I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t perceive why the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super must exist. Yes, it’s a mildly extra highly effective model of the unique GTX 1660, now boasting 6GB of GDDR6 reminiscence clocked at a nippy 14 Gbps as a substitute of 6GB of the slower GDDR5 sort that ran at simply 8 Gbps, and sure, Nvidia’s determination to maintain it on the identical worth of £210 / $230 means you’re additionally getting marginally higher efficiency for a similar sum of money. That a lot I get.
But if the GTX 1660 Super was at all times on the playing cards down within the Nvidia graphics mines, then why hassle releasing the unique GTX 1660 in any respect? After all, it’s solely been eight months for the reason that GTX 1660 first got here out (at which level it went straight into our best graphics card listing, I’d add), so to launch a shinier, superfied model now feels a bit like a kick within the enamel. There is a obscure silver lining for present GTX 1660 house owners, nevertheless. While some games present a good enchancment with the GTX 1660 Super, others offer you completely naff all. Here’s wot I believe.
There’s no Nvidia Founders Edition of the GTX 1660 Super, so to check it I’ve used Zotac’s entry-level GTX 1660 Super Twin Fan mannequin. This is without doubt one of the cheaper GTX 1660 Supers presently obtainable, priced at £220 / $230, and as such ought to give us an excellent indication of what to anticipate as a baseline for this card’s efficiency.
Like all GTX 1660 Super playing cards, Zotac’s Twin Fan mannequin comes with 1408 CUDA cores (the identical as the unique GTX 1660) and a base clock velocity of 1530MHz (additionally the identical as the unique GTX 1660). As for its increase clock velocity, Zotac have left it at the usual 1785MHz for this specific mannequin (which is, you guessed it, the identical as the unique GTX 1660 spec), however different, costlier variations have pushed it as excessive as 1860MHz thus far, and as such could also be a smidge sooner than my outcomes under.
The primary distinction between the 2 varieties of card, nevertheless, is its reminiscence. As I discussed up prime, the GTX 1660 Super nonetheless has 6GB of the stuff, giving it loads of headroom to play games on max settings at each 1920×1080 and 2560×1440 in most of immediately’s prime games, however right here Nvidia have upgraded it to the sooner GDDR6 sort, and nearly doubled its clock velocity. This brings it consistent with the remainder of Nvidia’s RTX and RTX Super playing cards, which all have GDDR6 reminiscence clocked at 14 Gbps as nicely (besides the RTX 2080 Super, whose reminiscence is clocked at an excellent zippier 15.5 Gbps).
What this implies in apply is a a lot increased reminiscence bandwidth, permitting it to churn by 336GB of information per second versus simply 192GB/s. That’s successfully the identical because the significantly costlier RTX 2060, which is fairly spectacular for a card that’s over 100 quid much less. Sadly, nevertheless, the GTX 1660 Super just isn’t a approach of getting RTX 2060 energy on a budget. Far from it. In truth, after I caught it in my very own PC, the distinction between it and the unique GTX 1660 I examined (the equally entry-level Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 OC) was so small that I needed to examine I hadn’t by accident benchmarked the flawed card.
As a outcome, the GTX 1660 Super stays an excellent 1080p card that’s constructed for 60fps on High to max settings in immediately’s massive blockbusters, in addition to a clean 60fps on Medium high quality at 1440p – precisely like the conventional 1660.
Let’s take Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for instance. On Ultra High, my Zotac GTX 1660 Super managed a mean of 49fps at 1920×1080, whereas my common GTX 1660 got here in only a body slower at 48fps. There was an identical hole after I moved it all the way down to Very High, too, with the Super delivering a mean of 62fps over the conventional 1660’s 62fps. The Super flexed its muscle mass a bit extra at 1440p, admittedly, producing a clean 57fps on High in comparison with the common GTX 1660’s 53fps common, however would I’ve been capable of inform the distinction with out the help of a body charge counter? Probably not.
It was an identical image over in Total War: Three Kingdoms as nicely. On Ultra, for instance, the GTX 1660 Super managed a mean of 48fps at 1080p, which rose to 68fps after I nudged the standard all the way down to High. But is that basically a lot totally different than taking part in at 46fps and 63fps on an everyday GTX 1660? Not actually. Bumping the decision as much as 1440p wasn’t significantly better both. Here, the GTX 1660 Super was nonetheless solely able to taking part in the game easily on Medium high quality, for instance, producing a silky common of 68fps over the common 1660’s 64fps. When I moved it as much as High, nevertheless, the Super tumbled to a mean of 43fps, which doesn’t actually really feel a complete lot smoother than the common 1660’s 39fps common.
Monster Hunter: World was a lot the identical, too. While the GTX 1660 Super managed a clean 53fps common on Highest at 1080p, that outcome was nonetheless simply two frames forward of the common GTX 1660’s common of 51fps. The Super was as soon as once more slightly faster after I bumped the decision as much as 1440p, however on Mid high quality we’re nonetheless solely speaking a mean of 58fps over the common GTX 1660’s 52fps.
Naturally, there are some games the place the GTX 1660 Super exhibits extra of an enchancment over its non-Super sibling, however we’re nonetheless solely within the realms of a 5-7fps increase on the very most. Of course, in additional demanding games resembling Metro Exodus, that may generally be all it takes to make a game really feel noticeably smoother, and so it proved after I put it by the game’s powerful inside benchmark.
On High, for instance, the GTX 1660 Super produced a clean common of 52fps at 1080p, which to me felt a smidge much less uneven than the common 1660’s 47fps common. Similarly, the Super actually got here into its personal after I re-ran the benchmark at 1440p, too, coming in with a perceptibly silkier 52fps common on Medium high quality in comparison with the non-Super’s 45fps common.
Final Fantasy XV ran higher on the GTX 1660 Super as nicely, though as soon as once more the distinction was most keenly felt at 1440p fairly than 1080p. Without all of Nvidia’s further results switched on, the GTX 1660 Super is completely able to working the game on Highest at 1080p, bumping its common body charge as much as a formidable 62fps versus “just” 56fps, which I bought on the common GTX 1660. It can handle a little bit of HairWorks and TurfEffects as nicely at this high quality setting, however a mean of 41fps isn’t actually going to really feel a lot totally different to the common 1660’s 39fps common.
At 1440p, nevertheless, the GTX 1660 Super made a significantly better fist of FFXV’s Average high quality settings, producing a smoother common of 58fps in comparison with the common 1660’s common of 53fps. Enabling TurfEffects and HairWorks was smoother, too, with the Super managing a playable common of 46fps in comparison with the common 1660’s choppier 42fps common. Again, although, it’s hardly the type of gangbuster enchancment you would possibly count on from a card with ‘Super’ in its identify.
In truth, the one game in my benchmarking suite the place the Super actually got here into its personal was Shadow of the Tomb Raider. At 1080p on Highest with its powerful SMAA x4 anti-aliasing enabled, for instance, the Super blitzed by the busy city sq. of Cozumel’s Day of the Dead pageant with a mean of 58fps. The common GTX 1660, alternatively, solely hit a mean of 52fps.
There was an identical hole after I bumped the decision as much as 1440p as nicely. You’ll nonetheless must allow the game’s SMAATx2 anti-aliasing to get the smoothest outcomes on Highest at this decision, however whereas the previous GTX 1660 gave you a mean of 49fps below these situations, the Super boosts that as much as 55fps, placing you a lot nearer to that elusive 60fps mark (and extra importantly the GTX 1660 Ti’s common of 59fps below these situations) than ever earlier than.
However, one game’s price of superior graphics efficiency out of six isn’t precisely superb, so far as I’m involved, and heck, The Witcher III confirmed completely no enchancment in any respect. On Ultra at 1080p, the Super produced an an identical common of 64fps to the common GTX 1660, and the identical factor occurred on High at 1440p as nicely, with every card coming in at 57fps.
Of course, all this may be null and void if the GTX 1660 Super was outright changing the common 1660, however in the meanwhile a minimum of they’re each going to be available for purchase on the identical time. To make issues worse, Nvidia have additionally introduced a worth lower for the common GTX 1660 to make it a extra viable entry level to the 1660 household. Admittedly, that worth lower has but to take impact so far as I can inform, however given the teensy enhancements you get from the GTX 1660 Super, I’m unsure it’s going to be price paying the additional when it does.
I imply, sure, in the event you’re available in the market for a good 1080p card that doesn’t contain spending greater than £250 / $280 on one thing like a GTX 1660 Ti (which remains to be our beneficial best graphics card for flawless 1080p gaming), then you might as nicely go for the GTX 1660 Super whereas it’s nonetheless the identical worth (£220 / $230) because the common GTX 1660. When that worth lower kicks in, nevertheless, I reckon you’ll most likely be higher off sticking with the common GTX 1660 and saving your self some money.
It’s most likely additionally price ready to see what AMD have up their sleeve as nicely, as their new 1080p Navi contender, the Radeon RX 5500, is because of launch quickly, too. There’s no agency date simply but, however AMD have mentioned it’ll positively arrive earlier than the top of the yr, so we must always know for positive within the subsequent month or so.
There’s additionally Black Friday on the finish of November to take note of as nicely, the place there’ll nearly actually be even higher offers on 1080p graphics card than there at the moment are. As such, I wouldn’t advocate shopping for a brand new graphics card proper now in any respect, as you’ll nearly actually have the ability to choose up some type of GTX 1660 card for much less in simply a few weeks. So maintain fireplace, graphics card people. Now just isn’t the time to be shopping for a brand new graphics card.
