gtx 1060 vs gtx970

[subcool]

hi everyone i currently have a gtx 970 and i was considering the gtx 1060 for an upgrade after comparing the stats the gtx 1060 is 192 bit and the 970 i have now is 256 bit so would this be a downgrade meaning would gaming get worse or will i have to lower graphics i have no idea can someone bring me up to speed on this please?

ok i realize the 1070 and 1080 are better and really i planned on the1070 but pricing is well beyond that $380 they claimed so i was considering the 1060 for a cheaper upgrade from this 970 i cant find any versus vids to see for myself and yeah i got an acer 1080p 144hz 1ms monitor cpu is a i7 4790k if that matters

 

[burgessanthony]

Not worth it Imo. 1070 obvious upgrade path.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Performance wise its very similar in most cases and a minimal upgrade in others. Not worth it at all. If you want something better you want the 1070 or 1080.

 

[KoopaCreeper]

The GTX 1060 is faster than the GTX 970, but not by much. A more reasonable upgrade path would be to a GTX 1070, but unless you're wanting 4K gaming or ultra high-quality VR, you don't need to upgrade.

Yes, GP106 has a smaller memory bus than GM204. Enhanced compression technologies in Pascal make this a non-issue for most users.

 

[maxalge]

The GTX 1060 is faster than the GTX 970, but not by much. A more reasonable upgrade path would be to a GTX 1070, but unless you're wanting 4K gaming or ultra high-quality VR, you don't need to upgrade.

Yes, GP106 has a smaller memory bus than GM204. Enhanced compression technologies in Pascal make this a non-issue for most users.

the 1070 is a great 1440p card


1080p with a 1070 also makes sense if you have a 144hz monitor




no single card can handle 4k well

 

[tropical8878]

Gpu power is measured in more than bus size. The GTX 1060 has a 192-bit bus because its a 6GB card. Whereas the GTX 970 is a 4GB card, so it has a 256-bit bus.

192X32=6144 (6GB)

256X16= 4096 (4GB)

 

[KoopaCreeper]

Gpu power is measured in more than bus size. The GTX 1060 has a 192-bit bus because its a 6GB card. Whereas the GTX 970 is a 4GB card, so it has a 256-bit bus.

192X32=6144 (6GB)

256X16= 4096 (4GB)

Bus width and VRAM are loosely dependent on each other, but not in the way you say. Bus width does determine the number of VRAM channels. However, there exist 192 bit bus GPUs with 2GB VRAM that simply put more VRAM dies on one channel than the others (GTX 660, GTX 660 Ti). Saying that a card having a 192 bit bus is a result of it having 6GB of VRAM is a fallacy.

 

[Decends]

The GTX 1060 is faster than the GTX 970, but not by much. A more reasonable upgrade path would be to a GTX 1070, but unless you're wanting 4K gaming or ultra high-quality VR, you don't need to upgrade.

Yes, GP106 has a smaller memory bus than GM204. Enhanced compression technologies in Pascal make this a non-issue for most users.

the 1070 is a great 1440p card


1080p with a 1070 also makes sense if you have a 144hz monitor




no single card can handle 4k well

I would say the Titan X (Pascal) disagrees with last part xD.

 

[burgessanthony]

Bottom line, a 1060 is like a 980 in raw fps ability. So a 970 to 980 is pointless. Buying new the 1060 is the nvidia option at 1080.

 

[Woohoopy]

I got my gtx 1060 two days ago, and I can tell you what I know.

To answer your question of whether or not it'll get worse: no, it will only get better.

The performance benefit isn't insane, but you can expect a 12% performance increase, and even higher in some cases. Not to mention the gtx 1060 overclocks like a pro (175 mhz on the clock and 700 mhz on the vram).

As a rule of thumb, I like to wait 3 generations before upgrading (went from gtx 680 to gtx 1060) and feel like doing so keeps you running games well for 3-4 years until new games require more demanding tech (1080p resolution). The reason the 256 bit changed is due to a new gpu architecture being more efficient/different and multiplying to 6gb rather than 4gb.