Six Year Old GTX 1060 Beats Intel Arc A380, GeForce GTX 1630 and Radeon RX 6400, Wins TPU popularity contest

[btarunr]

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB "Pascal" continues to be a popular choice among TechPowerUp readers as an entry-mainstream graphics card choice over rivals that are two generations ahead. The recent TechPowerUp Frontpage Poll asked our readers what graphics card they'd choose, assuming they're priced the same, with choices that include the GTX 1060 6 GB, GTX 1630 4 GB, GTX 1650 4 GB, RX 570 4 GB, RX 5500 XT 4 GB, RX 6400 4 GB, and the A380 6 GB. The poll received great response, with over 18,200 votes cast since it went live on June 30, 2022, closing on August 16.

The GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB dominated the poll, and nearly scored a simple majority, with 49 percent of the respondents, or 8,920 people, saying they'd choose the card over the others. A distant second was the RX 5500 XT 4 GB, with 15.1 percent, or 2,749 votes. The GTX 1650 and Arc A380 are nearly on par, with 11,9 percent, or around 2,170 votes. The remaining options, including the RX 6400, RX 570, and GTX 1630, are marginal, single-digit percentage choices.



The GTX 1060 6 GB is now over six years old, having launched in July 2016. It's based on the 16 nm "Pascal" graphics architecture, which has since been succeeded by two generations—the 12 nm "Turing" and the 8 nm "Ampere." With DirectX 12 feature-level 12_1 support, the card supports nearly all of the current online FPS, MOBA, and MMORPGs with reasonably good settings, at Full HD (1080p), which strikes at the core of the PC gaming market, or the very top of the bell-curve. Unfortunately, the GTX 1060 is retired from NVIDIA's product stack, although the latest GeForce Game Ready drivers continue to support it. You may still find the card in the second-hand market on eBay where it can be had for well under $200.

What's more interesting is that the GTX 1060 beats every AMD rival hollow, including the RX 5500 XT that's based on the 7 nm RDNA architecture, and the newer RX 6400, based on the 6 nm RDNA2. Although barely available in the West, the Intel Arc A380 appears to be riding on some novelty value, with people eager to check out the capabilities of Intel's latest 6 nm Xe-HPG "Alchemist" graphics architecture.

Catch the TechPowerUp Reviews of each card from this poll:

GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB | GeForce GTX 1630 4 GB | GeForce GTX 1650 4 GB | Radeon RX 570 4 GB | Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB | Radeon RX 6400 4 GB | Arc A380 6 GB

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Dirt Chip]

You might add relative performance numbers in order to make such a conclusion...

 

[john_]

The 1060 in the poll enjoys the advantage of the +2 extra GBs compared to the other models. A380 does have 6GB but it is still a beta product.

In the past an RX 580 with 8GB memory could be bought at those price levels. Put that card in a the above poll and see what happens.
Meaning, I don't see the usefulness of this poll.

 

[Dr. Dro]

I'll stand by my choice of Arc on this poll, I especially reject the GTX 1060, I don't see the value in purchasing an obsolete Pascal GPU with its rapidly aging architecture performing ever worse in newer games due to its poor DirectX 12 support and backseat driver development attention over its advanced age.

Simply put my opinion is that GTX 10 series cards don't belong in a 2022 build, not even an entry level one, and this includes the likes of the 1080 Ti and the Titan X.

The real time AV1 encoding capabilities of the A380 alone warrant giving it an honest chance imo. Intel will work its software problems out, I believe in the company's ability to do so.

 

[The King]

This is the GTX 960 all over again. It was never that good but was on Steams number 1 spot for several years.

The 7970/280X 3GB was a far better GPU than the GTX 960 but somehow never got the sales numbers or popularity..

I would take a RX480/580 8GB over the 1060 anyday and those AMD GPUs aged better than the GTX 1060.

That said the GTX 1060 is a decent GPU compared to the GTX 960 having owned 2, I still prefer my XFX GTR RX 480 8GB over it. which I still run even today because it has really low power consumption
and good enough to run all the games I play at locked 60fps.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
None of the above was my choice.

Might as well of listed a 980ti

 

[noel_fs]

RX 580 beats 1060 nowdays, it does have higher power consumption tho

the only reason i would go with 1060 is NVENC

 

[wolf]

Turns out that when faced with inferior alternatives, the GTX1060 came out on top, who could have predicted that.

 

[ModEl4]

The only thing that i would change (maybe) in the poll is RX480 8GB (lower SRP than 1060 and it launched earlier also) instead of RX570 4GB in order to also give people that prefer AMD a real 1060 alternative to choose from.

 

[TheUn4seen]

I'll stand by my choice of Arc on this poll, I especially reject the GTX 1060, I don't see the value in purchasing an obsolete Pascal GPU with its rapidly aging architecture performing ever worse in newer games due to its poor DirectX 12 support and backseat driver development attention over its advanced age.

Simply put my opinion is that GTX 10 series cards don't belong in a 2022 build, not even an entry level one, and this includes the likes of the 1080 Ti and the Titan X.

The real time AV1 encoding capabilities of the A380 alone warrant giving it an honest chance imo. Intel will work its software problems out, I believe in the company's ability to do so.

It seems that most people care mainly about performance when buying a graphics card, and 1060 is easily a winner in this regard. Personally I don't see any value in purchasing a card based on vague "new architecture" claims, especially when comparing a trusted, proven and well regarded product which, due to it's popularity, will enjoy several more years of support to a new entry to the market, an entry plagued with problems and with future support being a big question mark. As for video encoders, well, not many people actually need or care about them. The world is not full of streaming kids, contrary to what the "gaming culture" would have you believe. I never used them and I don't personally know anyone who did. Some care, but my guess is that it's a small percentage of perspective buyers.

 

[Minus Infinity]

I wonder about the mental health of those that voted for anything below the 5500XT, especially the 1630 and 6400XT.

 

[Lionheart]

Would of chosen the RX 580 if it was in the poll, no idea why it wasn't but meh, no biggy. 1060 6GB had my vote for sure.

 

[ModEl4]

I wonder about the mental health of those that voted for anything below the 5500XT, especially the 1630 and 6400XT.

What about the people that need low profile?
1630 is incomprehensible since there is the 1650 choice (just undervolt 1650 if you need similar to 1630 power consumption) or buy a RX6400 or an ARC A380 LP and undervolt (when it becomes available in Western markets)

 

[Chrispy_]

It's unsurprising that a $250 card with low TDP, high efficiency, strong 1080p performance and is still popular compared to the underwhelming scalper options that have been plaguing the market since then.

The generation after Pascal was the RTX rip-off, then we had global component supply issues, the US-China trade tarrifs, and ETH mining causing chaos. Despite most of the problems being resolved, it took 5 years to best the venerable 1060 in both performance/$ and performance/Watt and only now in the last six months has the RX 6600 reduced to $260 really provided a tempting upgrade option.

I was also a big fan of the RX480 which was a close match for the 1060 but 8GB Polaris cards were so good at ETH mining that their used price grossly outmatched their performance during the GPU shortages of 2019-2021.

 

[_Under2World_]

This GPU was just so great. All of those low-end graphic card barely compete with it while being more expensive. Even considering new feature like DLSS or ray tracing, those new cards are so bad they can’t even use it properly.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

I voted for the A380 just because I would blow it up pushing it to see how it truly stands up to abuse, BFH and all.

 

[catulitechup]

maybe this can be interesting:

Intel Arc A380 desktop GPU is now officially available for preorder in the US - VideoCardz.com

Intel Arc Alchemist desktop finally debuts in the US The Arc A380 GPU is now available for preorder at Newegg. The card on sale right now is not the GUNNIR Photon graphics card that has taken over the initial coverage of Intel’s desktop GPU debut in early July, but ASRock’s Challenger ITX. This...

videocardz.com

 

[N3utro]

GTX 1060 6GB is a great sweet spot for gaming: runs most games well enough to play them with decent graphics and you can buy a used one for cheap around 100€

The cost / performance ratio is far better than anything you can find anywhere else.

 

[maxfly]

There wasn't anything else to choose. The 1060 was clearly the best card of the lot. The poll results simply reflects that TPU members know their gpus.

 

[defaultluser]

I haven't been able to afford a replacement for the 1060 on my gaming pc yet, given the fact that the price point of the 3060 had jumped way up into GT 970 land ; the mining rush hasn't helped either!

Going to have to wait for ampere clearance after proof-of-stake, or else wait for 4050 to get released at the olds 1060 price point ( with better performance than 3060)

But I'm still amazed atr how many AAA games my HTPCs GTX 960 has been handling without sacrificing much at 1080p, buyt its about to hit a wall soon - hopefully I can work around it ( plan was to do card swap on the 3060 was purchased)_!

 

[JAB Creations]

This pole was rigged, no 8GB AMD cards? No performance numbers? Glad this pole is no longer sitting at the top of the website.

 

[Veseleil]

1060 won only because 580 8GB wasn't an option. Such a useless poll. Others have already stated this, but I'll just say it once more anyway.

 

[Dr. Dro]

It seems that most people care mainly about performance when buying a graphics card, and 1060 is easily a winner in this regard. Personally I don't see any value in purchasing a card based on vague "new architecture" claims, especially when comparing a trusted, proven and well regarded product which, due to it's popularity, will enjoy several more years of support to a new entry to the market, an entry plagued with problems and with future support being a big question mark. As for video encoders, well, not many people actually need or care about them. The world is not full of streaming kids, contrary to what the "gaming culture" would have you believe. I never used them and I don't personally know anyone who did. Some care, but my guess is that it's a small percentage of perspective buyers.

Oh I certainly understand one's mindset if they're looking to buy a "proven" product. The Arc may be the one with the most potential, but it's also by far the one with the most problems. But I don't think the 1060 has "many more years" of support left, NV will probably release GRDs for this architecture through 2024 (when Pascal completes its 8 year lifecycle). Truth to be told, there's practically nothing left to develop for this hardware anyway, at this point most updates are day-one fixes and maybe a few GL/VK extensions that the hardware can support but aren't presently incorporated into the driver.

The unknown is exciting, and Arc is all-new. I would happily bet on its future.

 

[TheUn4seen]

Oh I certainly understand one's mindset if they're looking to buy a "proven" product. The Arc may be the one with the most potential, but it's also by far the one with the most problems. But I don't think the 1060 has "many more years" of support left, NV will probably release GRDs for this architecture through 2024 (when Pascal completes its 8 year lifecycle). Truth to be told, there's practically nothing left to develop for this hardware anyway, at this point most updates are day-one fixes and maybe a few GL/VK extensions that the hardware can support but aren't presently incorporated into the driver.

The unknown is exciting, and Arc is all-new. I would happily bet on its future.

Ah, a gambling man, ey? I too dabble in that, got me a tiny bit of Intel's stock. Not because of Arc, I think it's rubbish and may become barely usable no sooner than in at least three generations, but their foundry services seem to be doing well.
If I was in a market for a low end, possibly used, graphics card - which was the premise of the poll -, I wouldn't gamble a single cent on Intel's effort though.

 

[Synthwave]

I'll stand by my choice of Arc on this poll, I especially reject the GTX 1060, I don't see the value in purchasing an obsolete Pascal GPU with its rapidly aging architecture performing ever worse in newer games due to its poor DirectX 12 support and backseat driver development attention over its advanced age.

Simply put my opinion is that GTX 10 series cards don't belong in a 2022 build, not even an entry level one, and this includes the likes of the 1080 Ti and the Titan X.

The real time AV1 encoding capabilities of the A380 alone warrant giving it an honest chance imo. Intel will work its software problems out, I believe in the company's ability to do so.

A GTX 1080 or more so the GTX 1080 Ti is juuuuuuuuust fine for a 2022 build, not even shabby. I think it will still be fine in 2023. The people who bought it on launch (and still have it) made a really good investment.