Hardware & Technical Nvidia 1660 Ti - the new 'sweet spot' GPU?

Zak Gordon · Mar 3, 2019

120W TDP as per the outgoing 1060 series, better performance and not too crazy prices. What's not to like?

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-ti-turing,6002.html

I'll keep an eye out for some good deals around new year, and unless something ticks all those boxes for cheaper it might be my top tier GPU purchase (i'm cheap and power efficiency focused as a GPU buyer).

EDIT: Update to include info on the non Ti 1660:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1660-turing-tu116,6027.html

Deleted member 110222 · Mar 3, 2019

I'm a little salty. Had I waited I could have got this.

No matter. My 1060 is great as it is.

Zak Gordon · Mar 4, 2019

Well the 1060 (6GB version) was the 1080p king for a good few years, and still does that job just fine

It was my previous target before i read about the new card, and maybe a better card will come out with the same stats (low TDP, good 1080p performance) before i get a 1660Ti? AMD might do something?

Edit: Also a quick video review from Linus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuDJtELq8QM

Caramel Clown · Mar 5, 2019

I don't know...it looks a bit pointless to me quite honestly. Not to mention how bonkers NVidia's naming scheme is now. 1660...ti. WHAT?

Zak Gordon · Mar 5, 2019

pointless? Faster than a 1060 with the same TDP. Faster often than a 1070 and pretty cheap if not getting the expensive end. Seems like it has a place imho. The reviews i posted make a case for it's good points vs the bad and sum it up nicely. Fast, cheap (if not a top end version) and low TDP and great for 1080p gaming (which is what most people game at).

I'm looking to see what AMD do in terms of price adjustments for their range around the 1660 Ti and maybe we will get a few more even cheaper 1660's?

The name is left field, but apparently an in joke at Nvidia and they have come up with some complex description on why (but yes it is a silly name).

[VR] optimal_909 · Mar 5, 2019

I think this is exactly the product nVidia needs right now, strikes AMD right where it hurts the most.

Stewart_ · Mar 5, 2019

optimal_909 said:
I think this is exactly the product nVidia needs right now, strikes AMD right where it hurts the most.

AMD need to compete at the top end, getting something that is competitive with the 2080[Ti], and at a cheaper price. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen this year.

Morbad · Mar 5, 2019

The 1660 Ti is the best card in it's price segment.

Zak Gordon said:
The name is left field, but apparently an in joke at Nvidia and they have come up with some complex description on why (but yes it is a silly name).

None of the major processor designers name their products in a straight forward manner, and NVIDIA is frequently the worst offender.

They needed a number bigger than the xx60 card it was going to replace, but not something that would suggest it was on par or better than any RTX part, so as not to cannibalize their own product lines.

[VR] optimal_909 · Mar 6, 2019

Stewart_ said:
AMD need to compete at the top end, getting something that is competitive with the 2080[Ti], and at a cheaper price. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen this year.

That will be a steep mountain to climb for them, considering their portfolio. They must be focusing on the low-id range hardware, especially considering they need to supply allegedly 1080 performance for the next gen consoles on the cheap.

So nVidia upping their game in the low-mid segment must be of concern for AMD.

Space Dandy · Mar 6, 2019

Not sure the 1660ti is the new "sweet spot" when looking for cost/performance. If you're looking at 1080p The rx580 might still be relevant. Dunno about UK/US pricing but here in Canada the rx580 8gb shows up lowest price at 255$, the 1660ti 6gb at 375$ which is 130 more so low end dunno but the rx580 look like the better option if pricing is a concern.

Also are they not suppose to lower the pricing on the vega56? Right now on newegg.ca its still at 480$ lowest pricing but if AMD can lower that to compete with the 1660ti so say 380$ the vega56 would be a pretty good option considering you can bios flash it to v64 and get stock vega64 performance.

Caramel Clown · Mar 6, 2019

Space Dandy said:
Not sure the 1660ti is the new "sweet spot" when looking for cost/performance. If you're looking at 1080p The rx580 might still be relevant. Dunno about UK/US pricing but here in Canada the rx580 8gb shows up lowest price at 255$, the 1660ti 6gb at 375$ which is 130 more so low end dunno but the rx580 look like the better option if pricing is a concern.

Also are they not suppose to lower the pricing on the vega56? Right now on newegg.ca its still at 480$ lowest pricing but if AMD can lower that to compete with the 1660ti so say 380$ the vega56 would be a pretty good option considering you can bios flash it to v64 and get stock vega64 performance.

I think only recently AMD said Vega 56 price stays as is for now.

Morbad · Mar 7, 2019

Space Dandy said:
Also are they not suppose to lower the pricing on the vega56?

They had a short lived sale where the Vega 56 was 280 USD, but there is no permanent price drop.

zernixty · Mar 9, 2019

Solid GPU and great pricing. Performs better than 1070 at 280. Will definitely buy this GPU after a month

Necronaught · Mar 10, 2019

RX 570 destroys anything at 1080 and can be found for cheaper than 150 quid.

GuruNot · Mar 10, 2019

Un1k0rn said:
I'm a little salty. Had I waited I could have got this.

No matter. My 1060 is great as it is.

When it comes to computing there is always something better just around the corner. You just have to bite the bullet and go for it.

Zak Gordon · Mar 11, 2019

Necronaught said:
RX 570 destroys anything at 1080 and can be found for cheaper than 150 quid.

Space Dandy said:
Not sure the 1660ti is the new "sweet spot" when looking for cost/performance. If you're looking at 1080p The rx580 might still be relevant. Dunno about UK/US pricing but here in Canada the rx580 8gb shows up lowest price at 255$, the 1660ti 6gb at 375$ which is 130 more so low end dunno but the rx580 look like the better option if pricing is a concern.

Well it beats out the RX590 in games (so the 570 and 580 as well) and runs cooler and with less energy use than all them as well. So that is worth an increased price. Hopefully those AMD RX cards can keep the price 'honest' on the 1660 (and it seems it was launched directly to compete with them in terms of performance and it's placing as top tier mid range/low tier performance end card).

Space Dandy · Mar 11, 2019

Zak Gordon said:
Well it beats out the RX590 in games (so the 570 and 580 as well) and runs cooler and with less energy use than all them as well. So that is worth an increased price. Hopefully those AMD RX cards can keep the price 'honest' on the 1660 (and it seems it was launched directly to compete with them in terms of performance and it's placing as top tier mid range/low tier performance end card).

Thing to consider in cost/performance especially on 1080p... is the extra performance worth the extra 130$ and as for running cooler and uses less energy.. frankly who cares when buying a gpu unless it's for a laptop? I agree though that it might be nice if AMD could keep nvidia honest on their pricing..

...cause frankly the gpu pricing scheme has become pretty damned atrocious since the whole crypto mining craze.

Handy chart

Morbad · Mar 11, 2019

Space Dandy said:
...cause frankly the gpu pricing scheme has become pretty damned atrocious since the whole crypto mining craze.

Current GPU prices haven't been negatively influenced at all by the crypto economy. If anything the glut of used GPUs and rapid reduction in mining demand is causing prices to be lower than they otherwise would be, currently.

NVIDIA has had very little competition at the high-end in the last five years, so they've been able to mark up higher-end parts.

Space Dandy · Mar 12, 2019

Morbad said:
Current GPU prices haven't been negatively influenced at all by the crypto economy. If anything the glut of used GPUs and rapid reduction in mining demand is causing prices to be lower than they otherwise would be, currently.

NVIDIA has had very little competition at the high-end in the last five years, so they've been able to mark up higher-end parts.

Actually that's wrong and only semi accurate if you take cursory look at the situation. If you look at overall pricing of gpu's it went way way over the MSRP when the crypto craze started and sadly the gpu makers "adjusted" their MSRP on the upward mark because of this...now pricing has come back down closer to the MSRP BUT the MSRP is very much higher that what it should be.

A decent mid tier card should be around 350$ CAD and instead its around 450$ CAD. This increase isn't due to "lack of competition" or due to "inflation" but a direct result of crypto mining.

Like I said short term there was a bigger increase in price and now we have seen a bit of a crash but prices haven't went down to what they should as manufacturers have taken advantage of the situation to increase the MSRP and as with most business are not to willing to go back down once they have gotten people use to buying for higher.

Kentai · Mar 12, 2019

Of course this thing his the market mere months after I've upgraded to a 1060 6gb. Though I think while playing 1080p the 1060 is more than adequate for Elite Dangerous.

Hardware & Technical Nvidia 1660 Ti - the new 'sweet spot' GPU?

Deleted member 110222