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InnoReviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

WINNER
33.1Inno Score
VS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
32.6Inno Score
22.8Rasterization22.5
20Ray Tracing20
29.3Memoryspec-based32.4
83.8Efficiencyspec-based76.3
28Compute29.8
7 spec wins — NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB4 spec wins — NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

InnoReviews verdict

This one is close to a dead heat: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB scores 33.1 against 32.6 for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970. Pick by the categories that matter to you — NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB edges ahead in rasterization, or by price.

Which would you pick?

Key differences

Reasons to pick the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

  • 45% higher Boost clock: 1,708 MHz vs 1,178 MHz
  • 43% lower process: 16 nm vs 28 nm
  • 43% higher Base clock: 1,506 MHz vs 1,050 MHz
  • 17% lower TDP: 120 W vs 145 W
  • Lower launch price: $199 vs $329

Reasons to pick the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

  • 44% higher Shading units: 1,664 vs 1,152
  • 33% higher VRAM: 4 GB vs 3 GB
  • 33% higher Bus width: 256 bit vs 192 bit
  • 17% higher bandwidth: 224 GB/s vs 192 GB/s

General

General comparison: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SpecNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Announced20162014
ArchitecturePascalMaxwell
Process16 nm+43%28 nm
TDP120 W+17%145 W
Power connector1x 6-pin2x 6-pin

Cores & Clocks

Cores & Clocks comparison: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SpecNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Shading units1,1521,664+44%
Base clock1,506 MHz+43%1,050 MHz
Boost clock1,708 MHz+45%1,178 MHz

Memory

Memory comparison: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SpecNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
VRAM3 GB4 GB+33%
VRAM typeGDDR5GDDR5
Bus width192 bit256 bit+33%
Bandwidth192 GB/s224 GB/s+17%

Benchmarks

Benchmarks comparison: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SpecNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
3DMark Time Spy3,864+6%Bottom 14%3,645Bottom 11%
PassMark G3D9,859+2%Bottom 17%9,637Bottom 17%

Features

Features comparison: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB versus NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SpecNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GBNVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
UpscalingNone—

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