***Official GeForce GTX660/GTX650 Review Thread***

[Termie]

GTX660

Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6276/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-review-gk106-rounds-out-the-kepler-family
HardOCP (Asus): http://www.hardocp.com/article/2012/09/13/asus_geforce_gtx_660_directcu_ii_video_card_review
TechSpot (Gigabyte): http://www.techspot.com/review/572-nvidia-geforce-gtx-660/
TechReport (Asus, Zotac): http://techreport.com/review/23527/nvidia-geforce-gtx-660-graphics-card
TechPowerUp (Gigabyte): http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_660_OC/
TechPowerUp (Asus): http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_660_Direct_Cu_II/
TechPowerUp (Zotac): http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Zotac/GeForce_GTX_660/
TechPowerUp (MSI): http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/MSI/GTX_660_Twin_Frozr_III/
HardwareHeaven (EVGA, Zotac): http://www.hardwareheaven.com/revie...locked-graphics-card-review-introduction.html
XBitLabs (Zotac): http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/graphics/display/geforce-gtx-660.html
Tom's Hardware (Gigabyte, Zotac): http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297.html
HardwareCanucks (EVGA, MSI): http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/56674-nvidia-gtx-660-2gb-review.html
Guru3d (MSI): http://www.guru3d.com/article/msi-geforce-gtx-660-twinfrozr-iii-review/
Guru3d (Asus): http://www.guru3d.com/article/asus-geforce-gtx-660-directcu-ii-top-review/
Guru3d (EVGA): http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/evga_geforce_gtx_660_sc_review,1.html
Overclockers Club (Asus): http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/asus_gtx_660_directcuii_top/
KitGuru (MSI): http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/msi-gtx-660-oc-edition-twin-frozr-review/

GTX650
Tom's Hardware (includes GTX650 benchmarks): http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-660-geforce-gtx-650-benchmark,3297.html
PCGamesHardware (Palit): http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Nvidia-Geforce-Hardware-255598/Tests/Test-Geforce-GTX-650-1023638/
Guru3d (MSI): http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gtx-650-msi-power-edition-review/
KitGuru (Palit): http://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sparkle-gtx650-oc-dragon-series-review/

Add reviews below and I'll link them in the OP.

GTX660 Official Specs
Stream Processors: 960
Texture Units: 80
ROPs: 24
Core Clock: 980MHz
Boost Clock: 1033MHz
Memory Clock: 6.008GHz GDDR5
Memory Bus Width: 192-bit
VRAM: 2GB
GPU: GK106
TDP: 140W
Launch Price: $229

GTX660 Retail availability at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ce%20GTX%20660

GTX650 Retail availability at Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ce%20GTX%20650

 

[ViRGE]

From TR:

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but since I've decided not to do a proper write-up

Scott is either cranky or gone psychotic. Either way it's hilarious.

 

[blackened23]

With the 7870 at 200ish $ I don't think this will displace it - 7870 is cheaper and often, faster. Certainly not as good of a showing as the 680/670 had at launch.

I'd imagine that nvidia will lower the price a tad as they did with the 660ti, this card at 200$ would be the sweet spot

 

[sontin]

At this moment AMD will always lowering their prices as a counter. I think nVidia will wait and see what happen in the next weeks or months.

There is no reason to go in a price war with a company like AMD which has nothing to lose.

 

[piesquared]

So basically, they've caught up. 6 months later

 

[richaron]

Scott is either cranky or gone psychotic. Either way it's hilarious.

best review I've seen in ages

 

[Granseth]

The GTX 660 seems like a recommendable card. If you leave out OC it's about the same as a 7870, and for the most part it's to close to the 660Ti where it matters.

I've never liked the 660Ti so I am a bit biased there, but maybe nVidia might price the card 10-20$ higher than plain 660 and I might reconsider if I'm willing to recommend 660Ti.

All in all it's nice to see the entire nVidia 600 lineup, but I really hope they start doing the same as AMD and bring out their entire lineup in 2-3 months.

 

[Termie]

Added Tom's review, which includes the GTX650. This card apparently was not shared with many reviewers.

 

[Rezist]

AMD needs to add a dynamic boost clock to all there cards right now, look at how the 7850 is getting destroyed when really the 7850/7870/660 wouldn't be that far apart when OC'd to there limits.

 

[blackened23]

To the poster above, i'm under the impression that the 660 is a 7870 competitor, while the 650 is a 7850 competitor. 7870 vs 660, you can honestly go either way because they perform roughly the same - although I imagine the 7870 will OC a lot better since it doesn't have any of the kepler throttle stuff that the Kepler has.

I'm fairly certain that the 7850 is stronger than the 650, especially given the OC headroom that it has. Isn't the 650 meant to be a 7770 competetor?

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Yet another disappointing card for enthusiasts. NVIDIA's cards below the GTX 670 are way too cut down for their own good. This is why you see such inconsistent performance: in some games the performance is great and in others it's pretty dire. Sure, at stock it's in between the HD 7850 and HD 7870 in performance, but once you factor in overclocking it gets left in the dust. Heck, even the HD 7870, which isn't anywhere near the best overclocker, overclocks higher. The GTX 660 only overclocks by 10-15%, and the HD 7850 overclocks by 30-35%. The HD 7870 overclocks by around 20%.

Overclocking any of these cards raises power consumption and heat so little that really, the only question you should ask yourself if you're an enthusiast is "why not"? The GTX 660 is 11% faster than the HD 7850 stock. The HD 7850 overclocks easily by 30%, and the GTX 660 10%. OC vs OC the HD 7850 will probably be faster than the GTX 660 and it costs less.

You do the math.

AMD is really hammering NVIDIA right now.

 

[Face2Face]

The GTX 660.... yawn......wake me up when the GTX 700 series come out. I'm sorry but the HD 7000's series put it too Nvidia this generation. (Now that prices are more competitive)

 

[Rezist]

The GTX650 is only a competitor for the 7750 and at Tom's it did very poorly. The 7770 (the card i figured the GTX650 would be trying to go for) can maintain minimums on par with the 650's averages. Hopefully there was something wrong with there 650.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it does.

The GTX 650 is slightly slower than the HD 7750 and costs more. Costs the same as the HD 7770 which destroys it. Given how little the GTX 660 overclocks, it has to be expected that both the 7750 and 7770 will overclock better as well.

Seriously, WTH are NVIDIA thinking?

 

[Phynaz]

The 660 actually has me considering returning my 7850. I very probably won't, but it's still something for me to think about.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

The 660 actually has me considering returning my 7850. I very probably won't, but it's still something for me to think about.

Umm, why? Sure, it's 11% faster at stock, but if you overclock both the HD 7850 will probably be 10% faster.

The GTX 660 is also very inconsistent when it comes to which games it performs good at, not to mention it's $30 more expensive than the HD 7850. Seems like an easy choice: stick with the 7850.

 

[brandon888]

i hoped about another gtx 460 i know what i mean ... but no ... fail .... you are right guys .... 600 series under 670 and 680 look a bit bad :/ so BB till maxwell ... 700 series will be only 10-15% faster ... fermi 2.0 is coming ( kepler 2.0 sarcasm ) ....

my nex card will be gtx 860/870 on i7 3770

 

[boxleitnerb]

Yet another disappointing card for enthusiasts. NVIDIA's cards below the GTX 670 are way too cut down for their own good. This is why you see such inconsistent performance: in some games the performance is great and in others it's pretty dire. Sure, at stock it's in between the HD 7850 and HD 7870 in performance, but once you factor in overclocking it gets left in the dust. Heck, even the HD 7870, which isn't anywhere near the best overclocker, overclocks higher. The GTX 660 only overclocks by 10-15%, and the HD 7850 overclocks by 30-35%. The HD 7870 overclocks by around 20%.

Overclocking any of these cards raises power consumption and heat so little that really, the only question you should ask yourself if you're an enthusiast is "why not"? The GTX 660 is 11% faster than the HD 7850 stock. The HD 7850 overclocks easily by 30%, and the GTX 660 10%. OC vs OC the HD 7850 will probably be faster than the GTX 660 and it costs less.

You do the math.

AMD is really hammering NVIDIA right now.

A 660 buyer is an enthusiast, really?
Also look at the vast majority of people who will own cards like this. This card will go big time into the OEM space and 95+% of people in general don't OC. Overclockers fare better with the 7800 series, yes. But to generalize based on this minority is questionable at best.

The inconsistent performance is something that all 28nm GPUs share right now. Nvidia does better in game A, AMD does better in game B. BF3, Shogun 2, Star Craft 2, Skyrim (outdoors), Dirt Showdown, Anno 2070 are good examples and likely only the tip of the iceberg.

I'm not really seeing the hammering you seem to see.

 

[tviceman]

It needs Borderlands 2 to be bundled with it at it's current retail MSRP price OR it needs to be about $10 lower than what it is on newegg as of right now. But IMO $10 does not completely break the deal. If someone wants to stick with Nvidia, they'll still buy this over the hd7870 without too much complaining.

What is interesting to me is that while GK106, proportionally, is cut down from GK104 in almost the same exact way that Pitcairn is, and their performance for the most part aligns that way, the die size reductions did not scale together. Pitcairn definitely inherited a slightly better die size reduction AND, probably, power reduction as well. Really though, compared to 40nm, Nvidia has managed to reign their die sizes AND power consumption, making bigger improvements in both raw TDP and perf/mm^2 AND in percentage of change over AMD. If we accept the notion that GK104 was originally (a year ago) was planned to be Kepler's #2 die (which it probably will still end up as if/when GK110 is released as a Geforce card) then from a technical point of view Nvidia is doing way better at 28nm than they were at 40nm. GK106 is 35-40% smaller than GF114 (depending on the source you use for GF114's die size), yet it's 30-35% faster and consumes 20-40% less power (depending on how intense the power draw is). It's incredible progress from where Nvidia was at on 40nm.

But, given AMD's aggressive pricing that started taking place a month or so after gtx670 came out, AMD is trying very hard to maintain the absolute best bang for the buck and Nvidia hasn't had much of any response yet. It could be for a number of reasons, but it's telling when one competitor has dropped prices several times within a very short period of time and the other has not, regardless of how their products stack up against each other.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

A 660 buyer is an enthusiast, really?
Also look at the vast majority of people who will own cards like this. This card will go big time into the OEM space and 95+% of people in general don't OC. Overclockers fare better with the 7800 series, yes. But to generalize based on this minority is questionable at best.

The inconsistent performance is something that all 28nm GPUs share right now. Nvidia does better in game A, AMD does better in game B. BF3, Shogun 2, Star Craft 2, Skyrim (outdoors), Dirt Showdown, Anno 2070 are good examples and likely only the tip of the iceberg.

I'm not really seeing the hammering you seem to see.

I don't really care for OEMs. As I've said before, this is a computer enthusiast forum, and computer enthusiasts tweak and look to extract the maximum from their hardware, whether it be raw performance or performance/watt. Many here also look at performance/dollar.

BTW, are you implying computer enthusiasts only look at $500 dollar parts?

 

[boxleitnerb]

I don't really care for OEMs. As I've said before, this is a computer enthusiast forum, and computer enthusiasts tweak and look to extract the maximum from their hardware, whether it be raw performance or performance/watt. Many here also look at performance/dollar.

BTW, are you implying computer enthusiasts only look at $500 dollar parts?

Yes, I would definitely not use the term "enthusiast" for someone who buys midrange. Your personal opinion is fine and all, but the fact is Nvidia and AMD are closer than they have been in a long long time regarding performance and perf/W. Perf/$ should not be judged so prematurely. The card launched today, the 7800 series had much more time to settle in. Give it another 2 weeks or so.

 

[notty22]

You could basically replace gtx 460/560 1gb sli with a gtx 660 2gb. There may be a few games that scaled near 100% that weren't hampered by 1gb that would not be any faster, but they would also be without potential micro-stutter not limited to full screen/ alt-tab limitations etc. For 230.00, it's not a bad option, and it's launch pricing.
1 6-pin VS 2 or 4 in old sli setups.

 

[Phynaz]

Umm, why? Sure, it's 11% faster at stock, but if you overclock both the HD 7850 will probably be 10% faster.

The GTX 660 is also very inconsistent when it comes to which games it performs good at, not to mention it's $30 more expensive than the HD 7850. Seems like an easy choice: stick with the 7850.

I wanted a CUDA card this time around, and the 660ti was over-priced.

This card isn't.

 

[tviceman]

Yes, I would definitely not use the term "enthusiast" for someone who buys midrange. Your personal opinion is fine and all, but the fact is Nvidia and AMD are closer than they have been in a long long time regarding performance and perf/W. Perf/$ should not be judged so prematurely. The card launched today, the 7800 series had much more time to settle in. Give it another 2 weeks or so.

Putting this launch into perspective, the gtx550ti launched with less than stellar reviews, yet according to the steam hardware survey, it's the second most used discrete card among steam users. The gtx660 is slotted more effectively than the gtx550ti was, and it absolutely beats up on the gtx550ti. It's smaller, uses less power, and is more than twice as fast. For Nvidia-only customers, this is a great upgrade for gtx460 or lesser card owners.

 

[Ketchup]

Putting this launch into perspective, the gtx550ti launched with less than stellar reviews, yet according to the steam hardware survey, it's the second most used discrete card among steam users. The gtx660 is slotted more effectively than the gtx550ti was, and it absolutely beats up on the gtx550ti. It's smaller, uses less power, and is more than twice as fast. For Nvidia-only customers, this is a great upgrade for gtx460 or lesser card owners.

I agree.