A user recently asked the following:
I was looking at the general availability/prices of GTX 1060s in Australia, and I was a little confused. Could you please shed some light on why some GTX 1060s:
- Are more cheap/expensive? E.g. EVGA is $409, ASUS is $429, and MSI is $489! Your guides say these are all good, reputable brands, so why is there such a price difference? Is this a reflection of quality?
- This might be a silly question, but… Some GTX 1060s have one fan, whereas others have two fans. Does this make a real difference in terms of heat efficiency?
Our answer:
Taking a look at the three models that you linked (and keeping the second question in mind), you can see that some of the GTX 1060 models come with one fan, and some with two. Some come with a radial/centrifugal fan, similar to the reference NVIDIA design, and some come with an axial fan.
Generally, the radial fan of the reference design is adequate, but can be noisy. The axial fans are cooler and quieter, but they exhaust the hot air back into the case, and so they are less suitable for very small or cramped cases. A design with two fans can spin those fans at a lower speed, but still get more airflow, resulting in an even cooler and quieter card. These factors explain the difference in price, since they have different noise and thermal characteristics.
We advocate getting a graphics card that has better noise and thermals, as long as the price difference is not too high. From the three models that linked above, the MSI has the best noise and thermals, but it is also the most expensive. The EVGA unit is good, too, and probably better than the reference model by ASUS.
The most balanced of the three is the EVGA. If you want the best noise and thermals, and do not mind paying the extra $50, get the MSI. If you have a tiny case (e.g. a small-form-factor build) and need to exhaust outside the case directly, go for the ASUS.
2 Comments
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This is a nice little article but unfortunately did little to help me understand the issue.
So, just to be clear, the only real differences between the reselling options are cooling related?
I noticed a price range from 430 – 630 Euro for the GTX 1070 at a german webshop with different cooling all around (though 200 Euro seems steep for a price difference). There were radial and axial, single, double and triple fans all around at every price range, so it is kinda hard to differentiate if a higher pricetag really includes a better thermal/noise level.
The 630 Euro one was factoryoverclocked (though it did need 2 PINs for Power instead of one), which might be a good reason as well, a slightly cheaper one at 620 wasn’t though.
Then again, the cheapest (EVGA) GTX 1080 started at 660 Euro with 1 8-PIN for Power , so I wasn’t really sure why one would opt for a factory overclocked 1070 if a 1080 was available at a slightly higher price.
Which brings me to a second question: If cooling was important to my build, AND was the main reason for higher prices in different versions of the same card, wouldn’t it be better to just buy a simple card and install a custom cooler? Or would that somehow limit the warranty of the card?
Justmy2Cents 10 years ago
The main difference between manufacturer versions of the card is the cooling, yes. Factory overclocking, as you mentioned, is another thing that can contribute to price. Scarcity and the seller also contributes, depending on the site you are buying on.
A simple card and a custom cooler is certainly a good option! It is generally up to you as to what you want to do.
Matthew Zehner 10 years ago
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