GPU Buying Guide - (Read first post)

Could use a little help deciding—I'm torn between:

ASUS GeForce GTX 1660

and

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

The 1660 is newer, though it’s slightly—okay, really just a tiny bit—weaker. According to Game Debate, the 1660 trails the 1070 by about 8%.
The price gap is only about $15 or so.

It’s not weaker; the test just shows it sitting at 36 games somewhere.



Where on earth did you find a brand new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 that cheap?
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti models are going for around $2300-$800.

The only real upside to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the extra VRAM.

wiredotter14 said:It’s not weaker; the test shows it right there across 36 different games.

Where on earth did you find a brand new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 that cheap?
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti usually goes for around $230-$800.

The only real perk of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is having more VRAM.

Maybe the 1660 is just overpriced. 😁

wiredotter14 said:It isn't weaker; the test shows it right there across 36 different games.

Where on earth did you find a brand new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 that cheap?
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti usually goes for around $230.$800

The only real upside to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is having more VRAM.

Crypto mining, 100%.

Look...

If the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 isn't brand new, there's zero point comparing it to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. Nobody is out here selling used NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Tis.

As for the mining thing... sure, maybe, but who knows? Anyone selling an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 right now because they're upgrading is basically just trying to offload it onto someone clueless by asking for the same price as a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

Then again, I guess a few people might be upgrading from an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 simply because the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 and 2080Ti are ridiculously overpriced, so crypto mining is a logical guess.

That said, I wouldn't go out of my way to grab a card used for mining, especially if it still has decent warranty coverage—unless it’s around $500, which isn't anywhere near the price of a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.

Hey everyone, I’ve got a pretty sweet deal on this card for about $700 (picked it up just 20 days ago here in the States, so it’s basically brand new with the full warranty)

Should I grab the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Gigabyte OC, or is it smarter to hold out for when Intel drops their next series and prices hopefully settle down?...

I'm currently running an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6gb Gigabyte OC.

Thanks in advance...

Intel is probably going to drop some competition for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 and maybe some lower-end cards later this year, but I don't think we'll see anything tackling the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 or better for at least another year. What kind of CPU are you running, and what resolution are you playing at?

I7-7700k, playing at 1080p. I'm strictly looking to push max settings while keeping things at a steady 120fps+... plus some video editing on the side

I'd probably grab it.

I’m thinking the same thing... I guess we'll see how things look tomorrow.. thanks for the reply anyway 🙂

Can anyone help me out? Is this https://www.ebay.com/itm/graphics-card-listing
actually worth the asking price?

It’s a decent price. I say "decent" only because it comes with an RX 580 4GB, plus two free games for $490 and a three-year warranty.

crimsonstag84 said:It's a decent price. Maybe "decent" is an understatement, though, considering you get an RX 580 4GB along with two free games for $490 and a three-year warranty.

Can you drop the link?

Looks like there might be another sale going on today. 😬

This might be a bit off-topic, but if the mods feel it doesn't belong here, please feel free to move it.
What’s the best way to stress-test a used card? Should I just show up at the seller's place and try running a game, or is there a better way? Any advice would be appreciated.

fadedsailor17 said:This is pretty specific to the topic, but if the mods think this doesn't belong here, feel free to move it.
How do you actually test a used GPU? I show up at some guy's house and just fire up a game? Or what? How does this work? Thanks.

I’d run 3DMark and let it rip for at least 15 minutes to see if the card crashes or if it can actually hold its clock speeds.

wiredotter14 said:I’d probably just run FurMark for at least 15 minutes to see if the card crashes or if it can actually hold its frequency.

Fair enough. Thanks. 👍

One more thing—does anyone know how much more worn out a card used for mining is compared to one that was just used for gaming? I guess there might be a significant difference.

There were plenty of theories flying around, but the benchmarks proved it’s nothing more than an overused cliché.

Can someone help a newbie out here? What’s the deal with those worn-out cards that were used for mining? Like, do they actually get physical damage or what?

Austin Rodriguez5 said:There were plenty of theories floating around, but actual testing suggests they aren't worn out at all.

Well, that’s exactly why I’m asking. On one hand, you read all this stuff about them being totally exhausted because they've been running at full throttle for weeks or months on end, but then you see tests showing they're fine—as long as you just swap out the thermal paste, everything seems to be okay.🤷