GTX 1060 Price Variance?

[-Uninformed Josh-]

Hey, just wondering why gtx 1060's are varying between £200 and >£300? Is it just the 3gb and 6gb Gpu memory differences alone (I'm pretty convinced I won't need the 6gb) or is it the cooling and structure? Would I be missing out just picking one in the £200s? Any clear winners for price to performance as well? Cheers for any answers.

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Mining. Cryptocurrency mining has driven up the cost of a lot of midrange GPUs. The 1060 3gb does not have enough VRAM for Etherium mining, but the 1060 6gb is a good card to mine with. So miners have bought up all of the 1060 6gb. General rule of economics, if the demand goes up, supply goes down, prices increase.

Right now, the only cards that are not over priced are the 1050ti and down and the 1080 and up. They are not great mining cards so they have not been impact much by the mining craze.

 

[k1114]

Vram isn't the only difference in the 3gb and 6gb models. The 3gb version is a cut down version with an sm disabled. Just look at the core count. They can pretty much be handled as if they are different models, like 1050ti or 1070. If looking at the same model, the higher end ones being more (~$50) has to do with custom pcbs for better ocing. They'll have different coolers but it's a smaller amount of the price difference.