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Price / Where to Buy
Amazon (US): $269 – Palit Jetstream GTX 1060
Philippines: Php 14330 (PCHUB)
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[section label=”Introduction”]
Palit has stayed with their Jetstream line for a while and while it was clearly a design still looking to find its edge, it served as a top option for more conservative users to get their hands on a higher-performing cards at a more attractive price point. The initial launch of the Palit Jetstream design marked a remarkable era for Palit which has taken them from entry-level player to mainstream choice and now we have the latest iteration of the Jetstream product line with the mid-market champion from NVIDIA with the Palit Jetstream GTX 1060. In this generation though, Palit has taken their Jetstream and utilized the Super Jetstream naming to differentiate their overclocked models. Taking over the top position is the Palit GameRock series which have a review of also for their GTX 1080 here. Read on to find out more about the GTX 1060 Jetstream!
Product Gallery
The Palit Jetstream uses a new cooler design than previous Jetstream variants. This new cooler sports a black and silver motiff and all Jetstream models out right now have the same dual-fan design with a 2 1/2 slot height cooler. The model we have right now is basically the reference GTX 1060 version with Palit’s cooler as it ships with the reference clocks out of the box. The Super Jetstream model though has factory overclocked frequencies but retains all the physical make-up as the one we have here, including the single 6-pin power connector.
And yes, there is a backplate included.
[section label=”Performance Testing”]PERFORMANCE
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Ranger
Memory: Kingston HyperX SAVAGE DDR4-3000 16GB
Storage: Intel SSD 750 NVME U.2 SSD
PSU: Thermaltake ToughPower Grand 1000w Gold
Cooling: Thermaltake Water 3.0 Riings 360mm
Monitor: ASUS PG27AQ UHD Monitor
VGA: PALIT JETSTREAM GTX 1060
For a full-hardware workout, visit http://www.futuremark.com for our benchmarks of choice.
For benchmarking methodology please see our game benchmark method guide.
Frame rates and frame times of a 60-second game play were recorded using FRAPS v3.5.99. The test results are the average of 3 benchmark runs. Since this is a GPU review, we benchmarked the area of the games that put heavy load on the GPU.
All our test runs are repeatable, click the links below for area and details. Read our benchmarking methodology.
- Crysis 3 – Post Human
- Grand Theft Auto V – Palomino Highlands
- The Witcher 3 – Woesong Bridge
- Rise of the Tomb Raider – Valley Farmstead
- DOTA2 – Shanghai Major Finals, Game 2, Team Secret vs Team Liquid (23:45 – 24:45)
See our Youtube playlist for benchmark sequences.
The games and corresponding image quality settings used are shown below:
[accordions ] [accordion title=”Game Detail Settings” load=”hide”]Crysis 3
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Texture Resolution: Very High
Anti-aliasing: SMAA 2Tx
System Spec: Very High
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Motion Blur: Disabled
Grand Theft Auto V
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
FXAA Off
MSAA 4x
TXAA Off
Very High settings
Anisotropic Filtering: 16x
Motion Blur disabled
Advanced Graphics enabled
The Witcher 3
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Frame Rate: Unlimited
Nvidia HairWorks: Off
Ultra Settings
Motion Blur: Off
Blur: Off
Anti-aliasing: On
Bloom: On
Sharpening: High
Ambient Occlusion: SSAO
Depth of Field: On
Chromatic Aberration: Off
Vignetting: On
Light Shafts: On
Rise of the Tomb Raider
DirectX11
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Anti-aliasing: FXAA
Very High settings
Ambient Occlusion: On
Pure Hair: On
Vignette Blur: Off
Motion Blur: Off
Bloom: On
Tessellation: On
Screen Space Reflections: On
Lens Flares: On
Film Grain: Off
DOTA2
DirectX9 (default)
Resolution: 1920×1080
Best-Looking slider setting (non-Ultra)
FPS_MAX 240
Vsync OFF
Note: Some proprietary technologies of NVIDIA like PCSS, HBAO+, and HairWorks work on AMD GPU’s but we decided not to use them.
[tabs] [tab title=”Rise of the Tomb Raider”]Rise of the Tomb Raider
The reboot of the gaming phenomenon Tomb Raider puts players in Lara Croft’s hiking boots as we pick-up from the last game. Featuring upgraded graphics, DX12 support and new image quality improvements, this game challenges new hardware with its graphical offering.
The Witcher 3
CD Projekt Red’s latest installment in the Witcher saga features one of the most graphically intense offering the company has to date. As Geralt of Rivia, slay monsters, beasts and men as you unravel the mysteries of your past. Vast worlds and lush sceneries make this game a visual feast and promises to make any system crawl at its highest settings.
DOTA 2
The most popular game on Steam and the biggest competition in eSports; DOTA 2 is powered by the Source 2 engine. The game is fairly light on low to medium settings but maxed out with heavy action on screen especially during clashes can really stress most systems especially with Reborn update. This is a game where frame times matter as responsiveness is very important in high-stakes competition.
Grand Theft Auto V
The fifth and most successful installment to date in the highly controversial Grand Theft Auto series brings a graphical overhaul to the PC version of GTA V which many have lauded as a superior approach in porting a console game to PC. Featuring large areas and detailing, GTA V is a highly challenging application in terms of scene complexity.
Crysis 3
The most visually intense game to have ever been made during its time. Prophet is back to take on the Ceph and Cell after a long sleep and the world isn’t what it was when before he got frozen. CryEngine 3 is behind this beautiful beast that will put a lot of systems to their knees. The opening level shows off the exquisite particle and water rendering of the engine capable of still giving modern GPUs a workout to this day.
For comparison with the AMD RX 480, see our comparison of the 1080p performance of the AMD RX 480 against a GeForce GTX 1060.
More GTX 1060 vs RX 480 comparison in our previous GTX 1060 review.
[section label=”Temps & Power”]TEMPERATURE & POWER CONSUMPTION
To measure both power consumption and heat, we stress the video card and record the peak values for heat and wattage. We use default values on the cards and stress test them using 3DMark FireStrike Ultra in 20 loops to simulate gaming loads and this is where we also base our power draw. System power draw is measured from the socket.
As with most Pascal cards, the GTX 1060 has a very high efficiency rating making it cooler than most cards and draws less power in general. With the relatively lighter cooler solution, its expected the card performs just around the same class of products with a peak temp of just above 70*C. The fans don’t stop spinning even in idle hence the lower temps during zero-loading. Power consumption is definitely great with this card peaking at just below 140W at load.
[section label=”Conclusion”]CONCLUSION
Let’s break down the verdict:
Performance. The GTX 1060 is a mid-range card and offers the performance that NVIDIA thinks sits well within the current mainstream market. It delivers very decent 1080p performance and if you could settle for lower graphic details, it looks like it can do 1440p easily as well in some lighter games. The GTX 1060 does lack the ability to scale its performance having no support for SLI.
Build Quality. Palit’s rendition of the GTX 1060 is one that goes for power and despite its usage of a relatively larger cooler which eats up nearly 3 slots, the lack of SLI support for the GTX 1060 makes this a sensible choice. The card itself is well-built and the new black/silver motiff goes well on most builds. Overall, the Palit Jetstream GTX 1060 is a solid card in terms of build quality with only the cooler height being the main point of contention when making the purchase versus the majority of slimmer 2-slot models out there.
Functionality. The GTX 1060 is squarely aimed at 1080p gaming and while it can also do VR or higher resolutions, its lack of SLI support means its meant to be a single card solution for people that want a high-performance GPU for relatively mainstream gaming: eSport titles as well as MMORPGs, etc. should sit right with the GTX 1060 together with the obviously decent performance in modern games at 1080p.
Bundle. Check with the brand regularly during purchase to see what promotion they are running. NVIDIA also may have promos ongoing. As of this moment, no promotion is active.
Value. At Php13880, the Palit Jetstream GTX 1060 competes with many of the mainstream brand entry-level offerings for the GTX 1060 such as the Galax GTX 1060 OC and the ZOTAC GTX 1060 AMP, both of which are compact cards compared to the Palit model. The main factors to consider though is primarily the size and looks which we’ll discuss further below.
The NVIDIA GTX 1060 is intended to be the successor of the GTX 980. NVIDIA intently markets it as such but with only a 120w power draw. That kind of efficiency as well performance and price make it a no-brainer for anyone still thinking about getting a GTX 970 or GTX 980 when prices drop to reconsider as the GTX 1060 will easily squash those cards, not to mention possible heavily overclocked models. As with most Pascal cards right now though, prices vary heavily per region and that could still sway some users to opt for other options.
At nearly 3-slot tall, the Palit Jetstream GTX 1060 consumes a decent amount of board space so many users may feel it looks really huge and if you’re not going to be using a lot of your expansion slots that’s fine but if you will be, the more compact options make sense. Despite its large cooler though, the Palit Jetstream has a habit of lazing off and its 63*C fan threshold means it will play around this temp first before levelling on its reference clock speed, and that means that the OC versions of other cards which are the same price make this product look a bit weaker in terms of pure performance by just a touch but anyone wanting every single bit of extra for their money will see this card’s OC version is just more expensive.
That said, we’re seeing Palit trying to go for a more premium market thanks to their aggressive stance right now in product quality and offering but with brands like ZOTAC happily offering more performance at less price, its surely a threat to Palit who has yet to put a dent on MSI, GIGABYTE and ASUS’ hold on the top-end. Given that, the Palit Jetstream GTX 1060 sits in a precarious position as a reference offering which is a bit pricier than competing product.
The Palit Jetstream GTX 1060 is a good card but competition is stiff and a reference card with a backplate and a 3-slot cooler just don’t mean much when ZOTAC and GALAX are stomping away at you in terms of price, size and overall performance. Palit needs to rethink their mainstream options as they’ve felt it right to reuse the StormX for the 1050 release, the GTX 1060 could use a more refined cooler that isn’t necessarily a hand-me-down from its bigger 1080/1070 brothers.
[signoff icon=”dollar”]Price / Where to Buy
Amazon (US): $269 – Palit Jetstream GTX 1060
Philippines: Php 13880 (PCHUB)
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1 Comment
Sad