APRIL 2019 PCWorld 411660 Ti’s core tech specs.
Highlights include a
massive jump in overall
memory bandwidth thanks
to an upgrade to ultra-fast
GDDR6 VRAM, and a
massive upgrade in Turing
GPU-enhanced CUDA
cores (go.pcworld.com/
turi), all at the same
120-watt TDP as the older
GTX 1060. Spectacular
stuff—though note that all
GTX 1660 Ti models lack the dedicated ray
tracing and AI hardware found in the pricier
RTX 20-series GPUs.
The EVGA GTX 1660 Ti sticks to the
reference specifications with one key
exception: the GPU clock speed. EVGA’s card
claims the same 1,860MHz boost clock
speed as the ROG Strix, a sizeable 90MHz
increase over the reference spec. Also like the
ROG Strix, the EVGA GTX 1660 Ti XC Ultra
actually soars even higher out of the box,
maintaining clock speeds around 1,935MHz
to 1,950MHz in most games. It’s fast.
EVGA’s graphics card maintains those
supercharged clock speeds thanks to its
potent custom cooler. The GeForce GTX
1660 Ti XC Ultra includes the overhauled
custom cooling design found on many of
EVGA’s RTX 20-series GPUs. Dual hydraulic
dynamic bearing (HDB) axial fans emblazoned
with tiny “E”s sit atop a deep, dense heat sink,
and EVGA claims that the mixture of HDB fans
with the tiny letters result in a 19 percent
reduction in noise levels compared to
competing fans with sleeve-bearing fan
designs. We can’t quantify that ourselves, but
there’s no question that the EVGA GTX 1660
Ti XC Ultra runs pretty quietly for such a potent
graphics card.
The custom cooler wasn’t the only thing
EVGA redesigned from the ground up for this
generation. The company’s Precision X1
software (go.pcworld.com/prx1) has evolved
into one of the slickest and easiest-to-use
overclocking tools available, with everything
you need to push your GPU to new heights—
including dead-simple one-button automatic
overclocking for folks who don’t like to get
their hands dirty. It’s highly recommended if
you have any interest in tinkering with your
graphics card.
Returning to physical design, the EVGA