hey yall, so I just picked up some parts today, 480 gb ssd disk and a msi gaming x twin frozr VI gtx 1060 3gb , I wanted this particular model because of the very good and silent cooling, but now I wonder if I should replace it with 6gb model. I feel the 6gb version of this card would be kind of stupid to buy ,since its like only around 70-80 dollars cheaper than a 1070, and from the reviews I have been checking out there is a small difference in performance between 3gb and 6gb versions of the card, like 5-7 fps in most games, however I've also seen differences of 10-15 fps in games like hitman, tomb raider and GTA V , this is my current system, couple years old: i5 3470 cpu stock speed asus p8h61 pro mobo ddr3 2x4gb crucial standard cl9 ram 480 gb ssd disk win 10 sp1 (anniversary update) gtx 470 asus vg248qe monitor 1080p / 144hz / 1ms looking at my current specs, you think it's cool if I just game on with the 3gb 1060 for like a year or so, then sell it + buy 1070? Or should I go back to the store and replace the 3gb msi card with a EVGA 6gb card for like 20 dollars more? thats the only thing I cant decide for myself at the moment... i'm playing at max 1080p, games like fifa 16 (soon fifa 17) , dark souls 3, diablo 3, witcher 3, far cry crysis etc, having a real hard time deciding because the msi card has great cooling and noise level, the evga card costs only 20 dollars more but +3gb vram, the cooling is noisier and less efficient though, as far as I can tell, or is it ? and like I said getting the msi 6gb version feels kinda stupid, getting real close to the money for a 1070 in that case, should I just stop worrying and enjoy my msi 3gb 1060? or add 20 bucks and get the evga 6gb? for me quiet cooling is very important, otherwise I wouldnt bother about this and just get the evga card immediately, so any and all feedback on the issue is greatly appreciated, if you have a gtx 1060 3gb please post benchmarks and your thoughts, and / or if you have a msi gaming 1060 3gb/6gb or evga 1060 3gb/6gb please do the same, what drivers you are using and why would be cool aswell, reading about some issues with the 372.54 ones, anyway again thanks in advance and take care! / Alex
IMO the 6GB 1060 is somehow "pointless". If you're going to replace then just go for the 1070 already. But ofc you can and should try out the 3GB model first and monitor VRAM usage, but 3 GB today is cutting it close I think, some newer games use even 4-5 Gb at 1080p already. PS: welcome to Guru3D!
Try to reach for 1070. That will actually be the best thing. A card that will last you a while. Your CPU is fine but i would also recommend getting another 8GB system ram. As for 1060 3GB this is indeed cutting it close. I have 3GB vram card and in most new games i have to reduce texture settings. Maybe your fine with that, idk.
Well... I tested Tomb Raider and it used >7100 MB of VRAM everything maxed out at 1080p. Now, I'm sure it uses a lot of it for caching but there's just no way that 3GB is going to be enough in near future or even now if you want smooth experience. Either buy 299 € EVGA GTX 1060 SC (since the cooler is better than in the non SC version; also it's quiet with the latest BIOS) or get GTX 1070 for ~450 €. Paying more than 300 € for GTX 1060 is not that good idea.
I am not sure if game is not optimized and just causing graphic memory leak? Thought 3GB is more than enough for 1080p, unless person using poorly optimized mods or way heavy textures. I am still pretty sure your 1060 gonna drop frames to ground before you gonna need those 3GB+ capacity.
What the other's said. Try to stretch for the 1070, or stick to a well priced 1060. I personally would go for the better performing model.
The thing is... There really are a lot of games that use easily >3GB VRAM. Some kind of stuttering is likely to happen. GTX 1060 is quite fast card and that 3GB would definitely be the limiting factor. It's kinda like the situation with GTX 680. It was rather fast card but that 2GB of VRAM... Especially in SLI.
thanks for all the answers guys, I have decided to not replace my 3gb 1060, for the games I run and at 1080p I dont see any reason to get the 6gb version , atleast not the msi gaming one, gonna use this card for a year or so then sell it and get a 1070/1080 is my plan I think, anyway take care all!
so i got the evga gtx 1060 6gb non-sc version, really happy with the noise level actually, i'm impressed!
So you did en up getting the 6GB version... SC would have had better cooler but if you are happy with the non-SC cooler then that's fine too. The good thing with EVGA is that you can replace the cooler without loosing the warranty (as long as you RMA it with the original cooler installed).
Or just imagine this. Games are optimized but still need more VRam. You can't expct games to stay at needing 3GB or less VRAM forever.
The 3GB 1060 has less CUDA cores than the 6GB 1060. If you get a 1060 get the 6GB. The 3GB should not exist.
think you are talking about the SSC version, super super clocked, that one has the acx 3.0 dualfan cooler, the 1060 SC and regular (not sc, not ssc) version have the same acx 2.0 fan , checked this with evga and u can see it here : http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=06G-P4-6163-KR havent overclocked yet , going for +200 core and +500 memory , would be nice atleast will update later with results and temps
think you are right after all, seems the fan is the same on the sc and non sc, but the sc has some extra heatpipes and stuff it seems! oh well
so many bad advice in this thread. i wouldn't even consider 1060 3GB. it's a decently powerful card which is bottle necked by measly 3GB vram. people still keep saying nonsense that you don't need more than 2 or 3GB for 1080p. wake up already and stop spreading misinformation. this isn't year 2010 any more. number of games that require at least 6GB of ram for highest texture setting is constantly increasing, even when played at 1080p !!! vram is no longer just about display resolution like you were told 6 years ago so please stop recommending people who game at 1080p buy low vram gpus because it's just wrong. alexander1986, you made very good choice by changing to 6GB card. you'll be glad you did it.
Yep, fan is the same but heatsink is different. SC has heat pipes and overall a bit beefier heatsink. At glance they look identical but under the shroud things are rather different.
The 3GB version is pointless. Get 6GB or nothing. There are plenty of games out now that use 4-6GB of vram at 1080 resolutions. The 3GB would be far too limiting.
6gb or bust, that or 1070 higher, but think anything higher then 1060 range is to pricey imo if, you got the money to burn on the stuff more power too you
the 3gb version doesnt even only have less ram, you will even get less of everything like less shaders and less BW. "....the 3 GB variant will feature 1,152 CUDA cores from 1,280 CUDA across 9 SM. This could also lower the TMU count from 80 to 72. The clock speeds appear to be unchanged, with the GPU core being clocked at 1506 MHz, with 1709 MHz GPU Boost, and 8 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory, churning up 192 GB/s of memory bandwidth" https://www.techpowerup.com/225017/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-3gb-equipped-with-fewer-cuda-cores