Budget futureproofing, rx 570 4gb or gtx 1060 3gb?

[JakeRS]

I can only afford to upgrade my GPU every 5 years more or less and I can only afford budget cards like the GTX 1050 Ti, however since I upgrade the GPU only every few years, I might as well push my budget a little and get either the RX 570 4gb or the GTX 1060 3gb version.

Many, maybe even most gamers prefer fun over graphics, but I am getting into computer graphics, 3d modelling and video editing, so I consider high texture settings very important, I love realism in games, if I could, I would download for example the Redux 4k texture mod for GTA V and the 4K textures for Watch dogs 2, but these mods require a lot of VRAM, at least 4 gigs is usually recommended, so even though the 1060 3gb is a faster card, would it be able to run 4k texture mods smoothly or would it stutter? Of course, these mods at the moment are not needed, but in a couple of years 4K textures might become the standard, not just mods.

Second thing, VR, at the moment I can’t afford a PC VR set, but I might buy one in a few years when the prices drop a little, the RX 570 is more than enough for that, but once again the 3 gigs on the 1060 are bothering me, would a VR experience on that card be pleasant? I know that VR requires a lot of VRAM as well, so…

To sum it up, I need something that can future proof me the most, while having in mind that I like to pump up the texture settings as much as possible.

[jz78817]

@JakeRS

I can only afford to upgrade my GPU every 5 years more or less and I can only afford budget cards like the GTX 1050 Ti, however since I upgrade the GPU only every few years, I might as well push my budget a little and get either the RX 570 4gb or the GTX 1060 3gb version.

Many, maybe even most gamers prefer fun over graphics, but I am getting into computer graphics, 3d modelling and video editing, so I consider high texture settings very important, I love realism in games, if I could, I would download for example the Redux 4k texture mod for GTA V and the 4K textures for Watch dogs 2, but these mods require a lot of VRAM, at least 4 gigs is usually recommended, so even though the 1060 3gb is a faster card, would it be able to run 4k texture mods smoothly or would it stutter? Of course, these mods at the moment are not needed, but in a couple of years 4K textures might become the standard, not just mods.

Second thing, VR, at the moment I can’t afford a PC VR set, but I might buy one in a few years when the prices drop a little, the RX 570 is more than enough for that, but once again the 3 gigs on the 1060 are bothering me, would a VR experience on that card be pleasant? I know that VR requires a lot of VRAM as well, so…

To sum it up, I need something that can future proof me the most, while having in mind that I like to pump up the texture settings as much as possible.

Tech Report did a comparison including these cards. It’s not as exhaustive as some tests, but from what they show the 1060 3GB to have the edge over the 570.

[Jophiel]

The pat answer is to wait a few months if you can since the new line of Nvidia cards is expected out this summer which may disrupt prices and put better tech in your hands.

To answer your question more narrowly, the 1060 generally benchmarks better than the 570 so I would go in that direction assuming no difference in price. Although, in theory, the 570 may run a few memory-hungry mods, the 1060 will give more consistent performance and thus more “realism” day in and day out. Honestly, realism mods are for people who have performance to spare rather than people running budget-oriented cards so I wouldn’t be basing my choice around that. For example, I’m using around 6GB of VRAM running GTA V with VisualV+NaturalVision Remastered and most setting cranked up to Very High/Ultra at 1080p (though with 1.5 sampling). Anyway, I’d go with the 1060 for best overall performance – but really wait until later this summer if possible to see if you can’t grab something better for the same price.