MSI GTX 1660 'Ventus' $216.95 @ Walmart.com / $196.95 @ Newegg ($10 MIR, $10 off promo)

[VirtualLarry]

MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS 6G OC Graphics Card - Walmart.com

Buy MSI Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Ventus XS 6G OC Graphics Card at Walmart.com

www.walmart.com

Edit: I was just informed that Newegg is matching this price, as well as throwing in a $10 MIR and a "free" DP-to-HDMI dongle.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

Edit: Wow, Newegg just made this card an even ~$200 after promo code and MIR.

+$7 off w/ promo code VGAPCMS66S, limited offer

 

[VirtualLarry]

I will say this though, if you're planning on doing mining with these, I recommend strongly getting the GDDR6 versions (The Super / Ti - they haven't to my knowledge refreshed the base model GTX 1660 with GDDR6 in the same way that they did the GTX 1650 4GB cards).

I've been able to pick up factory-refurb Gigabyte (and I've seen MSI at times too) GTX 1660 ti 6GB GDDR6 cards for $229.99 @ Newegg. (Just picked up a few a few weeks ago.)

So if you are looking for more bang-for-buck, and don't mind factory refurb, that may be the way to go, but availability can be scarce, and they sell out fairly quickly. They may show up without even a stock image, so be aware of that.

I paid around $269 for my GTX 1660 ti Ventus OC models, stock factory-new, when they were first coming out, for perspective. At the time, that was a few bucks off of MSRP.

Regarding this deal though, the Ventus model coolers are solid cards, I can vouch for them (thus far, having GTX 1660 ti Ventus OC cards since launch, mining most of this time on them).

According to this, the reason behind GTX 1650 switching from GDDR5 to GDDR6 was that GDDR5 is getting scarce.

(Then how do they have enough for GTX 1660 vanilla cards, which use 6GB rather than 4GB? Maybe the higher price-point of the GTX 1660 vanilla over the GTX 1650 allows them to absorb the costs better?)

GeForce GTX 1650 switches to GDDR6 memory, 'industry running out of GDDR5'

NVIDIA is making the shift to GDDR6 memory for its low-end GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. The reason? The "industry is running out of GDDR5."

www.windowscentral.com

NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 1650 GDDR6 Released: GDDR6 Reaching Price Parity With GDDR5

www.anandtech.com

 

[Arkaign]

I'd be willing to bet that the 1650 Super kind of absorbed the slot that the vanilla 1660 once occupied, and is cheaper to produce. The 1660ti is similarly deprecated afaik, with existing stock ebbing away.

I think the remaining future production of 16xx cards will be :

1650 Refresh
1650 Super
1660 Refresh (not out yet, but the 1650g6 got a 10-12% performance boost, so this should lift it up a notch as well)
1660 Super

As opposed to letting everything get made and ending up with

1650 G5
1650 G6
1650 Super
1660 G5
1660 G6
1660 Super
1660 Ti

The improved die quality and 1060 moving from 8gbps to 9gbps as well as 1070/1080 moving from 10gbps to 11gbps ram also improved things a ton. I had an FE 10gbps 1080 and then later a Strix 11gbps refresh 1080 and the difference was pretty incredible, like 20% improvement in some areas, and usually closer to at least 10-12% by combo of much better sustained core/boost clocks and improved memory performance, and once OC'd could reach nearly 1080ti levels.

It's always interesting when that happens, I don't recall similar mid cycle improvement in the 7xx and 9xx gens. 🤷

I like this deal tho 👌 Good GPU deals on new cards is really not widespread at the moment.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I like this deal tho 👌 Good GPU deals on new cards is really not widespread at the moment.

Thanks. I think that if NV refreshed GTX 1660 vanilla, and made it with GDDR6 memory, and sold it for $200 (or less?), that would be a decent GPU deal, and probably take a good chunk of budget market-share. They could still have the Super for $220-230.

Edit: Thinking out loud, here:
GTX 1650 D6 $150-160
GTX 1650 Super $180
GTX 1660 D6 $200
GTX 1660 Super $220-230

Of course, that does leave a "competitive gap" in-between the GTX 1660 Super and the RTX 2060 at $300, so perhaps they should keep the GTX 1660 ti? Just musing.

But at those prices, NV would probably rule the roost in the sub-$250 category.

 

[VirtualLarry]

bump for $7 off promo @ Newegg, still plus a "Freebie" item. Now under $200 after MIR and promo code.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Bump, promo code for Newegg is $10 now, rather than $7, so card ends up below $200 after promo and MIR. (Not sure if MIR is same as original period, or new period with this new promo. Be sure to check, if buying another one!)