GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB GP104 vs GTX 680

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Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking359not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation2.95no data
Power efficiency5.12no data
ArchitectureKepler (2012−2018)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameGK104GP104
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date22 March 2012 (12 years ago)25 December 2016 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$499 $199

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 cores15361152
Core clock speed1006 MHz1506 MHz
Boost clock speed1058 MHz1708 MHz
Number of transistors3,540 million7,200 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)195 Watt120 Watt
Texture fill rate135.4123.0
Floating-point processing power3.25 TFLOPS3.935 TFLOPS
ROPs3248
TMUs12872

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).

Bus supportPCI Express 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length254 mm250 mm
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 6-pin1x 6-pin
SLI options+-

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 typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount2048 MB3 GB
Memory bus width256-bit GDDR5192 Bit
Memory clock speed1502 MHz2002 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.2 GB/s192.2 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 ConnectorsOne Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support4 displaysno data
HDMI++
HDCP+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.24.6
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.1.1261.2.131
CUDA+6.1

Pros & cons summary


Recency 22 March 2012 25 December 2016
Maximum RAM amount 2048 MB 3 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 195 Watt 120 Watt

GTX 1060 3 GB GP104 has an age advantage of 4 years, a 50% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 62.5% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between GeForce GTX 680 and GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB GP104. We've got no test results to judge.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
GeForce GTX 680
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB GP104
GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB GP104

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Community ratings

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