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PNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card (VCGGTX10606PB)

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#1 ·
PNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card (VCGGTX10606PB)

Description:
PNY NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/3DisplayPort PCI-Express video card

Details:
DetailValue
BindingPersonal Computers
BrandPNY
EAN0751492596990
FeatureChipset: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
Video Memory: 6GB GDDR5
Max resolution: 7680 x 4320
Input: 6Pin PCI Express power connector, output: DVI Dual Link, HDMI, 3x DisplayPorts
Minimum 400W or greater system power supply
LabelPNY
ManufacturerPNY
ModelVCGGTX10606PB
MPNVCGGTX10606PB
PublisherPNY
StudioPNY
TitlePNY GeForce GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card (VCGGTX10606PB)
UPC751492596990
Warranty1 YEAR
ColorBlack
Item Height2 inches
Item Length10.5 inches
Item Width4.4 inches
NumberOfItems1
Package Height4 inches
Package Length15.8 inches
Package Weight2.15 pounds
Package Width7.8 inches
PackageQuantity1
PartNumberVCGGTX10606PB
ProductGroupPersonal Computer
ProductTypeNameVIDEO_CARD
UPCList - UPCListElement751492596990
Item Weight2 pounds
 

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#2 ·
PNY GTX1060 XLR8

review by hequaqua

**Update**
I've updated the charts to reflect the results better. A few of them made one card look a lot stronger/weaker in the same test. These two card are really neck to neck in all benchmarks.

Introduction

This review is on the PNY GTX1060 XLR8 6gb graphics card. This is my very first review on OCN. Sorry for grammar/spelling errors.


Card Specs
Model GTX1060 xlr8
Brand PNY
Model VCGGTX10606XGPB-OC
Interface PCI Express 3.0 x16
Chipset Manufacturer NVIDIA
GPU GeForce GTX 1060
Core Clock 1582 MHz
Boost Clock 1797 MHz
CUDA Cores 1280

Memory
Effective Memory Clock 8 Gbps
Memory Size 6GB
Memory Interface 192-Bit
Memory Type GDDR5(My particular model came with Samsung)
3D API DX11/DX12
OpenGL OpenGL 4.5

Ports
HDMI 1 x HDMI 2.0b
DisplayPort 3 x DisplayPort 1.4
DVI 1 x DL-DVI

Details
Max Resolution 7680 x 4320
Cooler With Fan
Operating Systems Supported Microsoft Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Linux, FreeBSDx86
System Requirements PCI Express-compliant motherboard with one double-width x16 graphics slot
Minimum 500W or greater system power supply
300MB of available hard-disk space
2GB system memory (4GB or higher recommended)
DVD-ROM drive and Internet connection
Power Connector 8-Pin
Dual-Link DVI Supported Yes

Features
Factory Overclocked
PNY Silent XLR8 Twin Cooler
Simultaneous Multi-Projection
VR Ready
NVIDIA Ansel Support
NVIDIA G-SYNC
NVIDIA GameStream
NVIDIA GPU Boost 3.0
Microsoft DirectX 12 Support
Vulkan API Support
Open GL 4.5 Support
PCI Express 3.0
Max Digital Resolution - 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz

As a MSI GTX970 owner, I am very familiar with nVidia. I have done a lot of testing on the GTX970, as well as bios modding. I will include all the links at the end of the review(benchmark testing that I've been keeping on the GTX970).
I try to keep everything as equal as I can when testing. The only thing I really can't is ambient temperature. I do try to keep it close in all my testing.

Computer Specs:
Intel i7-4770k@4.0ghz(stock voltage)
PNY GTX1060 6gb
EVGA Supernova G2 750w
Corsair Vengence 16gb 1600mhz ram 9-9-9-24 timings
Lepa AquaChanger 240 [2]Gentle Typhoons 120mm(push)
Phanteks Ethoo Pro Case
[2]Yate Loon 140mm fans Front Intake Red LED
[2]Lepa 120mm (One in push) (One Exhaust)

I set the 3D settings in the nVidia contol panel as follows:
Global: Single display/adaptive power
Programs: Single Display/max performance
V-Sync Off

Benchmarks Used:
Valley
Heaven
Time Spy
Firestrike
The Division-Ultra
The Division-High
VRMark Orange Room
VRMark Blue room

Software:
MSI Afterburner 4.3.0
HWiNFO64 v5.40-3030
GPU-Z 1.12.0
Frafs Benchmark Viewer
Fraps

Background:
Let me start by saying the card was package very well. Although, the actual card was not in a anti-static bag. This didn't seem to be a issue for me. The card came with a stock bios of 1582/8000mhz. The bios is overclocked to 1797/8000mhz. It is listed as a 120w card. By using nVidia Boost 3.0, the card never see's 1797mhz on the core. It actually runs over 1925mhz+!


I set the 3D settings in the nVidia contol panel as follow:
Global: Single display/adaptive power(allows the card to downclock when not under load)
Programs: Single Display/max performance

Afterburner Settings:
+0 Voltage
116% Power Limit
+0 Core
+0 Memory
Stock fan curve

Display Settings
All the tests were at 1920x1080 unless noted. Main monitor(144hz) was set to 120hz, secondary 60hz.

Testing:
I run the benchmarks in the order they are listed above. I do two runs of each(16 total runs). I capture each run and enter them into the spreadsheet when finished. I also try to get a screen shot of HWiNFO. I ran 8 sets of drivers. 373.06-376.06
If I have a driver or appliction crash at any point, I restart the test. Example: If it crashed on Firesrtrike, I get rid of all the previous benchmarks and restart them again. (I'm a little OCD). I also use DDU to install each driver.

With that out of the way...let's dig into the performance of this card!

For reference, I will be using the MSI GTX970 Gaming 4g. This card is on a custom bios. It has boost disabled. The clocks are 1506/8000@1.225v w/305w Power limit.
All of the following charts were compiled after running the benchmarks. I used the average of the 8 Driver sets.

Valley and Heaven
I use these tests for a few reasons. One, they're free. Two, they aren't dependent on the CPU as much as some other benchmarks. Three, it is also very good at finding your max speed for Vram. I use the Extreme HD for Valley, and Heaven is set to Custom but everything is set the same as Heaven.(the Heaven Extreme only runs it at 1600x900)



GTX 1060 wins. It doesn't blow it away, but it does beat it.

Time Spy-Default Settings 1440p
I use this test because it is DX12. The only other DX12 title I own is Battlefield 1(We'll look at it later). These are just the Graphic scores.



GTX 1060 wins again

Firestrike-Default Settings
This is a good all around test. It does have seperate tests that isolate the card from the CPU, then a combined test. There is a free version, but you do have to run the Demo, and I don't think it will keep your scores. It does generate a link that stays online though.



GTX 970 wins. Graphic scores only.

The Division-Ultra
This is benchmark that is available outside of actual game play. I use this because it is one of the few games that utillizes all the CPU cores and threads. It is closer to real world usage than the synthetic benchmarks.



GTX 970 wins again. The two cards are within 1 frame. It might be a win, but it falls within the margin of error.

The Division-High



Increase in FPS on both(expected) and again they are within the margin of error.

VRMark-Default Settings
This is a new addition to everyone's benchmarking suite. With the VR market heating up, it was time someone built a better test than the one that is available on Steam.
One thing to keep in mind with these benchmarks are the resolutions they are rendering at.

Orange Room 2264x1348 Windowed



A virtual tie. (excuse the pun)

Blue Room 5120x2880 Windowed



Again, a tie. Both scores are within the margin of error.

Battlefield 1
I ran Battlefield 1 in both DX11 and DX12. I used Fraps to capture 5 minutes of gamplay. These were both in-game, and not the campaign. I then used Frafs Bench Viewer to display frametimes and FPS. These were captured using Driver 376.19

NOTE: Fraps will capture benchmarks in DX12, it just doesn't show the OSD

Battlefield 1/Ultra/Argonne Forest/DX11

Fraps Log
DX11 Ultra Argonne Forest
2016-12-06 11:32:08 - bf1
Frames: 23212 - Time: 300000ms - Avg: 77.373 - Min: 62 - Max: 94



Battlefield 1/Ultra/Sinai Desert/DX12

Fraps Log
DX12 Ultra Sinai Desert
2016-12-06 11:46:21 - bf1
Frames: 24427 - Time: 300000ms - Avg: 81.423 - Min: 64 - Max: 132



I'll give my final thoughts on the benchmarks in a bit. Let's move on to some other items of interest.

Bios



Temps/Power
This is the average over 7 driver sets(somehow I missed getting HWiNFO64 on Driver 376.09). I'm not sure as to why. Temps were about on par of what I had been seeing with the other drivers. Power Usage was also over the 7 sets of driver(again, no 376.09).

NOTE: These are the Max Values that HWiNFO64 diplayed

Driver Temps?(C)
373.06 65
375.57 62
375.63 65
375.70 66
375.76 61
375.86 62
375.95 66
376.19 63
Average 63.8

Driver Wattage
373.06 139.469
375.57 143.119
375.63 142.868
375.70 140.283
375.76 143.312
375.86 141.812
375.95 141.024
376.19 138.361
Average 141.281

**UPDATE**
This card uses about 10w at idle

Let me talk about temps for a second. This card doesn't have the 0db fan profile on it. The fans seem to idle around 48-51%. At those percentages it's equal to +/-1600rpm. At 100% the fans are around +/-3100rpm. Overall, the fans aren't loud at all, even under load. After having the card for about a week, I can honestly say I haven't seen the temps even close to 70?. The fans around 60? seem to increase in % in relation to the temps. Example of what I'm trying to say.....At 65?, the fans are at 65-66%. At 68?, they are around 69%,etc.

**UPDATE** nVidia has really limited this card in the terms of power. See final thoughts for more info.

Overclocking v Stock
While I was able to achieve some nice OC's, none of them kept a stable core clock. Because of Boost 3.0, I really didn't push it really hard. The Vram on the other hand OC's like crazy. The stock is 8000mhz. This card, like my GTX970 has Samsung, I felt confidant that I could get a OC of at least 1000mhz. I was right. In fact, if you look at my sig, you can see that I was able to hit 9500/9600mhz on both Time Spy and Firestrike.

I did do a OC'ing run on all the benchmarks with Driver 376.19. When I get time I will add those results to the GTX1060 spreadsheet. On average I saw about a 8% increase in FPS/Scores.

**UPDATE** I've added the OC results for Driver 376.19. The power limit is hitting this card hard. You can see in the highest OC's that the scores didn't gain much. In some benchmarks, it actually lost some ground.

AB Setting for OC:
+50 Voltage
+116 Power Limit
+100 Core
+500 Memory
Stock Fan curve

I do have a Kill-A-Watt meter, and I believe that during the Firestrike run posted in my sig, the system wattage peaked around 325-330w. That was with the i7@4.5ghz, 1.269VID, and the ram overclocked from 1600 to 1866. I want to say the GTX1060 was +163 Core/+800Vram.

Final Thoughts
While I have not tested anything other that Time Spy at 1440p, this card is a excellent choice for 1080p. It ran everything smoothly and never missed a beat. The only exception was Battlefield 1 in DX12. While frametimes and FPS were better, it is clear to me that DX12 has a ways to go. It just didn't seem as smooth as DX11. Micro-stutter, a little lag, etc. Of course with DX12, it is now more dependent on the developers to take advantage of it. Perhaps EA/Dice will with future updates. I do have a Powercolor RX470, and it experiences some of the same issues in BF1 with DX12.

This particular card feels solid, and the cooling on it is excellent. There are a few things holding this card back. I would say the biggest factor is nVidia. Boost has never been friendly to overclockers, and normally there are ways around it. No SLI as well. I can understand nVidia's decision, they didn't want to hurt the sales of the mid to high end cards. They also wanted to keep the power consumption low. With a TDP of 120w, it really hurts this card. It uses a 8-pin PEG connector. That and the power from the PCIe slot, we should have 225w available. It could be that the 16nm process it more sensitive to power and voltage. Voltages are also all over under load, again, easy to overcome on previous gen cards. Core clocks also bounce around, but normally even out for the most part. This particular card seems like 1936/1949 for the most part. Even with the limits, I will say that this card is able to reproduce results that don't have a big variation.

This card has 384 less Cuda cores than the GTX970, a smaller memory interface(196-bit compared to 256-bit), a lower TDP, and launched at almost $100.00 less! I would say that is a win for the consumer, especially those that are gaming at 1080p.

Some may ask, why did you go with PNY? Well, it looked like a good card, they are based in the US, and it was inexpensive. I can't say cheap.

So there you have it. I know there is a lot of info in here....but information and the exchange of it is what make OCN so popular, and one of my favorite websites.

Pros:
Inexpensive
Perf/Price
Looks
New arch
Cooling

Cons:
Boost 3.0
Power Limit
LED control(the LED is white in bios/red in the OS)(LED Visualizer doesn't do anything)
not really a con for me, but it might be for others

Spreadsheet Links:

PNY GTX1060 Drivers 378.92.19-373.06

PNY GTX1060 v GTX 970(OC) Averages 376.09-373.06

MSI GTX970 Single v SLI Drivers 376.09-361.910

**UPDATE**

Results of Stock/OC 1/OC 2 Driver 376.19

ProsCons
Price/Perf Looks New Arch CoolingBoost nVidia Power Limit

Ratings
Overall4
 
#3 ·
PNY GTX1060 XLR8

review by hequaqua
So, If I ever intend to upograde my 970 I should go to a 1070/1080 or wait for the RX 490 as the 480 is on par with the 1060 and so then it is with the 970.
 
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