NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GDDR6 Graphics Card Review Ft. MSI Gaming X ($299) and Ventus XS ($279) – The Turing For All

Conclusion

Over the past generations, NVIDIA has tried to keep feature parity across their lineup (top to bottom) in various architecture generations. This time, however, things get a little interesting. NVIDIA's GeForce division has decided to keep both GeForce GTX and GeForce RTX brands rather than making a complete shift to RTX. It will be interesting to see how long the GeForce RTX label remains attached to NVIDIA's Gaming cards but one thing is for sure, with this launch, NVIDIA's GeForce GTX is back!

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the first GTX card in the Turing lineup. As you all remember, the most talked about feature of the Turing GPUs was the RTX feature set which allows for raytracing in real time. Not only that, but the Tensor cores on the Turing GPU were also highlighted, allowing AI to take over the major processing workloads in delivering higher FPS, take DLSS as an example. But there's more to Turing than just RTX. During the previous generations, each GPU successor came with a raw performance increase per core, faster memory designs, better cache layout, and higher efficiency. Turing achieves all of that and I think the GTX 1660 Ti is the best example of Turing's raw performance enhancements.

While the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti has stripped off the major highlights that made Turing look so much interesting at launch (on paper at least), I think these were wise decisions given the price and target market of this graphics card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti retails at $279 US, a small bump over the $249 US price of the GeForce GTX 1060. The card could've been priced $249 US and that would be a deal breaker but the $279 US price doesn't disappoint considering the many custom variants you will be able to get at that price on launch day.

Of those custom models are the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming X and MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS OC edition which I am testing today. Both cards are fully custom designed with custom PCBs with a 4+2 VRM layout and dual fan coolers. Both cards are attached with a backplate that is good for aesthetics and even serves as a nice thermal plate to keep the components on the other side running at optimal temperatures.

The MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti at $299 US has slightly higher clock speeds, a better cooler with MSI's TORX 3.0 fans and a fantastic Twin Frozr VII cooler design. The MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS OC Edition at $279 US comes with a factory overclock, although slightly lower than the Gaming X, but it still packs a dual fan with MSI's TORX 2.0 fans and just about the same performance as the Gaming X, give or take a few FPS. If you want the looks, then MSI Gaming X is your best bet but if you want the best budget option, Ventus XS OC from MSI has you all set up for a great HD gaming experience.

Now coming to the performance, this aspect of the card is one of the strong showcasing of Turing GPU architecture. The card performs really well against the GTX 1070 which was around 30% faster than the GTX 1060 while coming close to the RX Vega 56 in some cases. Even the reference MSRP cards deliver such good results that it makes for a great upgrade to users that are running 1080p monitors and want the smoothest gaming experience without spending a whole lot. Even at 1440p with decent quality settings, you can get a great gaming experience out of this little beast but do note that the 6 GB VRAM can become a limiting factor if the game features high-resolution textures and GPU intensive shadows. This is the other reason why ray-tracing is not available for GTX cards. Simply put, it doesn't make sense if you don't have the raw power in the first place. Raytracing at 1080p at a subpar experience wouldn't make this card any more compelling than trying to run it on an RTX 2060 at 4K resolution.

That said, the card does feature some of the best efficiency for Turing GPUs that I have noticed. At 120W, it does shine in the efficiency department and just shows that come the 7nm GPUs, NVIDIA may stir up some impressive numbers on smaller dies with more cores, more RTX and more raw power. The cooling and thermals were great too with both cards performing great and the TORX fans on both variants offering low noise levels.

With all of that in mind, the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti from NVIDIA is a great mainstream card for PC builders who want the best 1080p gaming experience under $300 US and to play competitive titles at ultrafast framerates. The MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming X at $299 is a surprisingly well-built card with a great design, great cooling performance and a nice factory overclock but if you're looking for something that offers a little more value, than the MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Ventus XS OC gives you all of the above (even the same performance), minus a few cosmetic changes for an MSRP-matching price of $279 US, making it a steal for HD PC builders.

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9.5

WCCFTECH RATING

The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti from NVIDIA is a great mainstream card for PC builders who want the best 1080p gaming experience under $300 US and to play competitive titles at ultrafast framerates without compromising on power efficiency, noise, and thermals.

Pros

• Turing finally at a much more reasonable price point
• Many Custom Models Available at launch for MSRP ($279)
• Good upgrade from GTX 960 and GTX 1060
• Great performance for 1080p Gaming Titles
• Great performance for eSports Gaming Titles
• Great thermals on both custom cards
• Good Noise levels on both custom cards
• Power efficiency has increased drastically
• Support NVIDIA Adaptive Shading Technology
• Good driver support for GeForce products, compatibility with DX11, DX12, Vulkan, OpenGL titles
• Good Display Connectivity, support for VESA Adaptive-Sync and G-Sync Compatible Monitors

Cons

• No RT Cores For Ray Tracing Support
• No Tensor Cores For DLSS Support
• Price could still be a little lower

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