GTX 1060 3GB vs 6GB Graphics Card for Laptop | Which One Is Ideal?

Whatever your level of experience with gaming, or if you’re building your new PC from the ground up, choosing the correct GPU is among the most critical decisions you’ll make in your computer-building process.

GTX 1060 3GB vs 6GB Graphics Card for Laptop – Differences

The fact is you can’t find any significant or major amount of differences between these two cards in terms of the graphics processor, clock speed, memory, render configuration, theoretical performance, board design, etc.

The only worth mentioning differences are the price and memory capacity. The GTX 1060 6GB has twice the memory of the 1060 3GB. And that is why 1060 6GB also comes with a greater price (299 USD > 199 USD).

GTX 1060 3GB vs 6GB Graphics Card – Comparisons

Now that you have got a basic idea about the differences between 1060 6GB and 3GB, it is time to compare them to determine which one is ideal between them. Check the comparisons according to different sectors –

Architecture

Both variants of the GTX 1060 are based on the Pascal segments and sub, which, despite being old, is still accepted to provide a standard of performance by way of instance by many people. This technology will suffer to cope with the pressure of the current games and other types of severe workloads, but it would be more than enough of meeting the needs of regular PC usage including modest gaming but with no problems.

Resolution

Regarding the differences between the two different gigabyte sizes, it is among the most significant areas in which the 6GB outperforms the 2GB in terms of performance. In general, you should expect to get 70-80 frames per second while playing the 6GB edition at 1440p & 1080p resolutions.

The 1060 3GB would be able to maintain about 60 frames per second at resolutions ranging from 1440p to 1080p, which is still quite good considering its capabilities, — particularly when you are just searching for such a graphics card for low to medium gaming. In any case, both models will strain at 4K resolution, it’s something to consider if you insist on games or broadcasting at that quality.

Cooling

Next up on the ranking is the dissipation capacity, which tells you how much a card would be able to keep itself from overheating and also how well it would tolerate being overheated in real-world conditions.

Both variations of 1060 are equipped with quality materials that will aid in the general cooling of the machine, as well as built-in thermal protection and fans. Considering this, because neither the 3GB nor the 6GB is designed to handle intense workloads, you might not have to acquire an air – conditioning system that keeps it running cool. Furthermore, because of the way the fans are designed, both types of fans tend to be quite noisy when in operation.

Ray Tracing

Next on the ranking is ray tracing, which relates to the tendency to simulate accurate lighting and shadowing effects in-game scenes, allowing for a far more realistic feeling in the game world overall. Unfortunately, despite the amount of storage space available, 1060 somehow doesn’t possess the requisite hardware to enable ray-tracing to just be supported. It is noteworthy, however, that this is one of the few GTX cards which does enable the driver update for making ray-tracing viable on GTX cards instead of on the RTX 20 range cards.

Nevertheless, if you decide to experiment with ray tracing here on 1060, you’ll be only tempting yourself because the GPU will struggle to maintain high data rates in the process. You may experience slowness and buffering because it will consume a significant amount of memory, despite the gigabyte space. Consequently, if ray-tracing is a key gaming parameter for you, it may be worthwhile to consider upgrading to a graphics card that is more suitable to manage the needs of ray-tracing for new updates, rather than a lower-end card.

Dimensions

In this case, there’s not too much comparing or matching to be done. Because you are just comparing different sizes of the very same cards, both 1060 3GB and the  1060 6GB are indeed the equivalents to each other. Both cards will communicate with the majority of the Pc framework and both measure 250mm long and 11mm wide, and both have been equipped with a dual-slot ventilation system to keep things cool.

Visual Memory

The VRAM (or visual memory) is among the few areas where you may observe a substantial change because you are only comparing variations between two different models of the same cards. Both GTX 1060 models make use of GDDR5, which is still largely regarded as one of the greatest types of random system memory inside the gaming market.

Nonetheless, the most significant difference is that even the GTX 1060 6GB makes use of doubling the number of VRAM comparison to the GTX 1060 3GB. In contrast to here, 1060 6GB model has 10 percent more Cores than its somewhat smaller sibling, allowing it the superior pick for heavy tasks when compared to the other two options.

Regardless of their sizes, both GPUs are excellent entry-level options for the beginner player or PC user who doesn’t need a lot of processing power at the start. 

Despite this, it shouldn’t be surprising that the GTX 1060 6GB edition of the cards offers 10 percent extra CUDA cores when compared to the 1060 3GB, in addition to having twice the amount of memory available in the first place.

Our Verdict

If you are still facing difficulties in your decision-making, let us make it convenient for you. If you are a regular user who just uses the PC for doing simple tasks or general entertaining, 1060 3GB is a perfect option for you. It will smoothly do your job and also let you save almost 100 bucks. But if you are a gamer who plays modern games or a designer who performs heavy tasks, you should go for the 1060 6GB one. It will cost more but is worth it. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is it worth upgrading from GTX 1060 3GB to 6GB?

The simplest answer is yes. Graphics cards are meant to help you with graphics-intensive tasks. Therefore, when you are up to playing games or rendering videos, the GTX 1060 6GB can definitely offer you better and faster performance than the 1060 3GB. 6GB also ensures better FPS at high settings. 

Is GTX 1060 3GB enough for 1080p gaming?

Well, truth to be spoken, though the GTX 1060 3GB usually delivers 60 frames per second at 1080p on average; it is not sufficient for gamers who love to play games smoothly and faster. But when it comes to its other version, the 6GB one, the performance improves a lot including frame rates. 

How do I know if my 1060 is 3GB or 6GB?

There is an interesting way to confirm that. You can check the render configuration of the 1060 graphics card to determine its variant. If the shading unit, TMU, and SM count are 1280, 80, and 10 respectively; it is undoubtedly the 6GB one. But if the values are 1152, 72, and 9; it is the 1060 3GB.

Conclusion

This far, it is pretty clear that the GTX 1060 6GB proves itself superior to the 1060 3GB in terms of memory size, frame rates, and better settings. So undoubtedly, the 1060 6GB is ideal between it and the 1060 3GB. If you can afford then you should buy the 6GB one instead of 3GB. Let us know which one you prefer in the end.