Test Bench
For our tests, I’ll be using my own PC rig for this. Nothing fancy, just a modern day PC setup with the following components:
- Intel Core i5-6600K @ 3.5GHz
- ASUS z170 Pro Gaming/AURA motherboard
- 2 x 8Gb G.Skill TridentZ 3200GHz DDR4
- ThermalTake Water Extreme 3.0 AIO
The Software
MSI provides 2 programs bundled with their graphics cards; the MSI Gaming App and MSI Afterburner:
The MSI Gaming App comes with presets for the GTX 1060 Gaming X clock speeds; OC mode, Gaming mode and Silent mode. For the purposes of the following benchmarks, the GTX 1060 Gaming X was set at Gaming mode to see just what you can achieve straight out of the box.
- Boost Clock / Base Clock / Memory Frequency
1809 MHz / 1594 MHz / 8108 MHz (OC Mode)
1784 MHz / 1569 MHz / 8008 MHz (Gaming Mode)
1708 MHz / 1506 MHz / 8008 MHz (Silent Mode)
The MSI Gaming App also allows you to control the LEDs on the MSI GeForce GTX 1060 Gaming X. The MSI logo on top of the graphics card is RGB so you can customize it and match it to your PC colours.
The MSI Afterburner is where the fun really beginnings, where can you adjust all the controls of the MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X with controls for the core voltage, power limit, core clock, memory clock and fan speed. If you want to get every ounce of performance out of your MSI graphics card, you’ll be spending hours here adjusting sliders for peak performance. When you use the clock presets in the MSI Gaming App, you’ll see the adjustments made automatically in the MSI Afterburner.
