While it is not exactly a secret that Nvidia is to launch a 3GB version of the GeForce GTX 1060, thus far only 6 GB models have been released. Nvidia really wanted to push 6GB models in the initial launch wave, followed by 3 GB models later on.
Thus far things have been silent for the 3GB models, however with 3GB less these units might be more price competitive towards the Radeon RX 470 or RX 480 4GB pricing wise. Hence it makes sense to release it. Over at ithome.com (an Asian website) photos have been posted with specifications. The 3GB units seems to have been slowed down a bit, not just in memory but a SM shader cluster is to be disabled. Normally the 1060 6GB would have 1280 shader processors, the 3GB model would get 1152 shader processors activated.
If we spec it up it would look like this:
| | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reference GeForce | Titan X | GTX 1080 | GTX 1070 | GTX 1060 6GB | GTX 1060 3GB |
| (2016 edition) | |||||
| GPU | GP102-400-A1 | GP104-400-A1 | GP104-200-A1 | GP106-400-A1 | GP106-300-A1 |
| Architecture | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal | Pascal |
| Transistor count | 12 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 4.4 Billion |
| Fabrication Node | TSMC 16 nm | TSMC 16 nm | TSMC 16 nm | TSMC 16 nm | TSMC 16 nm |
| CUDA Cores | 3,584 | 2,560 | 1,920 | 1,280 | 1,152 |
| SMMs / SMXs | 28 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 9 |
| ROPs | 96 | 64 | 64 | 48 | 48 |
| GPU Clock Core | 1,417 MHz | 1,607 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,506 MHz | 1,506 MHz |
| GPU Boost clock | 1,531 MHz | 1,733 MHz | 1,683 MHz | 1,709 MHz | 1,709 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 2500 MHz | 1,250 MHz | 2,000 MHz | 2,000 MHz | 2,000 MHz |
| Memory Size | 12 GB | 8 GB | 8 GB | 6 GB | 3 GB |
| Memory Bus | 384-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit | 192-bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | 480 GB/s | 320 GB/s | 256 GB/s | 192 GB/s | 192 GB/s |
| FP Performance | 11.0 TFLOPS | 9.0 TFLOPS | 6.45 TFLOPS | 4.61 TFLOPS | 4.1 TFLOPS |
| GPU Thermal Threshold | 94 Degrees C | 94 Degrees C | 94 Degrees C | 94 Degrees C | 91 Degrees C |
| TDP | 250 Watts | 180 Watts | 150 Watts | 120 Watts | 120 Watts |
| Launch MSRP ref | $1200 | $599/$699 | $379/$449 | $249/$299 | ~$219 |
The memory is expected to be similar at 8 Gbps (effective) as well as the reference clock frequencies of 1.50 GHz GPU / 1.70 GHz Boost. Word is that in September the 3 GB version is set loose into the market in order to compete with the Radeon RX 470 from AMD. Ithome also makes mention of a GeForce GTX 1050 that will replace the GeForce GTX 950. That card is to be expected in october. Further details are lacking.
In a recent conference a financial analyst asked NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang about proucts in the sub-$250 price space. Huang replied:
Ian L. Ing - MKM Partners LLC
Yes. Thank you. So earlier you talked about taping out all the Pascal products at this point. I mean, are you – with three products on the market, are you ceding the sub-$250 price point for cards to competition, or is this something you can serve with older Maxwell product or some upcoming product? Thanks.
Jen-Hsun Huang - Co-Founder, President, CEO & Director
Yeah, thanks a lot, Ian. We have taped out, we have verified, we have ramped, every Pascal GPU. That's right. However, we have not introduced everyone.
Details on GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Surface
