Geforce GTX 1060 Thread: faster than RX 480, 120W, $249

[IEC]

Who in their right mind thinks that 8GB of 2000MHz VRAM consumes 40W of power?

If this was any true, the 4GB version of the RX 480 ought to be consuming more than 20W less than it's big brother, and that's far from the truth.

Even in the worst case scenario, the 6GB GTX 1060 would have a 10W advantage, but it's probably worth 5W or less.

That's because both of them require 8 physical GDDR5 chips (32bit x 8 = 256 bit memory bus), which means it is not linear power scaling at 4GB.

On the other hand, a 6GB GTX 1060 uses 6 physical GDDR5 chips, and thus shaves 25% off the power budget for memory compared to the RX 480 on account of using 6 versus 8 chips.

One of my RX 480s naked:

 

[Sweepr]

GTX 1060 3GB listed:

www.centralpoint.nl/zoeken/gtx1060+3gb
www.ditech.at/shop/liste.php?suche=gtx+1060+3gb&Submit=&token=c0bb305e85fafccb66aa31c2c3acff2f

 

[Arachnotronic]

GTX 1060 3GB listed:

www.centralpoint.nl/zoeken/gtx1060+3gb
www.ditech.at/shop/liste.php?suche=gtx+1060+3gb&Submit=&token=c0bb305e85fafccb66aa31c2c3acff2f

This thing better be significantly cheaper to justify its existence...

 

[zinfamous]

This thing better be significantly cheaper to justify its existence...

Yeah, I can't understand the purpose of a 3GB card in this class these days. Such a thing was DOA a year ago, much less now, or next week.

This is only for HTPCs, right?

 

[sze5003]

Yeah, I can't understand the purpose of a 3GB card in this class these days. Such a thing was DOA a year ago, much less now, or next week.

This is only for HTPCs, right?

I would assume it would be for htpc, I mean people using it for games wouldn't really benefit. 3gb is fine for a stream box or very lightweight gaming. Although my last 3gb card did pretty good.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Yeah, I can't understand the purpose of a 3GB card in this class these days. Such a thing was DOA a year ago, much less now, or next week.

This is only for HTPCs, right?

Could be a stopgap until NVIDIA rolls out a proper 1050 Ti based on GP107.

 

[zinfamous]

I would assume it would be for htpc, I mean people using it for games wouldn't really benefit. 3gb is fine for a stream box or very lightweight gaming. Although my last 3gb card did pretty good.

I'm still satisfied with my 3GB 280X, but no way would I have bought one of those in the last year going forward. Besides, VRAM on these cards has become exponentially cheaper compared to the previous 2 generations, so it seems like 4gb is the absolute bare minimum that most users should consider at this point.

 

[Arachnotronic]

I'm still satisfied with my 3GB 280X, but no way would I have bought one of those in the last year going forward. Besides, VRAM on these cards has become exponentially cheaper compared to the previous 2 generations, so it seems like 4gb is the absolute bare minimum that most users should consider at this point.

Agree, I would have a hard time recommending a sub-4GB card to a gamer these days.

 

[sze5003]

I'm still satisfied with my 3GB 280X, but no way would I have bought one of those in the last year going forward. Besides, VRAM on these cards has become exponentially cheaper compared to the previous 2 generations, so it seems like 4gb is the absolute bare minimum that most users should consider at this point.

I agree, I gave my 7970 to my brother and he's coming from a gtx 555 ( never heard of it, Dell stuck it in his alienware ). All he does is play overwatch or minecraft, sometimes flight simulator. Since he's not a big gamer that amount of ram should do fine.

 

[raghu78]

Could be a stopgap until NVIDIA rolls out a proper 1050 Ti based on GP107.

GP107 will be in a different price tier and compete with Polaris 11. GP107 will be faster than Polaris 11 assuming GP107 has 640 cc, 128 bit memory bus, 32 ROPs (perfect halving of cores and 2/3rd the memory bus and ROPs of GP106). GP107 should launch at USD 109 - USD 139 as the Rx 470 4GB is priced at USD 149.

I think Nvidia will have a GP106 based GTX 1060 3GB at USD 209-USD 219 facing off against Rx 480 4GB.

http://videocardz.com/62182/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-3gb-to-feature-1152-cuda-cores

and a GP106 based GTX 1050 Ti 3GB at USD 159- USD 169 facing off against Rx 470 4GB. I think the 3GB is going to be a problem even at 1080p as we already saw games using close to 4GB at 1080p.

 

[Sonikku]

I see the EVGA is in stock but it's the tiny one fan variant. Do you think it would be nosier than the larger 2 fan variants? I have a big R4 case so space isn't an issue and keeping it quiet is a consideration. I can't even hear my 7770 at full load, I hope to do as well with its successor.

 

[railven]

I see the EVGA is in stock but it's the tiny one fan variant. Do you think it would be nosier than the larger 2 fan variants? I have a big R4 case so space isn't an issue and keeping it quiet is a consideration. I can't even hear my 7770 at full load, I hope to do as well with its successor.

It seems to be similar to the GTX 460 I once had. Which wasn't loud, mostly because the card itself didn't get too hot.

GTX 1060 seems to sip power, so I don't see it getting too hot to necessitate the fan cranking up too high.

However, obviously a two fan version would be quieter, as it would allow more heat to dissipate and thus run it cooler.

 

[Sonikku]

Son of a snappa!! I tried ordering the evga 1060 but got this:

"The following items have been removed from your cart because they are no longer in stock or it cannot be delivered to your location."

But when I refresh the page I can still add to cart.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487261

 

[Shivansps]

Also 3GB will also gona feature slower ram like in the 480 4GB version.

 

[mohit9206]

This thing better be significantly cheaper to justify its existence...

$199?

Yeah, I can't understand the purpose of a 3GB card in this class these days. Such a thing was DOA a year ago, much less now, or next week.

This is only for HTPCs, right?

Agree, I would have a hard time recommending a sub-4GB card to a gamer these days.

Not everyone HAS to be able to max games to enjoy it. Many are perfectly fine playing at medium or high settings.
To me a $199 3gb card releasing in 2016 is much less absurd than a $699 3gb card releasing in 2013.

 

[zinfamous]

$199?



Not everyone HAS to be able to max games to enjoy it. Many are perfectly fine playing at medium or high settings.
To me a $199 3gb card releasing in 2016 is much less absurd than a $699 3gb card releasing in 2013.

It is already crippled before it arrives, and that is my point about pricing: VRAM on GPUs was crazy expensive 2, 3 and more years ago. Yeah, going from 2gb to even 3gb in roughly the same class was nearly a $100 step up, iirc...maybe 50.

Today, the difference between 4gb and 8gb is about 30 or 40 dollars. That's nuts.

It's pointless to look back at what 3gb did for you in 2013, and the cost difference then. TODAY, anything less than 4gb is a terrible decision for games that come out TODAY and tomorrow. Even without max settings, most games are coming with 4k and such texture packs, so just maxing those textures, even if you lower shadows and lighting effects, requires more than 4GB more often than not.

If anyone thinks that a 1060 3gb is a reasonable competition to a 4gb 480 then they are fooling themselves. You are basically on either side of a wall at that point. The difference between 6gb on 1060 and 8gb on 480 is generally negligible though, because 6gb is probably "enough" in that expected performance tier. (for a year, anyway? But that probably has more legs than most would assume).

On top of that, the fact that you are going to be paying about $10-20 more for the privilege of losing that 1 crucial gb that is necessary to introduce you to the next tier of 1080 is rather silly. ...I thought I saw some price for $210, but apparently not. Where are you getting $199, a guess? This thing needs to be at least $20 less than the 480 to be any kind of reasonable, but that then puts it into 470 territory as well as eating up 1050 sales.

Anyone recommending this to their friends (today) under the premise of understanding this hardware is doing their friends a great disservice. I just don't see how it deserves life at any price considering everything else from nVidia and AMD.

 

[Morbus]

Coming from a GTX760 with 2GB of RAM (that runs the games I play perfectly fine, but struggles with newer AAA titles), I think there is no case for the GTX1060 3GB, and even less for the 6GB version. I'm probably gonna buy the RX 480 later this year, I really don't think I'll get much better value for the money.

 

[tviceman]

GTX 1060 reviews are a dime a dozen now, but I'm not sure if anyone has seen or posted Anandtech's benches of it (the review is still not live). Here is Ryan's benches vs. the RX 480 8gb:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1771?vs=1748

TL;DR The only game the RX 480 comes out on top is in Hitman. The two cards tie in The Division and Ashes of the Singularity, everything else is a solid win for the GTX 1060. Full system power consumption is 37 watts less.

All of the reviews, along with this one, confirm what I already knew to be true: faster in DX11, essentially tied in DX12, 35-40 less watts, slightly better OCing. I think AIB custom $249-269 6gb GTX 1060 is simply the better buy vs. $239-259 AIB custom RX 480s. I really don't see the point in saving $10-15 to get the 8gb RX 480.

 

[crisium]

To me a $199 3gb card releasing in 2016 is much less absurd than a $699 3gb card releasing in 2013.

It's not. Peruse 780 Ti reviews and investigate the VRAM usage yourself. Even at 1440p using more than 3072MB was virtually unheard of. Even the flagship PC game that year BF4 used just under 3GB at 1440p. As did Crysis 3.

Ask any of the millions of people with a GTX 970 or 980 if they can find playable settings at 1080p that use at least 3GB in multiple games. This card is around that speed - even if they gimp the shaders and mem speed it still might beat the 970. Please GM204 users, correct me if I'm wrong.

So right now, today, the 1060 user will have to sacrifice settings even at 1080p. The 780 Ti user was fine even at 1440p at launch.

Not everyone HAS to be able to max games to enjoy it. Many are perfectly fine playing at medium or high settings.

But why compromise day 1? The 6GB version, or comparable 4GB cards, will not have to reduce settings simply for VRAM. The 780 Ti user didn't have to make this compromise in 2013.

 

[raghu78]

GTX 1060 reviews are a dime a dozen now, but I'm not sure if anyone has seen or posted Anandtech's benches of it (the review is still not live). Here is Ryan's benches vs. the RX 480 8gb:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1771?vs=1748

TL;DR The only game the RX 480 comes out on top is in Hitman. The two cards tie in The Division and Ashes of the Singularity, everything else is a solid win for the GTX 1060. Full system power consumption is 37 watts less.

All of the reviews, along with this one, confirm what I already knew to be true: faster in DX11, essentially tied in DX12, 35-40 less watts, slightly better OCing. I think AIB custom $249-269 6gb GTX 1060 is simply the better buy vs. $239-259 AIB custom RX 480s. I really don't see the point in saving $10-15 to get the 8gb RX 480.

It all comes down to what you want to buy. perf in DX11 or perf in DX12/Vulkan ? The people who bought GTX 980 / GTX 970 are seeing their GPUs thrashed by R9 390X/ R9 290X and R9 390/R9 290 in DX12/Vulkan.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/73040-nvidia-gtx-1060-6gb-review-21.html

http://www.golem.de/news/geforce-gt...ingen-direct3d-12-und-vulkan-1607-122214.html

Anyway for every review like anandtech I can point a review like computerbase where the overall perf gap is just 3% for custom 1060 with custom 480.

https://www.computerbase.de/2016-07/sapphire-radeon-rx-480-nitro-oc-test/3/

The next few months are going to see a slew of AAA DX12 titles like Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Battlefield 1, Gears of War 4, Forza Horizon 3, Watch Dogs 2, Civilization 6. 4 of these are Gaming Evolved titles. Most of these titles will make their way into benchmark suites. So the Rx 480 might very well have the last laugh even before 2016 is over. Anyway a tpu poll reflects what people feel about the 480. Rx 480 is the more forward looking GPU and will age very well just like the Hawaii and Tahiti GPUs.

https://www.techpowerup.com/

 

[nurturedhate]

It's not. Peruse 780 Ti reviews and investigate the VRAM usage yourself. Even at 1440p using more than 3072MB was virtually unheard of. Even the flagship PC game that year BF4 used just under 3GB at 1440p. As did Crysis 3.

Ask any of the millions of people with a GTX 970 or 980 if they can find playable settings at 1080p that use at least 3GB in multiple games. This card is around that speed - even if they gimp the shaders and mem speed it still might beat the 970. Please GM204 users, correct me if I'm wrong.

So right now, today, the 1060 user will have to sacrifice settings even at 1080p. The 780 Ti user was fine even at 1440p at launch.



But why compromise day 1? The 6GB version, or comparable 4GB cards, will not have to reduce settings simply for VRAM. The 780 Ti user didn't have to make this compromise in 2013.

Wanted to throw my opinion in since I'm a 780ti owner and I feel the same way now that I did about my 580 1.5 before it. There's not going to be enough vram on the card for its performance level at some point soon in its future. My cards usually get handed down to friends and family and the 580 started choking in things like bf4 with only 1.5gb vram. This is where 2gb cards are today and where 3bg cards will be tomorrow. For some people this will be an issue even if I will have replaced this 780ti before then.

 

[sirmo]

GTX 1060 reviews are a dime a dozen now, but I'm not sure if anyone has seen or posted Anandtech's benches of it (the review is still not live). Here is Ryan's benches vs. the RX 480 8gb:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1771?vs=1748

TL;DR The only game the RX 480 comes out on top is in Hitman. The two cards tie in The Division and Ashes of the Singularity, everything else is a solid win for the GTX 1060. Full system power consumption is 37 watts less.

All of the reviews, along with this one, confirm what I already knew to be true: faster in DX11, essentially tied in DX12, 35-40 less watts, slightly better OCing. I think AIB custom $249-269 6gb GTX 1060 is simply the better buy vs. $239-259 AIB custom RX 480s. I really don't see the point in saving $10-15 to get the 8gb RX 480.

Rx480 is power throttled in those benchmarks. Like 1197 MHz rx480 vs 1840 MHz 1060.

Things are much closer when rx480 is undervolted or not powertrotled. Also their OC headroom is not much different either. They both can OC to just over 10% of their stock avg clocks.

With 1060 you get better power consumption. But with rx480 you get more VRAM, FreeSync support, crossfire support, better future performance.

They are both fine choices but I'd go for an rx480, in fact I did.

 

[tviceman]

The bench is using the updated results from the newer drivers. It's not power throttled, it's just a slower chip. TPU, hardwarecanuks, techspot, anandtech, and the overwhelming vast majority of all hardware sites found the same results. The 1060 OC's a little better, uses noticeably less power, doesn't need any tweaks out of the box, and is faster almost all the time. AIB custom models are no where to be found, the RX 480 still only has the reference loud cooler. Obvious is obvious! :thumbsup: But glad you're happy with your purchase; that's all that matters.

The RX 480 4gb at $199 is a good alternative though.

 

[tential]

Aib 480s are better than aib 1060s. why are people comparing reference 480s to aib 1060s? Ask yourself that. To avoid facing the truth that the aib rx 480 8gb is amazing. obvious is obvious that's why the rx 480 is the most favored card in tpus forum poll.

 

[tviceman]

Aib 480s are better than aib 1060s, obvious is obvious, hence why people compare reference 480s to aib 1060s. To avoid facing the truth that the aib rx 480 8gb is amazing. That's why it's the most favored card in tpus forum poll.

Can't tell if serious, but I think you're joking?

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/RX_480_STRIX_OC/23.html

AIB custom 480 with OC still loses to reference 1060....