Reviews: A GeForce GTX 1660 Threesome - MSI Ventus and Gaming X and Palit StormX

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 03/14/2019 03:00 PM | source: | 72 comment(s)

NVIDIA today launches their mainstream GeForce GTX 1660 that sits at roughly 219 USD. Not to confuse with the Ti model, this iteration of the graphics cards has 1408 shader processors and is tied towards 6GB of GDDR5 memory. The GTX series is different from the RTX series in respect that they do not have Tensor or Raytracing cores. make no mistake though, this is Turing architecture based on the 12nm FF TU116 GPU.

The end result is a product that takes on the Radeon RX 580 and 590, and does that quite well. We have prepared three initial reviews for today, two from MSI and one Mini ITX version from Palit.

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Fox2232
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Joined: 2012-07-20

#5649899 Posted on: 03/14/2019 05:51 PM

Maybe we will never know, but I think the hate that RTX got coupled with the low RTX sales will definitely accelerate the timeline for Nvidia.
Investors are not remotely pleased about the results lately.
I think 7nm Turing was always coming as early as next year which is why Nvidia released the Ti model with the rest of the series instead of waiting the typical length of time for Ti.
Issue nVidia has is allocation of 7nm production capacity.

Koniakki
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#5649907 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:04 PM

Srly for a second, I was like, "HH did another 3 reviews of 1660 Ti"? The oh, ok. I see it now. :p

Btw Battlefield V really, really, doesn't like the 980Ti... lol

fantaskarsef
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Joined: 2014-07-21

#5649909 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:08 PM

The 1660ti is targeting the rx590 in sales as it was released at the same MSRP. AMD began to lower the 590s price just before the 1660ti release. The 1660 is targeting the rx580 at similar MSRP price and again AMD reacted by lowering the 580s price. The Nvidia are cards are faster and more efficient than the AMD counterparts they were originally intended to compete with. All this means is that AMD is biting the bullet to stay relevant vs their Nvidia counterparts. For customers this is a win. For AMD, I doubt they are happy having to settle with much reduced margins for their products. Of course, I am sure they are also trying to reduce stocks to make way for Navi (if expected in July?). So the 1660/1660ti's day in the sun may be brief, only a few months before they are eclipsed by Navi. Which then I suspect the same scenario will be reversed price-wise between the Nvidia and Navi products.

Exactly my thought on this, once AMD releases Navi they might well again have an advantage in the lower price segment, trumping the 1660/TI at it's price, yet performing on par again, using the same power (7nm), and coming with a game bundle. Or a slightly cheaper AMD card, like you said.

BReal85
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#5649910 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:11 PM

590 performance as expected. Not the best but not the worst. Thing is that 580/590 are a two year old hardware.

And don't forget you get 3 games worth of $180 for the RX590.

fantaskarsef
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Posts: 10185
Joined: 2014-07-21

#5649911 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:14 PM

And don't forget you get 3 games worth of $180 for the RX590.

I never bought cards because of their game bundle, and to be honest, I never was in the time window to get one either. I missed out on the 1080TI bundle, and with my 2080TI now, I didn't get one either.
Also, to be frank, if the game bundle's my main reason to buy a card, while showing you're probably not as much a hardware enthusiast, you show your gamer heart. Which in itself is a good reason to do it in my opinion

GiggityGiggity
Junior Member

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#5649917 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:28 PM

Will be donating my old pc to the Mrs when i upgrade in the summer. Might replace the 980ti in it for this or the ti version given how close they are at 1080p. Not having such a hot/loud card in the living room, plus a card under warranty and not having to buy another psu could be worth the ~£50 hit in sidegrading.

schmidtbag
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#5649927 Posted on: 03/14/2019 06:54 PM

HardwareCaps
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#5649936 Posted on: 03/14/2019 07:20 PM

The performance to price seems good, but it's underwhelming compared to Nvidia's other stuff. Pretty much same wattage as the 1660Ti while being noticeably slower.

This GPU also should've had a 6-pin power connector. There's no need for the 8-pin.

Overall, I'd rather spend the extra $50 and get the 1660Ti.
well for 70$ you get the 2060 over the 1660Ti which is 15% faster and supports RTX....

so 50$ less for 12% less performance isn't that bad. the performance is more than enough for 1080P as well.

RooiKreef
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Posts: 344
Joined: 2016-06-08

#5649937 Posted on: 03/14/2019 07:32 PM

Nvidia launched a product that is in the sweet spot for the price. I think it performs very well for what you pay. At this point I don’t see how AMD can compete at all. Because the 1060 will drop in price to make space for the 1660 and then AMD will have nothing to compete at any of the price brackets... Well done Nvidia... And AMD you better hurry up with Navi...

warlord
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#5649940 Posted on: 03/14/2019 07:40 PM

It should be a 'lil less. Even 10$ less would make a difference.

Undying
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#5649953 Posted on: 03/14/2019 08:28 PM

Only nvidia card worth buying right now is 2070. That thing overclocked can be fast as 2080 for much less.

This 6gb nvidia gtx/rtx cards just amuses me.

Noisiv
Senior Member

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#5650000 Posted on: 03/14/2019 10:26 PM

Issue nVidia has is allocation of 7nm production capacity.

Where is this coming from?
Nvidia has just released the new graphics lineup, and it's built entirely at 12nm. They have no 7nm product in sight. So why would they be even attempting to allocate 7nm. Let alone have allocation issues.

You know damn well who's having "7nm issues"

Noisiv
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Joined: 2010-11-16

#5650005 Posted on: 03/14/2019 10:50 PM

Maybe we will never know, but I think the hate that RTX got coupled with the low RTX sales will definitely accelerate the timeline for Nvidia.
Investors are not remotely pleased about the results lately.

I already expressed my belief that RTX sales are picking up. I could be wrong, but that is the impression I got tracking the hell out of RTX during my latest GPU hunt. And from this I concluded tat NV won't be lowering their prices any time soon, so WTH --> I pulled the trigger.

We already know that they have been smashing AMD, and this was even be4 the mainstay 1660/Ti was introduced.
We don't know if NV's absolute sales numbers are good. They are not as good as relative numbers, cos AMD has it's problems too, but I am telling you the winds are changing. NV sales reached the bottom last quarter, and now the only way is up.

HardwareCaps
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#5650009 Posted on: 03/14/2019 10:56 PM

I already expressed my belief that RTX sales are picking up. I could be wrong, but that is the impression I got tracking the hell out of RTX during my latest GPU. And from this I concluded tat NV won't be lowering their prices any time soon, so WTH --> I pulled the trigger.

We already know that they have been smashing AMD, and this was even be4 the mainstay 1660/Ti was introduced.
We don't know if NV's absolute sales numbers are good. They are not as good as relative numbers, cos AMD has it's problems too, but I am telling you the winds are changing. NV sales reached the bottom last quarter, and now the only way is up.
It's not about "feeling" we have official numbers and Nvidia officially addressed it.

Noisiv
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Posts: 6586
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#5650010 Posted on: 03/14/2019 11:01 PM

It's not about "feeling" we have official numbers and Nvidia officially addressed it.

Yeah - numbers from 3 months ago.

I don't know where you're pulling feeling from, but in the meantime NV smashed AMD. According to official industry numbers.
https://www.jonpeddie.com/press-releases/jon-peddie-research-releases-its-q4-2018-add-in-board-report

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