RTX 5090 vs GTX 1060 3GB
Short answer: which is best?
RTX 5090 is 2504.4 % stronger than GTX 1060 3GB. RTX 5090 ranks #1 of 67 measured graphics cards at WhatFPS (28,389 GPU score over 6 verified runs). GTX 1060 3GB ranks #57 of 67 measured graphics cards at WhatFPS (1,090 GPU score over 2 verified runs). The numbers are measured in 8 verified WhatFPS runs — not estimated, not self-reported.
Measured comparison
| Metric | RTX 5090 | GTX 1060 3GB |
|---|---|---|
| GPU score (the card's own performance) | 28,389 | 1,090 |
| Best rig (GAMING — whole PC) | 21,848 | 2,105 |
| Earth II (Vulkan) | 134.1 FPS | 6.5 FPS |
| Mission to Earth II (DX12) | 174.4 FPS | 7.8 FPS |
| Earth II Landing (DX12 Ultimate) | 113.8 FPS | 7.3 FPS |
| Supernova (DX11) | 115.2 FPS | 48.9 FPS |
| Memory bandwidth | 698 GB/s | 65 GB/s |
| VRAM | 31 GB | 3 GB |
| Ray tracing | Yes | Not supported |
Fragz' verdict
The RTX 5090 is the clear winner here, leading the GTX 1060 3GB by a massive 2476.1% in GPU score. This translates to significantly higher performance across the board, with the RTX 5090 hitting 132.8 FPS in Earth II Vulkan and 171.4 FPS in Mission to Earth II DX12, compared to the GTX 1060 3GB's 6.5 FPS and 7.8 FPS respectively. Under the hood, the RTX 5090 boasts a far superior raw compute with an ALU index of 1020560, 660 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and 31 GB of VRAM, making it capable of much more demanding tasks and modern graphical features like ray tracing, mesh shaders, and VRS, which the GTX 1060 3GB lacks. While the GTX 1060 3GB (with only 2 verified runs, indicating a thin sample) might still suffice for extremely light workloads or older titles, the RTX 5090 is in a league of its own for serious gaming and future-proofing, ranking 1st out of 67 cards compared to the GTX 1060 3GB at 57th.
Generated October 30, 2026 from the 8 verified runs available then. The verdict is never silently rewritten — new numbers get a new verdict.
What the numbers mean
The GPU score is the graphics card's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the card in, and depends on processor, memory and storage. We show both and never mix them.
All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik
All measurements for RTX 5090 · All measurements for GTX 1060 3GB