GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB vs 980 Ti

Place in performance ranking	123	328
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	4.29	5.45
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code name	GM200	N17P-G1 Max-Q
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	2 June 2015 (9 years ago)	30 May 2017 (7 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$649	no data
Current price	$1195 (1.8x MSRP)	$1010

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB has 27% better value for money than GTX 980 Ti.

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	2816	1280
CUDA cores	2816	no data
Core clock speed	1000 MHz	1063 - 1265 MHz
Boost clock speed	1075 MHz	1341 - 1480 MHz
Number of transistors	8,000 million	4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	250 Watt	60 - 70 Watt
Texture fill rate	176 billion/sec	118.4
Floating-point performance	6,060 gflops	3,789 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce GTX 980 Ti and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 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 size	no data	large
Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 3.0 x16
Length	10.5" (26.7 cm)	no data
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	no data
Recommended system power (PSU)	600 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	6-pin + 8-pin	None
SLI options	+	no data

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	6.144 MB
Memory bus width	384 Bit	192 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	336.5 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	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	No outputs
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
HDMI	+	no data
HDCP	+	no data
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.

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data
VR Ready	no data	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12.0
Shader Model	6.4	5.0
OpenGL	4.5	4.5
OpenCL	1.2	1.2
Vulkan	1.1.126	+
CUDA	+	6.1

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 980 Ti 35.77
+135%

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 15.25

980 Ti outperforms 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 135% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

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 980 Ti 23057
+72.9%

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 13334

980 Ti outperforms 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 73% 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 980 Ti 16961
+62.6%

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 10430

980 Ti outperforms 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 63% 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 980 Ti 98958
+33.5%

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 74101

980 Ti outperforms 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 34% 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 980 Ti 443119
+20.4%

GTX 1060 Max-Q 6 GB 367999

980 Ti outperforms 1060 Max-Q 6 GB by 20% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

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	101 +21.7%	83 −21.7%
1440p	52 +148%	21−24 −148%
4K	52 +73.3%	30 −73.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

60−65

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	60−65	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	60−65	no data
Battlefield 5	110−120	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	60−65	no data
Far Cry 5	75−80	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	90−95	no data
Forza Horizon 4	140−150	no data
Hitman 3	70−75	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150	no data
Metro Exodus	100−110	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	60−65	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	60−65	no data
Battlefield 5	47	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	60−65	no data
Far Cry 5	75−80	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	36	no data
Forza Horizon 4	140−150	no data
Hitman 3	70−75	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150	no data
Metro Exodus	49	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	85−90	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	85−90	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	46	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	60−65	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	70−75	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	60−65	no data
Far Cry 5	75−80	no data
Forza Horizon 4	72	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	140−150	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	130−140	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	59	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	90−95	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

85−90

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	65−70	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	66	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35−40	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35−40	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	50−55	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	27−30	no data
Far Cry 5	60−65	no data
Forza Horizon 4	70−75	no data
Hitman 3	45−50	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	75−80	no data
Metro Exodus	65−70	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	85−90	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	50−55	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	30−35	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

60−65

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	30	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	29	no data
Hitman 3	27−30	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	23	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	18	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	21−24	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	10−12	no data
Far Cry 5	21−24	no data
Forza Horizon 4	42	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	40−45	no data
Metro Exodus	35−40	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	16−18	no data