Which is better RX 480 or GTX 1060 in 2018? This is a question that worries and worries many. New models of graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA make it clear that price wars are once again gradually but surely taking the lead and coming to the fore. Already now, discussions, disputes and debates are in full swing regarding two equally interesting and attractive competitors, or rather, GeForce GTX 1060 and Radeon RX 480. let's take a closer look at some important and significant points.
Choosing a video card - interesting facts.
To date, to our great regret and disappointment, the GTX 1060 is not yet available in Russian retail.
But, despite this feature, which will be resolved and eliminated in the near future, interest in the video card has not become less, but, on the contrary, more and more every day. But why? It's simple, this interest is primarily based and associated with the long-awaited Pascal architecture, which in the German market is already priced at 319 euros for a model with 6 GB of memory. At the same time, an 8-gigabyte RX 240 costs much less, that is, 255 euros, that is, 20 thousand rubles. But what is actually better - Pascal or Polaris? Let's try to find the answer to this question.
Agree, these two words, that is, Pascal and Polaris are very familiar to every even a novice and inexperienced gamer. Probably everyone is well aware and aware of the fact that each architecture is based on earlier developments and is not something completely new. Although, nevertheless, some new tricks, reminiscent of the old ones that have not yet been forgotten, are available here. Let's remember them.
- Eight years ago, each computational core in an NVIDIA video chip provided the performance of five AMD/ATI cores (live example, 64 cores in the GeForce 9600GT versus 320 cores in ATI Radeon HD3870). This was achieved, including higher frequencies.
- Three or four years ago, it was decided to increase the number of cores dramatically (changing the core performance ratio compared to AMD by about 2:1 versus the usual 5:1), but the frequencies suffered greatly.
What awaits us now? First of all, the new 16nm manufacturing process allowed for a renewed focus on frequencies. Representatives of the upper segment of the Pascal family of video cards, to which the GTX 1060 belongs, are able to conquer 2 GHz even with standard cooling. Still, they would stop saving on the memory bus - you know, 192 bits for 6 GB do not inspire confidence.
But as for AMD, they are still true to their traditions and technologies. How to understand it? It's simple: the RX 480 uses 2304 cores at about 1.2 GHz and 256-bit vRAM, which again is not too much, especially for the 8 GB VRAM version that we have in our hands. In general, let's be honest, from the point of view of logic, a 4-gigabyte model looks like a more reasonable investment.
Our version of the GTX 1060 weighs 838 grams. It is compact enough to fit into the vast majority of modern compact system units. The video card requires less than 150 W of power, so theoretically it should be powered from a single PCI Expess 3.0 x16 port, without additional cables to the power supply. The same goes for the RX 480, though anecdotal forum posts suggest that the graphics card goes over the 150-watt threshold at peak load.
What are the characteristics and description of the RX 480?
- Architecture - Polaris 10.
- Cores - 2304.
- The nominal core frequency for 3D calculations is 1120 MHz.
- Turbo frequency - 1266 MHz.
- The memory bus is 256 bits.
- TDP - approx. 150 W.
As for the characteristics and description of the GTX 1060, we can highlight the following points.
- The transistor gate size is 16 NM.
- Architecture - Pascal GP 106.
- Cores - 1280.
- The nominal core frequency for 3D calculations is 1506 MHz.
- Turbo frequency - 170 MHz.
- Memory, eff. Frequency - 8000 MHz.
- The memory bus is 192 bits.
- TDP - 120W.
After such a detailed and detailed study of all the characteristics, features and descriptions, the choice is yours.
Full HD monitors are most often found among users, this is confirmed by the statistics of visits to our site. It is for this segment of the market that the fiercest struggle between AMD and NVIDIA is going on. In 2016, the minds of gamers will divide the new items: AMD Radeon RX 480 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060. Both new products are built on a new process technology and have become a concentration of new technologies in graphics processing. 16nm vs 14nm, 6GB vs 8GB, 120 vs 150W TDP, Pascal vs Polaris. The performance level of AMD Radeon RX 480 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 is optimal for modern games in Full HD resolution.
An important issue concerns the cost, as compared to older solutions, they are available for purchase by mass users. The gap between them is minimal and jumps depending on the particular store. At the time of the release of the comparative review, sales of non-reference versions did not start, and here the gap will be more noticeable not in favor of AMD.
It's no secret that the AMD Radeon RX 480 offers the most simplified version of this video card with a simple cooling system. Starting NVIDIA versions The GeForce GTX 1060, from partners like Palit and Zotac, is $40-$50 cheaper in European stores than the reference. In options with maximum factory overclocking, prices will be equal. At any cost, it will be about the same fork for AMD Radeon RX 480 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060.
We have at our disposal reference versions of these video cards, a good opportunity to compare efficiency and performance in the same work scenarios. Before we start detailed comparison I would like to dwell briefly on the appearance of the Radeon RX 480 and GeForce GTX 1060.
The product from NVIDIA is clearly in the lead here, offering a well-thought-out cooling system with an aluminum casing and massive heatsinks. It looks more modern, while AMD has taken the path of maximum savings. This is clearly visible externally and is reflected in the results of measurements of temperature and noise.
Comparison GeForce GTX 1060 vs Radeon RX 480
As a basis test stand used Intel processor Core i7 6700K @ 4700MHz, 32GB DDR4 RAM and motherboard ASUS MAXIMUS VIII Ranger. Recording is done on a separate system using an AVEMERDIA Live Gamer Extreme capture card. Additional overclocking of video cards was not carried out, official drivers were installed at the time of the test.
| Model | Data |
|---|---|
| Frame | Fractal Design Define S |
| Motherboard | ASUS MAXIMUS VIII RANGER |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-6700K Skylake (oc - 4700 MHz) |
| CPU cooler | DeepCool Captain 240 EX |
| RAM | Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 32GB (oc - 2700 MHz) |
| HDD | Intel SSD 530 240 GB |
| Hard disk 2 | WD Red WD20EFRX |
| Power Supply | Zalman ZM850-EBT |
| Audio | Creative Sound BlasterX G5 |
| Monitor | iiyama ProLite E2773HDS |
| Monitor 2 | Philips 242G5DJEB |
| mouse | ROCCAT Kone XTD |
| Keyboard | Razer BlackWidow Chroma |
| Operating system | Windows Pro 10 |
Energy consumption
The measurements are based on the maximum power consumption during the load by the synthetic test of the system. Data are given at maximum load.
Temperature
All measurements in games are carried out in Full HD resolution with ultra graphics settings.
DirectX 12: Ashes of the Singularity
Ashes of the Singularity is a strategy game from Stardock developed specifically for DirectX 12 and 64-bit systems.
Crysis 3
Hitman Absolution
tomb raider
Batman: Arkham Knight
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Far Cry Primal
Tom Clancy The Division
doom
GTA V (msaa off)
Fall Out 4 Ultra HD
Should I choose Radeon RX 480 or GeForce GTX 1060?
Both video cards demonstrated Good work in Full HD resolution on ultra graphics settings. But the final results are clearly not in favor of the Radeon RX 480. At the same cost, it loses to the GeForce GTX 1060 from 10 to 20% in games, regardless of whether the AMD or NVIDIA logo flaunts when the game starts. The second point concerns the overclocking potential, which is noticeably better in NVIDIA, opening up opportunities for further performance improvements while maintaining low temperatures and noise. The software component is still not in favor of AMD, it is still far from the “plug and play” mode of operation. For example, we tried capturing images in games and the possibility of using regular tools for streaming games. Draw your own conclusions, but we will return to this issue when non-reference versions appear.GPU developers have been waiting for us for weeks. While in the top segment, a new generation of NVIDIA cards heralded the emergence of GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080, AMD mid-range introduced . There was no need to talk about direct competition between these cards.
With the advent GeForce GTX 1060 producers finally met on average price segment. We pit the two available accelerators against each other, show the winners in each test category, and analyze the results.
Note: Because our hands-on test of the reference card was done with beta drivers, for given comparison we took only a slightly overclocked . In standalone testing, this card averaged three extra frames per second more than the reference model.
Radeon RX 480 and GeForce GTX 1060 in comparison
| Characteristics | |||
| Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8 GB | Zotac GTX 1060 6GB AMP! | ||
| Number of general purpose processors | 2304 | 1280 | |
| Number of texture units(TMUs) | 144 | 80 | |
| Number of ROPs(ROPs) | 32 | 48 | |
| 1120 MHz | 1557 MHz | ||
| GPU frequency in boost mode | 1266 MHz | 1772 MHz | |
| Video memory size | 8192 MB | 6144 MB | |
| Video memory frequency | 8000 MHz | 8008 MHz | |
| Video memory bus width | 256 bit | 192 bit | |
| TDP | 150 watts | 120 watts | |
| Video card length | 24.3cm | 21.2cm | |
| Ability to combine the power of two GPUs | There is | Not | |
| VR Support | There is | There is | |
| measurements | |||
| Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8 GB | Zotac GTX 1060 6GB AMP! | Difference between GTX 1060 and RX 480 | |
| Test: 3DMark (Cloud Gate) | 28,813 points | 29,630 points | 2,84% |
| Test: 3DMark (Fire Strike) | 10,483 points | 11 144 points |
6,31% |
| Test: 3DMark (Fire Strike Ultra) | 2716 points | 3018 points | 11,12% |
| Test: 3DMark DirectX 12 Feature Test | 22 579 990 Draw calls | 19 879 946 Draw calls | 11,96% |
| Test: 3DMark Time Spy | 4036 points |
4191 points |
3,85% |
| Test: DiRT Rally(1080p) | 80.96fps | 86 fps | 6,23% |
| Test: DiRT Rally (4K) | 26.97 fps | 31.36 fps | 16,28% |
| Test: Alien: Isolation (1080p) | 122.79 fps | 141.1 fps | 14,92% |
| Test: Alien: Isolation (4K) | 39.07 fps | 44.79 fps | 14,65% |
| Test: GTA V (1080p) | 81.6 fps | 105.68 fps | 29,51% |
| Test: GTA V (4K) | 27.92 fps | 39.21 fps | 40,44% |
| Test: Ashes of the Singularity (1080p) | 44.8 fps | 46.9 fps | 4,69% |
| Test: Ashes of the Singularity (4K) | 32.3 fps | 31 fps | 4,03% |
| Test: Metro: Last Light Redux (1080p) | 80.83 fps | 92.42 fps | 14,34% |
| Test: Metro: Last Light Redux (4K) | 25.9 fps | 32.33 fps | 24,83% |
| Test: LuxMark | 2704 points |
1994 points |
26,26% |
| Average | 9,24% | ||
| Average noise level during gaming | 3.1 sleep | 1.5 sleep | 51,62% |
| Maximum heating temperature at full load | 84°C | 75°C | 10,72% |
| System power consumption at full load | 247 watts | 240 watts | 2,84% |
| Average retail price | 20 000 rubles | 26 000 rubles | 18,59% |
GeForce GTX 1060: where NVIDIA wins
Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 boasts an extremely high clock speed. Even though the GP-106 GPU has fewer texture units and throughput access buses to six gigabytes of GDDR5 video memory are lower for this card, it wins in benchmarks.
More precisely, the advantage is about 9%. When measured in 1080p resolution, the gain GeForce GTX 1060 even up to 30%. The scores obtained during testing at 4K resolution can be neglected - the cards in question show poor results in it for a comfortable game.
The victory in the Power Consumption category is added to the advantage: the thermal dissipation power (TDP) of the GeForce GTX 1060 is lower than that of the GeForce GTX 1060 Radeon RX 480 at 30 watts. Despite the high productivity, all our test system consumes only 240 watts under full load (with Founders Edition: 206 watts). At the same time, the temperature of the GPU on the Pascal architecture is only 75 ° C.
Radeon RX 480: where AMD wins
Losing by AMD Performance can compensate a little in three areas. First, a noticeable, even if so far theoretical, superiority is observed in tests where work with functionality DirectX 12. In addition, in the demanding DX12 game "Ashes of the Singularity" and the DX12 benchmark "Time Spy", the cards run almost flush.
Figuratively, this may mean that at present GeForce GTX 1060 wins the sprint, but during the marathon, her competitor can seriously add. However, it is too early to draw firm conclusions on this subject.
But the savings that can be achieved when choosing in favor of the RX 480 definitely deserve attention. While Zotac and NVIDIA demand as much as 26,000 rubles for the GeForce GTX 1060, the RX 480 can currently be obtained for 20,000 rubles. In addition, you can use two RX 480s in one system at once. This card is very effective in Crossfire mode, and such a duo can be compared in power even with the GeForce GTX 1080. In the case of the GeForce GTX 1060, combining the resources of two video cards is impossible: NVIDIA has disabled SLI.
Which video card should you buy?
If you need the most performance card in the middle class, it would be more correct to make a choice in favor of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060. However, AMD takes the prize for value for money. If both of these parameters are important to you, consider: GeForce GTX 1060 is 9% more powerful, but Radeon RX 480 currently cheaper. In addition, over time, you can extend the enjoyment of the system with AMD graphics card by installing a second board. The GeForce GTX 1060, due to the lack of such an opportunity, will have to be completely changed.
Our recommendation: if you want as much power as possible right now and can afford to spend an extra $600, it's better to get a GTX 1060 from NVIDIA partners - for example, Zotac GTX 1060 AMP!. This card is equipped with a quieter fan and offers slightly more power than the Founders Edition for about the same money.
If you want to save some money, get best ratio price and performance, and leave room for capacity expansion, definitely choose Radeon RX 480. Or wait just a couple more days - soon the first non-standard versions from the manufacturer's partners should appear on sale.
Whatever performance levels the flagships of the new series of graphics adapters storm, no matter how many newsbreaks they create, most users always expect representatives of the middle price range. It is in this range that NVIDIA releases a newcomer. Today we will get acquainted with the performance and structure of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 in the Founders Edition reference variation.
Introductory section
First, let's go through a couple of presentation slides. Everything is quite familiar here, since the GeForce GTX 1060 is a representative of the tenth NVIDIA series, it simply “picks up” the technologies that were already presented at the time of the announcement of the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1080. Of course, the GeForce GTX 1060 is based on the Pascal architecture. Let me remind you, unlike the predecessors on Maxwell, the transition to a 16-nanometer process technology has been made, and the use of FinFET transistors has begun in the structure. You can also note the support for Simultaneous Multi-Projection technology, which provides optimizations for helmets virtual reality and systems with multi-screen assemblies.
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Of the software innovations, it is worth noting the Ansel complex, which allows you to take screenshots, or to be more precise, game photos in the free 360-degree camera mode with a huge initial resolution. The technology is not applicable to all existing games, and must be added by the developer. I managed to test it in the game Mirror`s Edge Catalyst. To be honest, it's interesting! Now it will be easier to get a unique poster for the whole room. I note that the technology is also available on the cards of past generations, full list is on the page dedicated to Ansel.
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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 received a graphics core labeled GP106. In total, 10 SMs assemblies are located in it, which ultimately gives 1280 streaming CUDA processors, 80 texture units and 48 raster units. The frequency formula of the GTX 1060 is at around 1506 MHz, and in Boost mode up to 1708 MHz. In part of the video memory, 6 GB are soldered with a 192-bit working bus. The declared thermal package is at around 120 watts.
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By tradition, we immediately attach a screenshot of the GPU-Z utility with an indication of the nominal frequencies. The utility worked correctly and successfully recognized the novelty.
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With that, we move on to the map view.
Visual inspection
Visually, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition uses the design style already familiar from the first cards of the tenth series. The metal casing of the cooling system is also made in two colors: black and silver. Only this time there was a small reverse, the area around the turbine became under the metal, and the black went down to the sides of the card. In the structure of the casing, especially in the area of the turbine, there are many transitions and protrusions, which in general reminded me of the features of a ship ...
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And since we have touched on the ship theme, I will call the older GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 massive aircraft carriers, and the GTX 1060 will be a small and nimble attack aircraft. Speaking in millimeters, the width variation does not go beyond two expansion slots, but the length, taking into account the cooling system, is 252 millimeters, which no longer fits into the compact Mini-ITX form factor.
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Speaking about the length of the card, I did not mention the cooling system in vain. The fact is that the turbine exceeds the dimensions of the printed circuit board by about 75 millimeters. There are two points to note about this approach. First, the casing of the cooling system is at the level of the printed circuit board, that is, when picking up the card, it feels like a single bar. The second point, despite the “short printed circuit board”, the engineers moved the 6-pin power connector to the corner of the cooling system. I think aesthetes will be happy :).
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On the side of the cooling system is the already familiar inscription GEFORCE GTX. It is made in rich green color and has a uniform backlight, which is familiar to users from many series. recent years. As for me, it is because of her that the fans of the manufacturer may want to purchase a card made by Founders Edition.
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To connect displays, the following set of ports is used: three DisplayPort, one HDMI and one DVI-D. As you can see, the set is identical to older cards and you can’t connect an old VGA monitor with the help of adapters, but it’s for the best, it’s the middle of 2016, no matter how.
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The back side of the cooling system has an area for air supply. The radiator starts from here. Looking ahead, I’ll say that there is one thing with this radiator, which we will learn about after disassembling the card.
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WHAT'S UNDER THE CASING?
Disassembling the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition is not difficult, but not trivial either. There are four bolts in the area of the video output bracket, then a dozen to fix the base of the cooling system. Four spring-loaded bolts are used to secure the main heatsink to the graphics core. We notice that the backplate, to cover the back side of the printed circuit board, is not detected.
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Previously, I did not get cards with a transferred power connector, and I don’t remember such in principle. Therefore, after unscrewing the cooling system, the situation was not quite familiar: the power cables were soldered to printed circuit board and go to the connector through the casing. Among the usual moments there are connectors for connecting a turbine and a backlight unit. In this state, you can replace the thermal interface graphics core.
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If you put a little more effort and unscrew about four hex bolts, you can look at the structure of the cooling system. As a result, it consists of a casing, a metal base with a turbine, a dissipative block and a small “back” radiator.
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A heatsink with a solid copper core is responsible for heat dissipation.
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There are 37 fins in the radiator, a pair of seals are used to maintain directional flow.
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The rear radiator is attached to the guide frame with two bolts. Their contact does not use any thermal interface, it does not get very warm during operation. It is true, this part has more protective and visual functions.
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There are thermal pads for cooling video memory chips and main microcircuits. The clamp to the microcircuits is solid, there is contact over the entire area.
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As you can see, the cooling of the GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition is done well and visually neat. Let's see how the system will manifest itself in practice.
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Printed circuit board
The GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition PCB is compact and fits perfectly into the Mini-ITX format. It seems that the cooling system was specially made of good quality, to demonstrate the capabilities of the graphics core. As you can see, the main set of elements is located exactly on the front side of the PCB, here are all the video memory chips and the main elements of the power system. Yes, the power adapter looks unusual.
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Graphics chip marking GP106-400-A1. The crystal was released on the 20th week of the current year and does not have a protective frame. The size of the crystal itself is not large and is 200 mm².
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To set the declared amount of video memory to 6 GB, six chips are used with the marking K4G80325FB, these are GDDR5 chips familiar to us from Samsung.
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The graphics core power system is three-phase, the video memory is single-phase. It is noteworthy, but for all phases on the printed circuit board there are seats for additional elements, by default one E6930 GA6F12 assembly is soldered for each phase.
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This is where we end visual inspections and move on to testing.
Thermal conditions, Overclocking, Gaming test results, Conclusions
TESTING
For tests, we used a test bench with the following configuration.
- Processor: ;
- Cooling system: Noctua NH-D15S
- Motherboard: Asus Maximus VIII Formula;
- RAM: Corsair VENGEANCE LPX CMK8GX4M2A2666C16 8GB (2X4GB);
- Hard disk: (for system);
- Power Supply: .
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During testing, the frequency and voltage of the processor were manually fixed at around 4600 MHz at a voltage of 1.456V, all power saving options were disabled. Fan speed control options have also been disabled by default.
As always, we started testing with the study of temperature indicators. At initial settings frequencies and automatic mode fan, in gaming applications, the maximum temperature of the graphics card has reached 75°C. At the same time, the cooler revolutions were at around 63% of the maximum, and the frequency in Boost mode reached 1822 MHz. In idle mode, the turbine of the card did not stop.
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If in manual mode fix the cooler speed at 85%, then the operating temperature drops to 66°C, and the frequency rises to 1847 MHz. Interestingly, at such turbine speeds, even without headphones, the video card does not “deliver” with its presence. It turns out that the "boost" frequency is much higher than the declared 1708 MHz (tests were carried out in summer mode with an ambient temperature of 28°C).
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More about noise. Noise characteristics were measured using a digital sound level meter, from a distance of ~ 30cm, the minimum noise measurement limit is 30dB, the noise level in the room is 31.6-32.1dB, data below 32.1-33.1dB can be considered absolutely noiseless, the error can be 1.5-2dB. The results are divided into three blocks, according to the fan speed.
It must be admitted that in automatic mode, the GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition variation balances well between the noise emitted and the operating frequency. I was pleasantly surprised when, after running the gaming tests, I did not immediately hear the card on the open test bench.
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After testing in normal modes, we decided to overclock the test subject. For this, the latest available version of the EVGA Precision XOC utility was used, the POWER TARGET and TEMP TARGET parameters were set to their maximum positions, and no other modifications were used. As a result, the frequency of the graphics core was able to overcome the bar of 1599 MHz, and RAM stopped at 2187 MHz - this is at nominal frequencies. As we understand it, for the Boost mode, everything depended on the operating mode of the cooling system.
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So in automatic mode, the cooler spins up to the already familiar 64%, the operating temperature is fixed at around 76°C (ten degrees above the nominal), and the frequency exceeds the threshold of 2 GHz and amounts to 2025 MHz.
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When the turbine was set to 100%, the frequency passed the mark of 2062 MHz. The chip has a clear margin for overclocking capabilities, add a more powerful cooling system and play around with voltages ...
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To visually reflect the increase from overclocking, we used synthetic tests. For comparison, the recently announced AMD Radeon RX 480 in the reference version was chosen as an opponent. For testing in games, the working resolution was set to 1920x1080, all settings available in the game or benchmark options were set to the maximum. Full-screen anti-aliasing was also set to the maximum available mode. The graphs show the average and minimum (where available) FPS values of the built-in gaming benchmarks.
SUMMARY
So, what conclusions can be drawn from the results of acquaintance with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Founders Edition? Of course, the transition to a new technological process in 16-nm has improved performance. So with a little manipulation of overclocking, the frequency of the graphics core can overcome the threshold of 2 GHz. At the same time, at nominal frequencies, while maintaining the thermal package, the card managed to get closer to the first flagships of previous generations.
Speaking of overclocking and increasing clock speeds, the cooling system in the Founders Edition version showed good performance. Out of the box, the GeForce GTX 1060 remains quiet, even for an open test bench, while still managing to run at higher frequencies than advertised. It's a pity there is no complete stop of the cooler in 2D mode, for lovers of absolute silence, so to speak. Well appearance Founders Edition should please fans of the manufacturer.
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By default, the Founders Edition variation will be available only in some regions, on the manufacturer's online platforms, at a price of $299, while the recommended price tag for partner variations starts at $249. If we talk about domestic retail, then the variations of partners should start at 18,990 rubles. What numbers we actually see will show a short period of time.
The same Radeon RX 480 in the capital's retail can now be found for about 19,500 rubles, and it is inferior in performance to the heroine of today's review, and in some tests the gap is minimized, in others, on the contrary, it seems very decent. Here I would like to note that the reference version of the Radeon RX 480 does not support operating frequencies very well and sometimes reduces them, while the GeForce GTX 1060, on the contrary, operates at frequencies higher than stated. I think it will be interesting to compare these variations in the "pumped" performance from partners, but this is a topic for a separate article.
The GTX 1060 is Nvidia's third 16 nm Pascal based GPU. It follows last month’s release of the higher end GTX 1070 and 1080. The 1060 has a TDP of 120 Watts and its aftermarket variants are available right away alongside the reference Founders edition. Comparing the GTX 1060 and 970 shows that although the 1060 leads by 12% it is also currently more expensive. Nvidia rushed the release of the GTX 1060 to help retain market share that may otherwise have gone to AMD’s new Polaris based RX 480. Comparing the RX 480 and GTX 1060 shows that for pre DX12 games the 1060 edges ahead by 12%. Due to better hardware compatibility, the RX 480 is able to match the 1060 in DX12 games but this will remain a corner case until most games are optimized for DX12 (likely to take several years). The 1060 has the potential to become a hugely successful card, but that all depends on where prices settle. [ Jul "16 GPUPro]
The RX 480 is the first graphics card to feature AMD's new 14nm Polaris architecture. The card is due for release on June 29 (in four days time). We don't have all the details yet but the RX 480 is rumoured to have an MSRP of $199 and it will likely perform on a par with the Nvidia GTX 970. At present we only have one benchmark so although the performance figures are provisional the RX 480 and GTX 970 do appear to be closely matched. If further tests validate these results and the retail cards at the MSRP of $199, then the new RX 480 will effectively improve graphics card price/performance ratios by a whopping 23%, something that has not happened since the release of the Maxwell based Nvidia GTX 970 nearly two years ago. In addition better price/performance for the current generation of games, the RX 480 also offers relatively strong DX12 support which provides better future proofing than Nvida’s Maxwell (970/980/980 Ti) cards. [ Jun"16