When comparing EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming SC ACX 2.0 vs Gainward NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 PHOENIX GS, the Slant community recommends EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming SC ACX 2.0 for most people. In the question“What are the best GTX 1060 cards?” EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming SC ACX 2.0 is ranked 7th while Gainward NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 PHOENIX GS is ranked 10th. The most important reason people chose EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming SC ACX 2.0 is:
Due to the slightly higher clock and boost speed of the EVGA ACX 2.0 model (both have received a 7% increase), there is a noticeable performance increase in games and benchmarks compared to most other GTX 1060 cards (with the exception of the Asus GTX 1060 Strix OC Edition). [In Battlefield 4](http://www.legitreviews.com/nvidia-evga-geforce-gtx-1060-video-card-review_184301/3) for example, at 1080p and ultra settings, the EVGA SC manages to achieve an average framerate of 110.6, while a GTX 1060 with reference clock speeds achieves 107.6 average frames per second. Similar results can be seen [in GTA V](http://www.legitreviews.com/nvidia-evga-geforce-gtx-1060-video-card-review_184301/5) (1080p, maximum settings), where the EVGA SC version achieves an average framerate of 112.7 frames per second - 6,4 FPS higher than a reference GTX 1060. In terms of raw benchmark numbers, the Superclocked version scores 13062 GPU Points in [3D Mark Fire Strike](http://www.legitreviews.com/nvidia-evga-geforce-gtx-1060-video-card-review_184301/9), while a GTX 1060 with reference speeds manages to score 12736, a slight 2.55% increase.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Performs better than most GTX 1060 cards
Due to the slightly higher clock and boost speed of the EVGA ACX 2.0 model (both have received a 7% increase), there is a noticeable performance increase in games and benchmarks compared to most other GTX 1060 cards (with the exception of the Asus GTX 1060 Strix OC Edition). In Battlefield 4 for example, at 1080p and ultra settings, the EVGA SC manages to achieve an average framerate of 110.6, while a GTX 1060 with reference clock speeds achieves 107.6 average frames per second.
Similar results can be seen in GTA V (1080p, maximum settings), where the EVGA SC version achieves an average framerate of 112.7 frames per second - 6,4 FPS higher than a reference GTX 1060. In terms of raw benchmark numbers, the Superclocked version scores 13062 GPU Points in 3D Mark Fire Strike, while a GTX 1060 with reference speeds manages to score 12736, a slight 2.55% increase.
Pro Compact, suitable for small enclosures
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming ACX 2.0 is quite compact and features a cooler that only has a single fan. A reference GTX 1060 has a length of 9.8 inches (250 mm), while the EVGA ACX 2.0 reduces this to only 6.8 inches (173 mm). This makes the card ideal for use in smaller enclosures.
Pro Decent temperatures
Although this ACX 2.0 model only has a single cooling fan, temperatures are decent. Any other custom GTX 1070 card will stay cooler, but the single fan works well enough to keep it from throttling much. With the standard EVGA fan configuration, the GPU heats up to 37° Celsius in idle and around 74 degrees Celsius under full load. For comparison: a reference GTX 1060 reaches temperatures of 78° under load.
You might notice the slightly higher idle temperature of the GTX 1060 ACX 2.0 SC because EVGA has chosen to implement a semi-passive cooling solution, where the fan doesn't spin up at all in an idle environment.
Pro Fairly quiet operation
When using the standard EVGA settings for the fan speeds, the card won't produce any noise in idle situations. Under full load, a noise of 38.4 dB(A) was measured. This isn't particularly loud and ensures a fairly quiet operation, although it is louder than any GTX 1060 card other than the MSI GTX 1060 Dual Fan version which measures 39dB(A).
Pro Can be modified easily to allow better cooling without voiding the warranty
If you want better cooling, fortunately, EVGA lets you modify the GPU without voiding the warranty. The process itself is fairly easy as well; all you have to do is remove the four screws that hold the backplate in place, exposing two flat 8mm heat pipes. This small modification considerably improves the cooling and subsequently the performance of this GPU.
Pro Required 6-pin and stays cool. It has RGB
Cons
Con Some performance drops when the temperature of the GPU is increased
Under heavy load, such as when playing resource-intensive games, the GPU gets rather hot mostly because of its compact size which does not allow for more than one fan. When this happens, the GPU suffers some frequency drops (1949-1962 MHz from 2012MHz) which in turn translates to real-world performance issues such as 5-10FPS drops when gaming.
Con Feels a bit cheap
The cover is made of cheap anthracite-gray plastic that makes the GPU seem cheap and feel low quality.
Con The lighting only supports red, green or blue
The logo on the back of the card has lighting which supports red, green or blue. That is, not the full RGB color spectrum, but only those three individual colors.
Con Weird color scheme
The red, black and gold color scheme is not for everyone. If it had been just red and black it would have been much better and much easier to find a suitable motherboard, case and everything else to fit that color scheme. While not a deal breaker for most people who are only interested in performance, it can be a bit annoying for people who care about how their build looks.