Is the GTX 1060 still good in 2024 for 1080p gaming?
The GeForce GTX 1060 6GB is now over 6 years old, making it ancient in GPU years. But does Nvidia‘s venerable Pascal card still deliver decent 1080p gaming performance in 2024? Let‘s dive into the specs and capabilities of the GTX 1060 to see if it remains relevant for gaming today.
GTX 1060 overview – specs and architecture
The GTX 1060 first launched in July 2016 as a mid-range graphics card priced starting at $249. It featured the Pascal GPU architecture which was the successor to Maxwell, delivering major efficiency and performance gains.
Here‘s an overview of the key specs:
- GPU: GP106 Pascal GPU with 1280 CUDA cores
- Video memory: 6GB GDDR5 @ 8Gbps
- Base clock: 1506MHz
- Boost clock: 1708MHz
- Memory bandwidth: 192.2 GB/s
- TDP: 120W
- Manufacturing process: 16nm FinFET
Compared to the previous generation GTX 960, the GTX 1060 offered nearly double the CUDA cores and memory bandwidth. This huge leap translated to 60% better gaming performance on average.
According to Nvidia, it was designed to deliver smooth 60 FPS gameplay at 1920 x 1080 resolution with graphics settings maxed out in the latest games.
Real-world gaming performance
But how does the aging GTX 1060 hold up today for 1080p gaming? Let‘s compare some benchmarks in popular titles at 1920 x 1080 resolution:
As you can see, the GTX 1060 still delivers very playable frame rates in the 50-60 FPS range for many of today‘s graphically demanding games like Spiderman and Cyberpunk 2077.
In esports titles like Fortnite, Valorant, CS:GO, you can easily achieve well above 144 FPS with competitive settings.
But the GTX 1060 does struggle to maintain a steady 60 FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2 and Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla with graphics maxed out. You may need to tweak some settings to hit 60 FPS.
Based on my experience gaming on a GTX 1060 rig, it can definitely still provide smooth 60+ FPS gameplay in most titles as long as you‘re fine turning down some settings from Ultra to High or Medium in very intensive games.
1080p performance versus newer budget GPUs
To get a better idea of where the GTX 1060 stands today, let‘s see how it compares to some newer graphics cards in the $200 to $300 price segment:
| GPU | Release Date | Avg FPS @ 1080p Ultra | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| GTX 1060 6GB | July 2016 | 55 FPS | $250 |
| GTX 1660 | Feb 2019 | 66 FPS | $219 |
| GTX 1660 Super | Oct 2019 | 73 FPS | $229 |
| RTX 2060 | Jan 2019 | 80 FPS | $299 |
Based on this data, the GTX 1660 Super offers around 25% better 1080p gaming performance versus the GTX 1060 for a similar price point.
The RTX 2060 is over 50% faster than the GTX 1060 on average, but you do pay a premium for that extra performance uplift.
Given its age, the GTX 1060 winds up at the bottom of this stack – but it still manages to deliver very playable frame rates. This speaks to what an exceptional card it was upon release over 6 years ago.
Ray tracing and new graphics features
One major limitation of the GTX 1060 today is lack of support for ray tracing and other modern graphics features that recently released GPUs provide.
Nvidia‘s RTX cards contain dedicated ray tracing cores that can accelerate real-time ray traced lighting, shadows, and reflections in games. This provides a huge leap in visual fidelity, but also requires a ton of graphics horsepower.
For example, the RTX 2060 achieves around 60 FPS with ray tracing enabled in Control at 1080p. The GTX 1060 manages just 25 FPS, making it unplayable.
Outside of ray tracing, new GPUs also support advanced upscaling technologies like DLSS and FSR as well as Nvidia Reflex for lower latency. The GTX 1060 lacks all of these next-gen gaming features.
So if you want to experience cutting-edge graphics in their full glory, the 6-year-old GTX 1060 will leave you disappointed. But it still delivers decent traditional rasterized graphics and smooth frame rates.
Should you upgrade from the GTX 1060 in 2024?
The GTX 1060 6GB definitely still remains viable for 1080p gaming in 2024 if you temper your expectations around graphics settings and frame rates. It can certainly deliver smooth 60 FPS gameplay in most titles by tweaking some settings.
However, considering its age and lack of support for ray tracing and other new tech, upgrading does make sense this year if you want more headroom.
For 1080p 60+ FPS on high/ultra settings with ray tracing, the RTX 3060 is a great upgrade priced around $330.
If you play competitive esports titles and want super high frame rates, the RTX 3060 Ti delivers 100+ FPS for $399.
For 1440p gaming, the RTX 3070 provides a big jump in performance with 8GB VRAM starting at $499.
If you‘re on a tight budget, the newly released Intel Arc A770 is a decent 1080p upgrade alternative priced under $300. But ray tracing support is still a work in progress on Intel‘s new GPUs.
Conclusion
The GTX 1060 6GB can still play modern games at 1080p medium-high settings while delivering smooth 60 FPS performance. However, some compromises are required as newer titles are only going to get more demanding.
I‘d only recommend sticking with the GTX 1060 through 2023 if you‘re fine turning down eye candy settings or playing at 30 FPS in some titles. For the best experience going forward, an upgrade to an RTX 3060 or RTX 3060 Ti offers way better performance and adds ray tracing capabilities.
But all said, the GTX 1060 has aged remarkably well thanks to its solid Pascal architecture. It remains a capable 1080p gaming card even 6 years from launch. Much respect to this GPU legend!
Let me know what you think of the good old GTX 1060 in 2024 – share your experiences gaming with this classic in the comments!
