AMD Radeon RX 5700 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark database records three direct head-to-head comparisons between the AMD Radeon RX 5700 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB, and the results are decisively one-sided. Across all three recorded tests, the RX 5700 takes a clean sweep, with the largest margin appearing in the Geekbench Metal workload.

In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5700 posts a score of 86,079 against the GTX 1060 3 GB’s 13,527. That translates to a 536.3% advantage, the widest delta in the comparison. The gap is so large that it effectively separates the two cards into entirely different performance tiers for that API. The Metal test is particularly relevant for macOS and certain compute workloads, and the data shows the RX 5700 is in a different league there.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar pattern, though with a smaller percentage delta. The RX 5700 scores 64,166, while the GTX 1060 3 GB manages 17,475. That is a 267.2% lead for the AMD card. Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API, and the recorded results indicate that the RX 5700’s architecture handles it with far greater efficiency, likely due to its newer design and higher raw throughput.

The closest of the three head-to-head tests is Geekbench OpenCL, but it is still a decisive win for the RX 5700. The AMD card scores 69,603 versus 27,001 for the NVIDIA card, a 157.8% advantage. OpenCL is a common compute benchmark, and while the delta is smaller than in Metal or Vulkan, it still represents a massive performance gap. The RX 5700’s FP32 throughput of 7.949 TFLOPS versus the GTX 1060 3 GB’s 3.935 TFLOPS helps explain this result, as does the former’s much higher memory bandwidth.

Looking at the broader database averages, the RX 5700 carries an average benchmark score of 22,170 across all recorded tests, placing it at the 67th percentile of all GPUs. The GTX 1060 3 GB, by contrast, averages 19,334 and sits at the 64th percentile. While the percentile gap is modest, the average score difference is about 14.7% in favor of the RX 5700. However, the head-to-head tests show far larger deltas, which suggests that the specific workloads in those tests favor the newer architecture disproportionately.

The nearest rivals in the database further contextualize the RX 5700’s standing. It sits within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700S, which averages 22,154, and within 1.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, which averages 22,435. The RX 5700 also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB, which averages 21,856, by a 1.4% margin. For the GTX 1060 3 GB, the nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX at 19,410 (0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 19,177 (0.8% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 at 19,164 (0.9% behind). These comparisons show that the GTX 1060 3 GB, despite being from an older generation, still clusters with some surprisingly high-end cards in the database’s average score metric.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5700 wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, so the use-case split is heavily skewed toward it. For users prioritizing compute-heavy workloads, particularly those leveraging Metal, Vulkan, or OpenCL, the RX 5700 is the clear choice. The Metal score alone, at 86,079, is more than six times the GTX 1060 3 GB’s result, making it particularly suited for environments where that API is prominent. Similarly, the Vulkan score of 64,166 versus 17,475 indicates a strong advantage in Vulkan-based games and applications.

The GTX 1060 3 GB has no benchmark wins in the recorded data, but that does not mean it lacks a use case. Its lower power draw of 120 W versus 180 W, combined with a smaller physical footprint at 250 mm length versus 268 mm, makes it a more modest option for compact or power-constrained systems. It also uses a single 6-pin power connector, while the RX 5700 requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin, so the GTX 1060 3 GB is simpler to install in older or lower-end power supply configurations. The suggested PSU of 300 W for the GTX 1060 3 GB versus 450 W for the RX 5700 reinforces this point, though the article avoids pricing or value judgments.

For gaming specifically, the RX 5700’s higher memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s versus 192.2 GB/s, combined with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory versus 3 GB of GDDR5, gives it a substantial advantage in modern titles that are sensitive to memory capacity and speed. The GTX 1060 3 GB’s 3 GB frame buffer is a known limitation in newer games, and the database records show that its compute scores suffer accordingly. The RX 5700 also has nearly double the shading units (2,304 versus 1,152) and more than double the texture units (144 versus 72), which directly impacts rasterization-heavy workloads.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is generational and profound. The RX 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip built on TSMC’s 7 nm process, with 10,300 million transistors packed into a 251 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 41.0 million per square millimeter. The GTX 1060 3 GB, by contrast, uses the GP106 chip on a 16 nm process, with 4,400 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, giving a density of 22.0 million per square millimeter. The RX 5700’s process advantage allows it to fit more than twice the transistors into a die that is only about 25% larger.

The RX 5700 is based on RDNA 1.0, AMD’s first-generation RDNA architecture, which was designed to improve performance per clock and efficiency over the older Vega architecture. The GTX 1060 3 GB uses NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture, which debuted in 2016. While Pascal was efficient for its time, the database shows that RDNA 1.0 delivers significantly higher throughput across the board. The RX 5700’s FP32 performance is 7.949 TFLOPS, while the GTX 1060 3 GB manages 3.935 TFLOPS, a 102.0% difference.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The RX 5700 uses GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1060 3 GB uses GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 192.2 GB/s. The RX 5700 also has a much higher FP16 throughput at 15.90 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) versus the GTX 1060 3 GB’s 61.49 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), which makes the AMD card vastly more capable in workloads that use half-precision arithmetic.

Other architectural features differ as well. The RX 5700 supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the GTX 1060 3 GB uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 5700 has 64 ROPs versus 48, and 144 TMUs versus 72. Pixel rate is 110.4 GPixel/s for the RX 5700 versus 81.98 GPixel/s for the GTX 1060 3 GB, and texture rate is 248.4 GTexel/s versus 123.0 GTexel/s. Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the RX 5700’s newer architecture is better equipped to exploit those APIs, as the benchmark results confirm.

Specification Differences

The most consequential specification difference is memory. The RX 5700 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the GTX 1060 3 GB has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus. Bandwidth is 448.0 GB/s versus 192.2 GB/s, a 133.1% advantage for the RX 5700. The frame buffer size alone makes the RX 5700 far more suitable for high-resolution textures and modern game assets.

Clock speeds are similar at the boost level, with the RX 5700 boosting to 1,725 MHz and the GTX 1060 3 GB boosting to 1,708 MHz. Base clocks are 1,465 MHz and 1,506 MHz respectively, so the NVIDIA card actually has a higher base clock. However, the RX 5700’s game clock is rated at 1,625 MHz, a figure the GTX 1060 3 GB does not have. Memory clocks are 1,750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the RX 5700 versus 2,002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) for the GTX 1060 3 GB, but the wider bus on the AMD card makes its effective bandwidth far higher.

Power consumption is another key difference. The RX 5700 has a TDP of 180 W, while the GTX 1060 3 GB is rated at 120 W. The RX 5700 requires two power connectors (1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin) and a suggested PSU of 450 W, while the GTX 1060 3 GB needs only a single 6-pin connector and a 300 W PSU. The RX 5700 is also longer at 268 mm versus 250 mm, and it has a height of 111 mm and width of 36 mm, while the GTX 1060 3 GB’s height and width are not recorded.

Display outputs differ as well. The RX 5700 offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the GTX 1060 3 GB provides 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 5700’s lack of DVI reflects its newer design, while the GTX 1060 3 GB retains legacy connectivity. Both cards are dual-slot and end-of-life in production status. The RX 5700 was released on 2019-07-06, while the GTX 1060 3 GB came out on 2016-08-17.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5700 has an average benchmark score of 22,170, compared to 19,334 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB. That is a 14.7% difference in favor of the RX 5700.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench Metal?

A: The RX 5700 scores 86,079 in Geekbench Metal, while the GTX 1060 3 GB scores 13,527. The RX 5700 leads by 536.3%, the largest delta of any recorded head-to-head test between them.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RX 5700 has a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, while the GTX 1060 3 GB has 192.2 GB/s. The RX 5700 also uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, whereas the GTX 1060 3 GB uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: Is the GTX 1060 3 GB close to the RX 5700 in any benchmark?

A: No. The GTX 1060 3 GB loses all three recorded head-to-head tests. Its smallest deficit is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 5700 still leads by 157.8% (69,603 versus 27,001).

Q: How does the RX 5700 compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The RX 5700 is within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700S (22,154 average score) and 1.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (22,435). It is 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB, which averages 21,856.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 5700 has a TDP of 180 W and requires a 450 W suggested PSU, using a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector setup. The GTX 1060 3 GB has a TDP of 120 W, a 300 W suggested PSU, and uses a single 6-pin connector.