NVIDIA is reportedly planning to use failed or defective GP104 GPUs for the next line of GTX 1060 video cards. The said GPU is the one used in GTX 1070 and GTX 1080 cards.
While AMD fans are waiting for the Vega GPUs, NVIDIA is already planning to launch a new line of GTX 1060s but with a twist. The video card company could be using the GP104 GPUs for the new line and some of them could be the ones deemed defective by standard quality tests.
Despite being the failed chips supposedly for the GTX 1070 and GTX 1080, the new GPU could offer more for GTX 1060 users in the future. The GP104 GPU in the GTX 1060 cards could give better overclocking performance in terms of clock speeds, Tech Radar reported.
In terms of pricing, there is still no news if the new variants will be more expensive than the currently available cards. There could be a small price hike considering that they would offer a little more in terms of performance. It would also be unfair for those bought the GP106-powered GTX 1060 from day one.
Unfortunately, there would be a limit to how much users will be able to overclock the device. NVIDIA could use the GP104 only on the 3GB models of GTX 1060, Hot Hardware reported. Users would have to choose between a performance or memory increase if they have not bought the video card yet from NVIDIA.
In addition, CUDA cores will be limited to ensure fairness. There is no way of re-enabling them which means that the performance increase could be limited as well.
NVIDIA might announce the new GTX 1060 at the upcoming CES 2017 event in Las Vegas. Interested buyers can save up now to buy the slightly more powerful card in the following weeks
Find out what the GTX 1060 can do in the video below: