The GTX 970 vs 1060 are two of the most popular graphics cards on the market. But what’s the difference between them? The GTX 970 is a bit older than the 1060, but it’s still a powerful card. It has 4GB of VRAM, which is enough for most games. The 1060, on the other hand, has 6GB of VRAM. That means it can handle more demanding games at higher resolutions.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Although the GTX 1070 is the mid-range flagship of the current Pascal graphics cards, its price puts it out of reach for most entry-level PC gamers. The GTX 1060 6GB, on the other hand, comes closest to being decently priced at $ 254. NVIDIA’s xx60 graphics cards have always been distinguished by low costs and performance that rivals mid-range graphics cards – particularly when overclocked. After thoroughly testing the Pascal graphics card included within the GTX 1060 6GB, we confidently state it follows the trend.
The GTX 1060 6GB is much more costly than the GTX 960, costing $ 254. Compared to the GTX 960, initially priced at $ 199, this is a significant saving. Meanwhile, the RX 580, which costs $229, is the closest AMD comparable. This GTX 1060 6GB outperforms its immediate predecessor, the GTX 960, by 2 percent in terms of frame rate.
Compared to the GTX 960s 2 GB video memory, the GTX 1060 6GB features 6 GB RAM. The GTX 1060 6GB outperforms the GTX 960 and, surprisingly, the GTX 970 in our simulated benchmarks.
Fortunately, the game performance was excellent. The GTX 1060 6GB routinely outperforms the GTX 960 frame rate. Thus it’s a no-brainer to upgrade. We were able to play Hitman 2, Apex Legends, F1 2019, World War Z, and Battlefield V at 61 to 68 frames per second in 1080p Full HD, with frame rates resting around 65 frames per second.
We were able to play Valorant at 105 fps to 105 fps on 1440p Quad HD, with frame rates hanging around 105 fps. We were able to play Valorant at 91 fps to 91 fps in 2160p 4K and maintained frame rates around 91 fps.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Although the GTX 980 is the new Maxwell 2.0 graphics card’s high-end flagship, its same price makes most mid-range PC gamers out of reach. With a price tag of $ 329, the GTX 970, on the other hand, comes closer to being decently priced. The xx70 series of NVIDIA graphics cards have always been characterized by mid-range costs and performance that rivals high-end graphics cards – particularly when overclocked. After thoroughly testing the Maxwell 2.0 graphics card included within the GTX 970, we confidently state it follows the trend.
The GTX 970 costs $329, much less than the GTX 770. This is a significant saving compared to the GTX 770, initially priced at $ 399. Meanwhile, the R9 290X, which costs $549, is the closest AMD comparable. The GTX 970 has 4 GB of RAM, but the GTX 770 only has 2 GB.
The GTX 970 outperforms the GTX 770 and, surprisingly, the GTX 780 in our simulated benchmarks. Unfortunately, the game performance was less than stellar. Even if the GTX 970 routinely outperforms the GTX 770 in terms of frame rate, the difference isn’t significant enough to warrant upgrading.
GTX 970 vs 1060 Graphics Card: Compare
1. GTX 970 vs 1060: Architecture
The microarchitecture of the 970 and 1060 differs significantly due to their origins in two different GPU generations. The GTX 900-Series was Nvidia’s first and only GPU series to be developed on the Maxwell architecture, resulting in significant graphics performance and energy efficiency improvements.
The GTX 10-Series, on the other hand, uses the GP106-400-A1 iteration of Nvidia’s much-loved Pascal microarchitecture, which improved performance more than Maxwell did when it followed Kepler. Unified memory, twice as many registers per CUDA core, and enhanced color compression were enhancements.
Moving on to the exact versions in the issue, you’ll see that the 970 has a 1664 CUDA core advantage over the 1060s 1280; but, when you consider the enhancements made to each Pascal core, the difference isn’t as significant.
The GTX 970 has 30 percent more texture units (104 vs. 80), 5.2 billion transistors vs. 4.4 billion for the GTX 1060, 8 more render units (56 vs. 48), 13 SMs vs. 10 for the GTX 1060, and a considerably more powerful L2 cache (2MB vs. 1536KB). On the other hand, the Pascal card has much higher clock speeds. We go from a base frequency of 1050MHz and a boost clock of 1178MHz on the 900-Series card to a memory clock speed of 1506MHz and a boost clock of 1709MHz on the 1500-Series card.
2. GTX 970 vs 1060: Cooling
The GTX 970 draws 145 watts and can endure temperatures of up to 98°C. A sizeable thermal design power is advantageous since, as an older card, newer games will push it to its limits. In light of this, even if it has a relatively large capacity, it’s well worth the money to invest in better cooling systems. Under load, you should be able to keep it below 70°C with the appropriate configuration.
1060 can withstand temperatures of up to 94°C, yet it may become rather hot, typically reaching temperatures of 76-80°C. This is perfectly OK, but if you’re going to push it, we suggest using at least two intake fans or, better yet, a custom loop.
The GeForce GTX 970 power consumption 23% more power than the GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB.
3. Dimensions
As you’d anticipate, 1060 is the smaller card overall due to its newer technology and lack of architectural components; nevertheless, there will be minor differences in size from model to model.
It may be smaller overall, with dimensions of 4.378″ (H) x 9.823″ (L) x 2-slot (W) against 4.37″ (H) x 10.5″ (L) x 2-slot (W) for the 970, but the 970 is bigger in every other way, from die size (398mm2 vs 220mm2) to the 28-nm process size.
4. GTX 970 vs 1060: Resolution and Frames Per Second
- 1080p
In 1080p at maximum settings, the GTX 970 shines. God bless its silicone soul, it only pulls the occasional 1-2 percent triumph, going below the 50fps zone during challenging games like The Witcher 3, but it puts some significant frames on other titles. It easily exceeds 100 frames per second in CSGO and League of Legends, and it reaches an incredible 189 frames per second in Minecraft.
Of course, we’re being kind, since the 1060 and its Pascal architecture have won. The 1060 clinches a 7% 1080p victory after doing very well in World of Warcraft, achieving a 21 percent victory, and then another promising 17 percent victory during The Witcher 3.
- 1440p
The 970 isn’t the only one that doesn’t like 1440p. These GPUs are likely to fall short of the 50fps mark in various games. 1060, on the other hand, comes closer with an average of 48.7 frames per second, claiming yet another resolution increase, this time by 8%.
- 4K
Don’t give up hope if you’ve been following these cards over this point! Before the 900-Series was announced, 4K had only been available in TVs for two years, and 1060 isn’t suited to handle the pixel-heavy task.
In 4K, a GTX 970 will average about 27.6 frames per second. Trying this isn’t really on any level. We were just astounded that it didn’t melt! In 4K, 1060 will almost surely slip below the 30fps mark, but that’s good enough for a slender 4% victory.
5. Ray Tracing
RT cores aren’t present in any of these GPUs, implying they can’t do ray tracing. The RTX series of GPUs has exclusive access to this feature.
It’s not the same as hardware ray tracing, but you can enable software ray tracing on GTX cards if you want to try it. However, it has a significant performance hit. 1060 will struggle under the ray tracing load, and the 970 will work much worse.
6. VRAM
Surprisingly, the GTX 970 seems to have a fantastic memory configuration. It’s giving 1060 a run for its money in this area, with a memory type 4GB GDDR5 buffer, 256-bit bus memory, 224.4GBps memory bandwidth, and a memory frequency of 1753MHz, resulting in a compelling performance of 7GBps.
1060 has a 6GB GDDR5 buffer, which wins there, but it falls short in other areas, including its 192-bit bus interface and 192GBps bandwidth. Overall, with a memory frequency of 2002MHz and an effective speed of 8GBps, it comes out on top once again.
I would avoid the 3GB model 1060 since certain games, such as Rise of the Tomb Raider, suffer from a significant performance pretty massive drop to a lack of VRAM.
7. Video Output Support
Both video cards connected to a motherboard through a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.
While most individuals won’t notice a difference while using their computer for multimedia, having the right output capability makes all the difference.
Neither GPU, sadly, supports DisplayPort 1.4. Consequently, customers will only be allowed to utilize HDMI 2.0b ports; therefore, having connections ready ahead of time is a good idea.
8. Maximum Resolution
Since many monitors now have 25601440 screens, we usually check at native resolution first when comparing solutions.
They aren’t flawless, and they often need to be scaled down to fit inside the display space. Fortunately, both cards enable players to play games at their highest settings without difficulty.
Also, if you’re having trouble with a graphic card fan and are stumped about the problem, what are the possible reasons and how to solve it? Then you won’t have to be concerned about the easy measures; you’ll be able to repair your graphic card fan.
However, we wouldn’t suggest it unless you want to play at high frame rates. After a time, you’d probably become sick and bored of it.
Let’s look at some benchmarks to see what outcomes you may anticipate.
Read also:
- GTX vs RTX Comparison 2022 And Which is Better?
- RX 580 vs GTX 1060: Which Is Better In 2022?
- GTX 1070 vs RTX 2060: Which Is Better?
Conclusion
It’s all 1060, which was always the case, but what’s surprising is how well the 970 still stands up. Unlike its more minor sister, the GTX 960, which has the bare essentials for current gaming, the 970 delivers reasonably excellent gaming performance in 1080p at mid to high settings. Anything beyond that is asking a little too much, but it has a place in PC gaming.
Even if the 970 puts on a great show, with 1060 pricing at an all-time low, it’s still not worth choosing it over 1060. 1060 is still your best pick if you’re interested in futureproofing or 1440p gaming.
