GeForce GTX 590 vs GTX 1060 Mobile

Place in performance ranking	277	490
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	24.07	0.75
Architecture	Pascal (2016−2021)	Fermi (2010−2014)
GPU code name	N17E-G1	GF110
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	18 August 2016 (8 years ago)	24 March 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$237.11	$699

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 Mobile has 3109% better value for money than GTX 590.

Detailed specifications

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 cores	1280	1024
CUDA cores	1280	1024
Core clock speed	1506 MHz	607 MHz
Boost clock speed	1708 MHz	no data
Number of transistors	4,400 million	3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology	16 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	365 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature	94 °C	97 °C
Texture fill rate	133.6	38.91
Floating-point performance	4.275 gflops	1.244 gflops

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	large	no data
Bus support	PCIe 3.0	16x PCI-E 2.0
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 2.0 x16
Length	no data	279 mm
Height	no data	4.376" (111 mm) (11.1 cm)
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	no data	2x 8-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 type	GDDR5	GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Memory bus width	192 Bit	768-bit (384-bit per GPU)
Memory clock speed	8000 MHz	1707 MHz
Memory bandwidth	192 GB/s	327.7 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	DP 1.43, HDMI 2.0b, Dual Link-DVI	Three Dual Link DVI-IMini DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	+	+
HDMI	-	+
HDCP	2.2	-
Maximum VGA resolution	no data	2048x1536
G-SYNC support	+	-
Audio input for HDMI	no data	Internal

Supported technologies

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

GameStream	+	-
GPU Boost	3.0	no data
VR Ready	+	no data
Ansel	+	no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (11_0)
Shader Model	6.4	5.1
OpenGL	4.5	4.2
OpenCL	1.2	1.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	N/A
CUDA	+	+

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 Mobile 19.70
+127%

GTX 590 8.66

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 1060 Mobile 34127
+32.7%

GTX 590 25720

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.

GTX 1060 Mobile 14693
+60.3%

GTX 590 9167

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.

GTX 1060 Mobile 11558
+73%

GTX 590 6680

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:

900p	100−110 +113%	47 −113%
Full HD	69 −55.1%	107 +55.1%
1200p	250−260 +123%	112 −123%
1440p	45 +150%	18−20 −150%
4K	30 +150%	12−14 −150%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

37
+164%

14−16

−164%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	62 +195%	21−24 −195%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	53 +342%	12−14 −342%
Battlefield 5	78 +200%	24−27 −200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	61 +239%	18−20 −239%
Cyberpunk 2077	30 +114%	14−16 −114%
Far Cry 5	75 +275%	20−22 −275%
Far Cry New Dawn	76 +217%	24−27 −217%
Forza Horizon 4	229 +295%	55−60 −295%
Hitman 3	54 +218%	16−18 −218%
Horizon Zero Dawn	136 +178%	45−50 −178%
Metro Exodus	81 +212%	24−27 −212%
Red Dead Redemption 2	74 +208%	24−27 −208%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	119 +310%	27−30 −310%
Watch Dogs: Legion	137 +132%	55−60 −132%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	91 +333%	21−24 −333%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	45 +275%	12−14 −275%
Battlefield 5	69 +165%	24−27 −165%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	55 +206%	18−20 −206%
Cyberpunk 2077	25 +78.6%	14−16 −78.6%
Far Cry 5	59 +195%	20−22 −195%
Far Cry New Dawn	58 +142%	24−27 −142%
Forza Horizon 4	210 +262%	55−60 −262%
Hitman 3	51 +200%	16−18 −200%
Horizon Zero Dawn	134 +173%	45−50 −173%
Metro Exodus	70 +169%	24−27 −169%
Red Dead Redemption 2	62 +158%	24−27 −158%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	80 +176%	27−30 −176%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	122 +408%	24−27 −408%
Watch Dogs: Legion	133 +125%	55−60 −125%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	37 +76.2%	21−24 −76.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	38 +217%	12−14 −217%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	40 +122%	18−20 −122%
Cyberpunk 2077	23 +64.3%	14−16 −64.3%
Far Cry 5	43 +115%	20−22 −115%
Forza Horizon 4	71 +22.4%	55−60 −22.4%
Hitman 3	45 +165%	16−18 −165%
Horizon Zero Dawn	66 +34.7%	45−50 −34.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	68 +134%	27−30 −134%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	39 +62.5%	24−27 −62.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	28 −111%	55−60 +111%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

59
+146%

24−27

−146%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	41 +141%	16−18 −141%
Far Cry New Dawn	40 +208%	12−14 −208%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 +238%	8−9 −238%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	27 +575%	4−5 −575%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27 +200%	9−10 −200%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +225%	4−5 −225%
Far Cry 5	28 +180%	10−11 −180%
Forza Horizon 4	173 +381%	35−40 −381%
Hitman 3	24−27 +108%	12−14 −108%
Horizon Zero Dawn	48 +167%	18−20 −167%
Metro Exodus	45 +309%	10−12 −309%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	40−45 +389%	9−10 −389%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	24−27 +213%	8−9 −213%
Watch Dogs: Legion	129 +135%	55−60 −135%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

40
+186%

14−16

−186%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	22 +175%	8−9 −175%
Far Cry New Dawn	21 +250%	6−7 −250%
Hitman 3	16−18 +220%	5−6 −220%
Horizon Zero Dawn	59 +73.5%	30−35 −73.5%
Metro Exodus	22 +267%	6−7 −267%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	26 +333%	6−7 −333%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18 +260%	5−6 −260%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	10 +150%	4−5 −150%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	13 +225%	4−5 −225%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +300%	1−2 −300%
Far Cry 5	14 +180%	5−6 −180%
Forza Horizon 4	35 +250%	10−11 −250%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	24−27 +500%	4−5 −500%
Watch Dogs: Legion	9−10 +200%	3−4 −200%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

20
+150%

8−9

−150%

This is how GTX 1060 Mobile and GTX 590 compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 Mobile is 113% faster in 900p
GTX 590 is 55% faster in 1080p
GTX 1060 Mobile is 123% faster in 1200p
GTX 1060 Mobile is 150% faster in 1440p
GTX 1060 Mobile is 150% faster in 4K

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

in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 1060 Mobile is 575% faster.
in Watch Dogs: Legion, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the GTX 590 is 111% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 1060 Mobile is ahead in 71 test (99%)
GTX 590 is ahead in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	19.70	8.66
Recency	18 August 2016	24 March 2011
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	3072 MB (1536 MB per GPU)
Chip lithography	16 nm	40 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	80 Watt	365 Watt

GTX 1060 Mobile has a 127.5% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 150% more advanced lithography process, and 356.3% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 590 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 590 is a desktop one.

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