NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition Review @ [H]

cptnjarhead said:
Oh, i thought you were referring to the tech, not the drivers. They call it Crimson now, and i have had zero issues for a long time now.
I do think "saving" for the 1070 would be better than getting a 1060, no SLI and clearly not a 480 killer.. makes sense to me if you're green team only.
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My biggest issue is that everything is hidden somewhere in Crimson. Heck, I can't even setup multi-monitor stuff unless I want to do Eyefinity, I had to use windows display settings. At 1080P the GTX 1060 would probably be alright. The 1070 is over 50% more expensive, making it hard to justify for some people. It kind of sucks tbh, I wish the 1060 had been a bit better.
 
gordon152 said:
They're priced this high due to stock issues more than likely. These cards weren't supposed to be released until September more likely and it was smart of Nvidia to release them now, versus when AIB RX 480's are common.

They overclock a lot though, the boosting to 1911Mhz is evident of that.
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Unfortunately, it's boosting for all it's worth just to reach 980 performance. Well, unfortunate for anyone who was considering the card. My bank account is still on lock for a few months, so no new GPU for me. lol
 
Trepidati0n said:
Why do people legitimately give a fuck a bout SLI with the 1060? Is there any NON-TRIVIAL segment of the people (e.g. even near 1%) who buy this card that would buy 2x 1060's right off the bat instead of 1070/1080? Don't get me wrong...I can understand SLI on the highest end card where there is no single faster card and you want more horsepower. However, running SLI when a single card will perform better and most likely be cheaper just seems like a WTF moment to me.

*Goes back to looking for SLI/crossfile reviews....read some articles...yep...they all say it performs poorly in the mid range and has no real point.
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This is the way I look at SLI/CrossFire

If two 480's give me the performance of a GTX 1080, then I'll just get a GTX 1080.

If two 1060's give me the performance of a GTX whatever, I'll just go get that Whatever Single-GPU single video card.

I've had both CrossFire and SLI, give me the fastest single-GPU any day of the week for those smooth frame times and 100% GPU Utilization versus wasted GPU resources due to inefficiencies with AFR, especially in the mid-range.

It's different if its like two 1070's or two 1080's, but in the mid-range, just go for the faster single-GPU card!
 
At $250, it's a coin toss B/T the 1060 and the 480. The $300 FE card is a non-starter.

Some might buy the 480 thinking 'Crossfire' down the road, but I'd bet maybe 1 in 10 actually ends up doing it. The loss of the SLI bridge on the 1060 is a 'meh' thing when you get down to it.

Nice to see AMD is competitive here. Now, where's my goddamned Zen processor?
 
I'm going to give the nod to the 480 this round, despite the higher power draw and heat, which I am a stickler for. AMD gave us a $200-250 1080p DX12 killer with an 8GB option.

For modest gamers that don't place utmost priority on super maxed out ultra settings, I'd be inclined to recommend the 1060 once custom cooler AIB options arrive because of the lower power draw and heat output...but only if it's equivalent or cheaper priced than an 8GB 480 custom cooler AIB opion.

As it stands right now: 480 8GB vs 1060FE 6GB the win goes to AMD imo.

Thanks for another great review, [H]!
 
damn, I eat my own words, this card is a massive failure at that price, I would never recommend this card over an RX 480... the only good thing about this POS card is the high efficiency it have and then and will eat all the OEM market which where the marketshare is heavier due that single reason..
 
Trepidati0n said:
Why do people legitimately give a fuck a bout SLI with the 1060? Is there any NON-TRIVIAL segment of the people (e.g. even near 1%) who buy this card that would buy 2x 1060's right off the bat instead of 1070/1080? Don't get me wrong...I can understand SLI on the highest end card where there is no single faster card and you want more horsepower. However, running SLI when a single card will perform better and most likely be cheaper just seems like a WTF moment to me.

*Goes back to looking for SLI/crossfile reviews....read some articles...yep...they all say it performs poorly in the mid range and has no real point.
Click to expand...

We have yet to see if DX12 and Vulkan can give budget cards a boost in SLI/CF, but with the 1060, we might not ever know. 1080p might be a preference now for a budget system, but if you upgrade to a 2k/4k monitor in the future, I would rather have the option of CF than not.
 
Brent_Justice said:
This is the way I look at SLI/CrossFire

If two 480's give me the performance of a GTX 1080, then I'll just get a GTX 1080.

If two 1060's give me the performance of a GTX whatever, I'll just go get that Whatever Single-GPU single video card.

I've had both CrossFire and SLI, give me the fastest single-GPU any day of the week for those smooth frame times and 100% GPU Utilization versus wasted GPU resources due to inefficiencies with AFR, especially in the mid-range.

It's different if its like two 1070's or two 1080's, but in the mid-range, just go for the faster single-GPU card!
Click to expand...

Where SLI/X-Fire come in to play for the lower end cards is not during the initial purchase, but down the road. Someone may pick up a single 480 or 1060 today, but 1 year later might need a little more power. Having the option to SLI/X-Fire at that point makes sense instead of selling what you have for a reduced amount when you can buy a second card at a reduced amount to get you the power you want/need.

The 1060 not having SLI support kills this card for some people.
 
Araxie said:
damn, I eat my own words, this card is a massive failure at that price, I would never recommend this card over an RX 480... the only good thing about this POS card is the high efficiency it have and then and will eat all the OEM market which where the marketshare is heavier due that single reason..
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So I just looked at PCGH review and checked games that I personally play. In Fallout 4 and GTA V the 1060 has a relatively large lead over the RX 480. Overall I think the RX 480 is going to be better, but if you only play certain games it may be the weaker choice. Either way, pretty meh overall.
 
Trepidati0n said:
Why do people legitimately give a fuck a bout SLI with the 1060? Is there any NON-TRIVIAL segment of the people (e.g. even near 1%) who buy this card that would buy 2x 1060's right off the bat instead of 1070/1080? Don't get me wrong...I can understand SLI on the highest end card where there is no single faster card and you want more horsepower. However, running SLI when a single card will perform better and most likely be cheaper just seems like a WTF moment to me.

*Goes back to looking for SLI/crossfile reviews....read some articles...yep...they all say it performs poorly in the mid range and has no real point.
Click to expand...

Midrange cards were the whole reason SLI/Crossfire were popular back in the days, when did it become a high end only thing (I know when it became high end only, when midrange cards started to suck). It wasn't until midrange cards started performing like crap in comparison to the high end $300 cards, that SLI/Crossfire in that range became meaningless.
 
image.png

This is probably one of the more disturbing graphs I've seen from this current generation. AMD talks all kinds of crazy shit about how much more efficient their new chips are, where nvidia doesn't seem to really talk about it much at all, it probably gets mentions but I don't recall them doing all kinds of crazy math to show how much better they got. I guess all I can say is "Good job AMD, you're now slightly more efficient at 14nm as your competitors halo products were at 28nm and almost as efficient as their old 28nm flagship".
 
I'd like to see AIB custom cards between AMD and nVidia. In this price bracket, an FE is DOA. (As are the reference RX 480s but that's another matter.)
 
I'm sorry but I just can't stand this new format. I can't figure out what was wrong with the old one.

Anyway, I don't think I can pass judgement on the 1060 just yet. From the [H] review results I'd say I'm dissapointed, I expected the 1060 to beat the RX 480 not the other way around.
But looking at other reviews, they show the 1060 meeting nvidia's claim of 980 performance and then some. This is important to me as I'm deciding on either a GTX 1060 or RX480 and [H] is not making it easy

BTW the RX480 was barely faster than a 970 according you the [H] review but its now head to head with a 980. Did something change? new drivers or patches? If that's so then great for AMD.
 
Great article.

With regard to Doom, and indeed most of the DX12 / Vulkan games tested, I notice that with the RX 480 the framerate is much more variable than the GTX 1060. Did that visibly affect the gameplay?
 
Stoly said:
I'm sorry but I just can't stand this new format. I can't figure out what was wrong with the old one.

Anyway, I don't think I can pass judgement on the 1060 just yet. From the [H] review results I'd say I'm dissapointed, I expected the 1060 to beat the RX 480 not the other way around.
But looking at other reviews, they show the 1060 meeting nvidia's claim of 980 performance and then some. This is important to me as I'm deciding on either a GTX 1060 or RX480 and [H] is not making it easy

BTW the RX480 was barely faster than a 970 according you the [H] review but its now head to head with a 980. Did something change? new drivers or patches? If that's so then great for AMD.
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Check out the games and API. DX12 and Vulkan = AMD performs much better.
 
Riccochet said:
Where SLI/X-Fire come in to play for the lower end cards is not during the initial purchase, but down the road. Someone may pick up a single 480 or 1060 today, but 1 year later might need a little more power. Having the option to SLI/X-Fire at that point makes sense instead of selling what you have for a reduced amount when you can buy a second card at a reduced amount to get you the power you want/need.

The 1060 not having SLI support kills this card for some people.
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I wonder what the percentage of people are in this world that actually follow that purchasing path.
 
gordon152 said:
Midrange cards were the whole reason SLI/Crossfire were popular back in the days, when did it become a high end only thing (I know when it became high end only, when midrange cards started to suck). It wasn't until midrange cards started performing like crap in comparison to the high end $300 cards, that SLI/Crossfire in that range became meaningless.
Click to expand...
This solidified at 960. 960 had very similar performance per dollar to the 970, unlike the 760 which had significantly higher performance per $ than 770, and especially 780, which made 760 SLI plenty of reasons over a single 780.

At the same similar performance to $ ratio between tiers, it's NEVER a good idea to go Multi-GPU, because the performance to $ inevitably drops once you add your second card.
 
So, overpriced, lacks SLI (in my opinion, a Nvidia move to protect the 1070) and not much faster than a RX480.

Yeap, AMD won and I hope that it does translate in some much needed income for them.
 
guess ill keep my 780ti for the 1060ti or 1070ti release
 
chenw said:
I think it's the thought that counts for most people.
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So you are buying something with the idea that it can have a second card added to it for better performance, but never actually end up doing that? You are basically buying something based on potential but never utilize that potential? What's the point then?

Boggles the mind

I have a magic bean I'd like to sell you
 
-Dragon- said:
Though this could really hurt AMD in the OEM market since it's much less power for similar performance and price so cheaper PSU and no concern of warranty issues from GPU burning out cheap ass MB due to excessive PCIe draw (yeah supposedly fixed in drivers, you know, overspeccing the 6 pin port, but if you're trying to get by on razor thin margins do you even want to take the risk?)
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35 W is such a massive difference, is it? Btw, efficiency is the same in DX12/Vulkan tests.

It wasn't supposedly fixed, it was fixed. You're grasping at straws at this point.


-Dragon- said:
image.png

This is probably one of the more disturbing graphs I've seen from this current generation. AMD talks all kinds of crazy shit about how much more efficient their new chips are, where nvidia doesn't seem to really talk about it much at all, it probably gets mentions but I don't recall them doing all kinds of crazy math to show how much better they got. I guess all I can say is "Good job AMD, you're now slightly more efficient at 14nm as your competitors halo products were at 28nm and almost as efficient as their old 28nm flagship".
Click to expand...

Almost as "disturbing" [LOL, really?] as this one:
perfdollar_1920_1080.png
 
Quartz-1 said:
Great article.

With regard to Doom, and indeed most of the DX12 / Vulkan games tested, I notice that with the RX 480 the framerate is much more variable than the GTX 1060. Did that visibly affect the gameplay?

Can I pick up two minor editing issues?

On the first page you write:



You specify the type of DVI port, so why not specify the types of DP and HDMI? It would be much more useful to read 'There are 3 DisplayPort 1.4 ports, 1 HDMI 2.0 port, and 1 Dual-Link DVI port.'

On the last page you write:



You're repeating yourself.
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No, it did not visibly affect the gameplay
 
If you set aside the stunning advantage that the RX480 8GB has over the GTX1060 , with VulcanAPI (*didn't expect that to be honest), the GTX 1060 seems to be the superior card.
At DX12, depends on each title, which one of these GPUs will gain the advantage, but the most crucial and constant advantage that Pascal has over Polaris is its very smooth scaling at its frame rate.
 
Brent_Justice said:
So you are buying something with the idea that it can have a second card added to it for better performance, but never actually end up doing that? You are basically buying something based on potential but never utilize that potential? What's the point then?

Boggles the mind

I have a magic bean I'd like to sell you
Click to expand...

That's how most people are though. They would rather have something that they might not use than not have said thing and maybe need it. I'm fine with SLI going away on this card, but some people won't be.
 
Brent_Justice said:
So you are buying something with the idea that it can have a second card added to it for better performance, but never actually end up doing that? You are basically buying something based on potential but never utilize that potential? What's the point then?

Boggles the mind

I have a magic bean I'd like to sell you
Click to expand...

Never said it was my thought. I would never consider SLI 1060 to be an option even if it HAD SLI, because a single isn't enough to drive some of my non-SLI supporting games. I'd much rather buy 1080 at this stage. The only reason why I haven't done so is because 1080 still isn't enough, and I don't want to deal with SLI again.

Strelok nailed the other thing I was going to say.
 
-Strelok- said:
That's how most people are though. They would rather have something that they might not use than not have said thing and maybe need it. I'm fine with SLI going away on this card, but some people won't be.
Click to expand...

I would argue, if you buy a thing cause it has a feature, but you never use that feature, then it is ok to lose that feature. You'll never miss it if you never used it in the first place. If your life depends on its usage, that's another story.
 
The RX 480 and the GTX 1060 are the same price here in the UK. Would it be reasonable to say that someone concentrating on their library of DX 9 / DX 11 games would be best advised to go for the 1060 and that someone moving on to DX 12 would be best advised to go for the RX 480?
 
I guess this is where the big fight is going to be for the next 6-months. It's hard to argue that the GTX 1060 and RX 480 fairly close in performance. Let the price wars begin*.

*I actually predict that Nvidia will move more cards because they have better "mindshare". Look how many GTX 960s they sold and that was not a great card price/performance wise.
 
Meeho said:
35 W is such a massive difference, is it? Btw, efficiency is the same in DX12/Vulkan tests.

It wasn't supposedly fixed, it was fixed. You're grasping at straws at this point.
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Ok it was fixed in the driver but as the card comes out of the box it can still wreck shit. And yes 35W difference could be a big deal for OEMs who a) want to use as small of a PSU as they can get away with and b) don't want components in their systems they know will run out of spec for fear of increasing warranty issues. It seems that as an OEM a 1060 is a no brainer over a 480.



Meeho said:
Almost as "disturbing" [LOL, really?] as this one:
perfdollar_1920_1080.png
Click to expand...
Neat, 1060 wins! And yes it is fucking disturbing that AMD's power draw is such garbage that they needed a full die shrink to almost catch up to their competitors old cards.
 
Sith'ari said:
At DX12, depends on each title, which one of these GPUs will gain the advantage, but the most crucial and constant advantage that Pascal has over Polaris is its very smooth scaling at its frame rate.... The Pascal architecture gives much more "smooth" frame latencies than the Polaris one. (the 1% low & the 0,1% low graphs of Gamer Nexus review )
Click to expand...

Brent_Justice notes in his response to me above that it doesn't impact the gameplay experience.
 
Quartz-1 said:
The RX 480 and the GTX 1060 are the same price here in the UK. Would it be reasonable to say that someone concentrating on their library of DX 9 / DX 11 games would be best advised to go for the 1060 and that someone moving on to DX 12 would be best advised to go for the RX 480?
Click to expand...
Assuming that no PSU replacement is required for RX 480, or if it needs to be replaced either way, that'd be my opinion too.

If PSU replacement is required for RX 480 but not 1060, then I'd go 1060 too,
 
DOOM was so smooth on all 3 cards, but I would say "more-so" on 480 with those high framerates, I can see why people like 100+Hz gaming, I was fraggin those demons left and right with not a care in the world, and let me tell ya, it was FUN.
 
But but, how well does it clock? :D
Surely it has to be more % capable than the 480.
Lower power cards are dwarfed by the coolers, there could be a nice benefit.
Its nice to also have breathing room on the power rails.
 
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