Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti Vs. Nvidia GTX 1660
In this article, we review the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660 to find out which is the best graphics card for your gaming PC setup
AMD/Nvidia
Though AMD has spent years trying, it’s only recently that they’ve shown any real competition to Nvidia when it comes to producing quality graphics cards at both ends of the price range.
We thought we’d cut out the middleman (AKA the GTX 1660 Super) and compare the two Nvidia graphics cards that are considered the top and bottom of the GTX 16-series, the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660, in order to find out which GPU offers the best value for money.
By comparison, the GTX 1660 Super is surprisingly similar to the Ti in terms of quality, showing a mere 2% difference when we tested it with certain games. There’s a bigger gap between the Ti and the 1660, although this too can be reduced by overclocking your graphics card.
So this begs the question, which of these GPUs is the best value for money?
The GTX 1660 Ti was introduced as an affordable alternative to the pricier RTX series of graphics cards and it’s a step up from the GTX 10 series GPUs. It performs better in most games, but it is also more expensive than the GTX 1660 which is by no means a bad choice itself.
Taking into account their architecture, cooling systems, memory, and performance, here’s how these two Nvidia GTX GPUs stack up.
Architecture
Both of these GPUs feature Nvidia’s Turing TU116 architecture, also seen in their GeForce 20 series and offering a level of performance that’s akin to what you’d get with the GeForce GTX 1070.
The 1660 Ti was actually the first card that features Turing architecture without ray tracing as it aims to be a more budget-friendly option. In fact, neither GPU has any Ray Tracing Cores or Tensor Cores like the RTX series which means you’ll be unable to access the benefits of this technology.
When it comes to CUDA cores, there’s a 9% disparity between the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660. The former has 1,536 compared to the latter, which has 1,408. These CUDA cores are responsible for
Somewhat surprisingly, the GTX 1660 which is considered to be the lower end of the two actually has a slightly faster core clock at 1,530MHz whereas the Ti card has 1,500MHz. The Ti has a higher boosted speed of 11860Mhz, however, and the 1660 has a boosted speed of 1,758Mhz.
Whilst it’s nothing groundbreakingly new for Nvidia or AMD, Reshade is also supported by the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660 with it built-in to the control panel, although the former is better equipped for this without it affecting the performance.
Cooling
The GTX 1660 Ti GPU features a single 85mm fan which is housed by a thin fin stack and shroud, with a copper thermal solution. Thermal pads also sit on top of the plate and help circulate hot air around the unit and into the sink assembly.
Comparably, the GXT 1600 has a dual-slot cooling system that works well at helping your GPU run at lower temperatures. Both cards have a 120-watt power board which improves upon that of its competition by AMD, and this also helps to maintain lower temperatures and noise levels.
Of the two, the GTX 1660 Ti is the louder option largely due to its effective cooling system, although it’s nowhere near the level of AMD’s Radeon RX Vega 56.
Considering the difference overclocking can make to these graphics cards and their performance, we would advise purchasing a second cooling system to help your GPU cope with higher demands and prevents overheating as a result of being overclocked.
Dimensions
To ensure your GPU fits correctly with the rest of your gaming PC setup, you’ll need to know the dimensions of the graphics card. The good news is, the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660 are practically interchangeable.
Both of these GTX GPUs connect to your system via a PCI-Express 3.0 x 16 interface and feature multiple display outputs, including DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. An 8-pin power connector keeps things running smoothly with a maximum power draw of 120 watts for both cards.
The chips themselves are average in terms of size measuring 229mm x 111mm x 35mm and they have a die area of 284 mm squared with 6,600 million transistors.
Resolution/FPS
In terms of performance, the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1660 Ti are hardly words apart. Neither can be expected to handle 4K and you’ll get the best results with both of these cards in 1080p.
The GTX 1660 Ti offers reasonable frame rates at 2560 x 1440 and even better performance at 1920 x 1080. If you’re looking to game at 1440p, you’d be worse off opting for the GTX 1660 despite it having a power profile that is similar to (but not as fast as) the GTX 1660 Ti.
If you can afford to spend the extra $60, we recommend opting for the GCX 1660 Ti because it’s the better choice for gaming at both 1080p and 1440p in high quality, although the GTX 1660 stands on its own if you’re only interested in playing at 1080p. The Ti version is also likely to fare better over time and will have more relevance in the future as games become more demanding.
Ray Tracing
Without the RT cores and Tensor cores of the RTX series, the GTX 16 series is capable of performing ray-tracing calculations but it would require a much higher standard of general compute ability to actually utilize this.
Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) acceleration is similarly off the cards due to a reduced number of Tensor cores; therefore, this is another feature that you would need to turn to the RTX GPUs for.
Nvidia’s Ultra-Low-Latency (NULL) technology is supported by both the GTX 1660 and the GTX 1660 Ti, however, which improves response times and makes either card a great choice for competitive gaming.
VRAM
Both graphics cards are similar in terms of memory, but the gap in storage size does set them apart. The GTX 1660 Ti has 6GB of GDDR6 memory, whereas the GTX 1660 has a lower capacity of 6GB of GDDR5 memory and smaller memory bandwidth by 33%.
There’s a bigger difference in terms of speed, with the Ti card’s 12Gbps being much faster than the 1660’s 8Gbps, which somewhat makes up for the lack of CUDA cores. The Super trumps both graphics cards in this scenario with a superior speed of 14Gbps.
Of course, it depends on the settings you’re using and the resolution quality, but there is some variation you’ll notice when playing with either of these two GPUs and the GTX 1660 trails the 1660 Ti by around 10 to 25%.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to upgrade their mid-range gaming PC or if you’re building your own from scratch, you can’t go far wrong with the GTX 1660 Ti. Compared to the GTX 1060, it offers a vast improvement in performance without a hugely increased price tag to match.
But compared to the GTX 1660, does the Ti moniker make it worth spending the extra money? If you can afford to, then yes. You gain a couple of Streaming Multiprocessors along with 128 CUDA cores from its architecture, and the drop in memory is arguably the biggest downfall of the GTX 1660.