NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Rumors, Part 5: Full specs, 2.0 GHz Overclocking
Some stuff about upcoming GTX 1060 has surfaced over the past few days, so let me update you with the latest.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Ashes of the Singularity Performance
As you know AotS benchmarks are not always accurate, especially when we have scores only from one source. Still you might find this interesting by comparing it to RX 480 benchmarks (which I linked below).
Extreme 4K
RX 480 for comparison (remember to look at non-mGPU scores
Extreme 1440P
RX 480 for comparison
Extreme 1080P
RX 480 for comparison
Source #1 #2 #3
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 OpenCL performance
Next up we have OpenCL performance. The GTX 1060 appears to be faster than GTX 970 and RX 480, but it struggles to perform better than GTX 980.
Source
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 can hit 2.
0 GHz
Here’s the first screenshot allegedly showing GTX 1060 hitting 2 GHz in Heaven Benchmark. Card hits 2012 MHz boost clock with 116% power target and temperature at around 74 C. That’s achieved with 61% fan speed (2000 RPM), but there’s no information how loud that is. Click on the picture to see the full screenshot.
Source
NVIDIA Pascal GP106 Block Diagram confirms 80 TMUs and 48 ROPs
The number of Texture Mapping Units and Raster Operating Units is always hard to confirm unless we have the official block diagram. Well the good news is that the diagram was leaked, so it’s no longer a secret. Just like we said those 108 TMUs shown in previous leak did not really make any sense. So it is not 108 but 80 TMUs.
However what’s interesting is the confirmation of 48 ROPs. That’s quite an upgrade over previous mid-range solutions from NVIDIA (it used to be around 32 ROPs).
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
VideoCardz. com |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 | AMD Radeon RX 480 |
| Graphics Processing Unit | Pascal GP106 | Polaris 10 XT |
| Fabrication Process | 16nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET |
| Unified Cores | 1280 | 2304 |
| TMUs | 80 | 144 |
| ROPs | 48 | 32 |
| Base Clock | 1506 MHz | 1120 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1709 MHz | 1266 MHz |
| Compute Performance (Base) | 3.9 TFLOPs | 5.2 TFLOPs |
| Compute Performance (Boost) | 4.4 TFLOPs | 5.8 TFLOPs |
| Memory Configuration | 6GB GDDR5 | 4/8 GB GDDR5 |
| Bus Interface | 192-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory Speed | 2000 MHz | 2000 MHz |
| Memory Bandwidth | 192 GB/s | 256 GB/s |
| TDP | 120W | 150W |
| Launch Date | July 2016 | June 2016 |
| Launch Price | $249 MSRP $299 Founders Edition |
$199 (4 GB) $239 (8 GB) |
Source
Overclockers Gaming XVI Essential review: An impressive desktop for gaming
Straight away, the Gaming XVI Essential looks like a superior all-round desktop than the last £700 Overclockers PC we looked at, the Gaming Vision VR.
That had a strong advantage for gaming in its GTX 1060 graphics card, but with only a Core i3-8100 CPU and 1TB hard disk, it ultimately lost out to its hexa-core, SSD-equipped peers. The Gaming XVI Essential is far more up to speed.
It has an overclockable, 12-threaded AMD Ryzen 5 2600, and while there’s still a 1TB hard disk, this time it’s in reserve – the main drive is a 240GB SATA SSD. Nvidia’s new GTX 1660 also takes the place of the GTX 1060, and even the case looks better, gaining dual RGB fans with nine different colour modes.
There are two big performance gains these specs bring to the Gaming XVI Essential: a general speed boost from the SSD and vastly quicker 2D application performance from the CPU. In our 4K benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 2600 (together with 8GB of RAM) scored 133 in the image test, 206 in the video test, 231 in the multitasking test and 207 overall.
READ NEXT: Best gaming PCs you can buy
Overclockers Gaming XVI Essential review: Design and setup
The Gaming Vision VR looks lethargic next to these results – its own highest score was 109 in the video test and it only managed 106 overall.
Perhaps this doesn’t put the Gaming XVI Essential among the most compute-capable £700 desktops – for example, the Palicomp AMD Abyss and Chillblast Fusion Recoil scored 230 and 241 overall respectively – but it’s far more competitive than Overclockers’ previous attempt.
The addition of an SSD can’t be downplayed, either. It means the Gaming XVI Essential boosts faster, loads programs faster and transfers files faster than the Gaming Vision VR, and probably would have done so even if the CPU wasn’t better as well. That’s not to mention the greater overall capacity: the extra 240GB of solid-state capacity comes in addition to, not instead of, the 1TB hard disk.
The only caveat is that, by SSD standards, the drive is a pretty mediocre performer. Using the AS SSD benchmark, we clocked a good read speed of 498MB/s, but its write speed of 248MB/s is only about half of what SATA is capable of. Ultimately, the SSD is a worthwhile inclusion, but for the very best speeds (and capacity) you’re better off with the AMD Abyss and its breakneck 500GB NVMe drive.
Buy now from Overclockers
Overclockers Gaming XVI Essential review: Performance
The area in which the Gaming XVI Essential stands out most is also where it’s most similar to the Gaming Vision VR. That’s because the GTX 1660, based on its performance here, is about the most modest upgrade to the GTX 1060 imaginable. Metro: Last Light Redux, running on Very High quality with SSAA enabled, produced 52fps at 1,920 x 1,080 and 29fps at 2,560 x 1,440.
That’s almost exactly the same as the Gaming Vision VR. Dirt: Showdown saw a much bigger difference, with Overclockers’ newer system averaging a slick 139fps at 1,920 x 1,080 and 114fps at 2,560 x 1,440 (both using Ultra quality), but knowing how CPU-dependent this game is, that could be down to the Gaming XVI Essential’s better processor. The SteamVR Performance Test, at least, put out an improved result of 9.3, up from 8.5 on the Gaming Vision VR. This one is much more likely down to the GPU alone.
Why, however, is the Gaming XVI Essential’s greatest strength something that’s only barely better than that of the Gaming Vision VR? It’s because gaming prowess was already the latter’s strong suit; many other £700 systems came close, but the GTX 1060 proved the best GPU for gaming at this price. The GTX 1660 may not be much stronger, but even a sidegrade is just fine in this particular context, as you’re still getting fantastic in-game performance for the cash.
READ NEXT: Best gaming laptops you can buy
Overclockers Gaming XVI Essential review: Features
Securing such high performance on day one is all the more important when upgrade potential is limited, and unfortunately this applies to the Gaming XVI Essential. The chassis may be decked out with colourful case fans, but it offers only three storage bays (one 2.5in, two 3.5in). The microATX motherboard, too, has just a single PCI-E x16 slot, two PCI-E x1 slots (one of which is obscured by the graphics card) and two RAM slots, although there is one unused M.
2 slot.
External connectivity is similarly serviceable but ultimately nothing special. The front of the case has single USB 2 and USB 3 ports, while the rear I/O panel combines two USB 2 ports, four USB 3 ports and two PS/2 sockets with the standard three 3.5mm audio jacks. In fairness, that’s not unduly basic for £700, and you can at least add a single NVMe SSD or a slim PCI-E device such as a Wi-Fi card.
Buy now from Overclockers
Overclockers Gaming XVI Essential review: Verdict
As the AMD Abyss has an even faster CPU, better storage and a more feature-rich motherboard, it’s still our favourite do-anything £700 desktop. Overclockers’ effort, however, should be considered first for gaming specifically – as vastly improved as it is in other hardware areas, wringing out every last frame-per-second is what it’s best at.
| Overclockers Gaming VXI Essential specifications | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Hexa-core 3. 4GHz AMD Ryzen 5 2600 |
| RAM | 8GB DDR4 |
| Front USB ports | 1x USB2, 1x USB3 |
| Rear USB ports | 2x USB2, 4x USB3 |
| Graphics card | 6GB Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC 6G |
| Storage | 240GB SSD, 1TB hard disk |
| Display | None |
| Operating system | Windows 10 Home |
| Warranty | Three years collect and return |
The
RX 480 can be flashed with the RX 580 BIOS, but that’s a bad idea
Every time AMD or NVIDIA releases a new line of graphics cards, there’s an Olympiad in the overclocking community to find hidden features and ways to increase GPU frequency and voltage. In the old days, you could buy a mid-range card and accidentally unlock additional GPU cores designed for top-end models.
Even now, you can sometimes make your card run a little faster just by installing a different BIOS. The end result, however, depends on the manufacturer and the card used.
According to Overclock3D, some users are flashing their RX 480 with an updated BIOS for the RX 580, and the old one starts to work as well as the successor. As a rule, I am all for such initiatives (provided that the user is aware of all the risks), but not now.
There are two problems. First, owners of RX 480s with PCI Express are just asking for trouble. The problem with the early RX 480s was that they pulled too much current through the PCI Express slot and too little through the auxiliary power connectors. Over time, AMD solved this problem with a new driver, but any attempt to overclock the GPU may result in the old wound reappearing. And the first signs will be an extinguished monitor and the fragrant smell of smoking chips. This issue will most likely affect the first wave of RX 480s based on AMD’s original design, but should bypass modified cards from AIB partners.
In general, if you own an RX 480 with one 6-pin PCI Express slot, I strongly do not recommend making this tweak.
The second problem is that trying to drive an RX 480 like an RX 580 can result in a significant increase in power consumption and an associated increase in temperature. Tests show that the RX 580 draws 77 watts more than the RX 480 under the same conditions, although this figure may vary depending on the quality of the card, cooling and clock speed of the RX 580. But in any case, all reviews of the 2nd generation Polaris vied with each other that The RX 580 consumes much more power than its predecessor. For example, a review of the Gigabyte RX 580 Aorus OC showed that this is an excellent card with minimal noise and a solid 1425 MHz, but with much higher cooling requirements.
In terms of temperature, many reviewers and general users pay more attention to how hot the GPU core gets, but VRM memory temperature is also an important factor. In their review of the RX 480, Tom’s Hardware compared the GPU core and VRM temperatures of different versions of the RX 480, finding that they were very different.
Moreover, the individual temperatures of the GPU core and VRM memory do not necessarily correlate with each other. For example, the Sapphire RX 480 Nitro+ has a GPU core temperature of 80°C and a VRM temperature of 97°C.
In this situation, overclocking VRM is just crazy. The memory itself might be able to handle that temperature, but the PCB it sits on probably won’t. In addition, the heating pattern can also be a problem, but this depends on the manufacturer and model of the GPU.
Finally, thanks to this overclocking, you will get an increase of only 7-12 percent. Below are the gains for the RX 480 (made according to the original AMD design) with the RX 580 bios: total for all games and for games using DX12/Vulkan.
As you can see, firmware prior to the RX 580 makes the RX 480 almost 10% faster, and add to this the increased risk that overclocking the card may result in irreversible damage to it. In general, I categorically cannot recommend such overclocking.
A 10% performance boost isn’t worth $220-$250 for a new graphics card.
Radeon
Edition progamer.ru
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT takes on Nvidia GTX 1650 and 1660
AMD has had a busy year already, but the company still has a lot to offer. In 2019it upgraded server and desktop processors to 7nm process technology, released a new line of 12nm APUs […]
Hardware, Hardware
Reviews
12/25/2019
Edition progamer.ru
RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT Review: RDNA brings Radeon back into the game
The AMD RX 5700 and AMD RX 5700 XT are the Reds’ new attempt to improve their position against Nvidia. The new graphics cards do not have RTX support promoted by the competitor, but AMD plans to attract buyers with a performance boost […]
Hardware, Hardware
Reviews
07/23/2019
Edition progamer.ru
AMD’s Navi will not lead to a drastic drop in graphics card prices
AMD is in no hurry to officially announce Navi, its upcoming 7nm GPU architecture designed to challenge Nvidia.
The latest leak is from Sapphire’s PR manager, who apparently spoke to the Chinese press (via the now-deleted […]
Hardware
05/25/2019
Edition progamer.ru
Radeon VII Review: Not Everyone Needs 16 GB of Memory
AMD Radeon VII is finally released. Not only is it the world’s first 7nm gaming graphics card, it’s also the first consumer GPU to feature 16GB of memory. This is twice as much as AMD’s previous top card, the Radeon […]
Hardware, Hardware
Reviews
02/11/2019
Edition progamer.ru
AMD Q4 Earnings $87M
Despite fears of a decline in revenue in the fourth quarter, AMD received good revenue. The Santa Clara-based California-based processor and graphics card maker reported revenue up 6% year-over-year to $1.42 billion […]
Hardware
01/30/2019
Edition progamer.ru
AMD is close to overthrowing NVIDIA from its leadership position
After AMD released the 7nm Radeon VII graphics card, NVIDIA President and CEO Jensen Huang was extremely dismissive.
He told PC World that this graphics card had terrible performance, […]
Hardware
01/20/2019
Vladimir Khokhlov
FrostBite
Best Graphics Cards Starting 2019
Our guide to the best graphics cards for every need and budget. If you are looking for the best graphics card, then we just want to help you. Do you prefer powerful Nvidia or stable drivers from […]
Hardware
01/03/2019
Revision progamer.ru
AMD Sapphire RX 590 Nitro+ SE 8GB Review: GTX 1060 Killer?
What a surprise, isn’t it? All this hype with new products from Nvidia did not prevent AMD from taking and releasing a mid-range video card in the face of the Radeon RX 590. Alas, this is not a representative of the Navi architecture, oh […]
Hardware, Hardware
Reviews
11/20/2018
Edition progamer.ru
The new Radeon Pro Duo is cheaper and slower than its predecessor
When AMD released the Dual Nano-equipped Radeon Pro Duo a year ago, it was a clear attempt to both push the VR landscape forward and carve out a niche for the top-of-the-line Radeon that handles every eye in a VR headset with separate GPU.
[…]
Hardware
04/29/2017
Edition progamer.ru
RX 480 can be flashed with the BIOS of the RX 580, but this is a bad idea
Every time AMD or NVIDIA releases a new line of video cards, the overclocking community immediately starts an Olympiad to find hidden features and ways to increase the frequency and voltage of the GPU. In the old days, you could buy […]
Hardware
04/22/2017
Revision progamer.ru
AMD RX 550, RX 560 and RX 570
On April 18, AMD announced that its mid-range RX 4xx series GPUs will be updated. We recently talked about the RX 580, but apart from that, AMD will also release improved versions of the RX 460 and RX 470, as well as […]
Hardware
20.04.2017
Vladimir Khokhlov
FrostBite
Review of AMD Radeon RX 480 by MSI
With the Radeon RX 480, AMD didn’t aim to make the most powerful video card and instead set its sights on maximum sales.
However, this does not make the RX 480 less significant than the recent GeForce GTX 1080 and […]
Hardware, Hardware
Reviews
06/30/2016
Edition progamer.ru
How to choose a gaming video card
Ever since 3dfx released the first Voodoo, PC gaming performance has become dependent, as a rule, on what video card is installed on it. But the assortment is great, and to choose from all this variety the “same” GPU […]
Hardware
04/13/2016
Edition progamer.ru
Graphics card upgrade should be postponed until next year
A couple of days ago, NVIDIA revealed the GP100, its new top-end GPU, to the world, thus hinting at how things will be in the field of high-performance graphics computing in the 1st quarter of 2017. Although it is clear that the new card […]
Hardware
04/10/2016
Edition progamer.ru
Radeon HD 7990, another 1000 bucks graphics card
Radeon HD 79 graphics card90 is finally officially presented, and in a few weeks it will be available for a very favorable price of $1,000.