Galax Stays In The Race With Five GTX 1060 3GB Graphics Cards

After Nvidia released specs of its new GTX 1060 with 3GB of vRAM for the $200 price segment, it didn’t take long for Galax to jump on the bandwagon by producing several new GTX 1060s of its own.

Galax GeForce GTX 1060 3GB EXOC White

The EXOC White edition is the most powerful GTX 1060 3GB offering from Galax. It features a base clock of 1,556 MHz and a boost clock of 1,771 MHz. The memory interface (which is identical between all of the cards) includes 3 GB of GDDR5 vRAM and a 192-bit bus operating at 8 Gbps, for a total memory bandwidth of 192 GB/s.

Galax’s EXOC cooler is the top-end aftermarket heatsink for the GTX 1060, with dual 90-mm intake fans and three nickel-plated heatpipes (one is 8 mm thick, two are 6 mm). The heatsink is enclosed in a beautiful all-white cooler shroud with a matching white backplate that offers extra cooling for the PCB.

Galax GeForce GTX 1060 3GB EXOC Black

The EXOC Black variant is nearly identical to the white version, with the same display outputs, cooling performance and backplate. However, aside from the color, the EXOC is 12 MHz slower than the white model for reasons unknown, with a base clock of 1,544 MHz and a boost frequency of 1,759 MHz.

Galax GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Gamer OC Mini

Representing the mid-range for Galax is the GTX 1060 Gamer OC Mini. Galax designed this card specifically for small form factor cases that don’t have the capacity to house large and bulky air-cooled graphics cards.

The card itself is a bit smaller than the EXOC cooler, but it should still pack a punch in terms of raw cooling performance. The base clock is set at 1,531 MHz, and the boost frequency reaches 1,746 MHz.

The heatsink features aluminum fins with three large copper heatpipes. The shroud itself is blue, with gray accents covering the edges of the cooler.

Galax GeForce GTX 1060 3GB OC

Galax’s GTX 1060 3GB OC is another mid-range card from Galax. It’s designed for those who don’t need the small footprint of the OC Mini but desire all the cooling power they can afford.

The shroud of the OC model protrudes a few inches beyond the length of the PCB, whereas the Gamer OC Mini’s PCB is longer than the cooler itself. This shouldn’t be a problem for those who use Micro ATX and standard ATX cases, though.

The cooler is equipped with two 6 mm copper heatpipes and twin 80 mm fans on an aluminum heatsink. Galax stated that this cooler is capable of keeping the GP106 chip at 65 degrees C during heavy loads and as low as 31 degrees C during standby/low usage scenarios.

Galax GeForce GTX 1060 3GB (Blower-Style)

The blower-style variant is Galax’s entry-level GTX 1060 3GB graphics card. Instead of a fancy heatsink, Galax used a generic black shroud with a single intake fan that expels heat from the rear of the GPU. It matches the Nvidia reference specifications with its clockrates (a 1,506 MHz base clock and 1,708 MHz boost).

There is no word on pricing or availability in the U.S. Galax is primarily a graphics card manufacturer in Asia, so don’t expect these cards to come to the U.S for a while.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
ModelGTX 1060 3GB EXOC WhiteGTX 1060 3GB EXOCGTX 1060 3GB Gamer OC MiniGTX 1060 3GB OCGTX 1060 3GB “Reference”
CUDA Cores:1,152
Base Clock:1,556 MHz1,544 MHz1,531 MHz1,518 MHz1,506 MHz
Boost Clock:1,771 MHz1,759 MHz1,746 MHz1,733 MHz1,708 MHz
Memory Speed:8 Gbps (8,008 MHz)
Memory Bandwidth:- Memory Bus Width: 192-bit- Memory Bandwidth: 192 GB/s
Memory Info:3GB GDDR5
Display Outputs:-DisplayPort 1.4-HDMI 2.0b-DVI-D x2-DisplayPort 1.4 x3-HDMI 2.0b -DVI-D-DisplayPort 1.4 -HDMI 2.0b-DVI-D-DisplayPort 1.4 x3-HDMI 2.0b -DVI-D
Dimensions:251 x139.1 x41.5 mm268 x 139.1 x 41.5 mm195 x 130 x 41.5 mm228 x 124 x 41.5 mm255 x 125 x 41.5 mm
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    So no 6 GB model and no single-fan half-length? Why even bother with 5 models if none of them are interesting?
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    3 GB is extremely limiting in today's games. Even at 1080p, these cards will struggle with memory swaps on some games.
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    Considering that pretty much full blow GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 are being placed in laptops. Why don't one of these manufacturers make a low profile, half length, single slot model to stand out? These cards could go into one of many small form factor PCs out there. The 1060 could definitely be made to fit one.

    eBay is loaded with 2nd generation and later Core i5 SFF PCs for less than $150. Fully functional ones with a valid Windows license. One of those plus 8GB RAM, 120GB SSD, 1TB HD and a GTX 1060 would make for a killer sub $500 gaming PC.

    If a very slightly tuned down GTX 1060 can fit in a 0.87" laptop and run with a 180W AC adapter. It could easily run in such a form factor with the standard PSU most of those SFF PCs come with. A 1070 woul need dual slot for the cooling but should still be possible in low profile with a better PSU than standard.
    Reply
  • Faux_Grey
    Standby for Galax SNPR cards too.
    Reply
  • srmojuze
    Very nice... I'm just hoping the 10 series GPU prices come down from the stratosphere (outside the US).

    18503915 said:
    So no 6 GB model and no single-fan half-length? Why even bother with 5 models if none of them are interesting?

    I'm guessing it's the quickest path to market since it looks like supply isn't meeting demand for 10-series cards.

    They'll probably come out with other variants over time.
    Reply
  • falchard
    I am not sure I want to buy a product when the founder doesn't know how to spell.
    Reply