Which 1060 brand is better on this list

[ismffof]

Planning to upgrade from 960 to 1060, so asking which brand in this list is better.
From lowest to highest price. All are 6gb.

Gainward GTX 1060
Palit GTX 1060 Dual Fan
Galax GTX 1060 EXOC
Zotac GTX 1060 AMP!
Asus GTX 1060 Dual OC

 

[The Paladin]

you forgot EVGA which is the better of all of those, but in your list, Asus

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

ASUS and ZOTAC AMP.

 

[Christianjason]

I prefer Zotac but MSI / GIGABYTE not in your list.Hope these're good brands as well on 1060 family.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

MSI is getting the best reviews .... in fact the MSI 480 was singled out as the only 480 that competes with the 1060 ... the Zotac would likely be my choice out of those you listed. EVGA has had consistent design issues in the SC line for a long time now, and with the 10xx series, the FTW too tho they mainly affect the x70 and x80 models.

Most recently, the heat sink "missed" the GPU on the 970 SC and the 1070 / 1080 SC and FTW ACX require a update kit to add the missing therml pads requiring disassembly, pad installation and reassembly on your part.

MSI 9.8 Gaming rating
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1060_Gaming_X /29.html
MSI 9.7 rating
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_1060_OC/
Asus 9.0 rating
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GTX_1060_STRIX_OC/31.html
Gigabyte 9.8 rating
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_1060_Xtreme_Gaming/31.html
Palit 9.6 rating
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_1060_Super_JetStream/28.html

 

[Susquehannock]

Indeed. Reading good things about the MSI cards. Might consider RX 480 if do not mind going Red team.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The main differences between the two are these:

-1060 started out with significant lead at stock, latest drivers have upped 480 performance by 2% or so (across Techpowerups 14 game test suite).
-1060 overclocks about 18%, 480 about 8%
-1060 draws about 120 watts in gaming, 480 about 200 (same as 1080)
-480 is noisier
-The extra wattage means need 100 watt bigger PSU and be wise to add an extra case fan based upon 1 fan per every 50 - 75 watts (quiet case) 75-100 (if ya don't mind hearing the fans
-If it matters, at 10 cents a KW hour, the 480 costs ya about $50 extra over 3 years. I pay 24 cents so for me it's $120 ... in Europe about $250
-AMD at present has an edge in many DX12 and Vulcan games tho nVidia took 2 of the 3 DX12 games in TPUs test suite ... this is a driver issue and something that should improve over time ... I expect a "Deja Vu all over again" thing.

Outta those, the only ones I really care about are overclocking and noise .. YMMV

Spoiler

YMMV = your mileage may vary

Above the 480, obviously it's nVidia's world ... below the 480, it' obviously AMDs world. At the 1060s performance / price niche for the 1st time in several generations, nVida is competing, and in my view, for the reasons above, primarily OC Headroom, I think nVidia has the edge with the 1060. However, at present, I can't see an argument against taking the 480 if you run cards at stock speeds and none of those other differences matter to you. That is , no one i think will have a case of "buyer's remorse" choosing either way as long as one understands and accepts the differences either way. And of course, what games you play has a big part in this decision as each excels in certain games.