GeForce GTX 1060 3GB vs GeForce GTX 460 2GB

Intro

Compare those specs to the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, which features GPU clock speed of 675 MHz, and 2048 MB of GDDR5 RAM set to run at 900 MHz through a 256-bit bus. It also is comprised of 336 Stream Processors, 56 TAUs, and 32 ROPs.

Display Graphs

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Power Usage and Theoretical Benchmarks

Power Consumption (Max TDP)

GeForce GTX 1060 3GB		120 Watts
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		160 Watts
	Difference: 40 Watts (33%)

Memory Bandwidth

In theory, the GeForce GTX 1060 3GB will be 71% quicker than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB overall, due to its greater data rate. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1060 3GB		196608 MB/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		115200 MB/sec
	Difference: 81408 (71%)

Texel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1060 3GB is quite a bit (about 187%) more effective at texture filtering than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1060 3GB		108432 Mtexels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		37800 Mtexels/sec
	Difference: 70632 (187%)

Pixel Rate

The GeForce GTX 1060 3GB will be quite a bit (approximately 235%) better at full screen anti-aliasing than the GeForce GTX 460 2GB, and also will be able to handle higher resolutions without slowing down too much. (explain)

GeForce GTX 1060 3GB		72288 Mpixels/sec
GeForce GTX 460 2GB		21600 Mpixels/sec
	Difference: 50688 (235%)

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 (counted in megabytes per second) that can be transferred across the external memory interface in a second. The number is worked out by multiplying the bus width by its memory clock speed. If it uses DDR RAM, it should be multiplied by 2 again. If it uses DDR5, multiply by ANOTHER 2x. The higher the memory bandwidth, the better the card will be in general. It especially helps with AA, HDR and high resolutions.

Texel Rate: Texel rate is the maximum amount of texture map elements (texels) that are applied in one second. This is worked out by multiplying the total texture units by the core 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 processed per second.

Pixel Rate: Pixel rate is the maximum number of pixels the graphics card could possibly write to its local memory in a second - measured in millions of pixels per second. The number is calculated by multiplying the amount of Render Output Units by the the card's clock speed. ROPs (Raster Operations Pipelines - aka Render Output Units) are responsible for filling the screen with pixels (the image). The actual pixel fill rate also depends on many other factors, especially the memory bandwidth - the lower the bandwidth is, the lower the ability to reach the maximum fill rate.