When comparing NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs NVIDIA TITAN X (Pascal), the Slant community recommends NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB for most people. In the question“What is the best GPU for ultra-wide monitor gaming?” NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is ranked 7th while NVIDIA TITAN X (Pascal) is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is:
The GTX 1060 (3 GB) performs extremely well in 1080 (Full HD) gaming situations, often providing a very playable framerate with maximum fidelity settings. For example, the [average FPS in Rise of The Tomb Raider](http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_1060_gaming_x_3gb_review,12.html) (maximum settings) is a very smooth 70 frames per second and the card scores 52 average frames per second in Hitman. The 3 GB GTX 1060 also does well in Tom Clancy's The Division, where [it achieves a result of 58 average frames per second](http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_1060_gaming_x_3gb_review,19.html) with maximum detail. Gaming in 1440p is also a possibility with the horse power the GTX 1060 3 GB provides. In Rise of the Tomb Raider, Hitman and The Division - all with maximum settings, the card is able to achieve average framerates of 46, 37 and 41, respectively. Performance can further be improved by toning down the details a bit. When comparing the GTX 1060 3 GB to its bigger 6 GB version with 10% more CUDA cores, a performance decrease is noticeable. In the same benchmarks, the larger 6 GB version has an advantage of 8 FPS in Rise of The Tomb Raider, 13 FPS in Hitman and 4 FPS in The Division, all measured in 1080p.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent 1080p performance, suitable for 1440p
The GTX 1060 (3 GB) performs extremely well in 1080 (Full HD) gaming situations, often providing a very playable framerate with maximum fidelity settings. For example, the average FPS in Rise of The Tomb Raider (maximum settings) is a very smooth 70 frames per second and the card scores 52 average frames per second in Hitman. The 3 GB GTX 1060 also does well in Tom Clancy's The Division, where it achieves a result of 58 average frames per second with maximum detail.
Gaming in 1440p is also a possibility with the horse power the GTX 1060 3 GB provides. In Rise of the Tomb Raider, Hitman and The Division - all with maximum settings, the card is able to achieve average framerates of 46, 37 and 41, respectively. Performance can further be improved by toning down the details a bit.
When comparing the GTX 1060 3 GB to its bigger 6 GB version with 10% more CUDA cores, a performance decrease is noticeable. In the same benchmarks, the larger 6 GB version has an advantage of 8 FPS in Rise of The Tomb Raider, 13 FPS in Hitman and 4 FPS in The Division, all measured in 1080p.
Pro Consumes little power for its performance
Power consumption levels of the GTX 1060 are very good. While the power consumption is somewhat higher than the previous-generation GTX 960 in some gaming circumstances - the new 1060 is the fastest graphics card on the market with a limited maximum consumption of 120 watts. In an idle situation, the GTX 1060 only uses about 9 watts of power - almost half of the amount a RX 480 requires at 16 watts. When looking at intensive full load scenario's such as a Furmark test, the maximum power consumption measured for the GTX 1060 is around 122 watts - a whopping 44 watts less than AMD's RX 480.
The power consumption difference between the GTX 1060 3GB and 6GB is negligible, although the 3GB-version surprisingly consumes around 4 watts more power under load.
Pro Offers exclusive features such as Ansel and Simultaneous multi-projection
The GTX 1060 and other Pascal-based GPU's from NVIDIA offer a couple of exclusive features that aren't available on previous-generation graphics cards or current GPU's made by AMD.
Taking advantage of the new GPU architecture, NVIDIA has introduced a feature called simultaneous multi-projection. It allows developers of games and applications to improve performance when rendering multiple viewports of the same image. This is particularly useful when using a multi-monitor setup or in virtual reality where two images are required, one for each eye. Simultaneous multi-projection allows up to 16 different viewpoints and only requires calculating the geometry of a scene once. In compatible games, users of multi-screen setups can calibrate this experience so that distortion no longer occurs. Virtual reality games can use SMP to improve performance, although developers will specifically need to implement this feature in their games.
Ansel is another feature that is exclusive to NVIDIA's Pascal-based graphics cards. Ansel can be described as a very extensive 'photomode', where you can capture massive in-game screenshots of several gigapixels or capture images in 360 degrees. The player is also able to use filters, adjust camera positions, take HDR-images and share them via the built-in software.
Pro Can handle overclocks well
By overclocking your graphics card, you increase the clock speeds of the chip and memory to gain even more performance. The GTX 1060 handles overclocks well, relatively high boosts of over 200 MHz for both the GPU and memory clock speeds aren't uncommon without the use of special cooling solutions. In this case, an overclock of 229 MHz on the GPU and 380 MHz on the memory result in a 14% better performance in Battlefield 3, in 1440p resolution.
Pro Large memory size allows for plenty of headroom
The TITAN X is equipped with 12 gigabytes of video memory, while most other high-end cards only have about 8 gigabytes. While those extra gigabytes of memory may prove quite useless for the moment, the extra memory does allow for plenty of headroom for more memory-intensive games in the future, especially at higher resolutions.
Pro Incredible performance, ideal for 4K
The NVIDIA TITAN X is the company's most powerful graphics card available based on the Maxwell architecture which makes it ideal for the most intensive gaming situations. In 1080p and 1440p gaming situations, the TITAN X will effortlessly achieve very high framerates of 100+ fps while using the highest possible graphical settings. The power of the TITAN X truly shines when gaming in 4K. For example, in the resource-intensive Rise of The Tomb Raider, the TITAN X achieves an average framerate of 61 fps with the highest possible settings and 4K resolution. The same can be said for games such as Doom (81 fps), Grand Theft Auto V (75 fps) and 64 frames per second in The Witcher 3. Considering the very high 4K-resolution and the use of the absolute maximum graphical settings with anti-aliasing and high-quality anisotropic filtering, this is a very impressive feat.
Pro Offers exclusive features such as Ansel and Simultaneous multi-projection
The updated TITAN X and other Pascal-based GPU's from NVIDIA offer a couple of exclusive features that aren't available on previous-generation graphics cards or current GPU's made by AMD.
Taking advantage of the new GPU architecture, NVIDIA has introduced a feature called simultaneous multi-projection. It allows developers of games and applications to improve performance when rendering multiple viewports of the same image. This is particularly useful when using a multi-monitor setup or in virtual reality where two images are required, one for each eye. Simultaneous multi-projection allows up to 16 different viewpoints and only requires calculating the geometry of a scene once. In compatible games, users of multi-screen setups can calibrate this experience so that distortion no longer occurs. Virtual reality games can use SMP to improve performance, although developers will specifically need to implement this feature in their games.
Ansel is another feature that is exclusive to NVIDIA's Pascal-based graphics cards. Ansel can be described as a very extensive 'photomode', where you can capture massive in-game screenshots of several gigapixels or capture images in 360 degrees. The player is also able to use filters, adjust camera positions, take HDR-images and share them via the built-in software.
Pro Decent overclocking potential
The TITAN X doesn't have issues with hefty overclock boosts of over 10%, both for the overall GPU clock speed and the memory. The increase in the power limit of the TITAN X also allows for more consistent results.
Cons
Con Less ideal for use with high-quality texture settings, not futureproof
Three gigabytes of video memory suffices for most gaming situations in 1080p, but the 3GB version of the GTX 1060 might hit limitations when using high-quality texture packs or when using high-resolution texture options (such as gaming in 4K). Multisample anti-aliasing is also quite memory intensive and is less ideal for use with this version of the GTX 1060. Although the lower memory might not form a major issue nowadays, future titles will require more and more video memory in order to run decently.
Con Lacks support for SLI
The GTX 1060 does not offer support for SLI - short for Scalable Link Interface - which allows users to install multiple identical graphics cards in order to gain performance. In other words, you can't connect two or more GTX 1060's and run a dual- or multiple-GPU solution which is very remarkable for mid-range graphics cards.
Con Disappointing performance improvements when using Vulkan
Vulkan is a graphical API that allows developers to communicate better with the GPU, which in theory should result to performance improvements compared to the more standard DirectX 12 or OpenGL API's. The GTX 1060 doesn't do particularly better in Vulkan however, and the difference with the standard OpenGL is very minimal.
Doom is one of the first (and only) titles with support for Vulkan and serves as a good benchmark for OpenGL vs Vulkan performance. Using Ultra settings and a 1080p resolution, the GTX 1060 3 GB is able to achieve an average framerate of 103 FPS and 65 FPS when tested in 1440p. When using Vulkan, performance improvements are not substantial with 109 FPS (+5,5%) and 71 FPS (+8,5%).
AMD's new Polaris-architecture graphics cards are significantly better optimized for Vulkan compared to the GTX 1060 and other NVIDIA Pascal-based GPU's. For example, the AMD Radeon RX 480 performs significantly better in Vulkan, with 1080p results of 85 FPS for OpenGL and 111 FPS in Vulkan, a 30.59% increase.
Con High temperatures, throttling may occur
During full load, temperatures of the high-end TITAN X chip will reach roughly 80 degrees Celsius. Those temperatures are acceptable for a high-end card, but the TITAN X will not allow itself to go above this temperature in order to prevent damage to the chips. When the maximum target of 80° C is reached, the card will start to slow itself down and reduce the clock speeds (also known as throttling), which also results in a slightly lower and less consistent performance.
Con Doesn't offer decent value
With a recommended retail price of $1,200, the TITAN X is one of the most expensive GPU's available. In fact, the price tag is almost two times as much as that of NVIDIA's second-fastest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1080. The latter retails for a little bit over $600. While the TITAN X may perform about 30% better than a 1080, a card with nearly double the price tag may be hard to justify.