How does the Nvidia GTX 1060 3GB compare with the RX 470 4GB graphics card? In this article we’ll test out and compare 10 different games at 1080p resolution to help you see the performance difference.
 |  |
|---|---|
| AMD RX 470 | Nvidia GTX 1060 |
| BUY NOW | BUY NOW |
| PROS | PROS |
| Great Full HD performance. Low power consumption. Plenty of memory for a sub-£200 card. | Excellent FHD and 1440p performance. Quiet running. Incredibly low power consumption. |
| CONS | CONS |
| Priced too near the 4GB RX 480. | More expensive than rivals. 4GB RX 480 is better value. |
SPECIFICATIONS
| OVERVIEW | RX 470 | GTX 1060 |
| Card Status | Released | Released |
| Manufacturer | AMD | NVIDIA |
| Release Date | 28th July, 2016 | 24th August, 2016 |
| Launch Price | $179 USD | $199 USD |
| GPU | RX 470 | GTX 1060 |
| GPU Model | 14nm Ellesmere PRO | 16nm GP106-300 |
| Cores : TMUs : ROPs | 2048 : 128 : 32 | 1152 : 72 : 48 |
| MEMORY | RX 470 | GTX 1060 |
| Memory Size | 4096 MB GDDR5 | 3072 MB GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus Width | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 211.2 GB/s | 192 GB/s |
| PHYSICAL | RX 470 | GTX 1060 |
| Interface | PCI-Express 3.0 x16 | PCI-Express 3.0 x16 |
| Thermal Design Power | 120 W | 120 W |
| CLOCKS | RX 470 | GTX 1060 |
| Base Clock | 926 MHz | 1506 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1206 MHz | 1708 MHz |
| Memory Clock (Effective) | 1650 (6600) MHz | 2000 (8000) MHz |
| Computing Power (FP32) | 3,793 GFLOPS | 3,470 GFLOPS |
PERFORMANCE
For the testing I’m using the MSI RX 470 4GB Armor and the Gigabyte GTX 1060 3GB G1 Gaming, expect slightly different results with different models. The system that I’m testing with has an Intel i5-7600K CPU overclocked to 4.8GHz in an Gigabyte GA-Z270-Gaming K3 motherboard, along with 16GB of RAM running at DDR4-2400 in dual channel.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Let’s start out Assassin’s Creed Origins, which was tested with very high settings. In terms of average FPS the 1060 is 28% faster than the RX 470.
Battlefield 1
Battlefield 1 was tested with the built in benchmark using ultra settings, and there was almost no difference between the two graphics cards. The 1060 was just slightly ahead in average FPS, 12% higher at 1080p.
COD: World War II
COD: World War II was tested in campaign mode rather than multiplayer, as it’s easier to consistently reproduce the test run. The 1060 just 8% higher in average frame rate at 1080p.
Destiny 2
Destiny 2 was tested using the built in benchmark with highest settings. At 1080p there was a 21% boost to average FPS with the 1060.
Evil Within 2
Evil Within 2 was also tested using the built in benchmark with ultra settings, there was a 5% boost with the 1060.
Fortnite
Fortnite was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay on both graphics cards. The average FPS at 1080p saw the 1060 come out 27% ahead of the RX 470.
Hellblade
Hellblade was tested with the built in benchmark at very high settings. Most parts of the game perform a fair bit better than this, so don’t take these results as a good indication of what to expect throughout the entire game, it’s more of a worst case, it does however allow me to perform an accurate comparison. With that in mind, the RX 470 was getting 1.7% higher average FPS over the GTX 1060 at 1080p.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was also tested using the built in benchmark with high settings. There was less of a difference here, an 1.4% improvement to average FPS at 1080p with 1060.
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Mass Effect: Andromeda was tested using the built in benchmark at ultra settings. In terms of improvement with the 1060 this game was on the lower side out of the titles tested, I think as it seems to benefit from Nvidia’s Turing architecture. In any case there was an 16% improvement to average FPS at 1080p with the 1060.
Middle Earth: Shadow Of WAR
Middle Earth: Shadow Of WAR was tested with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and both cards were capable of providing very high frame rates in this test. In this test there was a fairly good 40% boost to average FPS with the 1060 at 1080p.
PUBG
PUBG was tested in the practice range as I can easily perform the same test run compared to playing with bots or other players which will differ every time. This game generally runs quite well. Both GPU were not giving 60FPS.
Star Wars Battlefront
Star Wars Battlefront was tested using the replay feature with the exact same replay at ultra settings. You’ll probably want to stick to 1080p in this game for a decent frame rate, there was a 6% higher average frame rate here with the 1060.
Witcher 3
Witcher 3 is a resource intensive game and was tested with ultra settings. In my opinion this one need a high frame rate to play, I can get by with a solid 60 FPS, so both GPU were performing well. In terms of difference to average frame rate, the 1060 was 13% ahead of the RX 470 at 1080p.
Wolfenstein II
Wolfenstein II was tested with the built in benchmark and ultra settings in use, and is another resource heavy game. At 1080p the 1060 was 6% ahead of the RX 470 in average FPS.
CONCLUSION
Clearly the overall winner is GTX 1060 as it was performing well in almost every game. And I think you should pay 20USD more for GTX 1060. If you were buying today let me know which card you’d pick down in the comments and why, the RX 470 or GTX 1060 3GB.
