GTX 660Ti Reviews

[thilanliyan]

I'm struggling between 7950 and 660 Ti. On one hand I don't like AMD's tactic of slyly changing the 7950's specs without a rename, makes them seem desperate and I'm not sure I appreciate the additional power consumption and higher temps.

Don't bother with a "GE" edition then. The 7950s that are out in stores right now should be the standard ones, which overclock well too. If you decide to wait longer then yes you may get one of the boosting version.

 

[Maximilian]

Looks like ill be hanging onto this 5850 for even longer

 

[RussianSensation]

Thinking of all these threads where some have concluded that AA is gonna kill this card make me laugh right now.

It does though if you look at reviews that cranked up AA. A stock 7950 beats it by 5% overall with 8AA.

Now see what happens if AT's review used higher AA modes:

Batman AC was tested with just 4AA at AnandTech. Take it to 8AA and 7950 leads by 16%.
Skyrim was also tested with 4AA at AT. Take it to 8AA and 7950 leads by 24%.

Take a $317 MSI TF3 from Superbiiz, overclock it to 1.1ghz, and it'll leave 660Ti for dead unless you think an overclocked 660Ti can match a GTX680?

Also, $600 GTX660Ti SLI is just 6% faster at 2560x1600 4AA than a $470 HD7970 GE. You still want to claim that 24 ROPs, reduced memory bandwidth don't hurt this card?

 

[n0x1ous]

It does though if you look at reviews that cranked up AA. A stock 7950 beats it by 5% overall with 8AA.

Now see what happens if AT's review used higher AA modes:

Batman AC was tested with just 4AA at AnandTech. Take it to 8AA and 7950 leads by 16%.
Skyrim was also tested with 4AA at AT. Take it to 8AA and 7950 leads by 24%.

Take a $317 MSI TF3 from Superbiiz, overclock it to 1.1ghz, and it'll leave 660Ti for dead unless you think an overclocked 660Ti can match a GTX680?

While certainly it is memory bandwidth constrained, do you think midrange < $300 buyers are typically using 8xAA? Theres a point of diminishing returns for the performance hit even on the Radeons.

 

[SunnyD]

While certainly it is memory bandwidth constrained, do you think midrange < $300 buyers are typically using 8xAA? Theres a point of diminishing returns for the performance hit even on the Radeons.

The GTX660Ti is not a < $300 card! (Sorry, MSRP$299 == $300 for all intents)

 

[RussianSensation]

While certainly it is memory bandwidth constrained, do you think midrange < $300 buyers are typically using 8xAA? Theres a point of diminishing returns for the performance hit even on the Radeons.

Ya, I agree with that. I was just pointing out that this card does get penalized at higher settings/resolutions. I also agree with you that it is aimed at 1080P 2-4AA/FXAA crowd. It does well for what it is intended. Overclocking excluded, it's essentially a 7 months late 7950 card with better power consumption, or a slightly faster 7870.

I hate to say it though but this generation has been underwhelming overall, especially for GTX570/580 owners. GTX570 launched at $349 December 7, 2010. It took 20 months for GTX660Ti to come out at $299 and it can barely beat an overclocked 570. Hopefully GTX780 series will be 40% faster than GTX680.

 

[hyrule4927]

What surprises me is that people are actually considering buying 2 of these for 1440p and multi-monitor setups despite the memory bandwidth limitations. Can't see that working well.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Reading the Anandtech review benchmark pics and Im thinking to myself 'man this is a good card'. Then I look a couple slots below and there's the 570 holding its own against the 660 and I facepalm.

 

[n0x1ous]

The GTX660Ti is not a < $300 card! (Sorry, MSRP$299 == $300 for all intents)

correct - but if you read my earlier post i mentioned that Borderlands 2 is going to be picked up by so many of us that in a way it kinda makes it a $249 card "for all intents") (since BL2 is free with many of 660 cards)

The AMD 4 game giveaway could be comparable in value but they are old games or games no one wants. BL2 is a majorly popular release.

 

[n0x1ous]

Ya, I agree with that. I was just pointing out that this card does get penalized at higher settings/resolutions. I also agree with you that it is aimed at 1080P 2-4AA/FXAA crowd. It does well for what it is intended. Overclocking excluded, it's essentially a 7 months late 7950 card with better power consumption, or a slightly faster 7870.

I hate to say it though but this generation has been underwhelming overall, especially for GTX570/580 owners. GTX570 launched at $349 December 7, 2010. It took 20 months for GTX660Ti to come out at $299 and it can barely beat an overclocked 570. Hopefully GTX780 series will be 40% faster than GTX680.

Well said, I agree with all of this. Would have been interesting if we could have had a GK110 680 instead of GK104. We will still get it (as a 780 probably) at some point but the much later release will lessen the impact/wow of it.

I am very curious what the HD8xxx will be in comparison since it looks like we will be on 28nm for the foreseeable future. We clearly know Nvidia has a monster die in the oven, but will AMD go 400mm + on the refresh? I certainly hope so.

 

[RussianSensation]

What surprises me is that people are actually considering buying 2 of these for 1440p and multi-monitor setups despite the memory bandwidth limitations. Can't see that working well.

That's the biggest surprise for me. How anyone in the world would pick $600 660Ti SLI over HD7950 CF. Even a factory preoverclocked 660Ti can't touch an 800mhz 7950 at high resolution. Oced GTX660Ti SLI for high rez is going to be far behind 1.1ghz+ 7950 CF.

 

[SunnyD]

correct - but if you read my earlier post i mentioned that Borderlands 2 is going to be picked up by so many of us that in a way it kinda makes it a $249 card "for all intents") (since BL2 is free with many of 660 cards)

The AMD 4 game giveaway could be comparable in value but they are old games or games no one wants. BL2 is a majorly popular release.

Never count a bundled game as cash. Ever.

 

[n0x1ous]

Never count a bundled game as cash. Ever.

If I was in the market for a card and was going to buy the game vs other cards where the game wasnt included then its as good as cash.

Won't apply for anyone not interested in the game but acting likes it not a purchasing factor is silly.

 

[llee]

It does though if you look at reviews that cranked up AA. A stock 7950 beats it by 5% overall with 8AA.

Benchmarks aside, does anyone here actually perceive a difference in visual fidelity between 4x and 8x in FPSs @ high resolutions?

 

[Hmoobphajej]

Hrmm how long will the bundle with the 660Ti be here for? I'm going to assume at one point it's going away and hopefully then the card will be more competitively priced in order for me to consider it a good buy. Not denying that right now with the bundle it's a enticingly good deal if you plan to buy BL2 and need a upgrade.

 

[VisceralM]

Soo...

Tom's Hardware says the card is a disappointment that's only competitive with the Radeon 7870.

AnandTech, Guru 3D, TechPowerUp have it on par or better than a 7950 and are giving it Editor's Choice awards.

MSI 660 Ti (overclocked) Twin Frozr is $300 after rebate and comes with Borderlands 2

MSI 7950 Twin Frozr is $330 after rebate, with no games.

After all the driver headaches, lack of PhysX, and OpenGL (RAGE) problems I had with my 5870, it's a no brainer, I bought the 660 Ti. Looks like the perfect card for me to play at 1080p with low AA settings (I usually just use injectSMAA).

And throw in Borderlands 2 and it's a no-brainer. People are going to eat up this card even at $300. Outside of these forums, it's a being seen as the new go-to over the 7950. The 7950 is a solid card, but not the popular kid.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

And throw in Borderlands 2 and it's a no-brainer. People are going to eat up this card even at $300. Outside of these forums, it's a being seen as the new go-to over the 7950. The 7950 is a solid card, but not the popular kid.

No brainer? As in if you buy one check to see if its still there?

This card is barely outpacing a gtx 570. A card that's available for nearly a hundred dollars less and over a year old. Sorry this isn't a no brainer.

 

[JAG87]

Benchmarks aside, does anyone here actually perceive a difference in visual fidelity between 4x and 8x in FPSs @ high resolutions?

Nope.

Even better, try using 2x MSAA with post-AA on top (FXAA/MLAA, or SMAA if you find the former options too blurry). The effect is almost the same as 4xAA on geometry (and better in other aspects such as hiding transparency and and temporal aliasing), for even less performance hit.

I'm not saying it's ideal, but for someone buying a mid-range card, it's more than sufficient to provide a wonderful graphics experience at 1080p.

Enough with these silly high AA settings that do absolutely nothing for IQ.

 

[thilanliyan]

Which versions actually come with Borderlands 2? I checked NCIX and newegg and didn't see the promotion.

 

[SunnyD]

Which versions actually come with Borderlands 2? I checked NCIX and newegg and didn't see the promotion.

All of them.

 

[toyota]

Which versions actually come with Borderlands 2? I checked NCIX and newegg and didn't see the promotion.

all the Kepler cards come with it.

 

[thilanliyan]

all the Kepler cards come with it.

Does some sort of code come in the box? I don't see it mentioned.

 

[RussianSensation]

Benchmarks aside, does anyone here actually perceive a difference in visual fidelity between 4x and 8x in FPSs @ high resolutions?

Some people do, some don't. It depends on the game and individual. Some people here prefer TXAA over MSAA. Some people hate the blur of FXAA/TXAA. However, 8AA or performance with mods shows us what happens to the card when it's really loaded. Under those circumstances, the 7950 pulls away. It also has additional overclocking headroom on top of 800mhz. Whether these factors matter or not depends on the individual. If someone isn't overclocking, wants BL2 and wants a power efficient card, GTX660Ti is a good option.

Did you read this though?

"The best case scenario is always going to be that the entire 192bit bus is in use by interleaving a memory operation across all 3 controllers, giving the card 144GB/sec of memory bandwidth (192bit * 6GHz / 8). But that can only be done at up to 1.5GB of memory; the final 512MB of memory is attached to a single memory controller. This invokes the worst case scenario, where only 1 64-bit memory controller is in use and thereby reducing memory bandwidth to a much more modest 48GB/sec. If we had to pick something, on a pure performance-per-dollar basis the 7950 looks good both now and in the future; in particular we suspect it’s going to weather newer games better than the GTX 660 Ti and its relatively narrow memory bus." ~ AT's review.

So this is a really a 1.5GB card, not a 2GB card.

 

[toyota]

Does some sort of code come in the box? I don't see it mentioned.

every Kepler card there on newegg mentions that Borderlands 2 comes with it.

FREE GIFT: NVIDIA Gift - Borderlands2 Free Game Coupon (value$59.99)

 

[thilanliyan]

every Kepler card there on newegg mentions that Borderlands 2 comes with it.

FREE GIFT: NVIDIA Gift - Borderlands2 Free Game Coupon (value$59.99)

Ah yeah okay I see it now. Was looking at newegg.ca and didn't see it before. Thanks.