PC World (2019-04)

42 PCWorld APRIL 2019

REVIEWS EVGA GEFORCE GTX 1660 TI XC ULTRA

GTX 1660 Ti XC Ultra sticks to basic port

options, limiting itself to solitary HDMI,

DisplayPort, and dual-link DVI connections—

though we’re very happy to see the latter

whatsoever. By comparison, the Asus ROG

Strix dumps DVI, but doubles up on HDMI

and DisplayPorts. EVGA’s card measures 10.5

power connection, so it should have no

problem slipping into the vast majority of

gaming PCs.

Wrapping things up, it’s worth noting a

few omissions on EVGA’s card, RGB LEDs

being the most glaring. We’re fine with the

decision, but it’s increasingly rare to see a

modern graphics card without flashing lights.

The card also lacks a backplate, but that’s not

really a negative either—just a point worth

mentioning given that this is EVGA’s highest-

end GTX 1660 Ti offering.

But enough tech spec talk! Let’s take the

EVGA GTX 1660 Ti XC Ultra to the test bench.

OUR TEST SYSTEM

Our dedicated graphics card test system is

packed with some of the fastest

complementary components available to put

any potential

performance

bottlenecks squarely on

the GPU. Most of the

hardware was provided

by the manufacturers,

but we purchased the

cooler and storage

ourselves.

• Intel Core i7-8700K processor ($360 on
  Amazon at go.pcworld.com/700k)


• EVGA CLC 240 closed-loop liquid cooler
  ($120 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/c240)


• Asus Maximus X Hero motherboard
  ($260 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/mxmc)


• 64GB HyperX Predator RGB
  DDR4/2933 ($416 for 32GB on Amazon at
  go.pcworld.com/hxpr)


• EVGA 1200W SuperNova P2 power
  supply ($180 on Amazon at go.pcworld.
  com/spnv)


• Corsair Crystal 570X RGB case, with
  front and top panels removed and an extra
  rear fan installed for improved airflow ($170
  on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/crst)


• 2x 500GB Samsung 860 EVO SSDs
  ($100 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/smev)
  We’re comparing the $310 EVGA GTX 1660
  Ti XC Ultra against the $330 Asus ROG Strix
  GTX 1660 Ti, as well as its predecessor, an
  overclocked EVGA version of the 6GB GTX

1060. Rounding out the Nvidia side, we’re
      also including the GTX 1070 Founders Edition
      and the ray tracing-capable $350 GeForce