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General discussionGood graphics chip with p poor cooler(44 posts)(44 posts)
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Posted December 01, 2019
I have been looking at graphics card (GPU) offers today. Many of the better deals for the more powerful cards are already sold out here but there are some that are good price for their performance. Of course, any new GPU must be a significant step up in performance for it to be worth it.

Looking around I stumbled upon a Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti at a price that made me wonder if the first number is a mistake: €236 including a lot of VAT and postage. GTX 1660 Tis used to be €299 and up. Reading reviews for this particular model makes me understand, the heatsink is simply too small so even with two fairly big fans they get too hot. I wonder if one could rip off a heatsink from an old card that came with a big one and modify it to fit on this chip? I understand I would have to ensure the VRAM and electricity distribution get enough cooling besides the processor. If that is a bad idea or too difficult for me or any of my aquaintances (who I would have to compensate for the work) then maybe underclocking or lowering the power ceiling or something? But, will that make the card so much worse that it will not be worth considering?

To make matters worse, Nvidia is a little worse on Linux. On the other hand, a GTX 1660 Ti draws a hundred watt less than an AMD RX 590, which I could have for as little as €169.

Then there are lesser cards to be had for a low price, all the way down to AMD's RX 570 4GB and Nvidia's GTX 1650 Super. Below these I fail to see the point in buying new for gaming.

EDIT: Decided against that card. A good deal for some people I am sure.
Post edited December 01, 2019 by Themken
Posted December 01, 2019
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Themken: I have been looking at graphics card (GPU) offers today. Many of the better deals for the more powerful cards are already sold out here but there are some that are good price for their performance. Of course, any new GPU must be a significant step up in performance for it to be worth it.

Looking around I stumbled upon a Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti at a price that made me wonder if the first number is a mistake: €236 including a lot of VAT and postage. GTX 1660 Tis used to be €299 and up. Reading reviews for this particular model makes me understand, the heatsink is simply too small so even with two fairly big fans they get too hot. I wonder if one could rip off a heatsink from an old card that came with a big one and modify it to fit on this chip? I understand I would have to ensure the VRAM and electricity distribution get enough cooling besides the processor. If that is a bad idea or too difficult for me or any of my aquaintances (who I would have to compensate for the work) then maybe underclocking or lowering the power ceiling or something? But, will that make the card so much worse that it will not be worth considering?

To make matters worse, Nvidia is a little worse on Linux. On the other hand, a GTX 1660 Ti draws a hundred watt less than an AMD RX 590, which I could have for as little as €169.

Then there are lesser cards to be had for a low price, all the way down to AMD's RX 570 4GB and Nvidia's GTX 1650 Super. Below these I fail to see the point in buying new for gaming.

EDIT: Decided against that card. A good deal for some people I am sure.
Arctic's aftermarket video card coolers get terrific reviews. I'm looking at this item specifically:

https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/accelero-mono-plus.html

Of course, you should choose the solution right for you and be aware that installing one of these coolers may void your warranty. But with an older used card it shouldn't matter.
Posted December 02, 2019
Nvidia GPU's tend to scale more linearly with over/underclock vs power draw compared to AMD (don't have any personal experience with Navi but it looks the same). Some 15% less power draw can translate to 10-15% less performance, depending on the model and tune up. It's up to you if worth.
AMD Rx590 is pretty much a very overclocked Polaris chip well outside it's peak efficiency, even the Rx580 is. That means a slight 5 to 10% loss in performance can bring power draw +30% down.
Regarding power consumption, be aware the AMD Polaris ans Vega cards use much more power idling and media consumption than Nvidia counterparts.

236€ for a 1660Ti is a good price in current market but the 1660 Super have very close performance and there are several models starting at 250€ without any discount. I bought a Msi 1660 Super the first day it on stock at Caseking.

Somehow, did miss your edit the first time reading the post.
Posted December 02, 2019
If you're after a mid-range AMD card, it might be worth it to wait for the RX 5500 to be properly released instead of the RX 570, 580 or 590. Navi is more power-efficient than Polaris (though not as much as nVidia's Turing cards), check this review: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-5500/

AMD announced the RX 5500 on the 10th of October, but is testing our patience in getting the card to the market.
Post edited December 02, 2019 by DubConqueror
Posted December 02, 2019
The 1660 Ti sold out really fast, no wonder. If I had been sure the board design was same as reference, an Arctic cooler would have been perfect.

There have been some really cheap RX 570s, 580s and 590s this weekend. The weekend is over now. I think the 590 draws too much power but one could of course slightly underclock it as it should perform a little better than a 580 at the same power draw as the 580.

I needed to sleep on my decision (a dirt cheap RX 580) and then the phone went warm during the morning until the best and second best offers ran out... Yes it is important to discuss christmas plans in time but... aaaaghghgh! Best to just laugh it off and look for Cyber Monday deals.

New GPUs are better but they cost a lot.

I knew of the 5500 from AMD but it is nowhere to be seen outside shelf computers, including laptops.
Post edited December 02, 2019 by Themken
Posted December 02, 2019
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Themken: Yes it is important to discuss christmas plans in time but... aaaaghghgh! Best to just laugh it off and look for Cyber Monday deals.

New GPUs are better but they cost a lot.

I knew of the 5500 from AMD but it is nowhere to be seen outside shelf computers, including laptops.
You will get a nice deal for sure. The interesting part of computer components is that they change price all the time. If there is no hurry to get some parts, usually some deals pop every week.
Posted December 02, 2019
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Dark_art_:
Yup, best deal is not necessarily during the Black Friday sale. Example given would be the AMD RX 5700 for which I spotted the lowest price, with a margin, a month ago; for a reference model though. Kind of annoying how some shops change prices sometimes twice in the same day.
Posted December 02, 2019
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DubConqueror: If you're after a mid-range AMD card, it might be worth it to wait for the RX 5500 to be properly released instead of the RX 570, 580 or 590. Navi is more power-efficient than Polaris (though not as much as nVidia's Turing cards), check this review: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-5500/
Thanks for the link. So the Rx5500 is suposed to sit around 1060 6Gb/1650 Super/Rx580 performance. Just lets hope it will cost 150-160 euros because with the 1650 Super at 170-180 will be a hard choice.
Posted December 02, 2019
I think the GTX 1660 Super is the sweet spot right now, but choose the model wisely, if you care about temperature and noise. So look for reviews first.
Posted December 02, 2019
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ariaspi: I think the GTX 1660 Super is the sweet spot right now, but choose the model wisely, if you care about temperature and noise. So look for reviews first.
The OP still hasn't mentioned what model he's upgrading from...

I have a GTX 970 and anything less than an RTX 2070 Super is not enough of an upgrade for me. I'm just going to wait until I find it around 200-250€.
Posted December 02, 2019
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ariaspi: I think the GTX 1660 Super is the sweet spot right now, but choose the model wisely, if you care about temperature and noise. So look for reviews first.
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teceem: The OP still hasn't mentioned what model he's upgrading from...

I have a GTX 970 and anything less than an RTX 2070 Super is not enough of an upgrade for me. I'm just going to wait until I find it around 200-250€.
True, but they seem to be talking about the low to medium range, something under $300.
Posted December 02, 2019
Going from an AMD Radeon R9 280X to an AMD RX 580. I did look long and hard at an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super as an alternative.

I could have gone just over 300 too if the bang for the buck would have been really good. Did look at an RTX 2060 (non-Super) and if there were any AMD RX 5700 (non-XT) really cheap.

Lots of GPUs are good if the price is right and prices vary all over our globe, if all you have is a 1080p monitor.
Post edited December 02, 2019 by Themken
Posted December 02, 2019
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Themken: Going from an AMD Radeon R9 280X to an AMD RX 580. I did look long and hard at an Nvidia GTX 1660 Super as an alternative.

I could have gone just over 300 too if the bang for the buck would have been really good. Did look at an RTX 2060 (non-Super) and if there were any AMD RX 5700 (non-XT) really cheap.

Lots of GPUs are good if the price is right and prices vary all over our globe, if all you have is a 1080p monitor.
I've use a 1600 x 900p monitor so that I can use less powerful, cheaper video cards and still have good frame rates. I'd do even better if I went to 768p, but I feel the 900p is a good balance between graphics quality and speed.

What resolution monitor do you have?
Posted December 02, 2019
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StationaryNomad:
1920x1080 @60Hz Ten years old but still decent. Planning on staying at this reolution or here around even with my next monitor.
Posted December 02, 2019
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StationaryNomad:
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Themken: 1920x1080 @60Hz Ten years old but still decent. Planning on staying at this reolution or here around even with my next monitor.
Yeah, if I get another monitor, it will be 1080p. I have no desire or need for 2k and 4k and that kind of thing.
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Community
General discussionGood graphics chip with p poor cooler(44 posts)(44 posts)
(44 posts)