The main thing you have to ask yourself is "How long do I expect to keep the card". If you upgrade fairly often, then the 3GB version might suffice but if you plan on hanging on to it for over a couple of years then buying the 3GB version might be a false economy. However, the current markup of the 6GB over the 3GB is quite significant for the same cooler, £50 to £70. It's difficult for some people on a tight budget to justify that extra cost unless they need a card NOW.
I personnally, will probably wait till next year and buy the 1060 6GB when the refreshed versions come out and expect to get it for around £170. My GTX 660 Ti is managing fine on older games and I won't buy any of the current newer games, requiring more vram, until they hit the bargain bucket on steam in a year or so.
madscientis
26 Sep 163#10
1.Faster then 970
2. Need less power
3. Silent
4. Same price as 970
5. A couple less frame then 6 Gb version.
Conclusion - Buy 6 Gb if you have spare money, if dont this is better investment then new/used GTX 970.
Latest comments (26)
SpellingChampeon2015
27 Sep 16#26
A safer option would be to wait till the end of next month when the 1050/1050 Ti comes out. It won't be as good price performance but you should be able to get a 4GB version. Try to get a "blower" style cooler to get the heat out of the case as they are perfectly suited for small form factor PC's.
BlockABoots
27 Sep 16#25
Oh damn, thanks for the heads up
BlockABoots
27 Sep 16#23
I only have a 300 watt PSU in my SilverStone SUGO SG05 case, will that be enough juice tor run this card?
SpellingChampeon2015 to BlockABoots
27 Sep 16#24
I just checked the Silverstone webpage for that case and it says it can accomodate a 9.5" GPU. So this 1060 won't fit as it's just over 10 inches long.
Powerwise, your PSU might just about make it, as long as you are using something like an i3, maybe even an i5 but I'm not sure how good the supplied psu is. So even though it might work fine now, as the PSU ages, it won't be able to supply as much power. You could end up with random crashes and the PSU might eventually blow.
dazsti
27 Sep 16#17
Hmmm I need a new card for bf1 quick my 560ti don't cut it on the beta!! Should I go for this cut down 1060 or a 3.5gb! 970 for about the same price or lower than £180? Any other suggestions, will only be 1080p and bf1, cheers
neilmc1983 to dazsti
27 Sep 16#18
This 3gb 1060 out performs the 4gb 970 at 1080p, the perfomance gap increases as you go to 1440p. The 3gb 1060 version lags begind the 6gb 1060 by only 2-6fps, which is very minimal.
ollie87 to dazsti
27 Sep 161#20
RX480?
SpellingChampeon2015 to dazsti
27 Sep 16#22
I'd always go for the newer tech especially if it already outperforms the older card for a similar price and consumes less power. I don't think the extra 0.5GB(+0.5GB) is going to be hugely significant. It will mean you might have to compromise on texture quality on only one or two extra games during it's lifetime compared to the 970. However, you are going to have to make this compromise a LOT more often than if you had a 6GB 1060 or an 8GB RX480, even on some current games. If you don't make that compromise, then you will suffer from game hitches/stutters or abysmal frame rates.
It's a shame they didn't make a 6GB variant of the 3GB version...lol, similar to how they made 8GB versions of the RX470. A true 1060 SE/LE.
dotmick
27 Sep 16#21
Don't forget that the difference between the 3Gb and the 6Gb is not only the RAM, but also the cores:
– 1152 for the 3Gb
– 1280 for the 6Gb
ohblobbything
26 Sep 16#11
Yes but how do I crowbar it into my notebook...
ollie87 to ohblobbything
27 Sep 161#19
1) Throw notebook/laptop in the bin
2) Build a gaming PC like a real man
3) Have this expression on your face:
SpellingChampeon2015
27 Sep 161#16
I was going to add that usually, the main thing that forces me to upgrade a video card is the lack of vram, so that's one thing I prefer not to skimp on with a new card. As the card ages, I can tolerate lowering the resolution to reduce the graphics load but I like to keep most of the settings and especially the textures up. The resolution scaling/hybrid resolution in some of the more recent games actually still looks quite good, especially if you can keep it at a "fraction". (50%-1/2), 60%-3/5, 66.66%-2/3, 75%-3/4 and 80%-4/5. The pixels lock in sooner and makes the image sharper than a slightly higher percentage(higher gpu load). 60% is my personal minimum.
I would still recommend getting the 6GB version if you can afford it or be prepared to wait, but that might not be an option for some.
QuickProfits
27 Sep 16#15
My card has only 2gb of ram and it's my bottleneck (GTX 760) I think I will upgrade to this but may wait for the 6gb model to come down.
slannmage
27 Sep 161#14
I always hit the VRAM cap in games, GTA is an example of a game that will need more than 3.
hoverdonkey
26 Sep 16#13
Best advice I've ever read amongst the comments of the graphics card threads of this forum. Bravo!
I'm looking forward to the moment that someone here posts a 6GB GTX 1060 for below £220 (my completely arbitrary threshold)...
madscientis
26 Sep 163#10
1.Faster then 970
2. Need less power
3. Silent
4. Same price as 970
5. A couple less frame then 6 Gb version.
Conclusion - Buy 6 Gb if you have spare money, if dont this is better investment then new/used GTX 970.
slannmage to madscientis
26 Sep 16#12
Go look at the Forza Horizon 3 results from digital foundry, the new cards are outpacing the older generation now. You especially see it with Vulcan and DX12, the older cards cannot cope against the newer ones.
Rhythmeister
26 Sep 16#9
A waste of time, this card :confused:
Muffinss
26 Sep 165#8
Please don't get the stupid 3gb version.
SpellingChampeon2015
26 Sep 164#7
The main thing you have to ask yourself is "How long do I expect to keep the card". If you upgrade fairly often, then the 3GB version might suffice but if you plan on hanging on to it for over a couple of years then buying the 3GB version might be a false economy. However, the current markup of the 6GB over the 3GB is quite significant for the same cooler, £50 to £70. It's difficult for some people on a tight budget to justify that extra cost unless they need a card NOW.
I personnally, will probably wait till next year and buy the 1060 6GB when the refreshed versions come out and expect to get it for around £170. My GTX 660 Ti is managing fine on older games and I won't buy any of the current newer games, requiring more vram, until they hit the bargain bucket on steam in a year or so.
Axeboy
26 Sep 16#6
True, I get that. I just think most people will find the 3gb plenty if they still game at 1080p.
Its not an "enthusiast" card but I do think its decent value
datalossfs
26 Sep 162#5
Frametimes are going to suffer if you don't have enough VRAM in newer titles that push for 4GB or more. Forza Horizon 3 is the latest title that begs for 4GB to 8GB of VRAM for best visuals. at 1080P it can and does consume 5GB if it's there. 3GB is fine for now in 98% of current games but how futureproof is it going to be a year from now and those AAA titles?
Axeboy
26 Sep 161#4
Most of the benchmarks show the 3gb not far at all behind the 6gb, I don't get the reluctance for this model really, seems decent value for the performance at 1080p
dyslexicwomble
26 Sep 161#1
This or wait for the 6GB to come down a bit more...
So tempted to pull the trigger if flubit do a deal
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Flubit also if you happy with them. Probably between 10-15 pounds cheaper from basic price.
Please note, to receive Quidco % off you cannot pay by PayPal.
GPU GTX 1060
Core Name GP106
Process Tech. 16nm
Cores 1152 Mem. Amount 3GB
Mem. Interface 192 bits
DRAM GDDR5
Base Clock 1506 MHz
Boost Clock 1708 MHz
Memory Clock 4000 MHz (Effective 8000MHz) Mem. Bandwidth 192 (GB/Sec)
Top comments
I personnally, will probably wait till next year and buy the 1060 6GB when the refreshed versions come out and expect to get it for around £170. My GTX 660 Ti is managing fine on older games and I won't buy any of the current newer games, requiring more vram, until they hit the bargain bucket on steam in a year or so.
2. Need less power
3. Silent
4. Same price as 970
5. A couple less frame then 6 Gb version.
Conclusion - Buy 6 Gb if you have spare money, if dont this is better investment then new/used GTX 970.
Latest comments (26)
Powerwise, your PSU might just about make it, as long as you are using something like an i3, maybe even an i5 but I'm not sure how good the supplied psu is. So even though it might work fine now, as the PSU ages, it won't be able to supply as much power. You could end up with random crashes and the PSU might eventually blow.
It's a shame they didn't make a 6GB variant of the 3GB version...lol, similar to how they made 8GB versions of the RX470. A true 1060 SE/LE.
– 1152 for the 3Gb
– 1280 for the 6Gb
2) Build a gaming PC like a real man
3) Have this expression on your face:
I would still recommend getting the 6GB version if you can afford it or be prepared to wait, but that might not be an option for some.
I'm looking forward to the moment that someone here posts a 6GB GTX 1060 for below £220 (my completely arbitrary threshold)...
2. Need less power
3. Silent
4. Same price as 970
5. A couple less frame then 6 Gb version.
Conclusion - Buy 6 Gb if you have spare money, if dont this is better investment then new/used GTX 970.
I personnally, will probably wait till next year and buy the 1060 6GB when the refreshed versions come out and expect to get it for around £170. My GTX 660 Ti is managing fine on older games and I won't buy any of the current newer games, requiring more vram, until they hit the bargain bucket on steam in a year or so.
Its not an "enthusiast" card but I do think its decent value
So tempted to pull the trigger if flubit do a deal