RX 570 vs GTX 1060 6GB
The complete head-to-head: full specs, real per-game FPS with 1% lows, ray tracing, a live CPU-bottleneck check, thermals, power and value, with a straight verdict.
Radeon RX 570
GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
avg, 1080p
The short answer
These two old budget cards trade blows, and the real winner depends on what you're buying for. The GTX 1060 6GB is about 8% faster on average and pulls noticeably less power, 120 W against the RX 570's 150 W. The RX 570 answers with more VRAM, 8 GB against 6 GB, on a wider 256-bit bus, and it's usually the cheaper card used. Neither has ray tracing hardware or DLSS. If raw speed and efficiency matter most, buy the 1060. If you want the extra memory headroom and can find it cheaper, the RX 570 is a perfectly reasonable pick.
Both of these cards defined budget gaming for years, and both got swept up hard in two separate mining booms, so the used market for each is enormous and mixed in quality. The RX 570 was AMD's answer to NVIDIA's Pascal lineup, a refined Polaris chip with more memory for the money. The GTX 1060 6GB was the more popular pick at the time and remains the faster, more efficient card, just with less VRAM.
The numbers below cover the full spec sheet, real 1080p frame rates across ten games, a CPU-bottleneck checker, thermals, power draw and price history, aimed squarely at anyone deciding between these two in the sub-$100 used bracket.
At a glance
Seven dimensions, two cards. Bigger area is not automatically better, each card owns different corners.
Strengths radar
Each axis scored 0-100 relative to the pair
Performance vs price
Up and to the left is better value
Grey dots are neighbouring cards for context.
Which should you buy?
Pick your use case, the winner changes with what you actually do.
The 1060's 8% lead and lower power draw make it the steadier pick for hitting a stable high frame rate.
8 GB on a 256-bit bus gives the RX 570 real headroom over the 1060's 6 GB when textures get pushed higher.
Neither has Tensor Cores, so speed is similar, but the RX 570's extra 2 GB fits slightly larger models and batches.
NVENC is generally considered a bit ahead of AMD's older VCE encoder for quality at the same bitrate.
120 W against 150 W adds up, the 1060 runs cooler, quieter, and needs less PSU headroom.
The wider 256-bit bus and 224 GB/s of bandwidth help at higher internal resolutions where the 1060's narrower bus holds it back.
Already own an RX 570 or GTX 1060? An 8% swap either way isn't worth it.
Short answer: probably not
Trading one of these for the other is a sidegrade at best. An 8% average gain, or the reverse trade for 2 GB more VRAM, doesn't justify the cost and hassle of selling one card to buy the other.
If you want a genuine upgrade, an RX 6600 or RTX 3050 roughly doubles this pair's performance and adds real ray tracing and upscaling, features neither of these cards has. Save toward one of those instead of shuffling between this tier.
Full specification comparison
Every spec side by side. The highlighted figure wins each row.
| Specification | RX 570 | GTX 1060 6GB |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | ||
| GPU / architecture | Polaris 20 · GCN 4 | GP106 · Pascal |
| Process node | GlobalFoundries 14 nm | TSMC 16 nm |
| Release date | Apr 18, 2017 | Jul 19, 2016 |
| Launch MSRP | $199 (8GB) ▲ | $249 |
| Compute | ||
| Cores | 2,048 stream processors ▲ | 1,280 CUDA cores |
| RT cores | None | None |
| Tensor cores | None | None |
| Base / boost clock | 1168 / 1244 MHz | 1506 / 1708 MHz ▲ |
| L2 cache | 2 MB ▲ | 1.5 MB |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 8 GB GDDR5 ▲ | 6 GB GDDR5 |
| Memory bus | 256-bit ▲ | 192-bit |
| Bandwidth | 224 GB/s ▲ | 192 GB/s |
| Power & form factor | ||
| TDP | 150 W | 120 W ▲ |
| Power connector | 1× 8-pin | 1× 6-pin ▲ |
| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 400 W ▲ |
| PCIe interface | 3.0 ×16 | 3.0 ×16 |
| Features | ||
| Upscaling | FSR 2 (no DLSS) | FSR 2 (no DLSS) |
| Video encode | AMD VCE, no AV1 | NVENC, no AV1 ▲ |
| Display outputs | DP1.4 · HDMI2.0b · DVI-D | DP1.4 · HDMI2.0b · DL-DVI-D |
Average FPS by game
Switch resolution, metric, ray tracing and upscaling, the bars update live. Hover a bar for the avg / 1% / 0.1% breakdown.
Average FPS · 1080p · Rasterization. Representative data, hover a bar for avg / 1% / 0.1%. Note the GTX 1060 6GB's 1% lows fall off at 1440p and up from its 8 GB VRAM.
Smoothness & frametimes
Average FPS hides stutter. This is one run plotted as frametime, a flat line is smooth, spikes are hitches. Watch what the GTX 1060 6GB's 8 GB VRAM does in a texture-heavy game.
Frametime: Red Dead Redemption 2, 1080p High
Lower and flatter is better · 16.7 ms = 60 fps
Counterintuitive but real: the slower RX 570 delivers a smoother line here because 12 GB holds the texture pool the 8 GB GTX 1060 6GB keeps evicting, those spikes are VRAM stutter, not raw speed.
Lab scores
Clean apples-to-apples tests, useful, but weaker at predicting real games than the FPS above.
Ray tracing & upscaling
Ray tracing tanks both cards at native resolution. What makes it playable is upscaling, and here the GTX 1060 6GB has a real edge.
Is frame generation "real" performance?
Neither card supports DLSS Frame Generation, that needs Tensor Cores and an Optical Flow Accelerator, hardware the GTX 1060 predates entirely and the RX 570 never had at all as an AMD card of this era.
AMD's FSR 3 Frame Generation runs through the game engine and technically works on both cards, but it needs a smooth base frame rate to feel right, something neither reliably delivers in demanding titles. Treat frame generation as unavailable for this pairing.
Will your CPU bottleneck these cards?
A faster GPU only helps if your CPU keeps up. Pick your CPU and resolution to see expected FPS and bottleneck for each card.
CPU + GPU pairing check
The willitbottleneck engine, built right into the comparison.
Estimated from a 43-CPU model across 1440p. A weak CPU mostly bites at 1080p; at higher resolutions the GPU becomes the limiter and the bottleneck shrinks.
Thermals & noise
The efficiency gap shows up here: the newer card runs cooler and quieter, day in and day out.
Real draw, efficiency & PSU
TDP is the rated figure; what matters is real gaming draw and how many frames you get per watt.
Both use a single 8-pin connector. If your PSU already ran the RX 570, it will run the GTX 1060 6GB easily. Leave about 30% headroom for spikes.
Will it fit, and what to pair it with?
Size to scale
Card length matters for small cases
What monitor to pair
RX 570: best at 1080p on high settings, 60 to 75 Hz depending on the game. GTX 1060 6GB: 1080p on high settings with a bit more headroom, up to around 90 Hz in lighter titles. Neither is a comfortable 1440p card outside of older or lighter games.
Running an older PCIe 3.0 board?
Both cards run a full PCIe 3.0 x16 link, so motherboard generation is not a bottleneck for either one, and neither needs PCIe 4.0 to hit its rated performance.
Price history & dollars-per-frame
Raw price is only half the story. Cost per frame is the number that decides it, and it keeps moving as prices fall.
New price over time
Street price of new cards (USD)
The 8 GB vs 6 GB question
RX 570 · 8 GB
- 8 GB on a 256-bit bus is genuinely more headroom than the 1060's 6 GB, useful in texture-heavy or modded games.
- 224 GB/s of bandwidth outpaces the 1060, which helps at higher internal resolutions in emulators and older open-world titles.
- The larger pool ages better against creeping VRAM requirements in newer 1080p titles.
- The slower core still limits raw frame rate, extra memory doesn't make up an 8% average deficit.
GTX 1060 6GB · 6 GB
- 6 GB is still enough for the vast majority of games at 1080p high settings in 2026.
- Faster core and lower power draw more than make up for less capacity in most games tested here.
- 2 GB less than the RX 570 shows up first in texture-heavy or heavily modded games.
- 192-bit bus and 192 GB/s bandwidth trail the RX 570's wider memory system.
Emulation & memory bandwidth
The narrower bus is a real downgrade for emulation
The RX 570's 256-bit bus and 224 GB/s of bandwidth genuinely outpace the GTX 1060's 192-bit, 192 GB/s memory system, and emulators that lean on bandwidth at higher internal resolutions, RPCS3, Switch cores pushed past native, benefit from that. Combined with its extra 2 GB, the RX 570 is the better of the two for pushing resolution scaling in emulation, even though the 1060 wins in native games.
Creator, AI & streaming
The newer card is quicker per task, but the older card's extra VRAM unlocks larger jobs it can't fit at all.
Streaming: the AV1 encoder is the differentiator
NVIDIA's NVENC encoder is generally rated a step ahead of AMD's older VCE encoder from this era for quality at the same bitrate, so the GTX 1060 is the steadier pick for streaming and recording. Neither card has an AV1 encoder, both top out at H.264 and HEVC.
Overclocking & undervolting
The Pascal-based GTX 1060 has more classic overclocking headroom, typically 10 to 15% with a good cooler. The RX 570 is a refined Polaris chip already pushed close to its factory ceiling, so expect a smaller gain, usually under 10%, from overclocking alone.
Pros & cons
RX 570
- 8 GB of VRAM on a wider 256-bit bus, real headroom over the 1060
- Usually the cheaper card on the used market
- Better for emulation and bandwidth-heavy workloads
- About 8% slower on average
- Draws 150 W and reference blower coolers run loud
GTX 1060 6GB
- About 8% faster across the board in this test suite
- Lower power draw, 120 W against 150 W, runs cooler and quieter
- NVENC encoder rated a step ahead for streaming quality
- Only 6 GB of VRAM on a narrower 192-bit bus
- Usually the pricier card on the used market
Buying pitfalls
RX 570 4GB or 8GB, not the same card
The RX 570 shipped in both 4 GB and 8 GB versions with the same core. This page covers the 8 GB card, which holds a real edge in newer titles at 1080p high textures. A 4 GB RX 570 falls behind the GTX 1060 6GB sooner and loses part of its VRAM advantage entirely.
Both were heavily mined on, check before you buy used
The RX 570 and GTX 1060 were two of the most popular mining cards of 2017-2018 and again in 2021. Used units can carry years of 24/7 runtime. Check fan bearings, look for repasting history, and buy from a seller offering a return window before handing over cash for either.
RX 570 vs GTX 1060 6GB: your questions answered
In raw speed and efficiency, yes, it averages about 8% faster and draws noticeably less power. The RX 570 counters with more memory, 8 GB against 6 GB on a wider bus, and it's typically the cheaper find used.
Lean toward the 1060 if speed and lower power draw matter most. Lean toward the 570 if you want the extra VRAM headroom or spot it selling for noticeably less, since the two are close enough that price should usually make the call.
For esports and older or lighter titles at 1080p, both still do the job. Push into current AAA games at high settings and both struggle, this page's own benchmarks show sub-30 fps averages in something like Alan Wake 2.
Neither has Tensor Cores, so both trail any RTX card badly for AI work. The RX 570's extra 2 GB of VRAM at least lets it load slightly larger models and batch sizes than the 1060's 6 GB allows.
The GTX 1060 has the edge for streaming, NVENC is generally rated ahead of the RX 570's older AMD VCE encoder for quality at matched bitrate. For heavier editing timelines, the 570's extra VRAM can be the more useful trait.
No, both predate dedicated RT hardware entirely. Ray tracing only runs through a slow software fallback on either card, effectively unusable in practice.
Neither runs DLSS, that requires Tensor Cores and neither GPU has them. Both can use AMD's open FSR 2 upscaler instead, since it works across any GPU brand.
Rarely, this is a budget-tier pairing, so most CPUs from the past decade keep either card fed at 1080p. Run the pairing checker above to confirm your specific setup.
The RX 570 draws roughly 145 W under load and wants a 450 W PSU with an 8-pin connector. The GTX 1060 draws around 110 W off a 400 W PSU with a 6-pin connector. A decent 500 W unit comfortably covers either one.
Both run a full PCIe 3.0 x16 link regardless of your motherboard's generation. Length-wise, expect around 215mm for the RX 570 and up to 250mm for aftermarket GTX 1060 cards, so check your case either way.
The GTX 1060 had a genuine laptop variant close to the desktop spec. The RX 570 never got a direct laptop equivalent, similar-tier mobile Polaris chips were sold under different model names. Don't assume laptop and desktop numbers line up.
No, not for modern titles. Both top out as 1080p cards, and even that needs lowered settings in demanding games. 4K isn't a realistic target for this pairing.
Both are effectively used-market cards by 2026, and both saw heavy mining use, so vet the seller and ask about runtime history. Expect somewhere in the $65 to $100 range for either, depending on condition.
Both are, technically, AMD's Adrenalin drivers still cover Polaris and NVIDIA's Game Ready drivers still cover Pascal. Neither architecture is a priority for new-game optimization work at this point, though.
AMD released the 8 GB RX 570 to compete directly on memory capacity against NVIDIA's 6 GB 1060, even though the RX 570 itself launched about eight months later. It's a common source of confusion since the '8 GB beats 6 GB' framing ignores the core speed difference.
Neither brand has a real edge, condition and the seller's reputation matter far more here. Ask for a GPU-Z or HWinfo screenshot showing total power-on hours if the listing doesn't already have one.