes with it. If Vega isn't out when an AIB 1070 catches your interest, I say jump on it then rather than wait.
 
I'm going to grab a GTX 1070 once more of the non-founder editions come out (I don't like the cooler). I figure in the future if I decide to upgrade my monitor the 1070 is the best bet.

I looked at the AMD R480s, but I'd rather get the GTX.
 
Brando457 said:
I'm going to grab a GTX 1070 once more of the non-founder editions come out (I don't like the cooler). I figure in the future if I decide to upgrade my monitor the 1070 is the best bet.

I looked at the AMD R480s, but I'd rather get the GTX.
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IMO, with your 120hz monitor you're going to want a little 'extra horsepower' if you set your refresh above 60hz. The 1070 is a great performer and should hold its value fairly well if you decide to resell and upgrade later I the 10xx product cycle. Investing more in a GPU can make your whole platform stay relevant as it more impactful on gaming performance than CPUs many times today. That said, enusiast hardware is more of a labor of love than sound investment strategy :)

Also, for what it's worth, try to find some CPU/motherboard overclock research. I'm not familiar with your cooler and can't find any data so I'm not sure how thermal limited you are at the moment. The games you listed are pretty CPU intensive at 1080p so gaining 10-20 percent faster clocks could help your total system performance out.
 
PontiacGTX said:
you could get a RX 480 CF which is faster than 1070 and cost around 30usd more(if you buy the 4GB model) but if you can wait for custom cards
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And have dead Motherboards. As well as a 4GB limitation compared to 8GB for the 1070. And enjoy all the nasties that comes with multi-GPU.
 
upgraded from sli 670 to a single 1080 and the upgrade was huge. single 670 to a 1070 would be even bigger. This is what I would pick. While CF 480s does look like a viable alternative, I do not want to ever deal with the frustration of watching my 2nd video card being totally useless upon the release of a AAA games ever again.
Also, try to overclock your cpu a bit higher
 
trandoanhung1991 said:
And have dead Motherboards. As well as a 4GB limitation compared to 8GB for the 1070. And enjoy all the nasties that comes with multi-GPU.
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Custom cards will solve the power delivery related stuff, but 8GB can be priced cheaper with discount as it happens in few weeks
 
PontiacGTX said:
Custom cards will solve the power delivery related stuff, but 8GB can be priced cheaper with discount as it happens in few weeks
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Cheaper 8GB models are likely to have 7Gbps as opposed to 8Gbps VRAM chips.

As for custom cards solving the power delivery, we'll have to wait and see.
 
trandoanhung1991 said:
Cheaper 8GB models are likely to have 7Gbps as opposed to 8Gbps VRAM chips.
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This is definitely something to watch for, ESPECIALLY if you game over 1080p. I'll be watching this like a hawk because I game at 4k.

trandoanhung1991 said:
As for custom cards solving the power delivery, we'll have to wait and see.
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Any "custom" card that doesn't use a 6+8 pin, I'd wait for reviews. The PowerColor Devil was leaked showing a single 8-pin. In theory, that's 225W. The RX 480 was already hitting 200+ with a modest OC. I'm ok with them drawing more than 150W from the 8-pin, but not going over 75W sustained from the PCI-E, so I'd have to see how it handles an OC before purchase.
 
Daniel_Chang said:
This is definitely something to watch for, ESPECIALLY if you game over 1080p. I'll be watching this like a hawk because I game at 4k.



Any "custom" card that doesn't use a 6+8 pin, I'd wait for reviews. The PowerColor Devil was leaked showing a single 8-pin. In theory, that's 225W. The RX 480 was already hitting 200+ with a modest OC. I'm ok with them drawing more than 150W from the 8-pin, but not going over 75W sustained from the PCI-E, so I'd have to see how it handles an OC before purchase.
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1300MHz + 50% PL + Valley = 193W.

If you're aiming for 1400MHz or more I think you need dual 8 pins. 1266MHz to 1300Mhz 2.6% overclock, and already 24.5% increase in power consumption (155W-193W).

Just mind blowing when you think about it. Dual 8 pins and probably Nano/Fury level performance.
 
trandoanhung1991 said:
1300MHz + 50% PL + Valley = 193W.

If you're aiming for 1400MHz or more I think you need dual 8 pins. 1266MHz to 1300Mhz 2.6% overclock, and already 24.5% increase in power consumption (155W-193W).

Just mind blowing when you think about it. Dual 8 pins and probably Nano/Fury level performance.
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I won't get my hopes up. Also, I don't OC anymore. I use it as is out of the box. If they can have a card with a mild factory OC with proper power delivery, I'll be happy.
 
So I can buy a 1070 founders edition for $449.99.

Do I buy the founder's edition or wait for the ACX 3.0 cooling ones to become more readily available?
 
Brando457 said:
So I can buy a 1070 founders edition for $449.99.

Do I buy the founder's edition or wait for the ACX 3.0 cooling ones to become more readily available?
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I got the founders edition. I like the hot air pushed out of the case. Plus that logo lit up is nice if you have see through window!

Plus I didn't wanna be waiting to build my system. I think founders edition is priced bullshit but We have emotional attachments to the products we buy and that was mine lol. Main thing was the looks are clean and it exhausts out and would look nice in my case! And that logo seals the deal!
 
The exhaust of hot air doesn't really matter to me as my cpu is watercooled and my case is a 900 D Corsair so it has plenty of air flow.

I just overclocked my cpu and it looks like I hit 4.2 ghz using the auto oc tuner thing in the bios so that's cool. Idk if its stable yet, but it seems to be working.

I can go buy a founder's tomorrow as they're in stock hmmmmmmm decisions :x
 
While I wish the 1070 was an option for me I'll be sticking with a 480 or 1060 due to budget.

I don't think either of us will be unhappy with that level of upgrade from a lowly 670 though!
 
Stryke1983 said:
While I wish the 1070 was an option for me I'll be sticking with a 480 or 1060 due to budget.

I don't think either of us will be unhappy with that level of upgrade from a lowly 670 though!
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Completely agree! Or could alwyas sli the 670 like mentioned for even cheaper to hold you off a year and then buy someone's used 1070 in a year for dirt cheap :)
 
Brando457 said:
I'm going to grab a GTX 1070 once more of the non-founder editions come out (I don't like the cooler). I figure in the future if I decide to upgrade my monitor the 1070 is the best bet.

I looked at the AMD R480s, but I'd rather get the GTX.
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why if RX 480 CF is almost the same price as 1070 and it is faster
 
Brando457 said:
I've never had sli or crossfire cards before. I like evga / nvidia... the last amd card I had was a 9800 with AIO tuner capture card.
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IF the games dont have CF support then yes , a single card is beter but if it does, why not. it will perform better than the equivalent card at the same price
 
PontiacGTX said:
why if RX 480 CF is almost the same price as 1070 and it is faster
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Benchmarks show that RX 480 CF is on par with GTX 1070 for games where it works, winning in some and losing in others. For games where it doesn't work, you get one card. As an AMD fan and a FreeSync monitor owner, if you gave me a $400-$500 budget and told me to take either RX 480 CF or single GTX 1070, I'm taking the single 1070.
 
Daniel_Chang said:
Benchmarks show that RX 480 CF is on par with GTX 1070 for games where it works, winning in some and losing in others. For games where it doesn't work, you get one card. As an AMD fan and a FreeSync monitor owner, if you gave me a $400-$500 budget and told me to take either RX 480 CF or single GTX 1070, I'm taking the single 1070.
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In games which dont have scaling issues it delivers performs slighly worse than GTX 1080(+300-350usd), but accounting games with bad CF scaling or no scaling it still beats the 1070

AMD Radeon RX 480 CrossFire Review
 
Get the 1070, its always better to have one card that works well all the time than a X-fire or SLI configuration that only works 75% of the time.
 
PontiacGTX said:
In games which dont have scaling issues it delivers performs slighly worse than GTX 1080(+300-350usd), but accounting games with bad CF scaling or no scaling it still beats the 1070

AMD Radeon RX 480 CrossFire Review
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The problem is the games with little or no scaling seem to be the majority. So when the price is that similar it just makes no sense to get 2 $80s instead of a 1070.

Plus in the very review you posted it shows that on average the crossfire setup is slower and more expensive than a 1070. Even in the best case scenario when you arbitrarily remove the games that Crossfire doesn't do well in it still only performs a little better and is actually worse price/performance.

The only reason you would choose 2x 480s over a 1070 is if you only play a small selection of games that scale well or you absolutely refuse to buy an Nvidia card. Any other situation it seems to be a worse option.
 
newegg had an Asus strikeforce in stock but I think I'm going to wait until end of July/early August and hope that availability is more widespread. I really like EVGA and would prefer to go with one of their cards.
 
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