GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB vs Radeon R9 280X

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB and Radeon R9 280X, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB stacks up against Radeon R9 280X, check out specs charts below.
GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB

Main Specs

  GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB Radeon R9 280X
Power consumption (TDP) 120 Watt 250 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe 3.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin 1 x 6-pin + 1 x 8-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 3 GB 3 GB
Display Connectors 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
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  • Radeon R9 280X has 108% more power consumption, than GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB.
  • Both video cards are using PCIe 3.0 x16 interface connection to a motherboard.
  • GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB and Radeon R9 280X have maximum RAM of 3 GB.
  • Both cards are used in Desktops.
  • GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is build with Pascal architecture, and Radeon R9 280X - with GCN.
  • GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB is manufactured by 16 nm process technology, and Radeon R9 280X - by 28 nm process technology.
  • Radeon R9 280X is 25 mm longer, than GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 50−55 35−40
ultra / 1080p 30−35 21−24
QHD / 1440p 24−27 16−18
4K / 2160p 14−16 10−11
low / 720p 75−80 60−65
medium / 1080p 60−65 40−45
The average gaming FPS of GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 37% more, than Radeon R9 280X.

Full Specs

  GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB Radeon R9 280X
Architecture Pascal GCN
Code name GP106 Thaiti XTL
Type Desktop Desktop
Release date 18 August 2016 8 October 2013
Pipelines 1152 2048
Core clock speed 1506 MHz
Boost Clock 1708 MHz 1000 MHz
Transistor count 4,400 million 4,313 million
Manufacturing process technology 16 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 123.0 128.0
Floating-point performance 3,935 gflops 4,096 gflops
Length 250 mm 275 mm
Memory bus width 192 Bit 384 Bit
Memory clock speed 8008 MHz
Memory bandwidth 192.2 GB/s 288 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (12_1)
Shader Model 6.4 5.1
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 1.2
Vulkan + +
CUDA 6.1
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.5 kh/s
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 494 Mh/s
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 1.07 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 19 Mh/s 14.42 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 285 Sol/s
AppAcceleration +
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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