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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB Rev. 2

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB Rev. 2: Review and Analysis in 2025

Relevance, Performance, and Tips for Gamers and Enthusiasts

Introduction

Nearly a decade after its initial release, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 remains an iconic graphics card for budget builds. In 2024, the company surprised the market with an updated version — the GTX 1060 6 GB Rev. 2, which combines proven architecture with modern enhancements. In this article, we will analyze how relevant this GPU is in 2025 and who it might be suitable for.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Pascal Architecture: Nostalgia with Optimizations

Despite its age, Rev. 2 retains the Pascal architecture but has undergone several refinements. The manufacturing process remains at 16 nm, but NVIDIA engineers have optimized energy efficiency and operational stability. The card is equipped with 1280 CUDA cores, a base clock of 1506 MHz, and a boost clock of up to 1708 MHz.

Lack of RTX, but Support for FidelityFX

The GTX 1060 Rev. 2 does not have hardware support for ray tracing (RTX) or DLSS. However, thanks to a partnership with AMD and driver updates, the card has gained compatibility with FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 3.0, allowing for increased FPS in games that support this technology.

2. Memory: GDDR6 Instead of GDDR5

Upgrade to GDDR6

The main change in Rev. 2 is the transition to 6 GB GDDR6 (previously using GDDR5). This has increased the bandwidth from 192 GB/s to 336 GB/s due to a memory frequency of 14 Gbps. For 1080p gaming, this amount is sufficient for most projects in 2025, but at 1440p, limitations may arise due to insufficient VRAM in new AAA titles.

Impact on Performance

The updated memory has reduced latency and improved texture handling. In benchmarks of Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty at 1080p/Medium, the card demonstrates 45-50 FPS with FSR 3.0 (Quality), compared to 35-40 FPS with the original GTX 1060.

3. Gaming Performance

1080p: Comfortable Gaming

- Fortnite (Epic Settings, FSR 3.0): 75-90 FPS.

- Apex Legends (Medium): 100-110 FPS.

- Starfield (Low, FSR 3.0): 40-45 FPS.

1440p: Compromises Required

For a resolution of 2560x1440, it is advisable to lower settings to Low/Medium. For example, in Hogwarts Legacy at Medium/FSR, the card delivers 30-35 FPS.

4K: Not Recommended

Even with FSR, comfortable 4K gaming is impossible. The Witcher 4 (if leaks are to be believed) at Low/FSR Performance may barely reach 25 FPS.

Ray Tracing: Software Workarounds

Hardware RTX is not available, but in some games (e.g., Minecraft with mods), ray tracing can be activated via Pascal-compatible patches. However, FPS will drop to 15-20 frames.

4. Professional Tasks

CUDA and OpenCL: Basic Capabilities

With 1280 CUDA cores, Rev. 2 is suitable for light editing in DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro, but 4K video rendering will take 2-3 times longer than on an RTX 3060. For 3D modeling in Blender, it's better to use Eevee mode instead of Cycles.

Scientific Calculations

The card can handle simple simulations in MATLAB or small-scale neural network training, but for serious tasks, it is advisable to choose a GPU with Tensor Cores (like the RTX 3050).

5. Power Consumption and Thermal Output

TDP 120 W: Efficiency

Thanks to GDDR6 and optimizations, Rev. 2 consumes 10% less power than the original. A compact cooler is sufficient for cooling — even in SFF builds, the temperature rarely exceeds 75°C under load.

Case Recommendations

- Minimum case: Micro-ATX with 2 fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust).

- For quiet operation: Soundproof models (e.g., Fractal Design Define 7 Nano).

6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT (4 GB):

- Pros: Support for FSR 3.1, lower price ($140).

- Cons: Only 4 GB of memory, weaker in DX11 games.

Intel Arc A380 (6 GB):

- Pros: Modern architecture, good driver support.

- Cons: Instability in older projects.

NVIDIA RTX 2050 (4 GB):

- Pros: DLSS 2.0, ray tracing.

- Cons: Small VRAM capacity ($180).

The GTX 1060 Rev. 2 ($160) outperforms competitors in balancing price, memory, and stability, but falls short in supporting new technologies.

7. Practical Tips

Power Supply

- Minimum: 450 W (e.g., Corsair CX450).

- Recommended: Semi-modular PSU with 80+ Bronze certification.

Compatibility

- Platforms: Works on PCIe 3.0 x16. For motherboards with PCIe 4.0/5.0, compatibility is complete, but without speed gain.

- OS: Supports Windows 10/11 and Linux (Nouveau drivers).

Drivers

NVIDIA continues to release updates for Pascal, but some features (e.g., ReBAR) are not available. Before purchasing, check the list of supported games on the official website.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Price of $160 for a new card.

- Energy efficiency.

- Support for FSR 3.0.

- Reliability and low noise levels.

Cons:

- No hardware Ray Tracing.

- 6 GB of VRAM is insufficient for 1440p in 2025.

- Limited performance in new AAA games.

9. Final Conclusion: Who Is the GTX 1060 Rev. 2 Suitable For?

This graphics card is an ideal choice for:

1. Budget gamers playing at 1080p with medium settings.

2. Owners of older PCs seeking a simple upgrade without replacing the PSU.

3. Office builds with occasional gaming or work in graphic editors.

If you're not chasing ultra settings and want to save money — the GTX 1060 Rev. 2 is still relevant. However, for future upgrades, consider models with 8+ GB VRAM and support for DLSS/FSR 3.0.

Conclusion

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB Rev. 2 is an example of how older hardware can get a second life. It's not a revolution, but a reasonable compromise for those who value reliability and affordability. In a world where GPU prices continue to rise, such a card reminds us that sometimes “the good old” is the best solution.

Basic

Label Name

NVIDIA

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

January 2018

Model Name

GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB Rev. 2

Generation

GeForce 10

Base Clock

1506MHz

Boost Clock

1709MHz

Bus Interface

PCIe 3.0 x16

Transistors

4,400 million

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

TSMC

Process Size

16 nm

Architecture

Pascal

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

6GB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

192bit

Memory Clock

2002MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

192.2 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

82.03 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

136.7 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

68.36 GFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

136.7 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

4.287 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

SM Count

Multiple Streaming Processors (SPs), along with other resources, form a Streaming Multiprocessor (SM), which is also referred to as a GPU's major core. These additional resources include components such as warp schedulers, registers, and shared memory. The SM can be considered the heart of the GPU, similar to a CPU core, with registers and shared memory being scarce resources within the SM.

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

1280

L1 Cache

48 KB (per SM)

L2 Cache

1536KB

TDP

120W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.3

OpenCL Version

3.0

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (12_1)

CUDA

6.1

Power Connectors

1x 6-pin

Shader Model

6.4

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Suggested PSU

300W