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[Saganator]

The cancellation for the CPU cooler didn't go through, so I guess my PC will just be super cool.

They can be a pain in the ass to install. If I were you I'd just not bother with it putting it in. Stock cooler 4 lyfe

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

They can be a pain in the ass to install. If I were you I'd just not bother with it putting it in. Stock cooler 4 lyfe

Will there be benefits if I did install it?

 

[Saganator]

Will there be benefits if I did install it?

CPU will run cooler, but you won't notice anything other it being louder/quieter. If it's more quiet than stock then I'd install it I guess. Stock tends to be pretty quiet. My i7 3770K with SSDs rig is almost silent with stock cooling. Probably going to OC it one of these days, so I'll have to get a new CPU cooler.

 

[The Cool One]

Yeah, putting the OS on a SSD is a good idea. I can go from a powered off computer to an open tab for NeoGAF in Chrome in 10 seconds.

Really it's that fast?

 

[Megabat]

Sorry if this is considered derailing, but I thought it was relevant to the discussion because it wouldn't just be useful for myself, but also for the OP and others.

Whoa! This is a job for the "I Need a New PC!" thread! Definitely not trying to admonish you, you're just more likely to get help there.

All of your concerns are valid, but none of them are issues you'll face.

The Nvidia 1060 has a smaller bus, but fast memory and great color compression. So it evens out. 6GB is more than either card has the throughput to fully utilize.

No one can say for sure which card will be better in future DX12 games. The 1060 is a little faster for DX11 stuff. DX12 won't be fully adopted for a while.

Both the 1060 and 480 will perform worse (in newer games) as new GPUs come out. It's possible that Nvidia performance will drop faster than AMD, but that's in the future.

If you have the money, just pick up what you need now. The 470 might yield more more performance-per-dollar, and it might not. It probably won't come within 10% of 480 speed.

PCIe 2.0 might as well be 3.0 for gaming graphics cards. There will be no real difference. And the 2500K is fine.

FreeSync vs. GSync comes down to one major point: FreeSync monitors are much cheaper. I doubt there will be freeSync compatible TVs, but it's possible. And, to be honest, I don't think either really matters if you're using a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Backplates only matter on long, custom-cooled boards with heavy metal sinks. They prevent the PCB from warping due to heat and weight. Neither the 480 or 1060 PCB extends far beyond the PCIe slot, so don't pay extra for a backplate.

The standard 6-pin PCI power input is still in use.

So: get either the 480 or 1060. The only thing that really matters is cost.

 

[QuantumSquid]

Thank you for the reply! These answers help me out a lot. I hope you don't mind if I ask some followup questions.

But before I do that, there is one question that isn't a followup.

Are AMD features proprietary like Nvidia ones are? As in, if a game uses TressFX or RealHair or whatever the feature is called (I think it is at least supported by AMD), will that feature work on an Nvidia card?

Does the EVGA SC really run cooler and quieter than the Nitro? That would be surprising given it has only one fan compared to two. I thought the Nitro was reviewing well. By "noise issues" do you mean it actually gets loud, or is it more like it isn't quite as completely silent as expected. Like is it above the sound of say, a normal PS4 under stress, or is it just "loud" comparative to other super silent options?

Would you say that 4GB could end up being a bottleneck then?

Are there any custom cards (480 or 1060) that you would recommend? Obviously besides the EVGA SC which you already have recommended. It seems to be a very good option, but it also seems a little bit barebones to me, maybe I'm wrong though.

Lastly, do you think Vulkan and DX12 will supplant DX11 in the near future, or is buying a card aimed at those two APIs in 2016 a little premature, since the cards that are really built for it will come out in the next few years and they might compete with PS5 and similar consoles and not say the PS NEO or Scorpio. Speaking of, are the 480 or 1060 likely to match the Scorpio in power?

From what I have seen the Scorpio is going to be closer to a GTX 1070 in terms of power.

I don't think we will see DX12/Vulkan supplanting DX11 until we get closer to the GTX 1100 series and AMD 500 series of graphics cards a couple years from now.

The EVGA SC card isn't barebones. That's not really a thing you have to worry about with graphics cards. What's important is that the cooler keeps the card cool and running at good clock speeds, and the EVGA SC's cooler accomplishes that.

4 GB of VRAM isn't necessarily a bottleneck but I would personally recommend at least 6 GB these days.

The Nitro card is pretty good but people were expecting it to be very quiet, and it's not. The EVGA SC card is very quiet as a result of the Pascal architecture's reduced TDP and heat compared to AMD cards.

AMD features are not proprietary like Nvidia ones are. I'm pretty sure Tomb Raider 2013 was the only major game to use TressFX but I could be wrong, just haven't seen the technology used in a while. FreeSync monitors require an AMD card though.

For the 1060, I would recommend the EVGA 1060 and Zotac Mini 1060. They're affordable and do a good job keeping the card cool, which isn't hard since it doesn't generate a massive amount of heat to begin with.

I can't really speak to 480 custom cards because so far the Nitro is the only one out there and you already know my opinion on that one.