Radeon RX 6850M XT vs GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB

Place in the ranking	216	75
Place by popularity	26	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	22.31	no data
Power efficiency	14.31	19.02
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	GP106	Navi 22
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	18 August 2016 (8 years ago)	4 January 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	1152	2560
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	2321 MHz
Boost clock speed	1708 MHz	2581 MHz
Number of transistors	4,400 million	17,200 million
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	165 Watt
Texture fill rate	123.0	413.0
Floating-point processing power	3.935 TFLOPS	13.21 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	64
TMUs	72	160
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	40

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	no data	large
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	250 mm	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	None

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	12 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	2002 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	384.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	No outputs
HDMI	+	-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	+	1.3
CUDA	6.1	-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1060 3 GB 24.85

RX 6850M XT 45.39
+82.7%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 1060 3 GB 9588

RX 6850M XT 17511
+82.6%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	75−80 −94.7%	146 +94.7%
1440p	45−50 −97.8%	89 +97.8%
4K	35−40 −82.9%	64 +82.9%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.65	no data
1440p	4.42	no data
4K	5.69	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

160

+0%

160

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	159 +0%	159 +0%
Battlefield 5	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	136 +0%	136 +0%
Far Cry 5	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Hitman 3	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Metro Exodus	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	100−105 +0%	100−105 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	130 +0%	130 +0%
Battlefield 5	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	106 +0%	106 +0%
Far Cry 5	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Hitman 3	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Metro Exodus	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	100−105 +0%	100−105 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	259 +0%	259 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	112 +0%	112 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	87 +0%	87 +0%
Far Cry 5	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Hitman 3	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	227 +0%	227 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	122 +0%	122 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	83 +0%	83 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

100−105

+0%

100−105

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	85 +0%	85 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	55 +0%	55 +0%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	240−250 +0%	240−250 +0%
Hitman 3	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Metro Exodus	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	166 +0%	166 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

75−80

+0%

75−80

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Hitman 3	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%
Metro Exodus	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	72 +0%	72 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	47 +0%	47 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	26 +0%	26 +0%
Far Cry 5	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	92 +0%	92 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40−45

+0%

40−45

+0%

This is how GTX 1060 3 GB and RX 6850M XT compete in popular games:

RX 6850M XT is 95% faster in 1080p
RX 6850M XT is 98% faster in 1440p
RX 6850M XT is 83% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.85	45.39
Recency	18 August 2016	4 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	12 GB
Chip lithography	16 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	165 Watt

GTX 1060 3 GB has 37.5% lower power consumption.

RX 6850M XT, on the other hand, has a 82.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 128.6% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6850M XT is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is a desktop card while Radeon RX 6850M XT is a notebook one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.