Which Flavor GTX 1060 for AH3?

[Condor]

Decisions, Decisions! It looks like the GTX 1060 may be a good choice to replace my Radeon HD 6950 for AH3 but which of the many choices makes the most sense? I suspect I should get the 6 GB rather than the 3GB version but beyond that I’m not sure. I know some of you have upgraded to the 1060. Which specific card did you buy and how does it perform?  EVGA alone has 5 choices ranging in price from $259 (1060 SC single fan)  to $320 (FTW+ double fan)

http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=06G-P4-6163-KR

I’m sure the $320 model will outperform the $259 model but will it make a discernible difference in AH3?  I’d prefer to save the $60 as long as I can get good performance in AH3 (By that I mean a consistent 50-60FPS with most of the graphics enabled.)

I find it interesting that EVGA offers a single fan (SC) and a double fan (SSC) that appear to have identical performance specs. So which is better for the $20 difference in price?  (Size is not an issue for me.).)

So if you have a 1060 please let me know the model and how it performs.  Thanks.

DxDiag attached.

[Bizman]

If you take a closer look you'll find some differences. The clock rate is the most obvious, but I wouldn't pay too much attention to that. The effect is most likely a single digit number somewhere in the 150 FPS area where you can't tell any difference anyway.

The power consumption is interesting. One might suggest it would be related to the clock rate but it isn't.

All in all there's not that much of variation in the numbers that I'd call one "good" and another "extreme".

The main differences seem to be in 6 or 8 pin connectivity and physical size. For upgrading an older computer the short 6 pin version sounds like a tailored alternative, a new build usually has both space and connectors for the two fan 8 pin versions.

[Condor]

Thanks Bizman,

It appears you compared the SC with the FTW+. I don't have a feel for the difference in performance between clock rates of 1607/1835 and 1632/1860. Apparently you don't see a significant difference.

I'm leaning toward the SSC which the same clock rates but has 2 fans as compared with the SC which has one. It seem like the cooling would be better (or maybe I would be wasting $20). I'll look at what's available from the other manufacturers and vendors as well. There is probably better pricing than I will get directly fro EVGA.

[Bizman]

$20 for another cooler is money well spent. For the same airflow rate they rotate at half the speed which makes 1/5 of the noise of a single fan.

When looking at variations, I'd take a look at the cooling system. Heat pipes instead of just fins should be much more efficient.

Another thing to look at is the capacitors. Mil Spec Japanese sealed caps are more reliable than regular Chinese ones and one might suppose that the rest has been built with similar longevity in mind.

[Condor]

Another thing to look at is the capacitors. Mil Spec Japanese sealed caps are more reliable than regular Chinese ones and one might suppose that the rest has been built with similar longevity in mind.

Thanks, these are all good sugggestions.

I'm trying to recall if capacitor specs have been listed in any of the product descriptions. I lean toward EVGA because they are the only manufacturer who I've seen specify ball bearings as opposed to sleeve bearings for their fans.

[Bizman]

MSI seem to use both the Mil Std and Japanese Caps in their marketing. However, they're most likely not the only ones using that quality parts.