GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB vs GTX 660

Place in the ranking	441	351
Place by popularity	77	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	3.41	no data
Power efficiency	5.14	13.19
Architecture	Kepler (2012−2018)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	GK106	GP106
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	6 September 2012 (12 years ago)	27 June 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$229	no data

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 cores	960	1280
Core clock speed	980 MHz	1063 MHz
Boost clock speed	1033 MHz	1480 MHz
Number of transistors	2,540 million	4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	140 Watt	80 Watt
Texture fill rate	82.56	118.4
Floating-point processing power	1.981 TFLOPS	3.789 TFLOPS
ROPs	24	48
TMUs	80	80

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	no data	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	241 mm	no data
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin	None
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	2 GB	6 GB
Memory bus width	192-bit GDDR5	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	6.0 GB/s	2002 MHz
Memory bandwidth	144.2 GB/s	192.2 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 Connectors	One Dual Link DVI-I, One Dual Link DVI-D, One HDMI, One DisplayPort	No outputs
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	-
HDCP	+	-
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	-	+
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

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

3D Blu-Ray	+	-
3D Gaming	+	-
3D Vision	+	-
VR Ready	no data	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (11_0)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	5.1	6.4
OpenGL	4.3	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.2.131
CUDA	+	6.1

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 660 10.31

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 15.13
+46.8%

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 660 4012

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 5891
+46.8%

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 660 5040

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 10430
+107%

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	47 −70.2%	80 +70.2%
1440p	10−12 −50%	15 +50%
4K	18−21 −66.7%	30 +66.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	4.87	no data
1440p	22.90	no data
4K	12.72	no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Valorant	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Dota 2	56 +0%	56 +0%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Fortnite	92 +0%	92 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	84 +0%	84 +0%
Metro Exodus	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	175 +0%	175 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Valorant	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
World of Tanks	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	30−33 +0%	30−33 +0%
Dota 2	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Far Cry 5	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	48 +0%	48 +0%
Valorant	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
World of Tanks	100−110 +0%	100−110 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Far Cry 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Metro Exodus	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Valorant	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Dota 2	54 +0%	54 +0%
Grand Theft Auto V	54 +0%	54 +0%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	57 +0%	57 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	54 +0%	54 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Counter-Strike 2	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +0%	4−5 +0%
Dota 2	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Far Cry 5	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Fortnite	24 +0%	24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 5	12−14 +0%	12−14 +0%
Valorant	16−18 +0%	16−18 +0%

This is how GTX 660 and GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB compete in popular games:

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is 70% faster in 1080p
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is 50% faster in 1440p
GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is 67% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	10.31	15.13
Recency	6 September 2012	27 June 2017
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	6 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	140 Watt	80 Watt

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB has a 46.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 200% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 75% more advanced lithography process, and 75% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 660 in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 660 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB is a notebook one.

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