So I had the basic GTX 1060 mini non SC and couldn't stand the fan noise and 75+c temps. So I bought the Arctic Accelero Xtreme III and installed it.
two things happened...
 
1-The temps dropped from mid 70's and sometimes I would hit 81c to 48c!!!!!!!!!!!
2-This thing is literally silent.
 
I can't for some reason upload pics, but you can find a ton of videos on youtube.
 
what a difference!!

That would be expected tbh...
 
The cooler you bought is likely twice the size of the card you put it on lol. I wouldn't have considered 81C a terrible temp but if the fan noise was bugging you, sounds like you solved your problem.
 
Great new temps tho.

Thanks, yes my new cooler is twice as big as the card, but thought I would go with the biggest cooler there is to keep the temps down to allow for more overclocking without thermal throttling.
To be honest, eVGA did a horrible job with the cooling on this card, when I pulled the original fan heatsink off, I was surprised at how small the heat sink was, I'll take a picture of it and post it later.
 
 Here are some pics...

These are photos of the original heatsink and fan of ther GTX 1060 mini. Utter garbage.

Why buy that 1060 when it's for an ITX build? Temps for those kinds of cards are never good since they are normally used for HTPC builds and the like. You ended up spending more by buying that card and a new cooler versus buying a decent 1060 card.

mark_thaddeus
Why buy that 1060 when it's for an ITX build? Temps for those kinds of cards are never good since they are normally used for HTPC builds and the like. You ended up spending more by buying that card and a new cooler versus buying a decent 1060 card.

 
I will chalk this one up for lack of knowledge, my last PC build was over 10 years ago, so when I built this new system two years ago, this card was available and again not knowing how it performs, i went ahead and bought it.
Don't get me wrong, I like the GTX 1060, it's the little engine that could. runs games with ease and when I edit video, the CUDA core count is great for effects and realtime editing. 
 
The card I bought before this was the GTX285 from BF tech, so yeah that's how far back I go lol. Now I know.
 

Shlooky
 
I will chalk this one up for lack of knowledge, my last PC build was over 10 years ago, so when I built this new system two years ago, this card was available and again not knowing how it performs, i went ahead and bought it.
Don't get me wrong, I like the GTX 1060, it's the little engine that could. runs games with ease and when I edit video, the CUDA core count is great for effects and realtime editing. 
 
The card I bought before this was the GTX285 from BF tech, so yeah that's how far back I go lol. Now I know.
 

 
Heck you're just an old timer like myself! Good to see that you solved your temp problems!
 

Thanks for the pics of what's underneath the shroud on these cards. That's a truly sad heatsink....
 
That said, 81C is within normal temps for the card, although slightly high.
 
Overkill? Nahhhh... Here's an old pic of my 8800 GT's from waaaay back in the day with custom cooling on them. Pure copper dual fan heatsinks... I overclocked the hell out of these lol. It's kinda the art, sure you might waste some money, but if you have fun doing it, who cares? I could go to the casino tonight and blow thru $100 in no time. Nothing wrong with a little show boating.
 

Those look like Tesla coils... Totally awesome!
I know many bought the eVGA GTX 1060 mini, i hope this thread helps people try alternative cooling options.