Thinking about upgrading your gaming PC? GPUs are constantly evolving, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest and greatest. In this article, Glitchmind‘ll be comparing the RX 580 vs GTX 1060, two of the most popular GPUs on the market. We’ll be looking at their performance, features, and price to see which one is the better option in 2022.
AMD Radeon RX 580 Graphics Card
AMD’s xx80 cards have always been characterized by mid-range costs and performance that rivals high-end graphics cards — particularly when overclocked. After thoroughly testing the GCN 4.0 graphics card inside the RX 580, we unequivocally state that it maintains the trend. The RX 580 costs $ 229, much less than the RX 480. Compared to the RX 480, initially priced at $ 400, this is a significant saving. Meanwhile, the closest NVIDIA similar card is the GTX 1060 6GB, which costs USD 254.
Unfortunately, most games performance was not up to par. Even though the RX 580 routinely outperforms the RX 480 in frame rate, the difference is insufficient to warrant an upgrade. We were able to play Final Fantasy XV, Apex Legends, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, F1 2019, and Forza Horizon 4 at 62 fps to 68 fps and maintained frame rates hovering around 65 fps in 1080p Full HD.
And We were able to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Fallout 76, World War Z, Battlefield V, and Valorant at 64 fps to 107 fps and maintained frame rates hanging around 74 fps at 1440p Quad HD. We were able to play Valorant at 93 fps to 93 fps in 2160p 4K and kept frame rates hanging around 93 fps.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Cards
The GTX 1070 may be the mid-range flagship of the current Pascal graphics cards, but its pricing puts it out of reach for most entry-level PC gamers. The GTX 1060 6GB, on the other hand, comes closer to being decently priced at $ 254. NVIDIA’s xx60 cards have always been characterized by low costs and performance that rivals mid-range graphics cards — particularly when overclocked. After thoroughly testing the Pascal graphics card inside the GTX 1060 6GB, we unequivocally state that it follows the trend.
The GTX 1060 6GB is far more costly than the GTX 960, costing a stunning USD 254. Compared to the GTX 960, initially priced at $ 199, this is a significant saving. Meanwhile, the closest AMD similar card is the RX 580, which costs $229. Spec for spec, the GTX 1060 6GB outperforms its immediate predecessor, the GTX 960, by delivering 2% more frames per second.
The GTX 1060 6GB contains 6 GB of RAM, but the GTX 960 only has 2 GB of video memory. In our simulated testing, the GTX 1060 6GB outperforms the GTX 960 and, surprisingly, even the GTX 970.
Fortunately, the game performance was excellent. The GTX 1060 6GB frequently outperforms the GTX 960 in frame rate gains, making it well worth the purchase. We were able to play Hitman 2, Apex Legends, F1 2019, World War Z, and Battlefield V at 61 fps to 68 fps and maintained frame rates hanging around 65 fps in 1080p Full HD.
And We were able to play Valorant at 105 fps to 105 fps at 1440p Quad HD and maintained frame rates hovering around 105 fps. We were able to play Valorant at 91 fps to 91 fps in 2160p 4K and maintained frame rates hovering around 91 fps.
RX 580 vs GTX 1060: Which Is Better Performance?
1. GTX 1060 vs RX 580 features
How do these cards compare in terms of features before we get into the benchmarks?
Both, however, support the most powerful technologies, including DirectX 12 and Vulkan graphics APIs, DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0b displays, and 4K / HDR content. That means you’ll be able to play contemporary games and utilize modern displays without fear of incompatibility.
The GTX 1060, being a member of Nvidia’s Pascal generation, has a beautiful set of current features, such as support for G-Sync displays, Ansel game photography, Nvidia Shield streaming, ShadowPlay recording, and so on. Nvidia has also just implemented FreeSync monitor compatibility, enabling GTX 1060 users to purchase cheaper panels without sacrificing variable refresh rate support – and if you’re interested, we’ve suggested the best FreeSync monitors for Nvidia GPUs.
Meanwhile, the RX 580 is part of AMD’s Polaris graphics card family, which AMD’s subsequent Vega GPUs have since superseded. On the other hand, Polaris continues to offer valuable features such as FreeSync monitor compatibility, the AMD Link system monitoring mobile app, Eyefinity multi-display gaming, and more.
Finally, it isn’t easy to choose a winner since most characteristics on one card will also appear on the other but under a different name. Nvidia may have a few technologies that AMD has yet to match, such as Ansel. Still, FreeSync monitors supported by the RX 580 are significantly less expensive than G-Sync alternatives supported by the GTX 1060. So if you’re planning on purchasing a new gaming monitor to go with your new graphics card, that should tip the scales in AMD’s favor.
2. GTX 1060 vs RX 580 prices and models
The GTX 1060 6GB and RX 580 8GB share a similar mid-range graphics card market segment, yet pricing for both cards is likely to differ due to the recent cryptocurrency bubble. The lowest GTX 1060 6GB variants are generally about $210 (£200), while the RX 580 8GB pc gaming is a bit cheaper, usually around $190 (£180). You could also be able to get a few free games with your graphics card: At the time of writing, AMD is offering any two of Division 2, Resident Evil 2, or Devil May Cry 5, whereas Nvidia is saving their promotions for the newer GTX 1660 and 1660 Ti, giving the AMD card the overall advantage.
Of course, costs vary depending on the manufacturer, clock speed, cooling solution, form factor, and a slew of other factors. If you’re searching for a deal, you could discover prices that are far lower than those we’ve given above – but be aware that you might be looking at a model with half the typical VRAM capacity, which works out to 3GB for the GTX 1060 and 4GB for the RX 580. These cheap cards perform substantially worse. Therefore we suggest sticking with the full-fat versions. Check out our 3GB vs. 6GB GTX 1060 comparison to see why. There’s even a Chinese-only RX 580 model with fewer compute units, 2048 versus the standard 2304, which isn’t worth it, in our opinion.
Brands to watch out for (in alphabetical order) include Asus, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, and Zotac. Of course, this isn’t an entire list of manufacturers to trust, and other companies may also create excellent cards.
3. RX 580 vs GTX 1060: Introduction
The rivalry between the Radeon RX 580 and the GeForce GTX 1060 has a long history, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably interested in buying one of them.
AMD and Nvidia have been at odds for years, and the Radeon RX 580 and GeForce GTX 1060 are prime instances of this rivalry, with both cards competing in terms of price and performance.
If you’re a serious player, you probably think which one is best for you. That’s where we can help! Here at WPC, we’ll look at the differences between these two cards to help you decide which one would be best suited to your requirements.
4. Architecture
Because different firms create these two cards, each has a unique architecture. First, we’ll take a look at the GTX 1060. It is built on Nvidia’s tested and reliable Pascal architecture, which claimed up to 3x better overall performance than prior generation GPUs. Next-generation virtual reality games and immersive effects and acoustics are all supported by the Pascal GPU architecture.
In addition, the GTX 1060 has a FinFET and DirectX 12 for maximum power efficiency, ensuring a smooth and fast gaming experience with the GDDR5X VRAM.
The RX 580 is built on AMD’s Polaris architecture. It utilizes a 14nm FinFET manufacturing technology, which allows the RX 580 to have a lower power consumption level (150mV) than older-generation cards resulting in a more smooth and quick operation.
5. Resolution
The resolution refers to the card’s capacity to output many pixels to the screen per second to provide a clear picture. Because all visuals are made up of pixels, if you zoom inside your screen, you’ll see that it’s simply a collection of pixels or squares.’
Looking at the pixel rates of the two cards, we can see that the AMD Radeon RX 580 has a pixel rate of 42.9 Gpixel/s while the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 has a pixel rate of 72.3 GPixel/s. This implies that the GTX 1060 will be able to generate a more excellent screen resolution when gaming in full HD or even editing movies.
6. Cooling
Thanks to an updated design, the Radeon RX 580 has a considerably more efficient cooling system than the earlier RX 480. The 580 has an updated cooling system and a 10% boost in clock speed to provide a more efficient gaming experience.
The GTX 1060, on the other hand, has been made with premium materials that will keep the hardware operating cooler, as well as better thermals that will prevent this GPU from overheating, even under the most severe gaming workloads.
7. Dimensions
The last thing you want to do is buy a card to find out it’s the incorrect size! The GeForce GTX 1060 has a PCI-Express 3.016 interface and is 250 mm long and 111 mm wide. It also has a dual-slot cooling system.
The Radeon RX 580, on the other hand, has a PCI-Express 3.016 interface and is 241 mm in length. It, too, has a dual-slot cooling arrangement, like the GeForce GTX 1060.
8. Ray-Tracing
Ray tracing refers to simulating light and shadow effects inside a game to provide a more immersive and realistic experience. Unfortunately, neither card has the necessary hardware to support ray-tracing, especially in modern games.
This may not be such a huge deal, mainly because there aren’t many ray-tracing games on the market right now. If ray-tracing capabilities are essential to you, we suggest looking at a card with the necessary hardware, such as one from Nvidia’s RTX series.
9. VRAM
The GTX 1060 includes a 192-bit interface and 8gbps GDDR5 memory modules from Nvidia. As a result, the GTX 1060 has a total bandwidth of 192GB/s. This memory configuration restricts the GTX 1060 to 6GB of VRAM, making it better suited to 1080p and 1440p gameplay.
The RX 580, on the other hand, is based on the same core as the RX 480 and has 2304 GPU cores, 144 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 render outputs. This results in a relatively strong GPU with 256GBps of memory bandwidth and 8GB of RAM. This implies that it can handle all 1080p, 1440p, and 4K games.
However, when it comes to overclocking, the GTX 1060 easily outperforms the competition, so much so that it has earned a reputation as a brilliant overclocker. With a 1,506MHz GPU base clock and a 1,809MHz boost clock, Nvidia claims that it can be easily overclocked up to 2GHz, which means you can gain up to 15% more performance. This contrasts with the RX 580’s base clock of 1366MHz, which allows for mild overclocking and requires you to maintain temperatures below 85 degrees Celsius.
Why is Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 better than AMD Radeon RX 580?
1. A 386MHz increase in GPU clock speed (1506MHz vs. 1120MHz)
2. A higher pixel rate of 29.4 GPixel/s (72.3 GPixel/s versus 42.9 GPixel/s)
3. Thermal design power (TDP) is reduced by 30W. (120W vs 150W)
4. A 442MHz increase in GPU turbo speed (1708MHz vs. 1266MHz)
5. Allows for ray tracing
6. 16 more render output units (ROPs) (48 vs. 32)
7. A PassMark (G3D) result of 1790 or higher (9795 vs. 8005)
8. Reduced idle GPU temperature by 3°C (30°C vs. 33°C).
Final Thoughts
Overall, it isn’t easy to choose a winner. The GTX 1060 and the RX 580 are mid-range graphics cards that can provide consistent and smooth gaming performance-wise at 1440p and 1080p resolutions. However, we believe that the GTX 1060 is the clear winner. It is readily overclocked, has a silky-smooth version, and is also the cheapest.
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