NVIDIA is readying a new variant of the GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card which features a very unusual memory configuration. The new graphics card will feature slightly lower VRAM and a cut down memory bus while retaining the same number of cores as the 6 GB variant.
NVIDIA Preps a 5 GB Model of The GeForce GTX 1060 - Cut Down 160-bit Bus, Full 1280 CUDA Cores
According to reports from Chinese sources, NVIDIA is making a new GeForce GTX 1060 variant that will be aimed directly at the APAC region based Internet cafes. This model is meant to cut down the costs for such market while retaining similar graphics performance. But will that be the case?
From the specifications, we can note that the graphics chip will be a new variant based on the GP106 GPU. This GPU will be known as the GP106-350-K3-A1, featuring 1280 CUDA Cores. The other variants of the GP106 GPU include GP106-400-A1 for the 6 GB GTX 1060 and the GP106-300-A1 for the 3 GB GTX 1060. This is also the fourth configuration of the GTX 1060 as now it's available in a 6 GB / 3 GB GP106 variant, a 5 GB GP106 variant and also a 3 GB GP104 variant.
While it does retain the same core specifications, the GP106-350-K3-A1 graphics core comes with one memory controller disabled, leading to a 160-bit bus interface instead of the 192-bit bus that comes on the other variants. So we are looking at 5 GB GDDR5 VRAM, running across a 160-bit bus interface at speeds of 8.00 Gbps. This gives us a total bandwidth of 160 Gb/s which is lower than 192 GB/s bandwidth on the other variants.
The thing is that this model will be exclusively sold to internet cafes based in the Asia Pacific market directly. This means that we will never get to see an official reference or custom model lineup from either NVIDIA or their manufacturers. It will be an interesting and cost effective solution for cafes that cannot purchase 6 GB 1060s in bulk. The 5 GB model will definitely be capable of 60 FPS 1080p gaming in majority of eSports titles but I guess it was a good decision to keep this model exclusive to cafes and not make it a wider launch as that would have messed up the GTX 1060 lineup even more.
NVIDIA GeForce 10 Pascal Family
| Graphics Card Name | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 3 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 | NVIDIA Titan X | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti | NVIDIA Titan Xp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Core | GP107 | GP107 | GP107 | GP106 / GP104 | GP106 | GP106 / GP104 | GP104 | GP104 | GP104 | GP102 | GP102 | GP102 |
| Process Node | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET | 16nm FinFET |
| Die Size | 132mm2 | 132mm2 | 132mm2 | 200mm2 | 200mm2 | 200mm2 | 314mm2 | 314mm2 | 314mm2 | 471mm2 | 471mm2 | 471mm2 |
| Transistors | 3.3 Billion | 3.3 Billion | 3.3 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 4.4 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 7.2 Billion | 12 Billion | 12 Billion | 12 Billion |
| CUDA Cores | 640 CUDA Cores | 768 CUDA Cores | 768 CUDA Cores | 1152 CUDA Cores | 1280 CUDA Cores | 1280 CUDA Cores | 1920 CUDA Cores | 2432 CUDA Cores | 2560 CUDA Cores | 3584 CUDA Cores | 3584 CUDA Cores | 3840 CUDA Cores |
| Base Clock | 1354 MHz | 1392 MHz | 1290 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1506 MHz | 1607 MHz | 1607 MHz | 1417 MHz | 1480 MHz | 1480 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1455 MHz | 1518 MHz | 1392 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1708 MHz | 1683 MHz | 1683 MHz | 1733 MHz | 1530 MHz | 1583 MHz | 1582 |
| FP32 Compute | 1.8 TFLOPs | 2,3 TFLOPs | 2.1 TFLOPs | 4.0 TFLOPs | 4.4 TFLOPs | 4.4 TFLOPs | 6.5 TFLOPs | 8.1 TFLOPs | 9.0 TFLOPs | 11 TFLOPs | 11.5 TFLOPs | 12.5 TFLOPs |
| VRAM | 2 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 3 GB GDDR5 | 6 GB GDDR5 | 6 GB GDDR5/X | 8 GB GDDR5/X | 8 GB GDDR5 | 8 GB GDDR5X | 12 GB GDDR5X | 11 GB GDDR5X | 12 GB GDDR5X |
| Memory Speed | 7 Gbps | 7 Gbps | 7 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 9 Gbps / 10 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 8 Gbps | 11 Gbps | 10 Gbps | 11 Gbps | 11.4 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 112 GB/s | 84 GB/s | 112 GB/s | 192 GB/s | 160 GB/s | 224 GB/s / 240 GB/s | 256 GB/s | 256 GB/s | 352 GB/s | 480 GB/s | 484 GB/s | 547 GB/s |
| Bus Interface | 128-bit bus | 96-bit bus | 128-bit bus | 192-bit bus | 160-bit bus | 192-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 256-bit bus | 384-bit bus | 352-bit bus | 384-bit bus |
| Power Connector | None | None | None | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 6-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | Single 8-Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power | 8+6 Pin Power |
| TDP | 75W | 75W | 75W | 120W | 120W | 120W | 150W | 180W | 180W | 250W | 250W | 250W |
| Display Outputs | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 1x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x DVI | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b | 3x Display Port 1.4 1x HDMI 2.0b |
| Launch Date | October 2016 | May 2018 | October 2016 | September 2016 | August 2018 | July 2016 | June 2016 | October 2017 | May 2016 | August 2016 | March 2017 | April 2017 |
| Launch Price | $109 US | $119 US-$129 US | $139 US | $199 US | TBD | $249 US | $349 US | $449 US | $499 US | $1200 US | $699 US | $1200 US |
