APRIL 2019 PCWorld 49initial part of the race, where all competing
cars are onscreen simultaneously, tends to be
the most demanding portion. The GTX 1660
Ti is yet another testament to Nvidia’s clear
power efficiency domination, drawing far less
energy than its Radeon rivals, and roughly the
same amount of power as the GTX 1060 while
delivering far more performance per watt.
We test thermals by leaving HWInfo’s
sensor monitoring tool open during the F1
2018 5-lap power draw test, noting the
highest maximum temperature at the end.
Here’s the biggest pure performance
difference between the two GTX 1660 Ti
models we’ve tested, the Asus ROG Strix and
EVGA’s XC Ultra. The massive ROG Strix runs
ice-cold with very little fan noise, or utterly
silently with the card’s Quiet BIOS. But
achieving that requires a massive triple-slot,
triple-fan cooler and a steeper
price premium. The EVGA GTX
1660 Ti XC Ultra still delivers some
of the lowest GPU temperatures in
this performance class, it runs very
quietly itself, and it does so in a
more flexible dual-slot cooler
design. They’re both winners,
albeit in very different ways.BOTTOM LINE
If you’re looking for a great
graphics card that will let you
game at high frame rates and no
visual compromises at 1080p
resolution, the $310 EVGA GTX 1660 Ti XC
Ultra should be on your short list. It’s powerful
enough for 1440p gaming, too, and would
make a sublime pairing with a G-Sync or
FreeSync variable refresh rate monitor. EVGA’s
built a very compelling graphics card built
around a very compelling GPU—one that
utterly dismantles rival AMD Radeon RX 590
options, and one that renders the GTX 1070
obsolete unless you find one on a massive sale.
The XC Ultra justifies its $30 premium over
baseline GTX 1660 Ti models thanks to its
hefty overclock and potent custom cooling
system. GPU clock speeds hover around
2GHz in most gaming scenarios, and EVGA’s
cooling solution runs chilly and quiet while
maintaining a reasonable dual-slot design that
should have no trouble fitting in most gaming
PCs. The need for only a single 8-pin powerGPU temperature under load
(Celsius)LONGER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE756559777567Sapphire Radeon RX 590 Nitro+EVGA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XC UltraAsus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 TiNvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (FE)AMVega 56D RadeonNvidia GeForce
RTX 2060 (FE)