ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1060 AMP Edition Graphics Card Review
Test System and Testing Procedures
| Processor | Intel Core i7-6700K (Retail) |
| CPU Cooler | EKWB Predator 360 with Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound |
| Motherboard | MSI z170A Gaming Pro Carbon |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2x8GB @ 2666MHz 15-17-17-35 2T (XMP) |
| Storage | Samsung 240 EVO 256GB SSD, Seagate ST3000M001 3 TB Mechanical Drive |
| Case | DimasTech Mini v1 test bench |
| Drivers | NVIDIA 368.81 |
| Video Card(s) | Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 AMP! Edition |
| Monitor | Monoprice CrystalPro 28″ LED TN panel 4K 60Hz monitor – Resolution set at 1920×1080 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 x64 Pro with latest patches and updates |
Latest working BIOS, updates and drivers were used at the time of the review. Each test was conducted at least three times for accuracy. All benchmarks were performed at a resolutions of 1920 x 1080, 2560 x 1440 and 3840 x 2160 unless otherwise specified.
Testing Software and Methodology
Graphics quality settings were not changed between the resolutions.
- 3DMark Firestrike – One run Per GPU
- Standard, Extreme and Ultimate with no custom options.
- Alien Isolation-
- Preset at Ultra. Built in benchmark used. Recorded with Fraps.
- Battlefield Hardline
- Ultra Quality settings
- 5 minute game play run on Gator Bait level.
- Bioshock Infinite
- Adrenaline Benchmark tool – Ultra Quality + DDOF
- Crysis 3
- System Spec – Very High
- AA- SMAA High (4x)
- Texture Resolution Very High
- Advanced Graphics – Very High
- AF 16x
- Motion Blur Amount-medium
- 5 Minute game play run after the introduction.
- FarCry 4
- Graphics Quality Ultra
- 5 minute game play. From Arjay’s house on the cliff – fly across the river in the wing suit. Once we land, grab a car and head to Pagan Min’s palace.
- Metro Last Light Redux
- Built in Benchmark.
- Direct X 11
- Quality Very High
- Texture Filtering AF 16x
- Motion Blur Normal
- Tesselation Very High
- SSAA and Advance PhysX were disabled.
- Shadows of Mordor
- Graphic Quality Preset to Ultra
- Max FPS set to No Limit.
- 5 minutes game play after tutorial. Run through the large pit after jumping off the tower and kill as many enemies in the time limit.
- TESV:Sky Rim
- Graphics Quality preset set to Ultra.
- 5 Minute game play after the dragon attacks and you gain control of the character.
- Tomb Raider
- Adrenaline Benchmark tool- Ultimate Quality
- Witcher 3
- Graphics Quality set to Ultra.
- 5 minutes of game play after getting to White Orchard. We explored the town and the map to find as many enemies in the time allotted.
- DOOM – OpenGL 4.5
- Graphic Quality set to Ultra
- 5 minutes of game play in the Crucible level.
- Hitman 2016 – DX11
- Graphic quality set to ultra 8x AF
- Built In benchmark used
- Ashes of the Singularity DX11
- Graphic Quality set to crazy
- Built in benchmark used.
- Rise of the Tomb Raider – DX11
- Ultra Graphics Quality 8x AF
- Built In benchmark
- Overwatch
- Graphics Quality set to Ultra 8x AF – Frame limit turned off and resolution scale set to 100%
- 5 Minutes of game play in Napal custom game with 1 player and AI
- Star Wars Battlefront
- Graphics quality set to Ultra
- 5 minute game play in Tatooine survival single player
- Rise of the Tomb Raider DX11
- Graphics set to Ultra
- Built in benchmark used.
DirectX 12 and Vulkan testing – At this point in time, I don’t feel comfortable with the results that I got when benchmarking with DX12 and Vulkan. With these tests, I benched the card 3 times (standard) and the results varied wildly, sometimes up to 40 frames per second. I do my best to give accurate results and at this time I do not feel comfortable publishing the results with such a variance between runs. Included however, are the results for the DX12 API test in 3D Mark and the Time Spy demo.
4GB RX 480 is only $199, and offers similar performance to the $279 GTX 1060 card.
RX 480 is the better value, by far.
Well…4GB version doesn´t “exists” right now and no, it really has not the same performance. 8GB version is for the same price.
” it really has not the same performance.”
RX 480 with 4GB runs most games at 1080 high-detail at 60 frames/sec or better.
There is NO reason to waste $280-$320 for a GTX 1060 card. It only has 192-bit memory, and is way overpriced.
dave doesnt know how all this computer stuff works clearly…
I know that 1080p gaming at 60 frames/sec works perfectly on the RX 480 4GB card.
Why let NVidia rip you off for the GTX 1060? It’s totally not worth the money! If I I were gaming at 1440p, GTX 1070 is a fine card. 1060 is pointless.
I was wondering about the lighting settings in the witcher 3, since the ultra preset doesnt modify the lighting
Newegg has a very nice MSI RX 470 4GB card in stock, right now, for $199.
The RX 470 is perfect for 1080p gaming. Why spend 300 bucks for GTX 1060? That’s a rip off.
#DavetheIdioticAMDfanboy
You’re paying 40% more for 35% more performance and 50% more VRAM, sounds like a good deal to me.
“40% more for 35% more performance and 50% more VRAM”
RX 470 runs games butter-smooth at 1080p. 40% more money, 50% more VRAM doesn’t mean squat! Can you tell the difference between 60 fps and 80 fps? Nope!
People that overpay for 1060 cards are just flushing money down the toilet.
shut up Dave
It’s october dave, and there are still rx 480’s for $200… (i live in US)
Cheapest around are $230, which at that point, you might as well go for 1060.
I smell a red fan.
Does it support Motherboard Express card slot 2.00…?
@Leon – PCI-Express 3.0 devices are backwards compatible with PCI-Express 2.0 slots and PCI-Express 2.0 devices are also forward compatible with PCI-Express 3.0 slots.
Does the Zotac 1060 AMP have VRM cooling pads?
On the Zotac 1060 it actually has a small heatsink for the VRM. The pads that help the heat transfer process from the VRM to the heatsink.
My benchmark scores for the GTX 1060 are WAY higher than the ones in this article, I think something else is dragging down the benchmarks.