13 specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

On paper, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 carries more memory (4 GB against 3 GB), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 has more shading units, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 has a wider memory bus. Specifications describe what each card is designed to do; how much of that either one holds under continuous load is a separate question.

10 specifications · 5 with a higher side

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 10 · Desktop

Full specifications

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

NVIDIA · GeForce GTX 900 · Desktop

Compute

Architecture

Not verified

Maxwell

Shading units

1,152

1,664

Base clock

1506 MHz

1050 MHz

Boost clock

1708 MHz

1178 MHz

Memory

3 GB

4 GB

Memory type

GDDR5

Memory bus

192-bit

256-bit

Power and platform

TDP

120 W

145 W

Process

Not verified

Launched

Not verified

2014-09-18

A check marks the higher figure only on rows where higher is unambiguously better. Rows without one are not ties; they are specifications where “better” has no meaning.

Reading the table

What the difference means.

Video memory

The GTX 970 has 4 GB of video memory against 3 GB. Memory does not make a card faster until it runs out, and then the drop is sharp: textures spill into system memory and frame times stutter. High resolutions, high texture settings, heavy mods and running AI models locally are what fill it. 3 GB is already the limit in some recent games at high settings.

Memory bus

The GTX 970 moves data over a 256-bit bus of GDDR5; the GTX 1060 3GB uses 192-bit GDDR5. The bus width and the memory type together set how fast the chip can reach its own memory, which shows at high resolutions where every frame moves more data. A narrow bus with fast memory can match a wide one with slow memory, so neither figure settles it alone.

Shading units

The counts differ, 1,664 against 1,152, but these are different designs, and a shading unit on one is not the same amount of work as on the other. The row cannot be used to rank this pair.

Board power

The GTX 970 draws up to 145 W against 120 W. That is heat the case has to exhaust and current the power supply has to deliver: allow a supply of about 550 W for the GTX 970 with a typical processor, and check the card's power connectors against the supply's. A card that cannot shed its heat does not fail. It lowers its clocks after a few minutes, which is the frame rate that falls the longer you play.

Which to pick, on paper

High resolutions, heavy textures, local AI: GTX 970; 4 GB against 3 GB. Memory is the wall these workloads hit first.
A small case or a modest power supply: GTX 1060 3GB; 120 W against 145 W: less heat, fewer power connectors, quieter fans.

What no table says

How much of its speed a graphics card keeps after the first minute depends on the cooling and the power limit of the machine it is in. If you own one of these, measure it: the test is free and runs in this browser.

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Questions

Is the GTX 1060 3GB better than the GTX 970?: By need, on the specifications: high resolutions, heavy textures, local ai: the GTX 970; a small case or a modest power supply: the GTX 1060 3GB. They are different designs, so the raw counts cannot rank them. Frame rates depend on the game and its settings, and how much speed either card keeps after ten minutes depends on its cooling, which is what a sustained test measures.
Is 3 GB of video memory enough?: For 1080p at sensible settings, only in older or lighter games. At 1440p and above, with high texture settings, or for running AI models, 4 GB gives real headroom. When memory runs out the symptom is stutter, not a lower average.
What power supply does the GTX 970 need?: Allow about 550 W with a typical processor, and make sure the supply has the power connectors the card uses. The GTX 1060 3GB at 120 W is easier on both.

More comparisons

Every figure on this table is a design target. None of it is a measurement.

Nothing above describes how a graphics card behaves twenty minutes into a sustained workload, which is where two chips with nearly identical specifications routinely diverge. A boost clock is a ceiling the vendor permits, not a rate the chip sustains, and whether it holds depends on the cooling, the case, the power profile and the room. None of those appear on a specification sheet.

We deliberately do not reduce these figures to a single score. A composite invented from specifications would look authoritative and measure nothing, and choosing the weights would be choosing the winner.

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