960M vs 1060 6 GB

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Combined performance score

GTX 1060 6 GB
26.45
+202%

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 202% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

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

Place in performance ranking185454
Place by popularity11not in top-100
Value for money3.251.41
ArchitecturePascal (2016−2021)Maxwell (2014−2018)
GPU code nameGP106N16P-GX
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date19 July 2016 (7 years old)12 March 2015 (9 years old)
Launch price (MSRP)$299 no data
Current price$911 (3x MSRP)$799
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 6 GB has 130% better value for money than GTX 960M.

Technical specs

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1280640
CUDA coresno data640
Core clock speed1506 MHz1096 MHz
Boost clock speed1708 MHz1202 MHz
Number of transistors4,400 million1,870 million
Manufacturing process technology16 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)120 Watt75 Watt
Texture fill rate136.747.04
Floating-point performance4,375 gflops1,505 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB and GeForce GTX 960M compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop video cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility). For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.

Laptop sizeno datamedium sized
Bus supportno dataPCI Express 3.0
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16MXM-B (3.0)
Length250 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pinno data
SLI optionsno data+

Memory

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 amount6 GB4 GB
Memory bus width192 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed8000 MHz2500 MHz
Memory bandwidth192.2 GB/s80 GB/s
Shared memory--

Video outputs and ports

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 Connectors1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPortNo outputs
VGA аnalog display supportno data+
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) supportno data+
HDMI++
G-SYNC support+no data

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStreamno data+
GeForce ShadowPlayno data+
GPU Boostno data2.0
GameWorksno data+
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoderno data+
Optimusno data+
BatteryBoostno data+
VR Ready+no data
Anselno data+

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_0)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL1.21.2
Vulkan1.2.1311.1.126
CUDA6.1+

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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 6 GB 26.45
+202%
GTX 960M 8.77

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 202% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 1060 6 GB 10252
+202%
GTX 960M 3400

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 202% in Passmark.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 1060 6 GB 17401
+230%
GTX 960M 5278

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 230% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 1060 6 GB 12984
+201%
GTX 960M 4318

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 201% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 1060 6 GB 77035
+156%
GTX 960M 30086

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 156% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

GTX 1060 6 GB 437988
+93.5%
GTX 960M 226308

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 94% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

Unigine Heaven 3.0

This is an old DirectX 11 benchmark using Unigine, a 3D game engine by eponymous Russian company. It displays a fantasy medieval town sprawling over several flying islands. Version 3.0 was released in 2012, and in 2013 it was superseded by Heaven 4.0, which introduced several slight improvements, including a newer version of Unigine.

Benchmark coverage: 4%

GTX 1060 6 GB 9091
+16091%
GTX 960M 56

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 16091% in Unigine Heaven 3.0.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 103
+571%
GTX 960M 15

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 571% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 46
+640%
GTX 960M 6

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 640% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 6
+247%
GTX 960M 2

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 247% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 51
+225%
GTX 960M 16

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 225% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 35
+2%
GTX 960M 35

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 2% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 32
+1221%
GTX 960M 2

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 1221% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 64
+315%
GTX 960M 16

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 315% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

GTX 1060 6 GB 6
GTX 960M 18
+198%

960M outperforms 1060 6 GB by 198% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 64
+315%
GTX 960M 16

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 315% in SPECviewperf 12 - Showcase.

SPECviewperf 12 - Maya

This part of SPECviewperf 12 workstation benchmark uses Autodesk Maya 13 engine to render a superhero energy plant static scene consisting of more than 700 thousand polygons, in six different modes.

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 103
+571%
GTX 960M 15

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 571% in SPECviewperf 12 - Maya.

SPECviewperf 12 - Catia

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 51
+225%
GTX 960M 16

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 225% in SPECviewperf 12 - Catia.

SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 46
+640%
GTX 960M 6

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 640% in SPECviewperf 12 - Solidworks.

SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 6
+247%
GTX 960M 2

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 247% in SPECviewperf 12 - Siemens NX.

SPECviewperf 12 - Creo

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 35
+2%
GTX 960M 35

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 2% in SPECviewperf 12 - Creo.

SPECviewperf 12 - Medical

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 32
+1221%
GTX 960M 2

1060 6 GB outperforms 960M by 1221% in SPECviewperf 12 - Medical.

SPECviewperf 12 - Energy

Benchmark coverage: 2%

GTX 1060 6 GB 6
GTX 960M 17.9
+198%

960M outperforms 1060 6 GB by 198% in SPECviewperf 12 - Energy.

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:

900p280−290
+195%
95
−195%
Full HD92
+156%
36
−156%
1440p49
+227%
15
−227%
4K32
+146%
13
−146%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 72
+188%
25
−188%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 45−50
+262%
12−14
−262%
Battlefield 5 106
+179%
38
−179%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 78
+225%
24−27
−225%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
Far Cry 5 82
+193%
28
−193%
Far Cry New Dawn 81
+200%
27
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 100
+186%
35
−186%
Hitman 3 80−85
+264%
21−24
−264%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+217%
18−20
−217%
Red Dead Redemption 2 56
+273%
14−16
−273%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 68
+183%
24
−183%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+240%
14−16
−240%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 61
+221%
19
−221%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 45−50
+262%
12−14
−262%
Battlefield 5 86
+177%
31
−177%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 64
+167%
24−27
−167%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
Far Cry 5 75
+200%
25
−200%
Far Cry New Dawn 75
+200%
25
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 93
+200%
31
−200%
Hitman 3 80−85
+264%
21−24
−264%
Horizon Zero Dawn 55−60
+217%
18−20
−217%
Metro Exodus 43
+258%
12
−258%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30
+100%
14−16
−100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 58
+205%
19
−205%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 76
+217%
24
−217%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+240%
14−16
−240%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 38
+245%
11
−245%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 45−50
+262%
12−14
−262%
Battlefield 5 78
+200%
26
−200%
Cyberpunk 2077 40−45
+214%
14−16
−214%
Far Cry 5 70
+204%
23
−204%
Far Cry New Dawn 69
+200%
23
−200%
Forza Horizon 4 73
+192%
25
−192%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 44
+214%
14
−214%
Watch Dogs: Legion 50−55
+240%
14−16
−240%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 41
+215%
12−14
−215%
Hitman 3 45−50
+221%
14−16
−221%
Horizon Zero Dawn 35−40
+133%
14−16
−133%
Metro Exodus 26
+271%
7−8
−271%
Red Dead Redemption 2 19
+217%
6−7
−217%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 34
+209%
11
−209%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 32
+300%
8
−300%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 27−30
+575%
4−5
−575%
Battlefield 5 58
+241%
17
−241%
Cyberpunk 2077 16−18
+325%
4−5
−325%
Far Cry 5 47
+213%
15
−213%
Far Cry New Dawn 50
+233%
15
−233%
Forza Horizon 4 57
+217%
18
−217%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−35
+300%
8−9
−300%
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24
+425%
4−5
−425%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 22
+267%
6−7
−267%
Hitman 3 24−27
+213%
8−9
−213%
Horizon Zero Dawn 18−20
+125%
8−9
−125%
Metro Exodus 16
+433%
3−4
−433%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12
+140%
5−6
−140%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 17
+325%
4−5
−325%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 29
+190%
10
−190%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 18
+260%
5−6
−260%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 14−16
+275%
4−5
−275%
Battlefield 5 31
+933%
3
−933%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+600%
1−2
−600%
Far Cry 5 23
+229%
7
−229%
Far Cry New Dawn 26
+333%
6
−333%
Forza Horizon 4 38
+280%
10−11
−280%
Watch Dogs: Legion 12−14
+500%
2−3
−500%

This is how GTX 1060 6 GB and GTX 960M compete in popular games:

900p resolution:

  • GTX 1060 6 GB is 195% faster than GTX 960M

1080p resolution:

  • GTX 1060 6 GB is 156% faster than GTX 960M

1440p resolution:

  • GTX 1060 6 GB is 227% faster than GTX 960M

4K resolution:

  • GTX 1060 6 GB is 146% faster than GTX 960M

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Battlefield 5, with 4K resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 1060 6 GB is 933% faster than the GTX 960M.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 1060 6 GB surpassed GTX 960M in all 68 of our tests.

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 26.45 8.77
Recency 19 July 2016 12 March 2015
Maximum RAM amount 6 GB 4 GB
Chip lithography 16 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 75 Watt

The GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 960M in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 960M is a notebook one.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB
GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M
GeForce GTX 960M

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