These last months have been rich in launches at NVIDIA. After the renewal of the high-end with the RTX 2070, 2080 and 2080 Ti on the Turing generation, the chameleon company has offered us a very convincing RTX 2060 , more affordable. Only a few weeks after the release of the latter, NVIDIA launches a new card stamped GTX 1660 Ti . It is also based on the Turing architecture, but amputated RT / Tensor Cores, to offer a more reasonable price (299 €) to players who have only the latest technological refinements, still little exploited. So, verdict?
TU116: Turing without RTX and Deep Learning features
NVIDIA is part of the architecture Turing to design its new chip, resurrecting the name GTX on this occasion, since the 1660 Ti does not offer the RTX features as highlighted on the Turing generation.
We will not go into the details of the Turing architecture again, since we did it during our test of the RTX 2070, 2080 and 2080 Ti , but know that the TU116 takes some evolution of the architecture, as the new Streamprocessors and improved cache allocation, as well as simultaneous execution of instructions. On the other hand, RT cores dedicated to ray racing disappear, as well as Tensor cores in charge of the exploitation of deep learning (DLSS).
But this little TU116is not a TU10X amputated a part of its components: it is cut to measure with 3 GPC, each including 4 TPC / 8 SM. In terms of memory, the GTX 1660 Ti embeds 6 GB of GDDR6 at 12 Gbps on a 192-bit bus. We can just regret the 2GB of memory less than the GTX 1070, yet on the same performance niche. In fact, for use in FHD, or even WQHD, the 6 GB should be more than enough.
Finally, a word about the die . It is 284 mm 2 , far from the monstrous 754 mm 2 of the RTX 2080 Ti. It is indeed the withdrawal of the units dedicated to ray tracing and the exploitation of deep learningwhich allows NVIDIA to reduce the number of transistors and the final bill . This reduction in diesize also has a direct impact on the thermal envelope of the GTX 1660 Ti, and allows NVIDIA's partners to design very compact models with a single fan.
PNY GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR8
Founders Point Editions for GTX 1660 Ti, but only partner models. It is the model XLR8 from PNY that we will test today.
This model is available at NVIDIA's recommended price of € 299 . The card is equipped with a single fan, for a fairly compact dual-slot format: 40 x 168 x 126 mm. In terms of connectivity, we will find a DisplayPort 1.4 port, an HMDI 2.0b port and a DVI-D port for older monitors. However, this model is not equipped with a VirtualLink port (USB-C) dedicated to virtual reality. Finally, for power supply, only one 8-pin connector will be needed, PNY advising to use a power supply of 450W or more.
The PNY GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 is overclocked, with a GPU boost frequency of 1815 MHz, 45 MHz more than stock frequencies.
The PNY GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 is overclocked, with a GPU boost frequency of 1815 MHz, 45 MHz more than stock frequencies.
Configuration and test protocol
Without further ado, here is the test configuration used for all benchmarks. This has been provided by TopAchat , whom we thank, and you can see the nice configurations by following this link.
Here is the list of cards we tested:
- Intel Core i7-8700K processor (3.7 GHz)
- MSI Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON Motherboard (Intel Z370 Chipset)
- DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LPX, 2 x 8 GB, 3000 MHz, CAS 15, PC-24000
- Samsung Series 960 EVO SSD, 250GB, M.2 (Type 2280)
- Seagate BarraCuda Hard Drive, 2TB
- Be Quiet Food! Pure Power 10 CM, 600W
- ASUS ROG Swift PG27U Monitor (4K HDR 144Hz G-sync
Here is the list of cards we tested:
- GeForce GTX 1070 FE
- GeForce GTX 1080 FE
- GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FE
- GeForce RTX 2060 FE
- GeForce RTX 2070 Armor (MSI)
- GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming Z (MSI)
- GeForce RTX 2080 FE
- GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FE
- GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Duke (MSI)
- Radeon RX Vega 64 Nitro + (Sapphire)
- GeForce GTX 1660 Ti XLR8 (PNY)
Electricity consumption and synthetic tests
The GTX 1660 Ti is placed just above the GTX 1070 FE on the 3DMark synthetic test, with performance only 20% below an RTX 2060.
Performance in games
In most games, the performance in WQHD (1440p) is very correct with a frame rate higher than 60 in almost all of our tests with the settings pushed to the maximum. Only the very demanding Shadow of the Tomb Raider is below with 50 frames / sec, which is honorable.
The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti comes to the same level as the GeForce GTX 1070, depending on the games it will be in the lead or just behind.
When you are confined to Full HD (1080p), the comfort of play remains optimal, with more than 75 frames / sec in all games tested with the settings pushed to the maximum, and many exceed 100 frames / sec (Frost Engine , ID Tech 6).
Overclocking
We of course tried to push the last one from NVIDIA in its entrenchments. For this, we have once again used the OC Scanner function with MSI Afterburner.
After about twenty minutes of analysis and tests, the stable frequency curve obtained has an average of +70 MHz. Note that neither the temperature nor the noise generated by the fan has increased significantly. The card remains very quiet.
On arrival, we get boosted performance by 2% compared to stock frequencies, but our test model is already overclocked at the factory, it remains very correct.
Conclusion GeForce GTX 1660 TIi
Announced at a price starting at € 299, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is a very good surprise, with performance at a GTX 1070 for € 150 less.
NVIDIA responds to critics of players who have nothing to do with features related to ray tracing and deep learning , still very little used in games . At an almost identical price, the GTX 1660 Ti surpasses by almost 35% the GTX 1060 generation Pascal, positioning itself as the ideal card for players who want to enjoy the latest games in 1080p more than 80 frames / sec , and in 1440p with a solid 60 frames / sec.