In world of computer hardware, 2016 was definitely the year of the Nvidia graphic card, from the low end GTX 1050, to the high end GTX 1080 variant. No matter the iteration, the Pascal based graphic card was and still top choice with many PC builders abroad.
One such NVIDIA graphic card that has drawn Interest from yours truly is the EVGA GTX 1060. Implementing complex circuits and components onto a graphic card diminutive in size is rather impressive, considering the average length of most graphic cards is 10-inches.
The EVGA GTX 1060 is consumer friendly graphic card in terms of price, yet there is enough power to engage in some high level gaming. The benchmarks posted by various published websites can attest its quality performance.
Let's use our imagination a bit and virtually take apart the EVGA GTX 1060, examine the very core components that operates this graphic card.
Cooling
We kick things off with the how the graphic card is cooled, because like with most aftermarket graphics card, EVGA presents some uniqueness with its overall cooling setup. EVGA incorporates ACX technology where its cooler features an optimized swept fan blades, double ball bearings with a low power motor. The main theme here is to deliver airflow when excessive amount of power is not needed, allowing added power to the GPU. In looking at the fan in detail, the mentioned double bearings according to EVGA will offer extended lifespan more than the sleeve bearing fans used with most competitors, which uses oil solutions that can be vulnerable to failures once it dries up.
The Graphic Processor and Memory
As we go beyond the cooling fan, let us examine the GPU and memory, because both make it all possible to view images on your display.
The GP106 GPU boast some very impressive numbers, 1280 CUDA core count with a 1506MHz base clock, 1708MHz boost clock, 6GB GDDR5, 10 stream multiprocessors, 3 graphics processing clusters, 80 texture units, an L2 cache size the measures 1536KB, a memory cock speed the measures 4004MHz (effective speed--8Gbps), 192-bit memory interface, total memory bandwidth measuring 192 GB/s. These impressive numbers equate to a seamless performing graphic card that can conquer any task thrown its way that involves 3D rendering and intense gaming.
The Power
To power up the EVGA GTX 1060 you'll need at minimum 400 watts, but if you've read my past articles on graphic cards, I've always stated that when building high end system you'll exceed the minimum amount of wattage required to power up your system. Good news, this particular graphic card does not require two 6-pin connectors , just one is needed, leaving one to spare.
The thermal design outputs 120 watts, which basically means even under heavy workloads the graphic card will remain stable.
Connector Ports
The port options on the EVGA 1060 is pretty much standard in what you'll see with most high profile graphics cards, it has 1xHDMI port, 3x DisplayPorts, and 1x DualLink DVI.
Final Thoughts
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 is a small form factor graphic card that does not short itself on performance. It has enough under the hood to game in 1440p resolution, it's the perfect graphic card if you plan on building mini-ITX system. The beauty its price friendly at just $249. This an affordable compact graphics card that performs well, doesn't consume a lot of power, and can be overclock. For those looking to stay within a reasonable build budget, you might want to consider this graphic card.