Palit GeForce GTX 1660 StormX OC review - Introduction

Palit GeForce GTX 1660 StormX OC 6G review
Compact, versatile and cooling all at 219,-  

We review a GeForce GTX 1660 that is priced spot on that 219 USD marker, the MSRP of the new non-Ti model, meet the petite Palit GeForce GTX 1660 StormX OC edition. Based on a big single fan and a small form factor you should not be fooled by its looks. It performs well on all fronts, including cooling acoustic levels.

We mentioned this a couple of times before, but initially, when the first rumors on the GeForce GTX (yes, with a G) surfaced, speculation was everywhere and we had doubts NVIDIA would actually release a new GTX while moving forward towards it's RTX branding. But yes, NVIDIA is now injecting a Turing based GPU into the mainstream called TU116. To make it more affordable NVIDIA stripped away the RTX and DLSS features, that means there are no RT and Tensor cores on this GPU. It's a fall back towards the original shader design model. And that's where we land today with this review. The TU116 based 1660 GPU has 1536 shader for the Ti model and 1408 shader cores (aka CUDA cores / Stream processors) tied to 6GB of memory for the regular 1660 (non-Ti). So you can choose two video card series based on the same chip, the GTX 1660 and the 1660 Ti. The Ti variants we have seen in the first launch wave and thus will get GDDR6 graphics memory, the non-Ti is fitted with GDDR5 graphics memory as well as offering 6GB and 3GB configurations. In the year 2019 we, however, could never advise a 3GB graphics card. The 1660 series is making use of the Turing architecture but will not have Raytracing and Tensor cores, this is why NVIDIA dropped the RTX suffix back to GTX. The GeForce GTX 1660 Ti cards are to occupy the 250 to 300 USD price domain where the GTX 1660 will sit in a 200 to 250 USD pricing level, currently occupied by the AMD Polaris 20-based Radeon RX 580 and RX 570 series.

	GTX 1060	GTX 1660	GTX 1660 Ti	RTX 2060
GPU	GP106	12nm FF TU116	12nm FF TU116	12nm FF TU106
Shader cores	1280	1408	1536	1920
Memory	6 GB / 3GB GDDR5	6GB GDDR5	6GB GDDR6	6GB GDDR6
Memory bus	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit

The reference frequencies for the GTX 1660 series are spicy, with a reference Base and boost clocks at 1,530 and 1,785 MHz respectively. The new cards, (if priced right) can become NVIDIA's new money maker, as they should offer very decent gaming performance in the 1080p and 1440p resolutions. NVIDIA is not distributing a reference design card to the media. Ergo, the reviews you'll see are based on AIB designed partner cards. Will there be a GeForce GTX 1650 card? Yes very likely, we expect that somewhere in April.

Palit GeForce GTX 1660 StormX OC

The 1660 series graphics cards are based on Turing architecture, offering just that fundamental shading engine. The GPU has been cut-down, the available memory configurations will be 6GB GDDR6 for the Ti models and 3 or 6GB GDDR5 for the non-Ti models. Our tested card has been fitted with 6GB of GDDR5 memory (8 Gbps) running a 192-bit wide bus. This 120 Watt rated graphics card has 1408 active shader processors (that value is 1536 on the GTX 1660 Ti and 1920 on the RTX 2060). It has a proper boost clock and there will be no differentiation for the reference values compared to the AIB partners.  

Having smaller TU116 silicon with close to 6.6 Billion transistors it doesn't run too hot and in fact, is really energy efficient. The cooler is a dual-slot design. The card comes fitted with just one rear positioned power header (8-pin). Palit applies a more simple cooler for the GeForce GTX 1660 which makes use of a single fan. It might not have any RGB embedded, but it still is an attractive product with good cooling and even the acoustic performance is very decent. The card offers one HDMI, DP but also a DVI connector. This Turing 116-300-A1 GPU empowered product keeps that GPU at roughly 65 Degrees C marker depending on game load. This compact card is based on reference frequencies for the non-OC model, meaning a stock 1785 MHz Boost clock. However, for just a few bucks more you can purchase the OC version as tested today, which has a boost clock of 1830 MHz. The GDDR5 memory has been not been tweaked.