GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB vs RTX 3070

Primary details

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

Place in performance ranking31not rated
Place by popularity40not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation25.86no data
ArchitectureAmpere (2020−2022)Pascal (2016−2021)
GPU code nameAmpere GA104GP106
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date16 September 2020 (3 years ago)27 June 2017 (6 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$499 no data
Current price$662 (1.3x MSRP)$979

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores58881280
Core clock speed1500 MHz1265 MHz
Boost clock speed1725 MHz1480 MHz
Number of transistors17,400 million4,400 million
Manufacturing process technology8 nm16 nm
Power consumption (TDP)220 Watt80 Watt
Texture fill rate317.4118.4
Floating-point performanceno data3,789 gflops

Form factor & compatibility

Information on GeForce RTX 3070 and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 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.

InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x16
Length242 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 12-pinNone

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 typeGDDR6GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount8 GB3 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit192 Bit
Memory clock speed14000 MHz8008 MHz
Memory bandwidth448.0 GB/s192.2 GB/s
Shared memory-no data

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 Connectors1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPortno data
HDMI+no data

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12.0
Shader Model6.55.0
OpenGL4.64.5
OpenCL2.01.2
Vulkan1.2no data
CUDA8.56.1

Pros & cons summary


Recency 16 September 2020 27 June 2017
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 3 GB
Chip lithography 8 nm 16 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 220 Watt 80 Watt

We couldn't decide between GeForce RTX 3070 and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that GeForce RTX 3070 is a desktop card while GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 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.

Vote for your favorite

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


NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
GeForce RTX 3070
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB
GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.3 9451 vote

Rate GeForce RTX 3070 on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
3.5 67 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q 3 GB on a scale of 1 to 5:

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.