GPU for mITX 1060 or 480?

[coercitiv]

The OP also mentioned using Photoshop which may benefit from the extra vram.

Photoshop and vram requirements are not even remotely similar to gaming vram requirements. Getting to use even 3-4GB of vram in Photoshop would require the type of tasks only some professionals perform, like working with images larger than 1GB.

Having said that, the OP is not using Photoshop, but Photoshop Elements, which is a rather different piece of software. Whatever card the OP decides to buy - be it Maxwell or Polaris based, it will be more than adequate for his photo editing usage.

 

[Leyawiin]

Given the two things the OP does Nvidia would be the best option. Faster in the game and better in Photoshop Elements (CUDA). The MSI GTX 1060 3GB for$169.99 Russian Sensation linked is just about perfect for the situation. Any of the current crop of compact cards would be fine of course, its just seems that's the best option.

 

[Azix]

Lots of deals lately on 1060 and 480 cards in the $200ish range and I'm thinking about finally dropping one in because my system (specs below) sure gets noisy playing Civ6 or running Photoshop Elements on large batches of photos. Then again, not sure if it's the CPU or onboard graphics that's the bottleneck.

Running a pair of Dell 30" at 2560 x 1600 currently.

Only gaming I do is Civ6, so not looking for a hardcore gaming card probably.

Any advice appreciated...

either is fine for civ 6. the benchmark might show a performance difference, but you won't notice it due to the nature of the game. CPU is more important for getting the time it takes for turns to calculate down.

Buy whichever is cheaper as long as its a decent model that makes little noise. I'd avoid a 3GB 1060. Not worth the risk.

I default to the 480 because its almost guaranteed the faster card considering its trading with 1060 cards running near 2Ghz and beating them here and there. For people keeping their cards for a while, that's the better choice.

Given the two things the OP does Nvidia would be the best option. Faster in the game and better in Photoshop Elements (CUDA). The MSI GTX 1060 3GB for$169.99 Russian Sensation linked is just about perfect for the situation. Any of the current crop of compact cards would be fine of course, its just seems that's the best option.

still trying to find an update on the opencl situation in adobe apps. Is it still true CUDA is better for them or are people just assuming so?

 

[zinfamous]

Given the two things the OP does Nvidia would be the best option. Faster in the game and better in Photoshop Elements (CUDA). The MSI GTX 1060 3GB for$169.99 Russian Sensation linked is just about perfect for the situation. Any of the current crop of compact cards would be fine of course, its just seems that's the best option.

Actually, CUDA isn't at a real advantage with Photoshop anymore. That reality has been gone for about 3 or more years.

There was a post from some pro photoshop dude in these forums sometime earlier this year that went into great detail about it. I wish I could find it!

 

[coercitiv]

Given the two things the OP does Nvidia would be the best option. Faster in the game and better in Photoshop Elements (CUDA).

Actually, CUDA isn't at a real advantage with Photoshop anymore. That reality has been gone for about 3 or more years.

First the false vram argument, now the false CUDA argument.

Straight from the horse's mouth, posted by Adobe staff (many) years ago:

The Mercury Graphics Engine (MGE) represents features that use video card, or GPU, acceleration. In Photoshop CS6, this new engine delivers near-instant results when editing with key tools such as Liquify, Warp, Lighting Effects and the Oil Paint filter. The new MGE delivers unprecedented responsiveness for a fluid feel as you work.

MGE is new to Photoshop CS6, and uses both the OpenGL and OpenCL frameworks. It does not use the proprietary CUDA framework from nVidia.

That having been said, I'm forced to reiterate: the OP uses Photoshop Elements, not Photoshop. These are two different pieces of software, just like MS WordPad is different from MS Word. AFAIK Photoshop Elements does not have hardware acceleration at all.

still trying to find an update on the opencl situation in adobe apps. Is it still true CUDA is better for them or are people just assuming so?

Photoshop is no longer using CUDA. Last info I read about the state of Adobe Premiere Pro and CUDA vs. OpenCL was this post.

 

[zinfamous]

Photoshop is no longer using CUDA. Last info I read about the state of Adobe Premiere Pro and CUDA vs. OpenCL was this post.

That's the post I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[96Firebird]

1060 looks like it will fit your needs like a glove, pretty powerful cards can be had in a small and efficient package.

 

[Phynaz]

Russian sensation did. Post #34

I wont see any posts by him

 

[RussianSensation]

Some more deals with $25 off $200 AMEX checkout:

$210 Sapphire Nitro RX 480 8GB
$210 PowerColor Red Devil RX 480 8GB

I think only the Sapphire will fit in OP's case though.

$225 PNY GTX1060 6GB after $10 off coupon promo code.