GeForce RTX 4090 vs GTX 1060 3 GB

Place in the ranking	217	1
Place by popularity	18	6
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	22.57	18.83
Power efficiency	14.21	15.23
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Ada Lovelace (2022−2024)
GPU code name	GP106	AD102
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	18 August 2016 (8 years ago)	20 September 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$199	$1,599

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 3 GB has 20% better value for money than RTX 4090.

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	16384
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	2235 MHz
Boost clock speed	1708 MHz	2520 MHz
Number of transistors	4,400 million	76,300 million
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	450 Watt
Texture fill rate	123.0	1,290
Floating-point processing power	3.935 TFLOPS	82.58 TFLOPS
ROPs	48	176
TMUs	72	512
Tensor Cores	no data	512
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	128

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).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	250 mm	304 mm
Width	2-slot	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	1x 16-pin

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	GDDR6X
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	24 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	2002 MHz	1313 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192.2 GB/s	1.01 TB/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	1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
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	6.8
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	3.0
Vulkan	+	1.3
CUDA	6.1	8.9

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 24.88

RTX 4090 100.00
+302%

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

RTX 4090 38538
+302%

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	65−70 −306%	264 +306%
1440p	50−55 −314%	207 +314%
4K	35−40 −317%	146 +317%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	3.06	6.06
1440p	3.98	7.72
4K	5.69	10.95

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

225

+0%

225

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	235 +0%	235 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	287 +0%	287 +0%
Battlefield 5	240−250 +0%	240−250 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	222 +0%	222 +0%
Far Cry 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	290−300 +0%	290−300 +0%
Hitman 3	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	350−400 +0%	350−400 +0%
Metro Exodus	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	450−500 +0%	450−500 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	248 +0%	248 +0%
Battlefield 5	240−250 +0%	240−250 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	214 +0%	214 +0%
Far Cry 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	200−210 +0%	200−210 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	290−300 +0%	290−300 +0%
Hitman 3	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	350−400 +0%	350−400 +0%
Metro Exodus	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	548 +0%	548 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	240−250 +0%	240−250 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	150−160 +0%	150−160 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	179 +0%	179 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	220 +0%	220 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	210 +0%	210 +0%
Far Cry 5	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	290−300 +0%	290−300 +0%
Hitman 3	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	394 +0%	394 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	541 +0%	541 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	305 +0%	305 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	153 +0%	153 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

120−130

+0%

120−130

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	110−120 +0%	110−120 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	155 +0%	155 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	183 +0%	183 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	154 +0%	154 +0%
Far Cry 5	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	270−280 +0%	270−280 +0%
Hitman 3	130−140 +0%	130−140 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	388 +0%	388 +0%
Metro Exodus	152 +0%	152 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	504 +0%	504 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	268 +0%	268 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	240−250 +0%	240−250 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

120−130

+0%

120−130

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	65−70 +0%	65−70 +0%
Hitman 3	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	105 +0%	105 +0%
Metro Exodus	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	281 +0%	281 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	120 +0%	120 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	120 +0%	120 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	80 +0%	80 +0%
Far Cry 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	250−260 +0%	250−260 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	282 +0%	282 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	117 +0%	117 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

110−120

+0%

110−120

+0%

This is how GTX 1060 3 GB and RTX 4090 compete in popular games:

RTX 4090 is 306% faster in 1080p
RTX 4090 is 314% faster in 1440p
RTX 4090 is 317% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

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

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.88	100.00
Recency	18 August 2016	20 September 2022
Maximum RAM amount	3 GB	24 GB
Chip lithography	16 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	120 Watt	450 Watt

GTX 1060 3 GB has 275% lower power consumption.

RTX 4090, on the other hand, has a 301.9% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 6 years, a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 220% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce RTX 4090 is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB in performance tests.

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