GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs GTX 980 Mobile
Aggregate performance score
We've compared GeForce GTX 980 Mobile with GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, including specs and performance data.
GTX 1060 3 GB outperforms GTX 980 Mobile by a moderate 15% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 253 | 216 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 26 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 18.98 | 22.31 |
| Power efficiency | 7.45 | 14.31 |
| Architecture | Maxwell 2.0 (2014−2019) | Pascal (2016−2021) |
| GPU code name | GM204 | GP106 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Desktop |
| Release date | 21 September 2015 (9 years ago) | 18 August 2016 (8 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $395.82 | $199 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
GTX 1060 3 GB has 18% better value for money than GTX 980 Mobile.
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 | 2048 | 1152 |
| Core clock speed | 1064 MHz | 1506 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1216 MHz | 1708 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 5,200 million | 4,400 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 28 nm | 16 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 100-200 Watt | 120 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 136.2 | 123.0 |
| Floating-point processing power | 4.358 TFLOPS | 3.935 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 48 |
| TMUs | 128 | 72 |
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 | PCI Express 3.0 | no data |
| Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 3.0 x16 |
| Length | no data | 250 mm |
| Width | no data | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | no data | 1x 6-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 | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | 192 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 7.0 GB/s | 2002 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 224 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 | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort |
| Multi monitor support | 4 displays | no data |
| VGA аnalog display support | + | no data |
| DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support | + | 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.
| GameStream | + | - |
| GeForce ShadowPlay | + | - |
| GPU Boost | 2.0 | no data |
| GameWorks | + | - |
| H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder | + | - |
| Optimus | + | - |
| BatteryBoost | + | - |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (12_1) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.126 | + |
| CUDA | + | 6.1 |
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 | 97
−13.4%
| 110−120
+13.4%
|
| 1440p | 60
−8.3%
| 65−70
+8.3%
|
| 4K | 45
−11.1%
| 50−55
+11.1%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 4.08 | 1.81 |
| 1440p | 6.60 | 3.06 |
| 4K | 8.80 | 3.98 |
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 45−50
−12.2%
|
55−60
+12.2%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 35−40
−5.3%
|
40−45
+5.3%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 70−75
−9.6%
|
80−85
+9.6%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
−11.1%
|
50−55
+11.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−7.8%
|
55−60
+7.8%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 55−60
−10.2%
|
65−70
+10.2%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 130−140
−11.9%
|
150−160
+11.9%
|
| Hitman 3 | 40−45
−13.6%
|
50−55
+13.6%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 100−110
−14.3%
|
120−130
+14.3%
|
| Metro Exodus | 75−80
−10.4%
|
85−90
+10.4%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 55−60
−10.2%
|
65−70
+10.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 70−75
−14.9%
|
85−90
+14.9%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 95−100
−13.4%
|
110−120
+13.4%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 45−50
−12.2%
|
55−60
+12.2%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 35−40
−5.3%
|
40−45
+5.3%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 70−75
−9.6%
|
80−85
+9.6%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
−11.1%
|
50−55
+11.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−7.8%
|
55−60
+7.8%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 55−60
−10.2%
|
65−70
+10.2%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 130−140
−11.9%
|
150−160
+11.9%
|
| Hitman 3 | 40−45
−13.6%
|
50−55
+13.6%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 100−110
−14.3%
|
120−130
+14.3%
|
| Metro Exodus | 75−80
−10.4%
|
85−90
+10.4%
|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 55−60
−10.2%
|
65−70
+10.2%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 70−75
−14.9%
|
85−90
+14.9%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 124
−12.9%
|
140−150
+12.9%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 95−100
−13.4%
|
110−120
+13.4%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 45−50
−12.2%
|
55−60
+12.2%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 35−40
−5.3%
|
40−45
+5.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 45−50
−11.1%
|
50−55
+11.1%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 35−40
−11.1%
|
40−45
+11.1%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 50−55
−7.8%
|
55−60
+7.8%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 130−140
−11.9%
|
150−160
+11.9%
|
| Hitman 3 | 40−45
−13.6%
|
50−55
+13.6%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 100−110
−14.3%
|
120−130
+14.3%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 70−75
−14.9%
|
85−90
+14.9%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 44
−13.6%
|
50−55
+13.6%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 95−100
−13.4%
|
110−120
+13.4%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 55−60
−10.2%
|
65−70
+10.2%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 40−45
−7.1%
|
45−50
+7.1%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 30−35
−2.9%
|
35−40
+2.9%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 21−24
−4.3%
|
24−27
+4.3%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 21−24
−14.3%
|
24−27
+14.3%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 24−27
−8%
|
27−30
+8%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 24−27
−3.8%
|
27−30
+3.8%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 120−130
−12%
|
140−150
+12%
|
| Hitman 3 | 24−27
−3.8%
|
27−30
+3.8%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 45−50
−11.1%
|
50−55
+11.1%
|
| Metro Exodus | 40−45
−7.1%
|
45−50
+7.1%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 45−50
−6.4%
|
50−55
+6.4%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 24−27
−3.8%
|
27−30
+3.8%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 120−130
−9.4%
|
140−150
+9.4%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 35−40
−8.1%
|
40−45
+8.1%
|
4K
High Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 21−24
−9.1%
|
24−27
+9.1%
|
| Far Cry New Dawn | 16−18
−5.9%
|
18−20
+5.9%
|
| Hitman 3 | 16−18
−5.9%
|
18−20
+5.9%
|
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 110−120
−13%
|
130−140
+13%
|
| Metro Exodus | 24−27
−12.5%
|
27−30
+12.5%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 30
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey | 12−14
−7.7%
|
14−16
+7.7%
|
| Assassin's Creed Valhalla | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 12−14
+0%
|
12−14
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 30−33
+0%
|
30−33
+0%
|
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 24−27
−3.8%
|
27−30
+3.8%
|
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 18−20
−10.5%
|
21−24
+10.5%
|
This is how GTX 980 Mobile and GTX 1060 3 GB compete in popular games:
- GTX 1060 3 GB is 13% faster in 1080p
- GTX 1060 3 GB is 8% faster in 1440p
- GTX 1060 3 GB is 11% faster in 4K
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 21.55 | 24.85 |
| Recency | 21 September 2015 | 18 August 2016 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Chip lithography | 28 nm | 16 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 100 Watt | 120 Watt |
GTX 980 Mobile has a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 20% lower power consumption.
GTX 1060 3 GB, on the other hand, has a 15.3% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 months, and a 75% more advanced lithography process.
The GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 980 Mobile in performance tests.
Be aware that GeForce GTX 980 Mobile is a notebook card while GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is a desktop one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
