Viability of GTX 1070 for light gaming

[nomdeplume]

I am revisiting the idea of gaming (probably casual stuff like Snowrunner and maybe some low key racing) delving a bit deeper into the catalog than those focused on the latest releases. As is, I can play Mudrunner at acceptable frame rates so long as I remember to use a more aggressive fan profile. Honestly, the gpu market confuses me and has for some years. Maybe the answer I need to hear is pursue a GTX 2000 series with GDDR6 memory if you don't want to be left fully behind. Just looking for a small amount of guidance from those with a finger on the pulse of this temperamental market.

i5 8400 - Scythe Big Shuriken w/ Noctua NFA-15 Chromax
Asus Prime H370M mATX
2x4GB Crucial Ballistic Sport DDR42400 CL16
Samsung 850 PRO 512GB SSD + devoted 850 EVO 256GB SSD or xTB 7200 rpm storage HDD
Seasonic 520W S12II (single 6+2 PCIe)
Cooler Master Master Case 3 - sufficient quality and number of fans to suit potential needs

MB is limited to 2400 RAM. Case is limited to mATX and in no other perceivable way. PSU, by specs, should be sufficient to handle a 1070 until it starts struggling with mediocre settings on newer games. I'm currently tempted by an ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 ROG STRIX 8GB.

Thanks for any seasoned advice.

Edit: Lack of a formal TPU review of graphics cards I'm considering really made me question if it was even worth owning at release.

 

[Selaya]

the 1070's actually powerful enough to get bottlenecked by the 8400 depending on the title
anyways, if you're fine w/ like, sticking to 1080p-60 and dont care about rtx/dlss the 1070's perfectly capable of running everything rn

 

[Sithaer]

I've upgraded to a 1070 ~1 year ago and so far it played every game I was interested in with reasonable settings at my native 2560x1080 resolution.
You can see the rest of my specs listed under my profile.

Sure its not a high refresh experience but if you don't care about that 'like me' then it can play pretty much everything currently as long as you mind your settings. 'Mix of medium-high-ultra is doable in most games'
That PSU is plenty enough for your system with a 1070, I'm using it with a 500W Seasonic Core GM and my whole system barely draws 230W from the wall when I'm playing a demanding game.

 

[lexluthermiester]

A GTX1070 might be older but it is still a solid card for gaming at 1080P. Even CyberPunk2077 will run at playable framerates on lower settings. But for about $50 more you can land yourself a GTX1080. However, if the budget allows, get an RTX2070.

The i5-8400 is solid and is unlikely to bottleneck anything. But the RAM is in need of an upgrade. Get yourself another 8GB kit for a total of 16GB. You'll be good after that.

With the storage, SSD's are inexpensive ATM and a good quality 1TB drive can be had for $65. Additionally, 4TB HDDs are currently about $50ish. That combination would give you plenty of storage for quite a while.

That 520w PSU you've got will be good for all of those parts. You have a great system for gaming when you're done.

 

[nomdeplume]

the 1070's actually powerful enough to get bottlenecked by the 8400 depending on the title
anyways, if you're fine w/ like, sticking to 1080p-60 and dont care about rtx/dlss the 1070's perfectly capable of running everything rn

Knew I forgot something. Yes, 1080p-60 at whatever settings are comfortable for a given game.

Thanks to you and everyone else who confirmed this card should be more than capable if I expand my interests to faster more graphics intensive titles.

A GTX1070 might be older but it is still a solid card for gaming at 1080P. Even CyberPunk2077 will run at playable framerates on lower settings. But for about $50 more you can land yourself a GTX1080. However, if the budget allows, get an RTX2070.

The i5-8400 is solid and is unlikely to bottleneck anything. But the RAM is in need of an upgrade. Get yourself another 8GB kit for a total of 16GB. You'll be good after that.

With the storage, SSD's are inexpensive ATM and a good quality 1TB drive can be had for $65. Additionally, 4TB HDDs are currently about $50ish. That combination would give you plenty of storage for quite a while.

That 520w PSU you've got will be good for all of those parts. You have a great system for gaming when you're done.

Current setup enforces some limitations. Single 6+2 PCIe rules out a GTX1080(ti) without at the least a new PSU. Z390 mATX are not so common and held value quite well or I'd be replacing the mb.

2x8 of 2400 RAM was almost unavoidable if I put in a discrete GPU.

Storage drives are cheap enough. 850 Evo I have on hand should be fine if I only have a couple smallish games. If not, as you say, HDD are cheap and plentiful.

 

[Blaeza]

Why not a 1660 super? Pretty much the same thing but more compact?

 

[nomdeplume]

Why not a 1660 super? Pretty much the same thing but more compact?

First, space and ventilation are the last problems I have with this case. Photo must've been from day I built this up with stock fan.

Second, this is where the confusion I mentioned really shows through. I'd imagine build quality and thermals are better on the Strix and shopping second hand that is a strong motivator.

 

[Horsemouth]

Knew I forgot something. Yes, 1080p-60 at whatever settings are comfortable for a given game.

Thanks to you and everyone else who confirmed this card should be more than capable if I expand my interests to faster more graphics intensive titles.



Current setup enforces some limitations. Single 6+2 PCIe rules out a GTX1080(ti) without at the least a new PSU. Z390 mATX are not so common and held value quite well or I'd be replacing the mb.

2x8 of 2400 RAM was almost unavoidable if I put in a discrete GPU.

Storage drives are cheap enough. 850 Evo I have on hand should be fine if I only have a couple smallish games. If not, as you say, HDD are cheap and plentiful.

A 1070 is basically a 2060 in performance anyway you slice it minus ray tracing. I had a 1070 FE until I got a Strix 2070.
I just replaced the 2070 with a 3080 at 1440p. If you are playing at 1080p and got a strix 1070 is a beast, you are good to go.
P.S.
ASUS Strix GPU's are probably the best you can buy. Once you get your hands on a Strix card you will see exactly what I mean.
The attention to detail and quality in an ASUS strix card is unmatched.

 

[GreiverBlade]

i upgraded my 1070 3 weeks ago and i was playing in 1620p60 with a i5-6600K and then a R5 3600, actually more like 1620p45-55 but i did not do light gaming only
Cyberpunk 2077 (35fps average 47fps max, custom settings without AA since playing in 3K) Horizon Zero Dawn (45fps max iirc, same a CP2077 for settings) heavily modded skyrim with ENB and lots of 4k textures mods and other models improvement (45fps max, 55 sometime when nothing moved and i looked at the sky (until i got volumetric clouds and meshed moons ) )

1080p60? easy peasy.

 

[nomdeplume]

I appear to have drastically underestimated the potential of this model. Visions of all three fans running hard to keep up were just a bit exaggerated.

Thanks again to those commenting.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Single 6+2 PCIe rules out a GTX1080(ti) without at the least a new PSU.

A TI model, yes, not a standard GTX1080. Example:

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5X Turbo OC Graphics Card (GVN1080TTOC8GD) | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5X Turbo OC Graphics Card (GVN1080TTOC8GD) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

and

PNY GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Card (VCGGTX10808PB) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PNY GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GDDR5 Graphics Card (VCGGTX10808PB) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

You have to be careful what card you choose, making sure that it only needs a 6+2, but the options are there.
Here's the search I used to find the above examples;
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fs...&_blrs=recall_filtering&LH_ItemCondition=3000

Why not a 1660 super? Pretty much the same thing but more compact?

Not really. A 1660 has less VRAM and does not perform the same. They do use less power though..

GeForce GTX 1070 vs GeForce GTX 1080 vs GeForce GTX 1660 [videocardbenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

www.videocardbenchmark.net

In the end the GTX1080 is the better value.

 

[AnotherReader]

The 1070 or a 1660 Super would both be good choices. I don't know where you live, but in Canada, my cursory search reveals that they are roughly equally priced. The 1660, however, may still have remaining warranty. The 1070, on the other hand, has more VRAM. Don't go for a 2070 as, at least here, it's the same price as a new RX 6600, which is a newer card with about the same performance. Even the 1080, at least here, is priced about $100 more. I don't think the performance delta is sufficient to recommend the 1080 over the 1070 if this trend holds where you live.

 

[nomdeplume]

lexluthermiester,

Interesting examples. I will certainly look at them a bit harder.

My understanding was blowers are typically the baseline and you might very well expect to OC the better brands flagship lower model to or past them. With that comes higher power draw. For example a STRIX 1080 requires 8+6 pin.

 

[tussinman]

A 1070 is basically a 2060 in performance anyway you slice it minus ray tracing.

The Ti edition (1070ti) is basically 2060 level performance minus dlss/ray tracing and the standard 1070 is more in line with a 3050.

 

[lexluthermiester]

My understanding was blowers are typically the baseline

They still perform very well. Pascal was not a power hungry GPU design and ran very cool as a result.

With that comes higher power draw. For example a STRIX 1080 requires 8+6 pin.

True!

The Ti edition (1070ti) is basically 2060 level performance minus dlss/ray tracing and the standard 1070 is more in line with a 3050.

More or less, yes.

GeForce GTX 1070 vs GeForce GTX 1070 Ti vs GeForce RTX 2060 vs GeForce RTX 3050 8GB [videocardbenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

www.videocardbenchmark.net

W1zzard's numbers are about the same.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Specs

NVIDIA GP104, 1683 MHz, 1920 Cores, 120 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR5, 2002 MHz, 256 bit

www.techpowerup.com

 

[silentbogo]

1070 is still a capable GPU. But if you are planning on buying one - better look for 1070Ti. Right now the price difference is negligible, but the latter one is a tad faster.
I was using a very crappy ASUS 1070 Ti Cerberus as a backup GPU for a few months - it gets the job done. 4K productivity, and some 1080p gaming was fine. I even managed to finish SoTR on it, before I got my 3070Ti back.
That crappiness is actually what saved it from abuse. It was likely bought cheap for a farm, but stayed shelved for several years due to its fatal flaw - no memory cooling and zero overclocking potential.
I did a little VRAM mod to address the issue, which at least made it usable for gaming(even with stock clocks it would occasionally give artifacts after a couple of hours of gaming workload).

I'll also add a few notes, if you haven't bought your card yet:
1) 99% of Gigabyte Windforce 10-series cards are from mining rigs. Especially look out for shiny new fans - that's a dead giveaway.
2) EVGA 1070 FTW ACX3.0 is garbage. There was a flaw in VRAM power traces, which could make it overheat in one spot and sometimes catch fire and release magic smoke
Had one of those - burned my pinkie while inspecting where the smell of burnt textolite was coming from.
3) Asus Cerberus is also garbage. I was lucky enough to get a card that was barely used after all those years(and cheap enough to not be afraid of hardmodding the shit out of it), but overall most of them are either already dead, or are about to die from VRAM failure (with or without mining).

 

[nomdeplume]

The 1070 or a 1660 Super would both be good choices. I don't know where you live, but in Canada, my cursory search reveals that they are roughly equally priced. The 1660, however, may still have remaining warranty. The 1070, on the other hand, has more VRAM. Don't go for a 2070 as, at least here, it's the same price as as RX 6600, which is a newer card with about the same performance.

RT and whatever else has been introduced were a formative part of my question in regards to looking at 2xxx or even 3xxx cards. Mixing Intel with AMD would've taken some convincing. 1660 Super might win out if I find a seller who seems believable for similar money to a 1070.

 

[lexluthermiester]

better look for 1070Ti

The OP only has a 6+2 from a 520W PSU. That's the limitation. A 1070ti is out.

1660 Super might win out if I find a seller who seems believable for similar money to a 1070.

Found one,

Nvidia geforce gtx 1660 ti | eBay

<p dir="ltr" style="margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;">Nvidia GeForce 1660 Ti - Alienware 6GB GDDR6 - Used Good Condition</p>

www.ebay.com

Seller has 100% reputation.
However, for the money a GTX 1070 or 1080 are the better value.

GeForce GTX 1070 vs GeForce GTX 1080 vs GeForce GTX 1660 Ti [videocardbenchmark.net] by PassMark Software

www.videocardbenchmark.net

W1zzard's number also show this,

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Specs

NVIDIA TU116, 1770 MHz, 1536 Cores, 96 TMUs, 48 ROPs, 6144 MB GDDR6, 1500 MHz, 192 bit

www.techpowerup.com

I think you nailed a good choice with a 1070.
Looked a little more, this one seems to be the current best bang for the money;

EVGA GTX 1070 SC 8GB Black Edition GPU | eBay

EVGA GTX 1070 SC 8GB Black Edition GPU. Clean, working perfectly, tested in Unigine Super Position to confirm, no issues. Will ship next business day after payment, carefully packed in original box inside USPS flat rate box. Thx!

www.ebay.com

 

[AnotherReader]

RT and whatever else has been introduced were a formative part of my question in regards to looking at 2xxx or even 3xxx cards. Mixing Intel with AMD would've taken some convincing. 1660 Super might win out if I find a seller who seems believable for similar money to a 1070.

At this performance level, RT shouldn't be a consideration and mixing Intel and AMD shouldn't be a cause for concern. The 1660 Ti and 1070 are equivalent from a performance perspective and that's why, at least here, the 1660 Super and 1070 are priced the same.

 

[lexluthermiester]

At this performance level, RT shouldn't be a consideration and mixing Intel and AMD shouldn't be a cause for concern. The 1660 Ti and 1070 are equivalent from a performance perspective and that's why, at least here, the 1660 Super and 1070 are priced the same.

But with the 1660 one looses 2GB of VRAM and for some games that can effect performance. The 1070 is the better option.

 

[nomdeplume]

The Ti edition (1070ti) is basically 2060 level performance minus dlss/ray tracing and the standard 1070 is more in line with a 3050.

That is a very helpful comparison. The creep starts to set in more looking at it that way.

1070 is still a capable GPU. But if you are planning on buying one - better look for 1070Ti. Right now the price difference is negligible, but the latter one is a tad faster.
I was using a very crappy ASUS 1070 Ti Cerberus as a backup GPU for a few months - it gets the job done. 4K productivity, and some 1080p gaming was fine. I even managed to finish SoTR on it, before I got my 3070Ti back.

Besides PSU restriction noted above. 600w gold or wherever the sweet spot is might be close to as much as used cards I'm looking at.

I think 1080 gaming will be something I stick with for awhile.

I'll also add a few notes, if you haven't bought your card yet:
1) 99% of Gigabyte Windforce 10-series cards are from mining rigs. Especially look out for shiny new fans - that's a dead giveaway.
2) EVGA 1070 FTW ACX3.0 is garbage. There was a flaw in VRAM power traces, which could make it overheat in one spot and sometimes catch fire
Had one of those - burned my pinkie while inspecting where the smell of burnt textolite was coming from.
3) Asus Cerberus is also garbage. I was lucky enough to get a card that was barely used after all those years(and cheap enough to not be afraid of hardmodding the shit out of it), but overall most of them are either already dead, or are about to die from VRAM failure (with or without mining).

1. is a grade AAA concern I didn't want to make a point of too prominently. As stated, I'd do my own shopping and make whatever decisions felt right. Thanks for the heads up. FWIW clean but obviously used fans were something I was on the look out for.

2+3 I hoped to avoid altogether by focusing on upper tier products. Don't expect to hand out much abuse or game for even a few hours straight. GPU is always working whenever the computer is on though. Asus just happened to be the make of a card that caught my eye.

 

[Sithaer]

2) EVGA 1070 FTW ACX3.0 is garbage. There was a flaw in VRAM power traces, which could make it overheat in one spot and sometimes catch fire and release magic smoke
Had one of those - burned my pinkie while inspecting where the smell of burnt textolite was coming from.

Maybe you got unlucky or I got lucky but I have a second hand ACX 3.0 for 1 year already and it runs with no issues, low temps and low noise basically can't hear the card at 40% fan speed and sub 70 celsius even during summer.
No smoke or anything too hot to touch on the card either, it has a slight coil buzz when the fans are running but its very insignificant and from what I read it can happen to any of the 1070 models anyway.

 

[nomdeplume]

But with the 1660 one looses 2GB of VRAM and for some games that can effect performance. The 1070 is the better option.

Which does bring up an interesting question. On cards with a gen newer GDDR how much of a jump in performance can be expected?

1070 and 2070 both have 8GB VRAM but of different gen.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Which does bring up an interesting question. On cards with a gen newer GDDR how much of a jump in performance can be expected?

1070 and 2070 both have 8GB VRAM but of different gen.

There is a bump up. But the power required bumps with it. I am not aware of any 2070's that only need a 6+2 power connector. Bare minimum is 6+8. For that PSU, a 1080 really is your ceiling GPU. Now if you upgrade your PSU the options change for you. Does your case take a standard ATX PSU? If so, your options are plentiful.

 

[nomdeplume]

Logged in here for the first time in over a year.

Just catching up a little and at 900w gpu peak targets and cooling of all parts. If I make this change my head is certainly going back in a deep hole.