GTX 1660 vs 1060

If you happen to be on a budget, we’re sure you’ll be pleased to know that you don’t have to part ways with hundreds (or sometimes even thousands) of dollars in order to get your hands on a decent GPU.

For the gamer looking to save their money, there’s a variety of graphics cards on the market that won’t burn a hole in your pocket, and we’re here to help you make the most informed decision possible.

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the GeForce GTX 1660 and the GeForce GTX 1060. From architecture to VRAM, here’s how they compare:

The first specification we’re going to be taking a look at is the architecture, which helps to indicate to us how fast and efficient the overall performance will be.

The GeForce GTX 1660 uses Nvidia’s TU166 Turing GPU, albeit with the catch that it doesn’t support RTX standout features such as DLSS and ray-tracing. Nevertheless, 1660 does feature Nvidia’s streaming multiprocessor that is able to offer various performance-enhancing features, such as improved bandwidth and better caches.

On the other hand, the slightly older GTX 1060 consists of Nvidia’s Pascal architecture which, despite offering up to 3x faster performance than that of older cards (upon the time of release) it is unable to rival the technological advancements made by Turing architecture, particularly when it comes to handling the workload of new-generation games.

Interestingly enough, despite the performance gap in architecture, the two cards each offer a pretty close base and boost clock performance:

GTX 1660

• Base clock: 1,530 MHz
• Boost clock: 1,860MHz

GTX 1060

• Base clock: 1,506MHZ
• Boost clock: 1,809MHZ

As you can see above, there isn’t too much of a difference between the two, especially as the GTX 1660 only offers a 10% increase in cores. This might cause you to wonder whether upgrading to the newer 1660 is worth the price difference, and rightly so. However, Nvidia’s response to that question would be that the Turing Cuda cores are more adept at handling heavy workloads than Pascal, which in turn would make 1660 the most ‘future-proof’ out of the two.

Besides understanding the architecture, it’s also important to consider the resolution – a specification that will indicate how well each card will stack up at rendering smooth, clean graphics during gameplay.

According to user benchmarks, the GTX 1600 offers a slight performance boost as opposed to the GTX 1060, on average offering a 9% performance boost across all games at 1440p, and around 18% faster while running games at 1080p.

One of the biggest ailments all gamers encounter is their cards overheating, especially during heavier workloads, which is why it’s important to consider the cooling capabilities before you make a purchase.

The 1660 features a dual-fan design which will allow for more airflow at a slower speed. Plus, to enhance the cooling effect, this card uses a taller fan hub which has been specifically designed to more effectively prevent the card from overheating, all the while offering a quieter performance. The 1660’s design also means that the fans spin in opposite directions, which helps to keep a steady airflow circulating throughout the interior of the card.

In contrast, the older GTX 1060 features a single-fan design which is not as effective as the dual-fan design of the 1660, though it does feature thermals that help to keep the card cool even under the most rigorous of gaming conditions. Unfortunately, unlike the quiet performance of the 1660, the 1060 tends to operate with quite a loud noise profile, particularly if the fans are turning above 50% speed.

Of course, you can always purchase a separate cooling system to help keep the card you select operating at a moderate temperature, although this will come at an additional cost.

The last thing you want to do is purchase a brand-spanking-new card for your gaming needs, only to discover that it is the wrong size! The GeForce GTX 1660 will be connected to the rest of your gaming system using the PCI-Express 3.0×16 interface, with the dimensions being as follows: 229mm x 111mm x 35mm. It also features a dual-slot cooling solution.

Similarly, the GeForce GTX 1060 will be connected to the rest of the system by using a PCI-Express 3.0 interface, with the card itself measuring 250mm in length, 111mm in width. Like the 1660, it also features a dual-slot cooling solution.

Ray tracing refers to the ability to emulate the way that light and shadow work in real life. Unfortunately, neither cards feature the necessary hardware to be able to enable ray-tracing.

When it comes down to memory bandwidth and overall gaming performance, the GeForce GTX 1660 offers slightly better performance than the GeForce GTX 1060. Both the 1660 and 1060 offer 8Gbps using GDDR5. However, the main differences arise from the number of CUDA cores: the 1660 has 1408 whilst the 1060 has 1280, which in turn indicates that the 1660 will offer a more powerful and efficient performance.

Plus, not only does the GTX 1660 have a higher clock speed than the 1060, it also features more texture mapping units, which means that the GTX 1600 has a 14.1 GTexel/s improved texturing performance. In addition, as the 1660 was developed after the 1060, it is safe to assume that it offers better driver support, which means that it is more adept at handling the demands of games of today.

All in all, both GPUs offer a very powerful performance. Not only can both cards withstand heavy workloads, but they are both capable of handling games at both 1440p and 1080p. However, the 1660 does offer slightly better performance overall as, not only is it more capable of offering smoother frame rates on maximum settings, it is also better able to keep itself cool, not to mention running extremely quietly.