NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q is a mobile Pascal-generation GPU built on TSMC’s 16 nm process, packing 4,400 million transistors into a 200 mm² die with a transistor density of 22.0M / mm². It runs on the GP106 chip, sits in the 10-series lineup, and was released on 2017-06-26 as part of the GeForce 10 Mobile generation. With a base clock of 1063 MHz and a boost clock of 1480 MHz, it pairs 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs to deliver 3.789 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 118.4 GTexel/s of texture fill, and 71.04 GPixel/s of pixel throughput. The card is end-of-life, uses an MXM Module slot, draws 80 W, requires no power connectors, and connects via PCIe 3.0 x16. It sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, with no benchmark scores or nearest rivals listed in the data.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The GTX 1060 Max-Q does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The FACT PACK lists both “rtCores” and “tensorCores” as null, meaning hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based tensor operations are absent from this architecture. This is a Pascal-generation part, and its feature set reflects that era: it relies on traditional rasterization for rendering, with no support for the dedicated RT or DLSS-style hardware found in later generations. For API support, the card offers DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. That DirectX 12_1 feature level covers conservative rasterization and rasterizer-ordered views, but it does not include the ray tracing pipeline that arrived with DirectX 12 Ultimate on newer hardware. Vulkan 1.4 support means modern Vulkan titles can run, but again without ray tracing extensions that require dedicated hardware. In practical terms, any game that demands ray-traced effects — shadows, reflections, global illumination — will have to run those effects in software or with reduced quality, which will hurt frame rates given the 3.789 TFLOPS FP32 ceiling. The lack of tensor cores also means no frame generation or AI upscaling features that rely on those units. For a builder targeting this card, the feature set is firmly raster-only; expect to enable standard DX12 or Vulkan paths but skip RT-heavy settings.

How It Compares

The FACT PACK provides no nearestRivals entries, so there are no direct competitor names, scores, or deltaPct values to reference. The percentileVsAllGpus field shows 50.0, which means the GTX 1060 Max-Q sits exactly at the median of the entire GPU database — half of all GPUs score higher, half score lower. Without rival data, positional analysis is limited to that percentile marker. The card’s 80 W TDP and MXM form factor place it in the thin-and-light gaming laptop segment, but no specific competitor names are available. The absence of a launch MSRP in the FACT PACK means no pricing commentary is possible. What the data does show is a mid-pack standing: not a top-tier mobile part, not a low-end one, but a balanced middle performer. Since no rival scores or deltas exist, any comparison must rely solely on the percentile ranking and the card’s own specifications. The 50th percentile is a useful anchor — it tells you this GPU outpaces roughly half the field in aggregate benchmark performance, but the FACT PACK does not enumerate which specific cards fall above or below it.

Benchmark Performance

The FACT PACK lists avgBenchmarkScore as 0 and provides no benchmark entries, so there are no raw scores to analyze directly. The only quantitative performance indicator is the percentileVsAllGpus of 50.0, which places this card at the exact median across all GPUs in the database. That means, on average, it matches the typical mid-range performance level — not dominant, not deficient. The FP32 compute rate of 3.789 TFLOPS is the key raw number: that is the peak single-precision throughput, and it translates to solid 1080p gaming in most titles of its era, but it is not competitive with higher-tier Pascal or later architectures. The pixel rate of 71.04 GPixel/s and texture rate of 118.4 GTexel/s further define the ceiling: 48 ROPs handle fill-rate-bound scenes, while 80 TMUs feed texture-heavy workloads. At a boost clock of 1480 MHz, the shading units can sustain that 3.789 TFLOPS figure, but sustained loads may drop clocks depending on thermal limits in a laptop chassis. Since no rival deltas are listed, you cannot say “30% ahead of X” — the only defensible statement is the 50th percentile rank, which suggests a moderate standing. For context, a 50th percentile score means the card outperforms half of all GPUs in the database, but the FACT PACK does not specify whether that includes desktop or only mobile parts. The gap to the top is likely large given the modest 80 W power envelope, but without numbers, that remains qualitative. In practical terms, expect playable frame rates at medium-to-high settings in 1080p for games released around 2017-2018, but newer titles will require lowered settings to stay smooth.

FAQ

Q: Does the GTX 1060 Max-Q support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The FACT PACK lists rtCores as null, meaning there are no dedicated ray tracing cores. Ray-traced effects must be handled via software or omitted.

Q: What is the memory configuration of this GPU?

A: It has 6 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a memory clock of 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 192.2 GB/s.

Q: What DirectX version does it support?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (12_1), along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the power draw?

A: The TDP is 80 W. It uses an MXM Module slot and has no power connectors, meaning it draws all power through the slot interface.

Q: How does it rank among all GPUs?

A: It sits at the 50th percentile, meaning it performs better than half of all GPUs in the database and worse than the other half.

Q: Does it have tensor cores for AI workloads?

A: No. Tensor cores are listed as null, so there is no dedicated AI acceleration hardware.

Q: What is the release date?

A: 2017-06-26.

Who Should Consider It

Given the 50th percentile standing and the 3.789 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, this card is suited for gamers targeting 1080p resolution with medium settings in most titles. The 6 GB VRAM is adequate for 1080p textures, and the 192.2 GB/s bandwidth prevents severe bottlenecks at that resolution. At 1440p, the pixel rate of 71.04 GPixel/s and the 48 ROPs will struggle with high-detail scenes, so expect to drop to low or medium presets. The 80 W TDP makes it a fit for slim laptops that prioritize battery life over raw performance — it is not a desktop replacement GPU. For esports titles like CS:GO or Valorant, the 1480 MHz boost clock and 1280 shading units will push high frame rates at 1080p, but for AAA single-player games released after 2020, the card will need aggressive settings reductions. The lack of RT and tensor cores means you should not consider this GPU if you plan to play games with ray tracing enabled or use AI upscaling features. The end-of-life status suggests this is a legacy part; new buyers should only consider it if they find a laptop with this GPU at a low price, but the FACT PACK provides no pricing data to guide that decision. The 4,400 million transistor count and 22.0M / mm² density indicate a mature 16 nm process that runs cool enough for thin chassis, but the 80 W limit caps sustained boost behavior.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem consists of 6 GB of GDDR5 memory operating at 2002 MHz, which translates to 8 Gbps effective data rate. The memory bus is 192 bits wide, yielding a total bandwidth of 192.2 GB/s. That bandwidth figure is moderate by modern standards but was competitive for a mobile mid-range card in 2017. For 1080p gaming, 192.2 GB/s is sufficient to feed the 3.789 TFLOPS compute throughput without causing severe memory-bound stalls in most titles. At 1440p, the bandwidth becomes a limiting factor: higher resolutions require more texture data and larger framebuffers, and the 192-bit bus will bottleneck the 48 ROPs when pushing higher pixel counts. The 6 GB capacity is the more pressing constraint — modern games with high-resolution texture packs can exceed 6 GB at 1080p, causing the card to fall back to lower-detail assets or stutter. The 192-bit bus width means the memory is arranged in six 32-bit channels, and the 192.2 GB/s figure is the aggregate transfer rate; that number is fixed and cannot be improved. The memory clock of 2002 MHz is the base GDDR5 speed, and the effective 8 Gbps is achieved through DDR (double data rate) signaling. For a laptop GPU in the 80 W class, this memory configuration balances capacity, bandwidth, and power draw — more VRAM would require a wider bus (increasing power), and higher bandwidth would need faster memory (also increasing power). The 6 GB capacity is adequate for 1080p medium-to-high settings in its era, but it is not future-proof for 1440p or high-resolution texture packs. The 192.2 GB/s bandwidth directly impacts scenes with heavy post-processing or anti-aliasing, where the ROPs need to read and write framebuffer data quickly; the 71.04 GPixel/s pixel rate aligns with that bandwidth, so neither is drastically over- or under-provisioned. Overall, the memory subsystem is a balanced middle-ground design: enough for its intended 1080p use case, but not a standout feature.