GeForce GTX 1060 vs GeForce GTX 980

Intro

Compare those specifications to the GeForce GTX 980, which makes use of a 28 nm design. nVidia has set the core speed at 1126 MHz. The GDDR5 RAM runs at a frequency of 1750 MHz on this specific card. It features 2048 SPUs along with 128 TAUs and 64 Rasterization Operator Units.

Display Graphs

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Benchmarks

These are real-world performance benchmarks that were submitted by Hardware Compare users. The scores seen here are the average of all benchmarks submitted for each respective test and hardware.

Zcash Mining Hash Rate

GeForce GTX 980		408 Sol/s
GeForce GTX 1060		311 Sol/s
	Difference: 97 (31%)

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics Score

GeForce GTX 980		13552 points
GeForce GTX 1060		12359 points
	Difference: 1193 (10%)

Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 1060		120 Watts
GeForce GTX 980		165 Watts
	Difference: 45 Watts (38%)

Memory Bandwidth

Theoretically speaking, the GeForce GTX 980 should be a little bit faster than the GeForce GTX 1060 overall. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980		224000 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 1060		196608 MB/sec
	Difference: 27392 (14%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 980 should be a little bit (approximately 20%) better at AF than the GeForce GTX 1060. (explain)

GeForce GTX 980		144128 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 1060		120480 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 23648 (20%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1060 will be a little bit (about 0%) faster with regards to FSAA than the GeForce GTX 980, and capable of handling higher resolutions more effectively. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1060		72288 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 980		72064 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 224 (0%)

Please note that the above 'benchmarks' are all just theoretical - the results were calculated based on the card's specifications, and real-world performance may (and probably will) vary at least a bit.

Price Comparison

Specifications

Memory Bandwidth: Memory bandwidth is the max amount of data (in units of MB per second) that can be transferred over the external memory interface in a second. The number is calculated by multiplying the interface width by its memory speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If DDR5, multiply by 4 instead. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with anti-aliasing, High Dynamic Range and higher screen resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum number of texture map elements (texels) that are processed in one second. This is calculated by multiplying the total texture units of the card by the core clock speed of the chip. The higher the texel rate, the better the card will be at handling texture filtering (anisotropic filtering - AF). It is measured in millions of texels in a second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card can possibly record to the local memory per second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Raster Operations Pipelines by the the core clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for drawing the pixels (image) on the screen. The actual pixel rate is also dependant on quite a few other factors, most notably the memory bandwidth of the card - the lower the memory bandwidth is, the lower the ability to get to the max fill rate.