Which 1060 should I get?

[TheNextLinus]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm planning to build a new gaming PC, I didn't really have much trouble picking the parts, but when I looked at the graphics cards, a few questions arose.

My initial plan was to get a Gigabyte GTX 1060 (https://pcpartpicker.com/product/gL98TW/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1060-6gb-g1-gaming-video-card-gv-n1060g1-gaming-6gd), but when I read that it produced quite some coil whine and that isn't very nice. Then I looked up the MSI 1060's and the ASUS 1060's, and noticed that the factory overclocked versions of these cards were about 10% more expensive than the "stock" versions. That got me thinking: is a factory overclock worth the money? Can't you overclock the card manually and achieve the same performance? I would like to hear from you which card I should get and whether you have good/bad experiences from a certain card (like coil whine, defective leds/fans, etc.) Thanks in advance!

 

TL;DR: Which GTX 1060 should I get?

 

[insyght]

Are you planning on 6GB or 3GB version? And will your case fit all of the 1060 available?

Good mini version is the EVGA 1060 3GB,

other 3GB models I would recommend are

MSI GTX 1060 Armor OCV1

Gigabyte GXT 1060 Gaming V1

 

[Lemonpearl]

The MSI one looks nice IMO and it goes well with a black & red themed build. The EVGA one is the cheapest option. All 1060 cards should play games at 1080p on ultra settings or close @ 60fps. Above the EVGA card there are not big performance differences. I'd go with EVGA tbh.

[79wjd]

Factory overclocked isn't worth the money, I would just get the cheapest 6gb 1060 with two fans.

 

Coil whine is pretty much luck of the draw, all cards (regardless of manufacturer) can have it, and it also depends heavily on what PSU you specifically have. Some combinations of hardware are more likely to have coil whine and there really isn't any way of knowing which those combinations are other than actually trying them out. 

[TheNextLinus]

2 minutes ago, insyght said:

Are you planning on 6GB or 3GB version? And will your case fit all of the 1060 available?

Good mini version is the EVGA 1060 3GB,

other 3GB models I would recommend are

MSI GTX 1060 Armor OCV1

Gigabyte GXT 1060 Gaming V1

 

I'm would like to get a 6GB model, and the case I am planning to get is the NZXT S340

 

[Cela1]

I have a Palit 1060 Dual and can confirm it is a 1060.

 

In all seriousness the Palit has nice sleek look and seems to have decent cooling temps, and I cant notice any coil whine. It doesn't have LEDs. I managed to get mine to a 2050 MHz Core boost and a decent Memory boost (can't remember numbers) (But I didn't max out voltage).

[TheNextLinus]

4 minutes ago, Cela1 said:

I have a Palit 1060 Dual and can confirm it is a 1060.

 

In all seriousness the Palit has nice sleek look and seems to have decent cooling temps, and I cant notice any coil whine. It doesn't have LEDs. I managed to get mine to a 2050 MHz Core boost and a decent Memory boost (can't remember numbers) (But I didn't max out voltage).

I never overclocked a GPU/CPU, is it difficult for a newbie?

[Cela1]

2 minutes ago, TheNextLinus said:

I never overclocked a GPU/CPU, is it difficult for a newbie?

No not at all, especially if you look at some videos/tutorials on it.

[JabroniBaloney]

The EVGA SC has better cooling than the regular version. It's worth the extra $10 imo. I have one, runs cool and the factory boost is nice at 1949mhz.

[FMPirate]

1 hour ago, Cela1 said:

I have a Palit 1060 Dual and can confirm it is a 1060.

Can it hold it's clocks in The Witcher 3 on uber with no vsync? I heard it goes down to 1700's to manage temps. Is it true? Thanks in advance.

[Cela1]

9 minutes ago, FMPirate said:

Can it hold it's clocks in The Witcher 3 on uber with no vsync? I heard it goes down to 1700's to manage temps. Is it true? Thanks in advance.

I don't play The Witcher 3 (on my wish list though) so I can't confirm that. However, it never throttles in ANY other game, so I doubt it.

[Gullerback]

setting temp target and power limit i haven't seen a boost for less than 1900.  Almost always 2011Mhz (even with witcher 3 Maxed)