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GTX 1060 turns 10 after 59 months atop Steam
The GeForce GTX 1060 turns 10 after holding Steam’s top GPU spot for 59 months, thanks to its strong 1080p value and broad lineup.
Image: ITzine
Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 turned 10 on July 19, marking a rare milestone for a graphics card that became Steam’s most popular model for years. Released in 2016 on the Pascal architecture, it started at $250, while the Founders Edition cost $300.
Nvidia positioned the GTX 1060 against the GeForce GTX 980, which had launched the previous year at $550. That price gap made the newer card an attractive upgrade for PC owners who wanted strong performance without spending at the high end.
Why the GeForce GTX 1060 became so popular
The GTX 1060 occupied a particularly effective middle ground. It was neither a flagship nor a severely compromised budget card, but a capable 1080p GPU aimed at the largest part of the gaming market. AMD’s Radeon RX 480 competed aggressively on price, while Nvidia’s GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 served buyers who wanted more performance headroom.
Timing also worked in its favor. In 2016, games had not yet made 6GB of video memory a baseline requirement, and the GTX 1060 remained fast enough to avoid becoming obsolete quickly. As flagship GPUs grew more expensive, Nvidia gave mainstream buyers a straightforward default choice.
The company also extended the lineup unusually far. Variants included:
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- A standard model with 6GB of memory
- A 3GB version with a cut-down chip
- A faster version using 9Gbps GDDR5
- A 5GB model made for Chinese internet cafés
- A GP104-based version with GDDR5X
- The P106-100, which had no video outputs and was designed for mining
59 months at the top of Steam
The GTX 1060 reached first place in Steam’s most popular graphics-card ranking in December 2017 and stayed there for 59 consecutive months. The GeForce GTX 1650 finally displaced it in October 2022.
Steam’s hardware statistics illustrate how long a well-balanced mainstream GPU can remain useful. Even after multiple upgrade cycles, shortages of newer cards, and shifts in gaming habits, the GTX 1060 remains one of Nvidia’s most recognizable mass-market GPUs.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via ITzine
