Custom PC - UK (2020-04)

LABS TEST / GRAPHICS CARDS

O

n paper, Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1660

Ti looks as though it would provide

a comfortable upgrade in

performance over the GeForce GTX 1660 and

its Super variant, thanks to it using a fully

enabled TU116 GPU.

Both the GeForce GTX 1660 and GTX

1660 Super have two of their streaming

multiprocessors disabled, resulting in them

having 128 fewer stream processors than

the Ti model.

However, with the GTX 1660 Super clocked

slightly higher and being otherwise identical

to the GTX 1660 Ti, the performance gap

between the two cards is much narrower than

you might expect, particularly when the GTX

1660 Ti costs so much more money.

Physically, there’s very little to tell the

difference between a GTX 1660 Super and

NVIDIA GEFORCE

GTX 1660 Ti /£245 inc VAT

SUPPLIER scan.co.uk

GTX 1660 Ti, partner card tweaks aside. Most

variants are around 230mm in length, come

with two fans and require an 8-pin PCI-E

power connector.

Diving into our testing, you can see that

the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti does indeed sit just

above the GTX 1660 Super but below the

RTX 2060, as we’d expect.

However, the step up from the GTX 1660

Super is minimal, and not representative

of the extra cost involved. At 1080p, we’re

looking at gains of 2-3fps in most tests, with

a maximum gain of 5fps in one test.

Meanwhile, at 2,560 x 1,440, the

performance difference comes down to

just 1-2fps gains in most tests. This would

be fine if the GTX 1660 Ti was only a handful

of pounds more expensive than the Super,

but in fact it costs considerably more. While

the GTX 1660 Super can currently be bought

for as little as £200 inc VAT, the GTX 1660 Ti

costs closer to £250.

As a result, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, just

doesn’t have the bang for buck to stand out

• the GTX 1660 Super is the better buy for
  gamers on tighter budgets, while the RTX
  2060 (or indeed AMD’s Radeon RX 5600
  XT) is better for people with a little extra
  money to spend.
  Otherwise, there’s still plenty to like about
  this mid-range GPU, if you can pick one
  up for a discount price. While you don’t get
  dedicated ray-tracing cores, the card does
  support DXR via its stream processors. It’s
  barely playable in Battlefield V with DXR at

High settings, but it allows you some room to

experiment at lower resolutions.

Power efficiency is decent too, with our

test system drawing just 1W more under load

with the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti installed than

with the GTX 1660 Super.

Conclusion

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti was a decent choice

before the GTX 1660 Super came along, but

that’s now changed. While it still has a slight

performance advantage over its cheaper

sibling, the lead is tiny and it costs quite a bit

more money. It’s worth picking up if you find a

bargain but it’s not great value for money at its

current price of around £250 inc VAT.

SPEC

Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660

Ti, 1500MHz base clock, 1770MHz boost clock

Pipeline 1,536 stream processors, 48 ROPs

Interface PCI-E 3

RT Cores 0

Tensor Cores 0

Memory 6GB GDDR6, 1.5GHz (12GHz effective)

Memory interface 192-bit

Bandwidth 288GB/sec

Outputs/inputs 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b

Power connections 1 x 8-pin

VERDICT

Stiff competition around it means the GTX

1660 Ti is no longer a top-tier mid-range

graphics card.

NVIDIA

+ Fully enabled

TU116 GPU

+ Low power draw

+ Entry-level ray tracing

VIDEO NASTY

• Too expensive


• Barely faster than
  GTX 1660 Super

PERFORMANCE

40 / 50

RAY TRACING

2 / 10

OVERALL SCORE

72 %

EFFICIENCY

9 / 10

VALUE

21 / 30

BS TEST/GRAPHICS CARDS

eGTX 1660

de

GTX 1660 Ti, partner card twe

variants are around 230mm

with two fans and require

connector.

ourtest

LA

O

n paper,Nvidia’sGeForce
Tilooksasthoughit wouldprovide
a comfortable upgrade in
performance over the GeForce GTX 1660 and
its Super variant, thanks to it using a fully
enabled TU116 GPU.
Both the GeForce GTX 1660 and GTX
1660 Super have two of their streaming
multiprocessors disabled, resulting in them
having 128 fewer stream processors than
the Ti model.
However, with the GTX 1660 Super clocked
slightly higher and being otherwise identical
to the GTX 1660 Ti, the performance gap
between the two cards is much narrower than
you might expect, particularly when the GTX
1660 Ti costs so much more money.
Physically, there’s very little to tell the
difference between a GTX 1660 Super and

/£245inc VAT

SUPPLIERscan.co.uk

aksaside.Most

minlength,come

an8-pinPCI-E

power

Divinginto ng,youcanseethat

theGeForceGTX 1660 Tidoesindeedsitjust

above the GTX 1660 Super but below the

RTX 2060, as we’d expect.

However, the step up from the GTX 1660

Super is minimal, and not representative

of the extra cost involved. At 1080p, we’re

looking at gains of 2-3fps in most tests, with

a maximum gain of 5fps in one test.

Meanwhile, at 2,560 x 1,440, the

performance difference comes down to

just 1-2fps gains in most tests. This would

be fine if the GTX 1660 Ti was only a handful

of pounds more expensive than the Super,

but in fact it costs considerably more. While

the GTX 1660 Super can currently be bought

for as little as £200 inc VAT, the GTX 1660 Ti

costs closer to £250.

As a result, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, just

doesn’t have the bang for buck to stand out

• the GTX 1660 Super is the better buy for
  gamers on tighter budgets, while the RTX
  2060 (or indeed AMD’s Radeon RX 5600
  XT) is better for people with a little extra
  money to spend.
  Otherwise, there’s still plenty to like about
  this mid-range GPU, if you can pick one
  up for a discount price. While you don’t get
  dedicated ray-tracing cores, the card does
  support DXR via its stream processors. It’s
  barely playable in Battlefield V with DXR at

High settings, but it allows you some room to

experiment at lower resolutions.

Power efficiency is decent too, with our

test system drawing just 1W more under load

with the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti installed than

with the GTX 1660 Super.

Conclusion

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti was a decent choice

before the GTX 1660 Super came along, but

that’s now changed. While it still has a slight

performance advantage over its cheaper

sibling, the lead is tiny and it costs quite a bit

more money. It’s worth picking up if you find a

bargain but it’s not great value for money at its

current price of around £250 inc VAT.

SPEC

Graphics processor Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660

Ti, 1500MHz base clock, 1770MHz boost clock

Pipeline 1,536 stream processors, 48 ROPs

Interface PCI-E 3

RT Cores 0

Tensor Cores 0

Memory 6GB GDDR6, 1.5GHz (12GHz effective)

Memory interface 192-bit

Bandwidth 288GB/sec

Outputs/inputs 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b

Power connections 1 x 8-pin

VERDICT

Stiff competition around it means the GTX

1660 Ti is no longer a top-tier mid-range

graphics card.

NVIDIA

+Fully enabled

TU116 GPU

+Lowpower draw

+Entry-level ray tracing

VIDEO NASTY

• Too expensive


• Barely faster than
  GTX 1660 Super

PERFORMANCE

40 / 50

RAY TRACING

2 / 10

OVERALLSCORE

72 %

EFFICIENCY

9 / 10

VALUE

21 / 30

TEST/GRAPHICS CARDS

X 1660

de

GTX 1660 Ti,partnercard e

variantsarearound230mm

twofansandrequi

nec

urte