# MSI GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6 GB



## W1zzard (Aug 19, 2016)

MSI's GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6GT is a cost-optimized custom-design variant of the GTX 1060 that still comes with 6 GB VRAM and an overclock out of the box. In our testing, we didn't see much of a difference to more expensive custom boards.

*Show full review*


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## Hiryougan (Aug 19, 2016)

Damn, i wasn't expecting for that really cheap looking cooler to perform that well. MSI is on fire lately! Sapphire could learn a thing or two from them, because to be honest i have a feeling that this cheap cooler would perform much better than Dual-X Nitro cooler that they put on the new Radeons.

What really surprised me though is how it completely destroys the Palit card in comparision, which is 70$ more expensive!

Edit: Could you tell us please who is making the fans for this cooler? FirstD?


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## YouToo (Aug 19, 2016)

Thanks a lot for this review! At the time you made the review of the "Gaming X" version, I saw this cheaper version appear in the list of my local computer shop and was wondering what made it so much cheaper, what the overall quality was like. From the review it seems it's mostly a design thing, and the lack of a fans-off idle mode. Have you asked MSI if they are gonna release a bios that allows the fans to turn off in idle? If I remember correct, EVGA did that to their cheaper versions of the 1060.

Since I play on a 16:10 monitor with 1680x1050 I'm looking forward to see reivews of the 3GB versions since they are even cheaper, though I know they have less shader units even though they share the same model name.


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## Ralfies (Aug 19, 2016)

> SLI improved beyond 4K at 60 FPS


You probably didn't mean to include this in the pro's since the 1060 doesn't support SLI. Thanks for the review!


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## Chaitanya (Aug 19, 2016)

Ralfies said:


> You probably didn't mean to include this in the pro's since the 1060 doesn't support SLI. Thanks for the review!


nice catch. 1060 doesnt really support SLI.  That might have been a Con really.


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## lanlagger (Aug 19, 2016)

"SLI"... sure, that made me to look at those card pics more closely...
anyhow - this is the card... in 1060 realm noone needs custom pcb with xamount of extra power phases, dual bioses triple fan, 2.5 slot coolers and other cool* stuff that can make your card +100$ (that is +30% of its price)... one just needs a gpu and cooler that is better than the Founders Eddition (aka -  the overpriced crap eddition)... and any after market cooler can get the job done - pick the cheapest one and call it a day.


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## dj-electric (Aug 19, 2016)

lanlagger said:


> anyhow - this is the card... in 1060 realm noone needs custom pcb with xamount of extra power phases, dual bioses triple fan, 2.5 slot coolers and other cool* stuff that can make your card +100$ (that is +30% of its price)



you might wanna take a look at the Gainward GTX 1060 6GB simple edition. 
- 3 heatpipes
- fans stop at idle
- quiet AF
- cost 249$

Best reference-cost card to date IMHO


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## Monsuta (Aug 19, 2016)

It's both funny & lame about the word "WARNING!! THE MOST POWERFUL GRAPHIC CARD" on the card.


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## Assimilator (Aug 19, 2016)

Great card, great price. GTX 1060 and RX 480/470 price competition is going to be where it's at this generation, considering those cards pretty much all perform at and overclock to the same level.



Hiryougan said:


> Damn, i wasn't expecting for that really cheap looking cooler to perform that well.



GP106 doesn't need a lot of cooling; hell, it doesn't even throttle with the crappy FE cooler. Which makes the triple-slot coolers that Palit is using even more ridiculous, unless you like throwing money away. I'm willing to bet that a single-slot GTX 1060 that doesn't throttle is possible.



YouToo said:


> From the review it seems it's mostly a design thing, and the lack of a fans-off idle mode. Have you asked MSI if they are gonna release a bios that allows the fans to turn off in idle?



Not gonna happen, some manufacturers are sadly charging extra for the idle-fan-off feature. Once someone comes up with a Pascal BIOS editor you'll be able to use that to edit your card's BIOS and setup your own fan profile to get that feature (this is what I did with the Maxwell 2 cards I owned).



Dj-ElectriC said:


> you might wanna take a look at the Gainward GTX 1060 6GB simple edition.
> - 3 heatpipes
> - fans stop at idle
> - quiet AF
> ...



Agreed - and has 3 DisplayPort connectors instead of only 1 on this MSI card. Would like to see @W1zzard review that one, I expect we'd have a new champion on our hands.


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## bug (Aug 19, 2016)

Hm, I almost thought that one pipe heatsink wasn't up to the task. Makes you wonder if triple pipes are really necessary.


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## EarthDog (Aug 19, 2016)

Ralfies said:


> You probably didn't mean to include this in the pro's since the 1060 doesn't support SLI. Thanks for the review!


Copy/paste will get ya...


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## Hiryougan (Aug 19, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> GP106 doesn't need a lot of cooling; hell, it doesn't even throttle with the crappy FE cooler. Which makes the triple-slot coolers that Palit is using even more ridiculous, unless you like throwing money away. I'm willing to bet that a single-slot GTX 1060 that doesn't throttle is possible.


Of course i know that, but when you look at both cards disassembled, the Palit with the bigger heatsink and more heatpipes gives expectations that even if it will at worst case have the same temperatures, it will at least be quieter.
As it turned out it's neither.


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## EarthDog (Aug 19, 2016)

Dem books... dat cover.


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## Caring1 (Aug 20, 2016)

Monsuta said:


> It's both funny & lame about the word "WARNING!! THE MOST POWERFUL GRAPHIC CARD" on the card.


About as lame as JEEP putting a sticker on the back of their vehicles which says, "There is only one JEEP"
Unless they think people are blind and cant see the hundreds of other JEEPs on the road. 

On topic this looks like a very good card, i'd buy it if I had the money and was in the market for a new GPU.


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## Steevo (Aug 20, 2016)

At this rate I may have to pick one up to try it, or see what the 980Ti market is like in a few weeks


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## hojnikb (Aug 20, 2016)

Dj-ElectriC said:


> you might wanna take a look at the Gainward GTX 1060 6GB simple edition.
> - 3 heatpipes
> - fans stop at idle
> - quiet AF
> ...


Yeah, both palit and gainward are excellent value for money, at least here in EU. They are pretty much the same too.
So it would be really great to get one reviewed @W1zzard


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## chird (Aug 20, 2016)

"Unlike previous NVIDIA cards, the DVI port no longer includes the analog signal, so you'll have to use an active adapter."

Is this a typo that should be referring to Display Port? 

If not, does this mean one can't use a VGA monitor with the usual DVI->VGA adapter?


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## Assimilator (Aug 20, 2016)

Steevo said:


> At this rate I may have to pick one up to try it, or see what the 980Ti market is like in a few weeks



I'd recommend against the 980 Ti unless you're into VR. While it is a powerful card, it is also hot as f**k. I had a Gigabyte 980 Ti running at 1475 core and had to run the fans at 100% to get acceptable temperatures in games... I downgraded to a 980 and am a lot happier.



chird said:


> Is this a typo that should be referring to Display Port?



No.



chird said:


> If not, does this mean one can't use a VGA monitor with the usual DVI->VGA adapter?



Yes. Maxwell 2 is the last series from NVIDIA that output analog signals. AMD hasn't had them since the R9 3xx series. If you intend to buy one of these cards, you'll need an active DVI->VGA adapter, or just buy a new monitor (probably cheaper).


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## chird (Aug 20, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> Yes. Maxwell 2 is the last series from NVIDIA that output analog signals. AMD hasn't had them since the R9 3xx series. If you intend to buy one of these cards, you'll need an active DVI->VGA adapter, or just buy a new monitor (probably cheaper).



Thanks. I have an old VGA monitor hooked up to Intel chipset via VGA as a second monitor. The monitor actually remains off, but it means the multi-seat software Aster recognizes there's a monitor there so I can run a second Windows account concurrently. On that Windows account I run Steam, allowing me to use in-home streaming at the same time as someone else is using the main monitor (TV).

Maybe on NVIDIA I can just create a dummy monitor in the software, or I'll need to re-think my setup somewhat when I upgrade.


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## Hiryougan (Aug 20, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> Yes. Maxwell 2 is the last series from NVIDIA that output analog signals. AMD hasn't had them since the R9 3xx series. If you intend to buy one of these cards, you'll need an active DVI->VGA adapter, or just buy a new monitor (probably cheaper).


Not really surprising. It's a really archaic standart, imo it's better they are finally ditching it.


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## Joss (Aug 20, 2016)

Monsuta said:


> It's both funny & lame about the word "WARNING!! THE MOST POWERFUL GRAPHIC CARD" on the card.


I'd never buy a card with that stupidity written on it.
It seams that manufacturers convinced themselves they’re selling to imbecilic adolescents, well I'm neither of those.


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## Assimilator (Aug 20, 2016)

Hiryougan said:


> Not really surprising. It's a really archaic standart, imo it's better they are finally ditching it.



I'm still surprised and horrified by how many people don't understand that VGA is utter crap. A couple of weeks ago my coworker was complaining that his twin LCDs (identical 1920x1080 models) were hurting his eyes because they had different brightness and sharpness. I had a look and guess what, both were using VGA; I went straight to our IT department and got a pair of DVI cables, once I'd swapped them out (and threw the VGA cables in the bin) both monitors were displaying consistently. Coworker said it's like night and day, he's much happier now.

And yet despite the fact that VGA is so inferior (and that no 2016 graphics cards or chipsets support it natively), motherboard and monitor manufacturers still insist on including these connectors. It honestly boggles my mind... if you are trying to view 1080p over VGA, you are doing it SO VERY WRONG.



Joss said:


> I'd never buy a card with that stupidity written on it.
> It seams that manufacturers convinced themselves they’re selling to imbecilic adolescents, well I'm neither of those.



If I had to pick between this card with a weird slogan - that I'll never see when the card's installed in my chassis - or a card that costs $20 more just because it has bling-y LEDs that I'll never use, I know which one I'll choose.


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## bug (Aug 20, 2016)

Caring1 said:


> About as lame as JEEP putting a sticker on the back of their vehicles which says, "There is only one JEEP"
> Unless they think people are blind and cant see the hundreds of other JEEPs on the road.



No, I think that one actually makes sense. In many parts of the world, all off-road vehicles are colloquially called Jeep.


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## THU31 (Aug 21, 2016)

249 $ is a nice price. But in Poland this card costs 370 $ after currency exchange, added VAT and some extra price premium for no reason. It should cost under 310 $. I paid just slightly more for a 970 1.5 years ago.


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## EarthDog (Aug 21, 2016)

bug said:


> No, I think that one actually makes sense. In many parts of the world, all off-road vehicles are colloquially called Jeep.


That's like calling all sodas  "coke"...


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## bug (Aug 21, 2016)

EarthDog said:


> That's like calling all sodas  "coke"...


Pop vs soda vs coke I still haven't figured out.
A better analogy would be calling all copier machines "xerox", though I'm not sure how widespread that is.


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## Jeffredo (Aug 22, 2016)

This is just about the most perfect "high-mid" range card on the market.  $250 for performance ahead of what was their top card less than two years ago (GTX 980) for half the price at its debut.  This is how new generations should work.


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## ThomasS31 (Aug 22, 2016)

Now we only need the "Armor" version review and we get a complete picture.


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## EarthDog (Aug 23, 2016)

bug said:


> Pop vs soda vs coke I still haven't figured out.
> A better analogy would be calling all copier machines "xerox", though I'm not sure how widespread that is.


More widespread than calling all types of soda, coke!!


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## xorbe (Aug 23, 2016)

* DVI output no longer includes analog VGA signals

Why list this as a con, if it applies to every new Radeon and GTX card?


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## Jeffredo (Aug 23, 2016)

EarthDog said:


> More widespread than calling all types of soda, coke!!



When I visit family in Oklahoma my cousin would ask everyone "Ya'll want a Coke?".  Then it was "We have Pepsi, Seven-up, etc..."  Always make me smile.  I do it now back at home complete with the accent just to be funny.


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## THU31 (Aug 23, 2016)

Jeffredo said:


> This is just about the most perfect "high-mid" range card on the market.  $250 for performance ahead of what was their top card less than two years ago (GTX 980) for half the price at its debut.  This is how new generations should work.



That is the optimistic look, assuming the 980 was a good card. It was only about 20% faster than the 970, which cost just 330 $. 

The 660 was an insane card for its price, the 760 was decent. The 960 was pretty bad (a lot of games required 4 GiB, which was more expensive, and the performance gap to the 970 was huge). The 1060 is definitely better than the last two cards, but that is mostly because the 1070 is ridiculously expensive.

This level of performance was just 80 $ more expensive almost two years ago, which is why it is not very impressive in my view.


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## gazzyk1ns (Sep 10, 2016)

Assimilator said:


> If I had to pick between this card with a weird slogan - that I'll never see when the card's installed in my chassis - or a card that costs $20 more just because it has bling-y LEDs that I'll never use, I know which one I'll choose.



That isn't what Joss said/asked, was it? He certainly didn't mention wanting any blingy LEDs, so I don't know why they're mentioned in your post. I think he was pointing out that this card is aimed at people who like "label claims" more than they do facts.


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## mircx (Jan 12, 2017)

"Dimensions of the card are 29 cm x 14 cm."
Actually this is wrong. Real dimensions 243 x 115 x 39 mm.


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