NVIDIA · Pascal

Best AI Models for NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Runs only small models well; 7–9B only just fits.

6 GB GDDR5192 GB/s4 TFLOPS FP16120 WPascal 2016

6 GB at 192 GB/s: ~7B at Q4 is tight. Pascal: no Tensor Cores and very slow FP16, so it runs GGUF (llama.cpp, Ollama) fine but not FP16 runtimes like vLLM; current CUDA 13 builds dropped Pascal — use CUDA 12 or Vulkan builds.

What LLMs can the GTX 1060 6GB run?

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 38.3 t/s	38.3 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 43.9 t/s	43.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
3	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 36.4 t/s	36.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB
4	Spark X2.6 4BXHToken Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB · 42.2 t/s	42.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB
5	MiniCPM5 2BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB · 65.7 t/s	65.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Reasoning Score	Quant · VRAM
1	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogleHow to run → Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 43.9 t/s	43.9 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
2	Qwen3.5 4BAlibaba Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 38.3 t/s	38.3 tok/s	overall	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
3	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 36.4 t/s	36.4 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB
4	Spark X2.6 4BXHToken Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB · 42.2 t/s	42.2 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB
5	MiniCPM5 2BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB · 65.7 t/s	65.7 tok/s		Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 38.3 t/s	38.3 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 36.4 t/s	36.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB
3	Spark X2.6 4BXHToken Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB · 42.2 t/s	42.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB
4	MiniCPM5 2BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB · 65.7 t/s	65.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB
5	MiniCPM V 4.7 1BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB · 97.5 t/s	97.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB

#	Model	Speed ↓	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 38.3 t/s	38.3 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Ling 3.0 TinyInclusion AI Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB · 114 t/s	114 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.5 GB
3	MiniCPM5 2BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB · 65.7 t/s	65.7 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 2.5 GB
4	Spark X2.6 4BXHToken Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB · 42.2 t/s	42.2 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 4.3 GB
5	Gemma 4 E2B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 36.4 t/s	36.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB

#	Model	Speed	Quant · VRAM
1	Qwen3.5 4BAlibabaHow to run → Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB · 38.3 t/s	38.3 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.4 GB
2	Gemma 3 4B ITGoogle Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB · 43.9 t/s	43.9 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 5.0 GB
3	MiniCPM V 4.7 1BOpenBMB Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB · 97.5 t/s	97.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 1.6 GB
4	LFM3 Omni 2BLiquid AI Q4_K_M · 2.4 GB · 73.4 t/s	73.4 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 2.4 GB
5	Cosmos Reason2 2BNVIDIA Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB · 77.5 t/s	77.5 tok/s	Q4_K_M · 3.5 GB

See all 193 models on the GTX 1060 6GB →Best quant that fits · speeds estimated on this card

About the GTX 1060 6GB

The GTX 1060 6GB is an entry card in the 6 GB class: it runs only small models well. It is power-hungry for its speed, and the best speed per dollar of the cards compared at ≈$70 used. Pascal generation, released 2016.

Speed in 6 GB#4192 GB/s

Per watt#50.19 tok/s per W on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)

Per dollar#132.3 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B (9B params)

GenerationPascalreleased 2016

GTX 1060 6GB strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Runs 7–9B models: Qwen3.5 9B at 22.6 tok/s in 5.8 GB
Low power draw: 120 W board power; a 250 W PSU is enough

Weaknesses

14B models don't fit: Qwen3 14B needs 11.9 GB at Q4 vs 6 GB here
Little room for context: Qwen3.5 9B uses 5.8 of 6 GB, 0.2 GB left
Slow prompt reading: A 4K-token prompt on Qwen3.5 4B waits 19.4 s for the first token
No FP8 or NVFP4: Pascal predates both; use GGUF, AWQ or GPTQ builds

Speed per dollar and per watt

NewUsed

On Qwen3.5 9B (9B params) at Q4_K_M. New prices are compared with new, used with used. The last two columns are the speed you get per $100 of price and per 100 W of board power; higher is better. The GTX 1060 6GB has no new price, so the New view shows it at its MSRP.

Card	New price	tok/s	tok/s per $100	tok/s per 100 W
RTX 50608 GBBest new value	about $460	45.8	10.0	31.6
GTX 1060 6GB6 GB	about $249	22.6	9.1	18.8
RTX 507012 GB	about $840	68.7	8.2	27.5
RTX 40608 GB	about $520	27.8	5.3	24.2

Card	Used price	tok/s	tok/s per $100	tok/s per 100 W
GTX 1060 6GB6 GB	about $70	22.6	32.3	18.8
RTX 3060 12GB12 GB	about $329	36.8	11.2	21.6
RTX 50608 GBBest used value	about $430	45.8	10.7	31.6
RTX 407012 GB	about $575	51.5	9.0	25.8
RTX 40608 GB	about $335	27.8	8.3	24.2
RTX 4070 SUPER12 GB	about $675	51.5	7.6	23.4
RTX 4060 Ti 8GB8 GB	about $400	29.4	7.4	18.4
RTX 4070 Ti12 GB	about $722	51.5	7.1	18.1

Similar GPUs

Cards people weigh against the GTX 1060 6GB, each with the one reason it is worth a look. Speeds on Qwen3.5 9B.

2 GB more and 30% fasterRTX 4060 Ti 8GBNVIDIA · 8 GB · Ada Lovelace

▲ 30% speed▲ 2 GB$399rent $0.15/hr

6 GB more and 63% fasterRTX 3060 12GBNVIDIA · 12 GB · Ampere

▲ 63% speed▲ 6 GB$329rent $0.06/hr

2 GB more and nearly 2× the speedRTX 5060NVIDIA · 8 GB · Blackwell

▲ 103% speed▲ 2 GB$460

More efficient per wattRTX 4060NVIDIA · 8 GB · Ada Lovelace

▲ 23% speed▲ 2 GB$520rent $0.08/hr

2 GB more and 78% fasterA750Intel · 8 GB · Alchemist

▲ 78% speed▲ 2 GB$289

2 GB more and 78% fasterA580Intel · 8 GB · Alchemist

▲ 78% speed▲ 2 GB$179

GTX 1060 6GB tokens per second by model size

Output speed depends on memory bandwidth (192 GB/s). Grey rows need more than 6 GB.

9BQwen3.5 9B · Q3_K_L · 5.8 GB tight · Q3_K_L
22.6tok/s
14BQwen3 14B · not at 4-bit
needs 11.9 GB
27–31BQwen3.8 27B · not at 4-bit
needs 17.9 GB
35B MoEQwen3.6 35B A3B · not at 4-bit
needs 22.0 GB
70BLlama 3.3 70B Instruct · not at 4-bit
needs 51.3 GB
120B MoEGPT OSS 120B · not at 4-bit
needs 70.8 GB

Estimated speeds: Q4_K_M, 4K context, one user. How we estimate

All 738 models on the GTX 1060 6GB

Featured only

Best quant that fits, ordered by llmrun Score. Fit grades how well it runs here, S best. How ranking works

LLM models compatible with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB — ranked by Score, recency and Fit
Model	Quant	VRAM	Speed	Context	Fit
SmolLM 360M Instruct362MChat Q4_K_M·208.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB10%	208.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
SmolLM2 360M362MChat Q4_K_M·208.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.8 GB14%	208.0 t/s	8K	S100, Runs great
Dobby Mini Unhinged Llama 3.1 8B8.0BChatRoleplay Q3_K_S·30.6 t/s	Q3_K_S	6.0 GB99%	30.6 t/s	131K	C41, Usable
SmolLM 360M362MChat Q4_K_M·208.0 t/s	Q4_K_M	0.6 GB10%	208.0 t/s	2K	S100, Runs great
TwIL 8B8.8BChatReasoningMathCodeFunctions IQ2_M·34.7 t/s	IQ2_M	6.0 GB99%	34.7 t/s	131K	C43, Usable
Luciole 8B Base8.1BChat Q4_K_M·22.4 t/s	Q4_K_M	5.6 GB94%	22.4 t/s	131K	C41, Usable
Qwen1.5 1.8B Chat1.8BChat Q4_K_M·69.3 t/s	Q4_K_M	4.6 GB77%	69.3 t/s	33K	S86, Runs great
SmolLM 1.7B1.7BChat Q4_K_M·72.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	1.7 GB29%	72.1 t/s	2K	S86, Runs great
T5gemma 2B 2B Ul25.6BChat Q3_K_M·41.6 t/s	Q3_K_M	5.3 GB89%	41.6 t/s	—	B64, Decent
Lucie 7B6.7BChat Q3_K_M·32.5 t/s	Q3_K_M	5.7 GB95%	32.5 t/s	32K	B49, Decent
Internlm2 5 7B Chat7BChat Q3_K_M·31.4 t/s	Q3_K_M	5.9 GB98%	31.4 t/s	33K	C43, Usable
Qwen2.5 1.5B1.5BChatFunctions Q4_K_M·97.5 t/s	Q4_K_M	1.7 GB28%	97.5 t/s	131K	S91, Runs great
Shieldgemma 2B2.6BChat Q4_K_M·72.1 t/s	Q4_K_M	3.6 GB60%	72.1 t/s	—	S86, Runs great
T5gemma 2B 2B Ul2 IT5.6BChat Q3_K_M·41.6 t/s	Q3_K_M	5.3 GB89%	41.6 t/s	—	B64, Decent
Gemma 3n E4B IT7.8BVision IQ3_XXS·37.3 t/s	IQ3_XXS	5.9 GB98%	37.3 t/s	—	C44, Usable

GTX 1060 6GB specs, power and PSU

Specs

Architecture: Pascal
VRAM: 6 GB GDDR5
Memory bandwidth: 192.0 GB/s
FP16 (dense): 4.37 TFLOPS
CUDA cores: 1,280
Tensor cores: 0
Compute capability: 6.1
TDP: 120 W
Released: 2016-07-19
MSRP: $249

GTX 1060 6GB FAQ

Is the GTX 1060 6GB still worth it in 2026?

At ≈$70 used you get 32.3 tok/s per $100 on Qwen3.5 9B, which ranks 1st of the 8 cards compared here; it is also the 4th fastest out of 6 cards with 6 GB. It runs only small models well; 7–9B only just fits.

What is the largest model the GTX 1060 6GB can run?

Qwen2.5 7B Instruct (7.6B) is the largest at 4-bit or better: at Q4_K_M it uses 5.8 GB of 6 GB, and runs at about 25.0 tok/s. At 3-bit, a bigger model fits too: Gemma 2 9B IT (9.2B) at IQ3_M, 5.7 GB.

Can the GTX 1060 6GB run Qwen3.5 4B?

Yes. Qwen3.5 4B fits at Q4_K_M, using 3.4 GB of 6 GB, and it is the best model that runs well on this card.

Can the GTX 1060 6GB run 14B models?

No. Qwen3 14B needs 11.9 GB at Q4, more than the 6 GB on this card.

How many tokens per second does the GTX 1060 6GB give?

About 38.3 tok/s on Qwen3.5 4B at Q4_K_M, with the first token after 19.4 s on a 4K-token prompt.

What power supply does the GTX 1060 6GB need?

Plan a 250 W PSU (2× the 120 W TDP).

Is renting cheaper than buying a GTX 1060 6GB?

An RTX 3080 Ti (12 GB) rents from $0.13/hr. Renting costs as much as buying after ≈500 hours (≈0.4 years at 4 h a day).

Best coding LLMs 8 GB VRAM GPUs with 6 GB or more RTX 3080 Ti RTX 3080 12GB RTX 3080